TBSSS: Hi Simon, we're very glad to be speaking to you ahead of your workshop Life Drawing for Sculptors, starting this Saturday 14 February at TBSSS. Tell us about your background in life drawing, how did you get started teaching it?

Simon Harris: I first started life drawing when I was studying architecture at university, one of the lecturers convinced me that it would help fine-tune my aesthetics. I’ve continued the process ever since and I still try to go to a session every week. As for teaching, it was never something that I’d thought about, until Billy Blue College asked me to take on a new subject they were running. I loved it, helping people to find their creative expression is a wonderful thing. 23 years later... I’m still there, teaching drawing.

What would you say is the relationship between drawing and sculpture?

To quote Tom Bass, “Sculpture is the ultimate drawing, because it is drawing in three dimensions. A drawing is not a clever trick, it is what [you see], lodged in the mind... and when that faculty is developed, it will transfer itself to the making of a sculpture”. I couldn’t agree more!

Absolutely—Tom Bass also wrote this passage on ‘seeing’: "The primary thing to be done is not merely to look at the model, but to really see it and to put the knowledge of it into the mind. The best way to do that is by drawing. To look, see and allow what is seen into the mind, then to begin to draw so that what is being drawn comes from the mind." How do you interpret ‘seeing’ as an active and involved process in making a sculpture?

If you can see the nuances of curves, planes and proportions it makes it easier to create those subtle forms in a sculpture. It’s harder to sculpt the shape if you can’t see it first.

How do your life drawing classes generally run?

I usually start with a chat about anatomy or drawing technique before the model arrives, then we draw some quick poses to loosen up and get our 'eye' in. Those poses are usually quite dynamic, because the model doesn’t have to hold them for too long. Then we progress to longer and usually more static poses where we can focus more on the finer points of anatomy and technique.

How does working with a life model impact one’s artistic practice?

When you draw a life model, you’re not just experiencing a unique, intimate and challenging creative process, you are also touching the ‘golden thread’ of knowledge and understanding that comes from centuries of tradition in this practice. Countless artists before you have used life drawing to hone their skills and their ability to render creative ideas.

What would experienced and beginner sculptors alike have to learn from the practice of life drawing?

The human figure is the most demanding of organic forms to draw, whether you are doing simple gesture drawings or more complex anatomically correct studies. So the discipline and observational skills learned from life drawing will help an artist of any level to be better at expressing their ideas. You can never be too good at drawing the figure!

Thank you for chatting with us this month Simon, and we're all looking forward to the start of your workshop this Saturday. If you're interested in enrolling, learn more and book in here!