Chippendale’s Peach Black Gallery may have had to close the doors for a while, but they didn’t want to let down their loyal life drawing community. So they’ve come up with a very now solution. They’ve moved their weekly classes online to help Sydneysiders connect to art and creative freedom from their own home.
The two-hour livestreamed classes run twice a week via Zoom, on Wednesday nights at 6pm and Saturday morning at 10am. And they’re a bargain, too, at only $10 a go, so you can go as often as the inspiration takes you. Each session will see the model strike poses for two to 20 minutes, with everyone from first timers to experienced artists encouraged to join in online and have a go. The sessions are led by Peach Black founder and visual artist Matteo Bernasconi, who will talk you through setting up an easel in your living room and getting started. He says it’s a great way keep grounded, creative and engaged.
The online classes have helped the gallery reach audiences way beyond Sydney, with folks from Melbourne and Brisbane’s lockdowns joining in recently, as well as regional towns all over Australia that wouldn’t normally have access to sessions like this. Bernasconi says the classes aren’t just about offering the opportunity to practice sketching and painting a real life model: “It’s also about connecting with fellow artists from around the country, or around the corner.”
