In this one-off event, Drawversity was teamed up with ESEA Life Drawing by the founder of Draw; Jake Spicer. As the creative innovator he is, and knower of all Life Drawing classes in the width and breadth of England, he decided to it would be beneficial for all parties, both professionally and socially to bring together a collaboration.

Co-Founded and run by London-based artists Wing Kei Hoang and Kelly Tran, ESEA Life Drawing is a life drawing class that champions ESEA (East and South-East Asian) representation in body expression. Working with collaborators and life models of ESEA background, the goal is to provide a creative space where artists feel seen and heard. “We hope to provide a fresh take on what life drawing can be, where artists can nurture their creativity with others, and socialise within an informal environment.”

Conceived and led by Brighton-based artist & Draw tutor Jade Hylton, Drawversity is a life drawing class that focuses on introducing more people from the BAME community to the world of life modelling.

The session(s) aim – both as a collaboration and individually – is to cultivate more diversity in the Brighton/London life drawing scene, creating a more inclusive portrayal of the art and the artists.

We were lucky enough to have the opportunity to book two models, we decided that we both wanted models that represented both our classes objectives; getting models from both ESEA and BPOC heritage. What we thought would be our biggest challenge, ended up being the first thing we ticked off our list. With ESEA being London based, we weren’t sure if we would find an ESEA model in Brighton, we also wanted the models to be comfortable with one another to some extent, for obvious reasons, but if they weren’t – and on top of that – it was their first time modelling, it might be a recipe for quite an uncomfortable class. A day after we plugged our search on socials, we got an immediate response from a previous Drawversity model who wanted to come and model with her partner who was ESEA. We honestly couldn’t believe our luck! Not only did our models know each other and were comfortable with one another – so comfortable they were/are actually newly weds – but one had already experienced what it’s like to model for the first time (this would be their second) so had enough knowledge to come prepared and help guide their partner in rehearsed poses.

In planning, we hosts decided to put a theme to the class, and decided upon ‘Harmonies in Hues’ a double entendre in our models heritage and that we asked them to dress in black and white. Arriving early, hand-in-hand, our models dressed – from outdoor wear down to their underwear – in perfectly matching blocks of black and white.

In the lead up to the class, with Drawversity still being quite new, and – let’s be honest – with my attention pulled in so many ways, I wasn’t confident that I could fill the studio with friends and artists in Brighton. But with the marketing over more platforms (DRAW, Drawversity & ESEA Life Drawing), it really got a lot of traction. Sara Reeve – artists and DRAW tutor – brought great support by bringing a looaad of friends, Wing Kei and Kelly brought friends all the way from the big city, and by the time we got to the first bell ring, the studio was absolutely packed.

With the studio smudged in sage, the stage moved to the centre of the room and the new mashup playlist created by Kelly and I, we were ready to start the class. Our models changed so Mia was wearing underwear – feeling more comfortable now modelling her second class, and Alyzon in a black crop top and shorts, ready with their phone pertaining a list of readily practiced poses.

Having arrived a few hours before class time, Kelly, Wing Kei and I had agreed that we would play the parts in this class as we would in our own, which meant I was going to focus on helping and advising the model in their poses, whilst they would give the artists different prompts to get those creative juices flowing. With the studio getting more and more full, we looked across the studio at one another and as smooth and as rhythmic as our playlist was, so was our flow in running the class. never interrupting one another, addressing both the model and the artist, everyone was seen to and no one was spoken over. The class had a light-heartedness to it, people giggled as they tried to draw with their non-dominant hand and the models fell into a world of each others own. New faces, bashful for trying something new, and familiar strokes made by the artists who knew the self-service system of the hot beverages and biscuits.

I’m said to be someone who’s doing it all, all the time… and I love that my interest peaks on so many different creative expressions, but after experiencing the first Drawversity class that was at capacity, it has reminded me how much more I could be doing to bringing more artists, new and old, to this easy-going, fun and important class I created. I’m going to be meeting with Jake soon to talk about the plans for Drawversity 2024. I’m excited about being more focused on this unique and necessary venture.

For more information head to the Drawversity page, and follow the new instagram account!