Welcome to the site where we draw from life. This site not only serves the Penzance area life drawing group in Cornwall, but also offers image galleries, news and exercises of wider interest to those who love drawing and figures, and also cakes. Here you will also find a popular random pose generator to give suggestions and inspiration for models and poses, and you can learn how to do monoprints.

For full details of the weekly Life Drawing Penzance sessions open to all, including 2026 dates and map, please see the Penzance page here.

Our occasional all-day sessions give you time to do a more complete painting or drawing of a single pose held for the whole day, unlike a typical life class or course. These are open to all and the cost is just twice that of the morning sessions, and you need to supply your own materials and usually portable easel if you would like to be sure of having one. You can see some work from an all-day pose in this gallery from an all-day session. Everyone is welcome and we only arrange these extra sessions when there is enough interest.

One year we had a special subject, as we were drawing a pregnant model on the last Saturday of each month. and some of that work was shown at an enjoyable Lifelines Exhibition in Penzance. You can still see work here from the Figuration Exhibition in St Ives of 2014, a great chance to see a wide variety of skilled innovation responding to the living human form. Previously there was a fine set of drawings by a Newlyn artist on show at the Drawn From Life Exhibition in St Ives Cornwall, as well as an interesting local life drawing group exhibition at the Schoolhouse Gallery in Morvah, in Penwith near St Ives, which is one of Cornwall's best lit galleries.

And if you want a bit of help when drawing or with classes, get out your phone and have a look at the handy exercises here. Or try a piece of cake.