Don't Hold Still: Life Drawing Through Ideas of Bodily Movement
A 3-day Intensive Workshop with Randy Melick
June 27-29, 2025 (Friday - Sunday)
Friday, 10am - 5pm, Workshop
Saturday, 10am - 5pm, Workshop
Sunday, 10am - 5pm, Workshop
(1 hour lunch break each day)
Early Registration Deadline (with discount): May 9, 2025
[ REGISTER HERE ]
Tuition:
With registration by May 9:
$448 (Student Rate: $380 with valid student ID)
* 15% discount student rates offered only with valid academic student i.d. We will contact you to obtain verification in advance of the workshop.
Description:
This life drawing workshop redefines the practice of “working from the model” by shifting the focus from replicating appearance to seeing the figure through the language of drawing itself. Rather than striving to make drawings look more like figures, participants will explore how figures come into focus by looking more like drawings. Through careful study of select figure drawings and guided exercises, artists will engage with alternative ways of seeing natural forms—modes that even contemporary figurative artists have largely overlooked. This approach places the idea of natural movement at the center of life drawing, allowing participants to break away from rigid, lens-based observation. Artists will learn to recognize the unique qualities of life drawings that prioritize bodily movement over photographic accuracy, construct drawings through comparison rather than direct transcription, and convey the position and direction of the body’s major masses. By embracing this dynamic method, participants will “choreograph” their drawings, allowing each major form to move along its own trajectory, resulting in expressive and compelling figure studies.
Class Size:
Maximum: 15
Materials List:
[ download/print PDF of Materials List HERE ]
Level of Study: This workshop is suggested for individuals with at least some life drawing experience; at the same time, participants with extensive life drawing experience will find the approach taken in the workshop to be novel and non-repetitive.
AREA ACCOMMODATIONS FOR THOSE TRAVELING TO ATTEND
For those traveling to Cincinnati to attend this visiting artist workshop, there are many exciting or practical options for accommodations. For a special stay within a mile of Manifest's new facility, we would recommend checking with The Clifton House Bed & Breakfast* (https://thecliftonhouse.com), or The Gaslight Bed & Breakfast (https://www.gaslightbb.com). Alternatively, the 21c Museum Hotel is in the heart of downtown just four miles from our location (link). Many other common hotels are within a few miles of our location as well. Those who are new to Cincinnati may want to arrive a day early and take in the Cincinnati Art Museum and Taft Museum of Art.
*We have confirmed that the Clifton House will honor a special discounted rate for Manifest workshop participants when rooms are available.
LOCATION: Unless otherwise specified, all courses are hosted at Manifest's new facility at 'M1' in Clifton at 3464 Central Parkway (see map and directions below). Manifest's new facility provides multiple studio classrooms, private lesson space, a darkroom, a film processing room, and a multi-purpose lecture and class meeting space as well as on-site parking, grounds, and exterior spaces in which to relax, discuss, and make art. The studios are outfitted with professional equipment, furniture, and study aids.
Map to Manifest's M1 Studios | Studio Calendar | Darkroom Calendar
Manifest's new home on Central Parkway is a historic 1932 structure ideally suited to the various programs of the Manifest Drawing Center (and future Manifest Gallery). Even now, mostly unchanged from 93 years ago, it serves as a playful collaborator in our educational mission. Students and guests are inspired by both the content of our programs, and the spaces in which they occur.
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Works by Randy Melick
About the instructor:
Randy Melick is an accomplished artist and educator specializing in figure drawing and artistic anatomy. With over 35 years of experience teaching life drawing at both the graduate and undergraduate levels, he has instructed students at numerous institutions including the Lyme Academy College of Fine Arts where he was the Deane G. Keller Endowed Chair of Classical Drawing and Figurative Art, and Chair of the Drawing Department. Melick's drawings have been exhibited in prominent galleries and venues around the world, including in Paris, New York, San Francisco, Atlanta, and Cincinnati. His extensive teaching background and artistic practice have established him as a respected figure in the field of figure drawing. Randy currently lives and works in Michigan.
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