We have recently been featured in a couple of newspaper and magazine articles. We're becoming more widely known all the time - particularly in London, where Rachel McCarthy (who started this whole business off) is running her own classes. She featured in The Sun on Tuesday the 9th of April. I've included the article - that's her on the bottom of the second page.
OK, so fair enough... that's more about life modelling, than the hen night art classes we know and love from this blog, but there's another article - in Floodlight Magazine. I'd never heard of it before, so maybe it's local to London.
Anyway, if you want to read it, you can find it here.
And just in case you the links aren't working, here's the online article -
We’re sure anyone who has ventured into the city of a weekend, will have already noticed that London is a haven for stag and hen parties. With its busy nightlife and abundance ofthings to do during the day, plenty of soon-to-be brides and grooms want to celebrate their last days before marriage in the capital.
Hen and stag dos used to mean just one night out dancing and drinking but they’ve now turned into whole weekends, featuring hotels, activities, and in some cases international travel. Brides and grooms-to-be aren’t satisfied with a drink at the local anymore – they’re looking to try new things and really make the most of spending time with friends before the big day.
London is the place to find hen party ideas and model agent, Rachel McCarthy, has come up a unique experience that will certainly be remembered by brides and their girlfriends:life drawing hen parties.
Rachel runs RAM – The Register of Artists and Models – and is always looking for ways to get work for the models and artists on her books. ‘A few years ago, I hit upon the idea of providing tailor made drawing sessions for private groups. One of those groups early on happened to be a hen party. And the rest is history. The idea took off and grew like wildfire!’
The concept is simple – you let Rachel know what you’re after and for how many hens and she will organise materials, the studio, equipment and the all important male life model – so for anyone after hen party ideas, it couldn't be easier. Rachel’s life drawing hen parties can be held all over London and her team will even come to your home or hotel. Plus, for those that want refreshments, it’s possible to organise an afternoon tea or cocktail making session alongside.
Life drawing hen parties are a civilised and artistic alternative to the now cliché tradition of embarrassing the bride with a male stripper and Rachel says this is part of their appeal, ‘A life drawing class provides the titillation of a hot, nude young man without it being in the environment of a tawdry strip joint. All our events are run very professionally with RAM accredited tutors and models.’
The great thing about life drawing hen parties is that as well as having a good laugh, the group gets to learn something. This is a concept that is becoming increasingly popular with women celebrating this sort of occasion, and course providers are offering hen party ideas in the form of jewellery making workshops and cupcake decorating classes. It means the whole group comes away with a new skill as well as some good memories.
For most of us though, the idea of working with a room full of excited hens sounds difficult, so is it hard to teach them? ‘Not really,’ says Rachel, ‘After an initial period of total shock (if it's a complete surprise) and a bit of giggling, they all settle down and draw! We take them through basic drawing exercises - all classes are lead by a workshop leader, so they're not left to their own devices.’
Of course, in the light hearted environment of life drawing hen parties, there’s not a huge amount of pressure to get your sketching absolutely perfect. It’s not always easy though – so what’s the most challenging part? ‘Everything, according to a lot of artists!Life drawing is the hardest form of drawing. They'd much rather be given a building or vase of flowers to draw, rather than a living, breathing human being. Seriously, though, the hardest things to draw, believe it or not, are hands and feet. Many artists leave them out or cut them off. Not literally, I hasten to add!’
Aside from becoming experts in art though, hens can expect a good giggle from Rachel’s life drawing classes and she says there have been a lot of funny moments, ‘Once, the bride wanted to take off her clothes and model too!’ She also says the drawings can be funny and as the hens can take them home at the end, they make a hilarious souvenir to remember the event by.
The great thing about life drawing hen parties is that as well as having a good laugh, the group gets to learn something. This is a concept that is becoming increasingly popular with women celebrating this sort of occasion, and course providers are offering hen party ideas in the form of jewellery making workshops and cupcake decorating classes. It means the whole group comes away with a new skill as well as some good memories.
For most of us though, the idea of working with a room full of excited hens sounds difficult, so is it hard to teach them? ‘Not really,’ says Rachel, ‘After an initial period of total shock (if it's a complete surprise) and a bit of giggling, they all settle down and draw! We take them through basic drawing exercises - all classes are lead by a workshop leader, so they're not left to their own devices.’
Of course, in the light hearted environment of life drawing hen parties, there’s not a huge amount of pressure to get your sketching absolutely perfect. It’s not always easy though – so what’s the most challenging part? ‘Everything, according to a lot of artists!Life drawing is the hardest form of drawing. They'd much rather be given a building or vase of flowers to draw, rather than a living, breathing human being. Seriously, though, the hardest things to draw, believe it or not, are hands and feet. Many artists leave them out or cut them off. Not literally, I hasten to add!’
Aside from becoming experts in art though, hens can expect a good giggle from Rachel’s life drawing classes and she says there have been a lot of funny moments, ‘Once, the bride wanted to take off her clothes and model too!’ She also says the drawings can be funny and as the hens can take them home at the end, they make a hilarious souvenir to remember the event by.
With a vast number of life drawing classes on offer across London (including ones for more serious artistic types who want to attend on their own), we asked Rachel to sum up why hens might want to book this sort of class for the occasion, ‘It's fun, you get to look at a fit young man with no clothes on, take a work of art (hopefully!) home with you, and acquire a new found skill.’
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