Figure drawing classes can sometimes be haughty, silent, and often unapproachable environments. The premise is simple: a subject, usually nude, sits at the center of a room for artists to draw from life. Usually a solitary practice completed in a group setting, life drawing classes most often prioritize honing technique over connecting socially. At Life Drawing Boston (LDB), facilitator David London seeks to flip this script on its head.
Revitalized in 2022 from a previous facilitator, the group was relaunched by London post-COVID with the intention of building a social space for artists to hone their skills while building relationships. What started as weekly classes at Gallery 263 in Cambridgeport with roughly ten people has slowly expanded to now more than seventy-five participants each Tuesday, with additional pop-up events and collaborations with other community makers.
While Tuesday sessions cost fifteen dollars, partnered events with organizations like First Crush Boston may charge sixty dollars and include wine tastings, curated charcuterie spreads, and a wide range of art supplies.
London sees the group as a space that prioritizes community against the backdrop of artistic practice. He intentionally brings in models of all genders, races, and body types as a move to disentangle the practice from systems of power that often pervade life drawing spaces. He opens each Tuesday with an icebreaker, encouraging community members to put away their phones and meet someone new. You can find him welcoming new members, gabbing with regulars, or even queuing the collaborative playlist that LDB members regularly contribute to.
LDB attendees are greeted on Tuesdays by a warm space filled with ambient chatter as they shuffle in. At the center of the room sits an elevated platform for the live, nude model. Artists gather a wide array of provided supplies—pencils, vine charcoal, compressed charcoal, pastels, and erasers—or bring their own, and carve out standing or sitting space in a circle surrounding the model.
Sessions start with quick, thirty-second poses to help artists capture gestures. Poses gradually get longer, ending with a thirty-minute pose where community members can excavate the minutiae. London often cues artists to focus on shadows, pay close attention to highlights, or to try drawing with a nondominant hand. Conversation emanates throughout the space for the duration of class as attendees get to know their neighbors and share stories with friends.
Community members come from a wide variety of artistic backgrounds: some have attended every Tuesday for the last two years, others are new faces interested in experimenting with the medium for the first time. While having a dedicated time and place to sharpen drawing skills may be the initial pull for most members, London’s predisposition to fostering social connection is a strong force.
“David is very charismatic; he connects with a lot of folks. He and I became friends pretty quickly and is part of the reason I came back. I thought I would do it once, but then ended up coming back every week for a year,” shares Nikhil Dasgupta, a group regular who first joined in 2023. “There aren’t a lot of spaces where you can come to be among people but do something meditative.”
London is authentic and charming with just enough bite to immediately break down the walls one might hold tightly to as they enter a new social landscape.
I experienced this firsthand when I joined the LDB community in 2023 as a model. Filling in last minute at the recommendation of a friend who regularly attends the class, I received a phone call from London, who was immediately approachable and warm. I had never modeled before, but London—who himself stands in as the model to cover last-minute cancellations—told me about his experience modeling, what I should expect, and how I could prepare.
Despite the inherent vulnerability of being unclothed in front of strangers, London’s humor and social magnetism immediately inducted me into the LDB community. As I shifted from one pose to the next, artists held conversations with their neighbors, with those across the circle, and even with me. Although I am not a visual artist, I, too, could feel the vibrating energy of LDB Tuesday nights and have continued to model for the group since, building relationships with attendees along the way.
While other life drawing classes in the Greater Boston Area may provide a space for artists to refine their craft, they lack the community involvement that London fosters and the opportunities for engagement that LDB community members readily jump at. London’s gifts for community making provide a flexible container for LDB events, but LDB is about more than one person’s contributions. Community members are regularly afforded opportunities to contribute to and curate the group’s ecosystem. Attendees often set up or break down class each Tuesday; some contribute snacks, while others volunteer to facilitate sessions in London’s absence.
“There’ve been a few times where I’ve had to run the class for [David],” says Julie Webb, an attendee since 2022. “I never realized how much thought or intention went into it. He sent me instructions on everything he does to set up and a lot of it was how to foster engagement between people: how to get people talking, how to set the atmosphere, how to welcome people. It’s one of those things you can take for granted, but it takes a lot more effort than that, which is one thing I’ve come to appreciate about this group.”
Some members, like Joseph Luango and Sabrina Lingeman, who first joined LDB as participants, now regularly model for the group in addition to drawing. “The energy [of the class] pushes you to do a good job for your fellow artists,” shares Luango.
Other members, like Lana Lamar, have taken on opportunities to teach workshops that extend beyond figure drawing. “I sew for fun and make a lot of the clothes I wear. David asked if I would teach a workshop. It’s funny because one of the people who came to the workshop loved it so much that, through David, she reached out to me and asked for private sewing lessons. We are great friends now. I even went to her holiday party.”
Drawing on the skills of each community member is part of what makes the group so successful. Through London’s facilitation, LDB members co-create the figure drawing group’s environment. Collaboration is a core part of London’s vision for the group and will be essential in the coming months and years.
As the group has outgrown the intimate space of Gallery 263, London has found a new, permanent home for LDB. On January 7, 2024, LDB began meeting at Joy Street Studios in Somerville. Located in a massive warehouse, this gritty new location boasts 3,800 square feet and includes an atrium with an open layout, plus two smaller, studio-sized rooms, ready to meet community needs.
London imagines that the space will allow LDB to expand its offerings beyond Tuesday night sessions and one-off collaborations. Moving to multiple classes per week—additional life drawing sessions, some of which may cover specific techniques, or community led classes in other artistic mediums—LDB is gearing up for exponential growth in the months and years to come. London anticipates the large atrium could even be used as a venue, and plans to host a comedy show in early spring of 2025.
When space is such a commodity in the Boston landscape, Joy Street Studios promises to help LDB grow beyond its meager beginnings as solely a life drawing group and into a gathering place that meets the needs of and is informed by the Boston art community.
“If you want to be involved in this, then you are,” says London. “Over the course of the next year, this space will look different, and I will need community support to get there.”
From coordinating carpools for community members to outfitting the space with decor, and even to developing events or classes, London is seeking community involvement all the way. In this way, LDB is more than a weekly class, but rather a space where people can come to hone their skills and leave with meaningful connections—maybe even contribute a resource for the betterment of their community.
The opportunities feel abundant and seeing the ways in which the LDB community has already stepped up to the plate makes them feel even more proximate.
