Life Drawing for Young People - The Big Draw

Suitable for 11-18 year olds. Young people can be left unaccompanied during this session.

Using an experienced clothed model in a simple seated position, with an interesting and brightly coloured outfit, (perhaps a prop or two) we will look at proportion, mark making and creative expression.

The workshop will start with some fun warming up exercises such as continuous line drawing, and drawing with the opposite hand. Using a variety of materials - charcoal, felt tip pens, pencils, coloured pastels and coloured pencils to encourage creative expression and exploration with mark making.

Each child will have their own proper easel set up in which to produce their own drawing or drawings that they can take home.

At the end of the session, we'll ask each participant to offer one drawing to be on show within the Gallery from Friday 31st October – Sunday 2nd November, along with other artworks created during The Big Draw.

More about this session

We will look at how other famous artists depicted the clothed person - and look at their mark making, the narrative within the image, and how we feel when we are looking at the art.

Taking inspiration from the art we have looked at, we will draw our model again, thinking about how we can incorporate our own creative expression.

The workshop is designed to engage young people with portraiture in a fun and accessible way, allowing space for them to explore their own creative expression, while learning some new drawing techniques too. Young people interested in portraiture are often used to drawing from 2 dimensional references, which is so different to drawing a real person from life. This is a unique opportunity to give drawing from life a go, in a supportive and encouraging environment.

The workshop will end with an informal, supportive and non judgemental critique, along with advice and opportunities to ask questions about how to take their drawing further in the future.

The end result will be a group of individual drawings, all of the same subject, but each drawing totally different to each other, and unique to the person who created them. It is a great exercise in showing young people how we all have different creative viewpoints, which result in different creative expressions and how interesting it is to see other peoples perspective on the same subject. Part of the informal critique is to celebrate these differences and demonstrate that we can all learn from each other.

About The Big Draw Festival

Since its launch in 2000, The Big Draw Festival has championed drawing as a universal language and a powerful tool for learning, self-expression, and innovation. Every October, organisers across the globe sign up to be part of the festival, hosting everything from hands-on workshops and exhibitions to large-scale collaborative projects.

The Big Draw Festival is made up of thousands of drawing activities that connect people of all ages with schools, galleries, museums, libraries, heritage sites, village halls, refugee organisations, outdoor spaces, artists, scientists, designers, illustrators, inventors and each other.

Artist bio:

Ellie Andrews is an artist and life drawing tutor based in Burley, Leeds. She founded Leeds Drawing Drawing Club in 2007 and as well as running untutored and tutored classes from her studio, she regularly visits schools and universities as a visiting life drawing tutor.

Recent Exhibitions of Ellie’s work include:

Summer Group Show at Leeds Playhouse, The Art Court

Summer Group Exhibition, Fronteer Gallery, Sheffield

Ones to Watch 2025, Sunny Bank Mills