Figure Drawing Workshops, Open Studios,
and Continuing Education Classes
in Alaska, Hawaii, Oregon, and Washington
California listings have been moved. Other States and Provinces

This is a directory of places where artists can draw, paint, or sculpt the human form from live art models. The list includes instructed and uninstructed sessions. Drawing groups come and go, and schedules change, so it is wise to confirm with the organizer before attending—website, email and/or telephone is listed for each group.

Please report any defunct groups or nonfunctioning links to directoryartmodelbook.com.

If you find this resource useful, please tell your friends, mention in your blog, etc. Thanks!

Would you like a free listing for your workshop? Click here for submission guidelines.

Alaska

Anchorage Museum at Rasmuson Center
625 C Street
Anchorage, AK 99501
Instructed
jjenkinsanchoragemuseum.org 907-929-9268
Instructed and Uninstructed
Figure Drawing. 10-week class. Instruction for the first 5 weeks by University of Alaska art professor and
contemporary artist Hugh McPeck, followed by 5 weeks of uninstructed studio time. Easels, large drawing boards and charcoal available. Provide your own supplies. $20 drop in. See website for dates.
[2010-01-08]

Bunnell Street Arts Center
106 W. Bunnell Street, Suite A
Homer, AK 99603
infobunnellstreetgallery.org 907-235-2662
Uninstructed
Anyone can join Homer's Life Drawing Group! Draw from a live model in the quiet atmosphere of Bunnell's main exhibit gallery. Life Drawing meets Tuesdays 6:30-9pm throughout the winter. Bring your own drawing supplies - no instruction is provided. Drawing horses and tables and chairs are provided. A $7 fee helps to pay for the live model. Participants must be current members of the gallery. For more information about Life Drawing or to sign up to be a paid model (models are needed!) please call Gaye Wolfe at 907-235-7696.
[E]

The Canvas
223 Seward Street
Juneau, AK 99801
infocanvasarts.org 907-586-1750
Uninstructed
Figure Drawing Studio. 6:00-8:30 pm. $15. Please bring your own supplies.
[E]

Hawaii

Hui No'eau Visual Arts Center
2841 Baldwin Avenue
Makawao, HI 96768
infohuinoeau.com 808-572-6560
Instructed and Uninstructed
Instructed classes include Figure Drawing Intensive.
Uninstructed -- Practice the fundamental art of figure drawing in the Hui's new Figure Drawing Open Studio program. All Sessions will be held on the last Saturday of each month, 10:00 am - 1:00 pm in the children's studio. Bring any materials you wish to use and complete sketches using a live model as inspiration. Pre-registration is REQUIRED. Fee: $15 ($19 nonmember).
[2009-07-09]

Honolulu Academy of Arts
900 South Beretania,
Honolulu, HI 96814
artschoolhonoluluacademy.org 808-532-8741
Instructed
Classes include Life Drawing.
[E]

Oregon - sorted by Zip Code

The Drawing Studio
3614 SE Division
Portland, OR 97202
503-232-9749
Instructed
Classes inlcude Introduction to Drawing and Intermediate Drawing. Most sessions in the Intermediate course will have live models. In the Intro course, students work from photos, reproductions of other artworks, the mirror, and the human figure, using graphite, charcoal, and pen. Classes meet evenings and weekends and are designed for anyone from true beginners to experienced artists who want to get their work rolling again.
[E]

Pacific Northwest College of Art
1241 NW Johnson St.
Portland, OR 97209
cepnca.edu 503-821-8903
Instructed
Classes include Beginning + Intermediate Figure Drawing and Figure Painting Intensive.
[E]

Hipbone Studio
1847 E. Burnside #104
Portland, OR 97214
503-358-0898
Uninstructed
Drop-in life drawing sessions -- on-going, Saturdays 10:00 AM - 1:00 PM, Wednesdays 1:00 - 4:00 PM, and Wednesdays 6:30 - 9:30 PM. Beginners are welcome. Drawing benches and boards, easels and tables are provided. Typically, we start with gestures and work toward poses of 30-45 minutes $10 / session or $45 / 5 sessions. LONG TERM POSES Thursdays 6:30 - 9:30 p.m. Ideal opportunity to work from an extended pose (3 Thursday evenings) each month. You’ll have more time to develop a drawing or series of drawings or complete a pastel or painting. Model and pose changes monthly. $12 / single session or $30 / commit to 3 session (same pose).
[2009-07-13]

