Joan Dooley, left, Michael Swofford and Ryan Johnson draw a drag queen dressed as a “Sailor Moon” character during a Fight Evil by Moonlight drawing night at Gallery Nucleus.
(Kayla Bartkowski / Los Angeles Times)
7 L.A. figure drawing events with unique models — from fashion it girls to muscly nude men
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Figure drawing is thriving in L.A. Every week, the city’s artists have a plethora of opportunities to get together in real space and draw from life. Pros and amateurs alike can sketch a famous drag queen dressed as a “Sailor Moon” character on a Tuesday in Alhambra or draw a local it girl draped in vintage fashion on a Thursday in Echo Park.
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The sessions highlighted in this guide, which is by no means exhaustive, are all run by working artists, who provide a more casual alternative to traditional arts academy classes. Models, in costume, nude, or somewhere in between, include a mix of L.A. creatives, from cosplayers to performers. As varied as they are, the classes have a common thread: Experience isn’t necessary to enjoy them — just one’s own supplies and a willingness to draw.
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Bijou Karman’s Clothed Figure Drawing
Echo Park Art class
(Kayla Bartkowski/Los Angeles Times)
Models wearing their own fabulous clothes — and sometimes undergoing multiple outfit changes — are the heart of Bijou Karman’s three-hour-long clothed figure drawing sessions. An alternative to more traditional or character-focused workshops, the multimedia artist’s events at Heavy Manners Library in Echo Park attract fashion-obsessed artists who work across disciplines. Karman, who scouts models while out in the city or through social media, says her vision is to capture “people in L.A. with interesting style.”
Karman, who has been hosting these sessions for about three years, always draws alongside her attendees. Her sketches frequently serve as the basis for her colorful paintings and ceramics as well as illustrations, which grace the pages of major publications like this one. Says Karman: “These sessions really expand my world and my work.”
Karman, who has been hosting these sessions for about three years, always draws alongside her attendees. Her sketches frequently serve as the basis for her colorful paintings and ceramics as well as illustrations, which grace the pages of major publications like this one. Says Karman: “These sessions really expand my world and my work.”
- Best for: Anyone interested in fashion illustration (Note: Heavy Manners Library hosts other figure drawing events too.)
- When: A few times a month, dates and times vary
- Ticket price: $23.18
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The Drawing Club
Alhambra Art class
(Kayla Bartkowski / Los Angeles Times)
The Drawing Club, a character-focused clothed figure drawing workshop, brings in professional cosplayers and drag performers as models, including contestants from “RuPaul’s Drag Race” and “The Boulet Brothers’ Dragula.” “The drag superstars come out in costumes that are often beyond what we can even fathom,” says Brenda Chi, the artist who’s run the workshop since 2022. “We’re gagging in their presence.”
Bob Kato, Chi’s former professor at the ArtCenter College of Design, who also staged workshops for Disney animators, ran the club for 20 years. It retains loose connections to both the university and the industry, with trained artists and pro animators making up most of its crowd. But Chi’s mission is to create a highly inclusive atmosphere at Gallery Nucleus in Alhambra that encourages artists to hone their craft while loosening up. “You can let go a little bit, while practicing drawing and exploring a side of yourself you may not get to explore in your career,” she says.
Bob Kato, Chi’s former professor at the ArtCenter College of Design, who also staged workshops for Disney animators, ran the club for 20 years. It retains loose connections to both the university and the industry, with trained artists and pro animators making up most of its crowd. But Chi’s mission is to create a highly inclusive atmosphere at Gallery Nucleus in Alhambra that encourages artists to hone their craft while loosening up. “You can let go a little bit, while practicing drawing and exploring a side of yourself you may not get to explore in your career,” she says.
- Best for: Trained artists looking to sketch outrageous characters
- When: Most Tuesdays at 7 p.m.
