Drawversity

Drawversity is a life model class that focuses on introducing more BIPOC to the world of life modelling. They say necessity is the mother of invention. Drawversity was created from my own experience working as a life model – living in such a creative city where Life art is so popular – I had found there really weren’t enough BIPOC Life models in the industry, in a city where there were so many life drawing studios and artists. I wanted to change that, to try and eliminate the class and culture barriers of life art and modelling. For our children and children’s children, to see a reflection of themselves through art in history and not as a monolith. Alongside Drawversity being for the purposes stated, I also have experienced artists unable to replicate particular features and shades I have due to a lack of diverse models, this is another reason I think it’s important to create a more diverse society within the life modelling community. Due to the epidemic in 2019, I was faced with a barrier, so I teamed up with Draw Brighton to do an artists reference photoshoot for creatives who were signed up to their Patreon and drawing at home – this really helped create a buzz about the class with the Draw community, who became eager to attend once the studio was back open. Since March 2022, I have been able to run Drawversity on a monthly basis at Draw Brighton, on the last Saturday of every month. Since I started, the class has really developed; with more of a guided approach to the model, the artists are able to see how the life modelling side of the collaboration between artist and muse works, creating a more synergetic energy in the class. Jadehylton.com/Drawversity