Happening in pubs around our region, The Tipsy Sketching Club is breaking down barriers to art. Photo: Michael Billing.
When was the last time you had a lightbulb moment?
For former public servant turned full-time life model and owner of the Tipsy Sketching Club Lauren Sutherland, she was sitting naked in front of a room full of people.
“I was sitting for a studio one night, and I just thought that I’d love to try and create a space that made life drawing a little more accessible to the average Joe,” Lauren tells Region.
“I wanted to create an environment where everyone felt welcome, and you didn’t have to be a student or an established artist to come along, and I thought, what better way than to invite people to their local and have the opportunity to draw a nude human at the same time?”
This was in 2022 when Lauren founded the Tipsy Sketching Club. Kicking off with one session a month in venues in Canberra, the demand for Lauren’s classes has grown to the point where the business is now her full-time endeavour.
“Working full-time was really limiting; there is only so much annual leave you can take to run your own business, and it’s not exactly what you are meant to be doing in the public service.”
Life model Lauren Sutherland founded the club. Photo: Michael Billing.
Untethered from her former career, Lauren is expanding the business and taking her pub-based life drawing sessions out on the road to regional locations around NSW.
Her first session in Queanbeyan came to the Royal Hotel in early July, and she’s also hosted sessions at Earp Distilling Co. in Bathurst, the Victoria Hotel also in Bathurst, the Alpine Hotel in Cooma and locations in Newcastle.
Lauren says life drawing in the pub isn’t a completely new idea, but she is unaware of other groups that take their sessions on the road.
One of Lauren’s goals for the business is to break down barriers to art and entice people who may never have given life drawing a go.
“Everyone who attends are at different skill levels; we have people who genuinely have never picked up a pencil for the purposes of drawing since school,” Lauren says.
“It’s a safe space; we can have a laugh if someone thinks they’ve stuffed something up or given you an extra finger,” says Lauren, laughing.
She admits some newcomers are a little nervous when they attend their first session, but it’s nothing that a pint can’t fix.
Lauren is travelling the region with her popular art club. Photo: Michael Billing.
Lauren has a range of models working for the Tipsy Sketching Club but still regularly models herself. It’s something she originally got into as a side hustle and has just never felt embarrassed to be nude in a room full of people.
One of Lauren’s favourite aspects of the job is to go around after the session and see everyone’s different styles and interpretations of her body.
She shares that people are far more concerned with what they are putting on paper than what the model’s body looks like, and it’s a very empowering environment for the nude models and the participants.
Lauren does laugh that while the sessions take place within private rooms at the pubs, or after hours in the main bar, they have learnt to lock the doors, as accidental appearances by people looking for a drink at the pub can happen.
On one occasion, some unsuspecting patrons wandered into the closed pub looking for a drink and instead found themselves signing up for the life drawing class that they had stumbled into.
Lauren encourages anyone interested to join in and bring an open mind. It’s not only the sketchers that may be trying out a new skill; they also have people that are new to life-modelling.
Basic art supplies are included, but Lauren encourages people to bring their own preferred supplies with them. Lauren also hosts themed events, including lingerie sessions, which brings an added layer to the challenge of drawing the human body.
You can find out more about the Tipsy Sketching Club or book in for a session on its website.