- Ticket price: $25
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The Valley Art Workshop
Woodland Hills Art class
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(Miles Lewis)
The Valley Art Workshop operates out of the Collier House, a 1920s-era dwelling in Woodland Hills that’s the longtime home of the Lewises, a family of professional musicians, artists and teachers. “It feels like an old European workshop,” says Miles Lewis, the program’s director, who describes a cozy atmosphere with books, paintings and a cat.
Lewis took over the Valley Art Institute, a college-prep art program, in 2009, and continues to teach youth and adult art classes at the house. In 2016, he rebranded as the Valley Art Workshop, launching life drawing sessions for a broader community of ambitious amateur and pro artists, who, he says, want to “go to the gym.” In collaboration with Gallery Girls, a long-running life drawing event producer, the workshop hosts up to four sessions a week, with nude and costumed figure drawing offerings, as well as long pose workshops, where artists can work from a model in the same position for two weeks straight.
Lewis took over the Valley Art Institute, a college-prep art program, in 2009, and continues to teach youth and adult art classes at the house. In 2016, he rebranded as the Valley Art Workshop, launching life drawing sessions for a broader community of ambitious amateur and pro artists, who, he says, want to “go to the gym.” In collaboration with Gallery Girls, a long-running life drawing event producer, the workshop hosts up to four sessions a week, with nude and costumed figure drawing offerings, as well as long pose workshops, where artists can work from a model in the same position for two weeks straight.
- Best for: Skilled artists and ambitious amateurs wanting a more classical setting
- When: Saturday mornings at 9:30 a.m.; Tuesday and Thursday evenings at 7 p.m.
- Ticket price: $20 drop-in; $80 per month for long pose workshops
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The Melrose Drawing Club
Hollywood Art class
(Pauline Aguirre)
Artist Pauline Aguirre launched her nude figure drawing workshop, Melrose Drawing Club, and her gallery and event space, Pauhaus Gallery, simultaneously in September 2021. Since then, she’s held a drawing event every week. “I knew there was a need for these workshops and that consistency was key,” Aguirre says.
The gallery attracts artists and animators who work at studios, like Netflix, nearby, but the atmosphere is calm and loose. “I have plants, I have incense burning, but I’m always changing it up — I’ll change the lighting, rearrange the stage, or my cat or dog will be around, so there’s always something new for the artists to draw,” Aguirre says. Though some of the club’s models are recognizable from Los Angeles Apparel or other fashion ads, Aguirre notes, they’re not all professionals. “I scouted my first models at a pool party,” she says. “I’m always looking for people who will inspire us.”
The gallery attracts artists and animators who work at studios, like Netflix, nearby, but the atmosphere is calm and loose. “I have plants, I have incense burning, but I’m always changing it up — I’ll change the lighting, rearrange the stage, or my cat or dog will be around, so there’s always something new for the artists to draw,” Aguirre says. Though some of the club’s models are recognizable from Los Angeles Apparel or other fashion ads, Aguirre notes, they’re not all professionals. “I scouted my first models at a pool party,” she says. “I’m always looking for people who will inspire us.”
- Best for: Practiced artists who want a chill vibe
- When: Sundays at 11 a.m.
- Ticket price: $25
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Sketch by Sketkh
Burbank Art class
(Parker Roig)
“We’re putting on social, immersive figure drawing events for neurodivergent, queer nerds,” says Jennifer Martina, the producer at Nest of Friends, the nonprofit production company that stages biweekly figure drawing at Geeky Teas & Games in Burbank.
Martina and artist Sketkh Williams, Sketch by Sketkh’s host, provide a welcoming atmosphere across identities, skill levels and nerdy interests, while also playing to their own backgrounds in theater. The sessions feature dramatic lighting, staging and soundtracks, and use professional cosplayers as models. Embodying characters from “Star Wars,” video games, anime and other IP, these pros don’t just dress the part, they take pains to hit their characters’ canonical stances for attendees to capture.
For Martina and Williams, the events are an alternative to nude or more traditional figure drawing sessions. “That just doesn’t interest us,” says Martina. “We’re both theatrical people, so for us part of putting on a show is seeing characters, some cool costume design and a theme.”