The Bamboo Grove
134 SE Taylor St.
Portland, OR 97214
bamboogrovesalongmail.com 971-207-8476
Uninstructed
The Bamboo Grove will be offering weekly open figure drawing sessions Sundays 1 - 3 pm. $5, cash or check. Held in the event room, with plenty of space and lots of natural light. Poses will be clothed and unclothed. All levels of experience welcome, just bring your own art supplies. The Bamboo Grove (aka Zhu lin) is a mixed use art, performance, and practice space dedicated to the connection between Asian and American arts.
[E]

Multnomah Arts Center
7688 SW Capitol Hwy
Portland, OR 97219
503-823-ARTS (2787)
Instructed
The Multnomah Arts Center offers courses and workshops in drawing, sculpting and painting the figure. Courses are offered year round and are scheduled daytime and evenings. Go to our website for a complete listing of offerings. The Multnomah Arts Center has been offering courses in the arts for over 28 years. Join our community!
[2009-09-14]

Oregon College of Art and Craft
Drawing Studio at OCAC
8245 SW Barnes Road
Portland, OR 97225
studioschoolocac.edu 503.297.5544 / 800-390-0632
Uninstructed
Saturdays 10:00AM-1:00PM - Open Life Drawing participants sign in and pay their fees at the Front Desk in the Centrum upon arriving – no need to pre-register. Please consult the semester calendar in the Drawing Studio or at the Front Desk for other scheduling conflicts that may preempt Life Drawing. No prerequisite. $7/SESSION OCAC STUDENTS & MEMBERS / $10/SESSION ALL OTHERS
[2009-07-06]

Silverton Arts Association
303 Coolidge
Silverton, OR 97381
infoSilvertonArts.org 503-873-2480
Uninstructed
Life Studio with model. Thursdays 6:00–8:30pm. See website for schedule. There is a long tradition of artists drawing and painting from the live model. It is considered a fundamental in the training for all the visual arts. Whether you work realistically or abstractly, this figure drawing group is a great chance to improve your skills and meet other artists. Debbie Unger, facilitator, 503-845-9277.
[E]

Arts Central Station
313 SW Shevlin Hixon Dr.
Bend, OR 97702
541-617-1317
Instructed
Classes include Figure Drawing. An introduction to drawing from a live, clothed model. Students
will practice and experiment with a variety of techniques, poses, and materials, including gesture drawings and short/long poses. Class is suitable for beginning to advanced students.
[E]

Washington - sorted by Zip Code - (Click here if you are looking for Washington DC)

Kirkland Arts Center
620 Market Street
Kirkland, WA 98033-5421
mkahakirklandartscenter.org 425-822-7161
Instructed and Uninstructed
Instructed classes include Drawing the Figure for Beginners and Life Drawing for Teens.
Uninstructed Sunday Life Sessions, Sundays, 1:00–4:00 PM. Work from a live model during this drop-in drawing, painting or sculpting session in the third floor Skylight Room. Long poses are featured on the first and last Sunday of the month. Open to the community — registration is not required. $8 model fee per session. *To access the Skylight Room when Gallery is closed (Sundays and evenings), please use entrance at rear of building.

[2009-08-11]

DigiPen Institute of Technology
8273 154th Ave. N.E.
Redmond, WA 98052
425-558-0299
Uninstructed
Free Open Figure Drawing Lab for local videogame industry professionals and DigiPen students. Limited to 25 seats and is on a first come, first serve basis. Participants wishing to attend are asked to e-mail the moderator, Rob Kmiec (rkmiecdigipen.edu) in order to help DigiPen keep track of how many people will be attending each week. Participants will also be required to show their business card or student ID at the door.

