Alison Garwood Jones

• Dude throwing javelin
• Woman in fetal position
• Grizzled man hunched in deep thought

I’ve pointed my drawing horse at all of these classic life drawing poses (back when it was possible to attend pay-as-you-go art classes).

During Covid, to prevent rust buildup, I’ve sought out figure poses in Google image searches and YouTube channels, including “Draw This.” But none of these classic stances have inspired me to get better at depicting human proportions. And I want to get better. I can’t draw faces forever.

Then I discovered that drawing models in yoga gear from clothing websites — featuring real women, not human chop sticks — felt more relatable than said gnarly dude throwing the javelin. The thought, “He’s getting paid $15/hour to show us this,” always distracted me from the drawing challenge at hand.

It’s the small changes that can point you to open fields of discovery.

Thanks internet,

Alison