About the Boots

Just Draw the Boots is an approach to figure drawing that starts with simple, familiar shapes to help ease into the more complicated, less-familiar ones. It's predicated on the idea that drawing from a live model is an important practice for artists and non-artists, alike.

Live sessions are again being offered! Signup today.

Why Life Drawing?

The practice of drawing the human figure from life builds empathy, patience, tolerance, and appreciation for human diversity. No matter what your background or experience, life drawing encourages one to examine and engage with life through this lens.

A certain Rennaisance artist was believed to have said, "everything you need to know about architecture, engineering, and beauty can be learned by the study of the human body."

More prosaically, developing the ability to draw can change your view of yourself and of your potential. That's the ultimate goal of these workshops.

Why Boots?

Well, for one thing, who doesn’t like some tall boots? They’re stylish and sexy, they’re provocative, they’re fun to look at, and they’re (relatively) simple to draw. Starting a drawing from the ground up, they’re the first things you see.

Our experience has shown that first-timers can easily get lost when trying to draw a live nude model for the first time. Having her dressed as you might see her in a Victoria's Secret catalog is less imtimidating, and the tall boots give beginners a clear point of reference. They can start there, and they can return there if they lose their way.

The simple addition of boots seems to free the beginner from expectations of immediate perfection; interestingly, this appears to hold true for more experienced artists, as well.

Why Traveling Sessions?

Prior to the pandemic, world travel was our pleasure. We've made so many new friends through our Zoom sessions and discovered this immense worldwide community of figure drawing enthusiasts, that now, late- to post-pandemic, we're determined to draw with them all - in person.

Background

My name is Alex Alford. I've been drawing from life for over 40 years. Whenever I talk about life drawing to someone who hasn't tried it, the sequence of responses is the same: uncertainty, amusement, enthusiasm, then a kind of wistful disappointment. "I could never do that," they say. "I wouldn't know where to start."

Workshops of this type, created specifically for those who don't have aspirations to pursue art as a career, seem to be in short supply.

I'm excited to offer my experience, my passion, and my expertise to remedy this lack.