Life drawing online, 15 November 2025

24 Nov 2025

I was supposed to be having a 25-day break from modelling – central to which was a 15-night holiday at the south end of Fuerteventura. Normally I don’t take online work when I know I’ll be away as it’s tricky to vouch for wifi quality in advance. In this case, however, I was already away when I got the offer; I knew the wifi was good.

So come Saturday afternoon I set-up my phone camera on a mini-tripod, attached an external battery to boost its power, readied my laptop as further back-up, then settled down for a spot of London Drawing portrait modelling live from the Canary Islands. All this gear I just happened to have with me anyway.

What a wonderful session it turned out to be. A bonus for the artists was that daylight on Fuerteventura lasts two hours longer than in London at this time of year, meaning they could draw me in natural light throughout; it would have been electric light in the UK. I gurned for short poses, but was more naturalistic as durations lengthened.

I loved listening to tutor Josie Deighton describing the geography of my features: “a mountain on his nose“; “hair like a roof“; “eyes are like breasts“. And I was supposed to be keeping a straight face! Best of all was how everybody engaged in the session, sharing artworks and encouragements with others at half-time and the end.

Overall it was hugely enjoyable and did not feel at all like an imposition of work in the middle of a vacation. Quite the opposite, in fact. Lovely to reconnect with Josie again and to see so many fantastic drawings and paintings created by the artists. Hopefully this could be the start of more remote modelling whilst travelling… wifi permitting.