[E]

Daniel Smith
15112 N.E. 24th Street
Redmond, WA 98052
customer.servicedanielsmith.com
Call 425-643-1781 to register for the Bellevue store workshops
Uninstructed
"Don't (ever) Stop Life Drawing" - One pose for the whole month. Every Monday from 4-7 PM.
$12 per day or purchase a multi day pass for $10 per session.
[E]

Gage Academy of Art
1501 10th Ave. East, #101
Seattle, WA 98102
infogageacademy.org 206 323-GAGE
Instructed
Classses include: Introduction to Figure Drawing; Expressive Figure Drawing; Intermediate Figure Drawing; Painting the Figure; Beginning Figure Sculpture; Figure Sculpting Studio - Gesture.
[E]

North Seattle Community College
9600 College Way North
Seattle, WA 98103
contedsccd.ctc.edu 206-527-3705
Instructed
Classes include Life Drawing.
[E]

Photographic Center Northwest
900 Twelfth Avenue
Seattle, WA 98122
pcnwpcnw.org 206-720-7222
Instructed
Photography workshops include The Art of the Nude: Capturing the human form has been a primary interest of photographers since the very beginnings of the medium. Explore some of the rewards and challenges of photographing the human figure and learn how to find, pose, and communicate effectively with models while developing new approaches to creative lighting.
[E]

Daniel Smith
4150 First Avenue South
Seattle, WA 98134
customer.servicedanielsmith.com
Call 206-223-9599 to register for the Seattle store workshops
Instructed
Instructed & Drop-in Life Drawing with Jamie Bollenbach. $15 per day cash payment to instructor.
[E]

Pratt Fine Arts Center
1902 South Main St.
Seattle, WA 98144
tfugamipratt.org 206-328-2200
Instructed
Classes include Conceptualizing the Figure, Continuing Drawing - Figuring Out Figure Drawing, Continuing Drawing - The Figure, Continuing Painting - The Figure in Context, and Figurative Sculpture.
[E]

Wonder School of the Arts
Location varies, most often at
University of Washington campus
Seattle WA 98195
Instructed
Courses inlclude: Figure drawing, Step-by-Step. In this class students will learn how to draw the human figure, using an easy step-by-step method, whether working from a model, from photos, or from memory and knowledge. We'll start by sketching some figures based on simple, underlying shapes, then add in the details. Students will learn about proportions and foreshortening, motion and action, basic surface muscles, and how to use shading to make the figure look real and three-dimensional.
[2009-08-10]

Blue Horse Gallery
301 W Holly St
Bellingham, WA 98225
Contact Ruthie V.  ruthieruthiev.com 360-319-6342
Uninstructed
Figure Drawing sessions are held every Thursday evening between 6:30-9:30 pm.
[2009-12-20]

Trish Harding School of Art at Studio UFO
301 W. Holly Street
Room M4, Bay Street Village Building
Bellingham, WA 98225
trish.hardingstudioufo.net 360-671-8682
Uninstructed
Clothed and nude figure drawing sessions twice a month. See website for schedule. These are not drop-in sessions. Pre-registration is required. $12 prepaid for clothed session. $15 prepaid for nude session. Each session will begin with several one-minute warm-up gesture exercises and continue with four 20-minute poses. If we have two models posing together we will have two 40-minute poses.
[E]


UNCLAD 2010 Fine Art Show
March 13-28, 2010
Gallery by the Bay
Stanwood, WA

24-Hour Life Drawing Marathon
Noon Saturday, March 6 until noon Sunday, March 7th
Wine Tasting
Saturday, March 27th, 6 pm to 9 pm


Gallery by the Bay
8700 271st NW
Stanwood, WA 98292
gaylegallerybythebay.com 360-629-4297
Uninstructed
Weekly life drawing sessions on Sundays from 11 am to 2 pm. Featuring nude models, mixed poses. We have some benches, chairs, easels, but feel free to bring your own if you like. $10 drop in fee. Stanwood is about an hour north of Seattle. The model schedule is posted on our website.
[2009-11-01]


[E] = An email has been sent asking the organizer to verify or correct the information listed.
[date] = the listing has been verified by (or submitted by) the workshop organizer.

Share this page Delicious Delicious  
submit to reddit  

The Art Model's Handbook: The Naked Truth about Posing for Art Classes and Fine Artists • by Andrew Cahner
ISBN-13: 978-1-442-16969-2 • ISBN-10: 1-442-16969-9 • Available from Amazon.com
contactartmodelbook.com • Contents of this site © 2009. All rights reserved.
Painting on book cover: “Trois Couleurs Noir.” Oil on canvas. © 2004 Antoine de Villiers. Used with permission.