Life drawing, done with care.
Two studios — Vancouver and Port Moody — where artists, models, and the simply curious gather to make something quietly worthwhile.
In a world that rushes, we choose to sit together.
We believe art happens best when people feel safe, welcomed, and connected.
That's why NOOD reimagines life drawing as a social experience, one that restores what a busy week takes from you, and puts you in a room with people who are paying the same kind of attention.
We provide everything: professional art supplies, tea and coffee, something to eat, and models who are coached, respected, and paid fairly. You show up as you are. We take care of the rest.
Four things we stand by.
These aren't taglines. They are the terms on which NOOD operates, the decisions we make every week about what kind of room we want to run.
No critique. No corrections. No standard to reach.
Beginners and experienced artists share the same room, the same charcoal, the same unhurried hour. Your drawing stays yours, a private record of looking, not a public performance.
The only measure that matters is whether you came back.
Every session is prepared. Not improvised.
The model is vetted, coached, and paid a fair rate. The light is set. The space is ready. Materials are waiting. The music, or silence, is chosen beforehand. You walk into something made, not assembled on the night.
NOOD does not simply happen. It is made to happen.
Our models are professionals. Not props.
Coached by us, fairly paid, and protected by boundaries we enforce without hesitation. No photography. No unsolicited comments. No pressure beyond comfort. NOOD runs the world's first life-model coaching programme. We carry that responsibility with care.
Great art begins with trust.
Drawing does something to your sense of time.
The sustained act of looking at a human being (pencil in hand, world temporarily set aside) is not quite meditation, not quite therapy. It is its own thing. Quieter. More physical. And reliably, stubbornly restorative.
A pause. A reset. A way back to yourself.
From Need to NOOD: How it Started
NOOD didn't start as a business. It started as a need.
I spent years commuting across the city to work as a life model — sometimes 10–14 hours a day, just to make a few sessions happen. I kept waiting for something closer to home. Something consistent. Something that honoured the work.
After 7½ years, I stopped waiting.
In December 2025, I built what I had been looking for.
NOOD began as a life-drawing space — but not just a place to show up, draw, and leave. It was designed to feel different. Softer. More intentional. A space where artists could connect, where models were respected, and where the experience itself mattered.
That's why we do things differently. Small touches. Thoughtful atmosphere. Real care. Because this practice deserves it.
Then something unexpected happened — people started reaching out, not as artists, but as aspiring models.
Instead of turning them away, we opened the door wider.
Today, NOOD is also a life-model coaching space — built for people who want to step into this work with guidance, confidence, and support. No gatekeeping. No judgment. Just a place to learn, ask questions, and grow into something new.
NOOD isn't just a studio. It's a space for becoming — on both sides of the easel.
Welcome to NOOD.
Two studios. Both run as though the room matters.
NOOD operates out of two Vancouver-area locations: PoMoArts in Port Moody, and The Vessel in Vancouver's Railtown neighbourhood. The rooms are different in size and character. The sessions are the same in standard and care.
Each week we provide professional models, all materials, something warm to drink, and a room lit and arranged for drawing. We handle the logistics so the people in the room can do what they came to do: look, draw, and be present with other people doing the same.
Artists come back. That is the measure. We have regulars who have been coming for years. We have people who walked in as complete beginners and found something they didn't know they were missing. We have models who started drawing at their own sessions. The room tends to do that.