At NOOD, we welcome people from every walk of life: lifelong artists, art students, unemployed animators keeping their skills alive between jobs, people returning to art after years away, people on a path of self-discovery, and people who are simply curious enough to walk through our door.
Last night, a group of friends joined us who had never drawn a live model before. Not once.
At first, there was shyness. Some peeked at each other’s pages. Some hunched over their sketchbooks, quietly shielding their drawings. Lines were slow. Careful. Hesitant.
And then something shifted.
By the end of the session, the room felt different. Drawings were no longer hidden. Self-criticism softened. Lines became bolder, freer – drawn with feeling and confidence. What started as uncertainty turned into laughter, sharing, and pride.
Their drawings were their very first attempts at drawing a live nude model. But what moved me most wasn’t what was on the page – it was what showed up in them. Their joy. Their courage. Their souls, suddenly visible.
As I watched them leave with their drawings tucked under their arms, I hoped they’d keep them for years. So that one day, when they’re standing on the edge of something scary and new, they can look back at these pages and remember:
I was brave once. I can be brave again.