PRIVATE ONLINE LESSONS
IN LOCATION DRAWING! join us!
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the life drawing symposium story
Veronica Lawlor and Melanie Reim are unabashed lovers of drawing the figure from life. It’s not uncommon to see them finding as much joy and excitement when drawing in front of a live model today as they did as students, marveling in the gifts and lessons that drawing the figure can bring and still, together, discussing the nuances of the experience and the rush that it brings.
The light bulb went on during one of these mind-blowing meetings- “Why not share the love of drawing the figure with a huge group gathered around a live model?!”
And so, in 2019, Life Drawing Symposium, Drawing People Starts Here™ was born.
An in-person symposium followed in the New York tri-state area, with participants from across the country as well as the US borders. It was nothing short of fantastic- enthusiastic, energizing, informed and FUN!
No sooner had we ended then another was planned for the following year.
We all know what happened in 2020. We held our breath for a moment and then decided that there was no stopping our commitment to Life Drawing Symposium. We pivoted to an online delivery format, never imagining the silver linings within.
Since 2020, Veronica and Melanie have been delivering Life Drawing Symposium Mini Zoom sessions to an astounding global community that has reached scores of like-minded people!
Each Mini Zoom has a morning and afternoon session; each session has a specific focus. We have been credited with delivering a perfectly timed, uber informative experience that has changed the way that one can draw from observation- from composition to hands and feet to the expression on a face- and beyond.
We haven’t given up on gathering again in person- it’s in the works. For now, we LOVE our global community and have big plans to continue our Mini-Zooms- now with scheduled to accommodate our friends in Asia and the West Coast on their time!
Visit the Mini-Symposium 1 tab in our banner for details- and remember that Drawing People Starts Here!
What to expect in our workshops
Come prepared to work hard, study, and immerse yourself in the world of drawing. This is not your average workshop - get ready for a ride!
What does that mean?
Well, in our in-person Life Drawing Symposiums we love to work with models who can move, who have great, exaggerated gesture and who need no guidance in designing the most interesting poses you will ever see. And, we like to keep moving, too-the poses tend to be short. We love to challenge ourselves and our students to capture the essence of that model in 30 seconds to five minutes to 10 minutes. We work with you- we talk to you, we cajole you, guide you, and most importantly, teach you how to understand the figure and make your drawings look three dimensional on that two-dimensional surface.
Our Online Mini-Symposiums follow this same philosophy, where you will work with live models via zoom as well as your own surroundings, to learn skills and premises that will help you capture people quickly and express yourself clearly when drawing on location. Because you can join us from anywhere in the world, you’ll also become a part of our growing global community of illustrators, urban sketchers, designers, architects, and really, anyone who loves to draw!
Our years of practice and experience tell us that THIS WORKS!
Are you ready?
QUESTIONS ABOUT SUPPLIES?
For our online Mini-Symposium 1 workshop, some paper and a black marker (such as a Sharpie) are all that you need!
For our Mini-Symposium 2 and 3 workshops, we’ll ask that you have a soft graphite pencil and some color materials handy as well - a box of crayons would be a perfect start, but you could also work with pastels.
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For our in-person life drawing symposiums you’ll need:
Paper:
• Two 18 x 24 pads of newsprint or cheap drawing paper
• 8 x 10 or 11 x 14 mixed media sketchbook for evening sessions.
Materials:
6- 10 sticks of compressed (not vine) charcoal, water soluble ink and brush/calligraphy pen, a few soft graphite pencils, a few colored pencils, and a small watercolor set with brush. If you are taking the color workshop, add a small box of Nupastels (or similar) as well as a small tube of white gouache. Don’t forget to bring a small jar for water and some paper towels!
There will be tables set up to draw on, but if you like to draw on the floor you might consider bringing a small cushion with you to sit on.
Drawing by Michelangelo, from the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art
Our philosophy
Drawing is thinking. Drawing is design. Drawing the figure is the key to understanding how things work together. Drawing reveals the artist. These are our maxims. We live this.
The symposium co-founders are proud to continue the drawing philosophy instilled in them by their mentor, the late David J. Passalacqua.
Drawing the figure – and understanding how the figure works – is the best way that we know of, to truly discover the individuality within the artist and elicit an empowerment, confidence and originality in drawing. It’s about an expression of life and freedom through line, mark, shape, and color; through experimentation, successes, and yes, sometimes, failures. Drawing the figure is life-long study; at least, it has been for us. Everyone has to start somewhere - and continue somewhere. Every day is a new day in drawing, even for us, after 30 years.
We’re serious about study. Oh, and fun, too!
Please Note: Our online mini-workshops are always live instruction and of the moment. We do not record them.
For the comfort of the models and participants, we ask that you refrain from all videotaping during our in-person symposiums. You may photograph your own drawings during model breaks, as well as the drawings of others, with their permission.
We want to foster a collaborative community; thank you for your co-operation.
All art and text copyright the individual artists.
our team
Between us, we have have over 80 years of studying and teaching life drawing.
VERONICA LAWLOR
SYMPOSIUM CO-FOUNDER
Instructor
Veronica is a New Yorker, a freelance illustrator, and a member of Studio 1482. For over 25 years, her reportage drawings have led her around the world, creating award-winning illustrations for a diverse group of clients. She brings her same expressionistic sensibility into the studio, creating abstract paintings reflective of the energy of the locations she has documented. Her work has been shown at Albert Shahinian Fine Art, Emerge Gallery, and Soho House NY, among others.
Ronnie teaches drawing and illustration at Pratt Institute, Parsons School of Design, Woodstock School of Art and Washburn Studios. She is a co-founder/instructor of the Dalvero Academy.
Authored books include One Drawing A Day: A Six-Week Course Exploring Creativity With Illustration and Mixed Media and the Urban Sketching Handbook: Reportage and Documentary Drawing (Quarry Books.) Her 9/11 reportage has been exhibited globally and is gathered in the book: September 11, 2001, Words & Pictures (vero press.)
Teaches: Mini-Symposium 1, 2 & 3 (online) Figure in Motion (in person) and Color Expression (in person)
MELANIE REIM
SYMPOSIUM CO-FOUNDER
Instructor
Melanie is an award-winning illustrator with a sketchbook never far from her side.
Melanie retired from FIT in NYC after a storied career as a Professor and Associate Dean. She has returned to her love for drawing the figure, speaking and delivering workshops and classes. Reim’s NYC studio is a hub for drawing from the model, and life drawing workshops.
Reim is a Fulbright Scholar and a Distinguished Educator in the Arts, Society of Illustrators in NY.
Her work is the subject of numerous articles and features in books about illustration and drawing on location, citing experiences that include drawing for the US Air Force, The Cincinnati Zoo, Hong Kong Factory reportage, and NHK Japan TV documenting the Women’s March on Washington.
Reim’s monograph, Different & the Same, My Stories and Drawings of Women Around the World, was published by Sketcher Press.
Teaches: Mini-Symposium 1, 2 & 3 (online) The Line is the Thing (in person) and Gesture (in person)
MARGARET HURST
Instructor
Margaret Hurst creates illustrations and reportage works that are intelligent, cultural, and uniquely personal. Her illustration work can be found in many markets, done in many mediums, and always in good design.
A professor at Pratt Institute and a cofounder/instructor of the Dalvero Academy, Margaret has been teaching drawing and illustration for over 20 years.
Born and raised in the Virgin Islands, Marg is the author/illustrator of the Caribbean inspired tale, Grannie and the Jumbie (HarperCollins) which was included in the juried Original Art Show at the Society of Illustrators.
Teaches: Marks & Movement (in person) and Picture Making: Beyond the Figure (in person)
