Life drawing in Hastings – what’s it all about?
Sally Burr interviews art tutor Sarah Flack.
My only experience of life drawing to date is a one-off class twenty years ago – I hid the evidence behind a sofa. So I was interested to speak to local art tutor Sarah Flack about her art and life drawing classes. Sarah studied a HND in Fine Art at Hastings College – at the original Archery Road campus – and from there went to Camberwell College of Art to gain an MA in Printmaking and complete an Artist in Residence at Intaglio Printmaker in London. Sarah then gained her PGCE in teaching. Not one to toot her own horn, Sarah was one of just three exceptional students in eight years to leapfrog from a Hastings College HND in Fine Art, directly to an MA.
All pics: Sarah Tomisson
Sarah now runs SJFlack Art and offers tutored art, portrait and life drawing classes in Hastings, Bexhill and Rye.
Life drawing. That’s nudey drawing isn’t it?
Yes. That’s for the life drawing; and for the portrait workshops, the models are clothed. I use different models for those classes so that students have a new face to draw.
How do you find your life models?
All my models usually come to me! Some of my students go to other life drawing classes and will come across a good model and ask them to get in touch with me. Some models randomly contact me after finding me through Google. I have models on my list that go way back. One of the models I use I’ve known for getting on twenty years.
Do you have a lot of models?
I use a different model each week. I have quite a lot of models on my model list (shows long list on screen). Some can only do a certain day of the week, so I need a lot to draw from (pun unintended).
How long do students spend on a model? Is it one session or a whole term?
It’s usually one model for a single session. I’ve been told that I have an extensive range of models compared to other life drawing groups. You do get a lot of untutored life drawing groups and there aren’t too many that are tutored.
Do you use charcoal? I did a one-off life drawing class as a student and we hid our charcoaled monstrosities behind the sofa.
People can use whatever medium they like in the classes and some people even paint.
Have you got an example of the student’s work you can share?
Life drawing student Sarah Tomisson has agreed to share her work.
• If you would like to find out more about Sarah’s life drawing, portrait or one day weekend workshops, view Sarah’s website and see the weekly art schedule at sjflack.art
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