A life drawing class that focuses on body positivity and diversity launches tomorrow evening at The Fourth Corner in Dublin 8. The programme, All Bodies, is a new life-drawing series that works with models who are representative of the full spectrum of body types in the community.

All Bodies believes that everybody is a work of art. Their goal is to give people a platform to be seen and heard and to also build up a community of people who want to talk about drawing. The class will focus on both the model’s body and personality, as a dialogue between the participants and the model are actively encouraged.

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The project’s creator, Ailbhe O’Connor spoke to GCN about All Bodies and the importance of diversity and body positivity when it comes to life drawing:

“For the most part, we will be focusing on the form. But as image makers, I think there is a responsibility on us to ensure that those images are diverse and that the learning you build up through observation when drawing doesn’t just apply to a certain type of form.

“When I did a call out for models, I was looking for models who felt like their body type was under or misrepresented in the mainstream. The response I got was overwhelming, there are a lot of people out there with something to say about representation.

“So I decided to add a Q&A section to the session so that there can be a conversation between the image-maker and those being drawn. I will be asking our models to clad themselves and pose the way they want to be portrayed for the longer poses, so I am anticipating lots of power stances!”

Beginners are welcome, and all drawing materials will be provided. Participants are encouraged to stick around afterwards to continue the conversation over a drink.

Tickets are available from Eventbrite, and the first session starts tomorrow October 3 at 7 pm. For more details, check out the Facebook event here.