FIGURE DRAWING ROOMS

Art school figure drawing tends to take place in all-purpose rooms that are just big empty spaces.  Me, I'd prefer to draw in a room that has more character, like the room above. What a beautiful space! I see what looks like a church pew and nautical windows. Wow! A platypus!

What interests me especially is that storage loft (above). It suggests a low, shallow gallery where students who prefer it can draw looking down on the model.

Here's (above) an Italian life drawing room from the 18th Century. It's an interesting idea but it's too inflexible for my taste. I like a room that can accommodate the unique seating preferences of each student and which allows space for innovative instructors to try out new ideas. 

You never know what some teachers are going to try. 

I also like the idea of a runway (above), like the kind fashion models use. I like to draw walks and acting situations, and fold-up tables would be perfect for that. 

If the room's layout permits then it might be nice to have perspective in back of the model sometimes. A two model session where perspective comes into play could be interesting.

Students themselves make a good background for the model, which is one reason I like to see students surround the models when possible. Sometimes its more fun to sketch the students than the model!

I like ateliers with plenty of beams and rafters for attaching lights. It's amazing what a lighting savvy teacher can do. Here (above, right) the students are lit and the model's dark. That's a great idea! On the other side of the room (above, left) the students are dark and the model's lit. In the same session you can move around and experience both!

Haw! As a fantasy I toyed with the idea of students drawing each other en masse, but that's a dumb idea that wouldn't work in the real world. 

Some variation of it might work, though. As a one-time novelty I could see students, fully clothed, drawing the other students facing them across a table. Or maybe there's a model behind each row of students so they could look past the person facing them to a real model. 

What would be the value of that? It would lie in the inspiration to be had when seeing another rational being martial his skills to draw something difficult in front of him.