It gets the hands dirty and makes an immediate impression. The academy recently displayed at its Piccadilly building in central London more than 150 children's drawings from Outreach in a show called Alive . I've drawn my father at home, but drawing the woman model was a bit difficult - especially the arm and the leg, the fingers and the shape of the hand. I liked discovering how to do it. The mind has to invent, take risks, consider alternatives and be prepared to learn from failure along the way.
Life drawing is a learning experience.
Recognition of the program's value is indicated in the variety of its sponsors - in turn, an oil company, a bank and a Japanese health food company. It was John Ruskin, the most influential art critic of Victorian times and himself highly skilled in drawing, who said that when once we see keenly enough, there's very little difference in drawing what we see. This year is the centennial of Ruskin's death and he is very much back in fashion, with exhibitions and lectures about him in Britain and the United States. The academy show coincided with the launch of Drawing Power, a national campaign for drawing by the Guild of St George, founded by Ruskin to promote his ideas. It seeks to get everyone interested in learning how to draw - not just children.