Martina and artist Sketkh Williams, Sketch by Sketkh’s host, provide a welcoming atmosphere across identities, skill levels and nerdy interests, while also playing to their own backgrounds in theater. The sessions feature dramatic lighting, staging and soundtracks, and use professional cosplayers as models. Embodying characters from “Star Wars,” video games, anime and other IP, these pros don’t just dress the part, they take pains to hit their characters’ canonical stances for attendees to capture.
For Martina and Williams, the events are an alternative to nude or more traditional figure drawing sessions. “That just doesn’t interest us,” says Martina. “We’re both theatrical people, so for us part of putting on a show is seeing characters, some cool costume design and a theme.”
- Best for: Practiced amateurs with nerdy interests
- When: Every other Thursday at 7:30 p.m.
- Ticket price: Starts at $23.18
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Carly Jean Andrews’ Figure Drawing
Echo Park Art class
(Sarah Fensom / For The Times)
Just like in her illustration and collage work, Carly Jean Andrews’ figure drawing sessions at Heavy Manners Library are about conjuring a fantasy. “The vibe is: ’80s movie about a gorgeous woman who happens to be a figure drawing model for an art class,” says Andrews, whose work centers around the female form and draws from 1980s graphics and periodicals. Her models pose nude or, more frequently, “slightly clothed,” using accessories and props to essentially create one of the host’s pieces in real space.
“There’s no pretension — it’s a place where everyone can feel comfortable,” she says, noting that professional artists, students and amateurs all attend the sessions. For Andrews, the sense of community feels generative. “Before I started these sessions in 2023, I’d never drawn a model in real life for my own work — I’d always worked at home in this insular way. Now, I’m creating what’s in my mind out loud, asking for others to join in,” she says.
“There’s no pretension — it’s a place where everyone can feel comfortable,” she says, noting that professional artists, students and amateurs all attend the sessions. For Andrews, the sense of community feels generative. “Before I started these sessions in 2023, I’d never drawn a model in real life for my own work — I’d always worked at home in this insular way. Now, I’m creating what’s in my mind out loud, asking for others to join in,” she says.
- Best for: Skilled pros and amateurs looking to draw the female form (Note: Heavy Manners Library hosts other figure drawing events too.)
- When: Varies, but typically weekends at 11 a.m.
- Ticket price: $23.18
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Tom of Finland Foundation’s Life Drawing
Echo Park Art class
Life Drawing focuses on the male form, particularly a hypermasculine aesthetic.
(Rex Kung)
Before Rex Kung took over hosting duties from his mentor Miguel Angel Reyes last May, he’d frequented the Tom of Finland Foundation’s life drawing events with his sketch pad. “It’s been such a big open door for me to meet other queer artists,” says Kung, a fashion designer by day. For Kung, who had struggled to find welcoming queer spaces in his youth, facilitating an atmosphere where attendees discover community is vital. “I want people to connect,” he says. “It’s not just about drawing a muscular man.”
The sessions, which are held monthly in the back garden or first floor gallery of the foundation’s historic Echo Park home, do feature their fair share of muscles, with models typically embodying the hypermasculine aesthetic of Tom of Finland artwork and the foundation’s focus on homoerotic art. The workshop’s participants include everyone from a former set designer on “The Nanny” to DC Comics ink artists to complete amateurs.
The sessions, which are held monthly in the back garden or first floor gallery of the foundation’s historic Echo Park home, do feature their fair share of muscles, with models typically embodying the hypermasculine aesthetic of Tom of Finland artwork and the foundation’s focus on homoerotic art. The workshop’s participants include everyone from a former set designer on “The Nanny” to DC Comics ink artists to complete amateurs.
- Best for: Creative types of all skill levels wanting to sketch the male form
- When: One Sunday a month at noon
- Ticket price: $30 in advance; $40 at the door
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