in conversation with fat life drawing

Fat Life Drawing was created by two sisters, Emily and Isobel. They came up with Fat Life Drawing’s (FLD) concept after taking part in online Life Drawing classes, as a creative outlet during lockdown. Soon after, they discovered the extent to which those spaces are lacking in diversity and inclusion. Their initial goal was - and continues to be - creating a comfortable, safe, judgement-free space for like-minded creatives to come together. Together, they wanted to share the meditative practice of life drawing with as many people as possible, deeming it particularly valuable during a pandemic. Mxogyny sits down with Emily and Isobel to discuss how FLD came about, and the affect it has had on both a personal and community level.  

Kiwie by Molly Pukes (they/them) (Instagram: @mollypukes)

[image description: still life nude drawing of a model seated with legs crossed, wearing a shower cap, glasses with a cross on their forehead and bondage on their chests]

Emily begins by explaining how she fell into Life Drawing, as a way to stay creative during lockdown and as an opportunity to nurture her skills. As she attended, she wished the subjects of these life-drawing classes “looked a lot more like us.” At the height of the Black Lives Matter movement, Emily and Isobel decided to form a partnership; with the mutual aim to raise money for BLM-related charities while prioritising the representation of fat bodies. “What makes us different”, Isobel told us, “is that we aren’t tokenised – we have a fat model every week and that helps people feel constantly represented”. While all models are volunteers, aiding Emily and Isobel’s fundraising efforts, the impact FLD has had on its models is poignant. “People have found acceptance through modelling for the classes”, Isobel tells us; a sentiment shared by the variety of seasoned models and first-timers taking part in FLD’s classes. “These are the people we want to model for us”, Emily affirms. “People that might have hated their bodies for forty years and have now found acceptance or neutrality. That has been really powerful”.  

 On their ethos, Emily explains the importance of not making the models feel even vaguely tokenised. Aptly put, “It helps to normalise the body if someone sees themselves as art”. Rightly so, both Isobel and Emily feel immense pride for the international community they’ve created from their computer screens. Many of the models for FLD are from the USA, for example. The community is thus able to raise money for big and small charities from different corners of the world; some causes personal to the models themselves and others for the organisation as a whole. More than anything, it is a safe space to honour marginalised bodies and anyone who wants to be involved in FLD.Emily begins by explaining how she fell into Life Drawing, as a way to stay creative during lockdown and as an opportunity to nurture her skills. As she attended, she wished the subjects of these life-drawing classes “looked a lot more like us.” At the height of the Black Lives Matter movement, Emily and Isobel decided to form a partnership; with the mutual aim to raise money for BLM-related charities while prioritising the representation of fat bodies. “What makes us different”, Isobel told us, “is that we aren’t tokenised – we have a fat model every week and that helps people feel constantly represented”. While all models are volunteers, aiding Emily and Isobel’s fundraising efforts, the impact FLD has had on its models is poignant. “People have found acceptance through modelling for the classes”, Isobel tells us; a sentiment shared by the variety of seasoned models and first-timers taking part in FLD’s classes. “These are the people we want to model for us”, Emily affirms. “People that might have hated their bodies for forty years and have now found acceptance or neutrality. That has been really powerful”.  

On their ethos, Emily explains the importance of not making the models feel even vaguely tokenised. Aptly put, “It helps to normalise the body if someone sees themselves as art”. Rightly so, both Isobel and Emily feel immense pride for the international community they’ve created from their computer screens. Many of the models for FLD are from the USA, for example. The community is thus able to raise money for big and small charities from different corners of the world; some causes personal to the models themselves and others for the organisation as a whole. More than anything, it is a safe space to honour marginalised bodies and anyone who wants to be involved in FLD.

Kat by Lily Holder (she/her) (Instagram: @lilyholder)

[ image description: a red-coloured sketch of a nude model seated, leaning back on their hands]

The day to day running of Fat Life Drawing consists of organising weekly classes, which the two sisters never even thought possible when FLD began – switching from monthly to weekly classes due to the colossal interest they attracted. Along with the occasional corporate event, the day-to-day running involves a lot of admin – mainly navigating emails and Instagram. While, according to Emily, it could possibly be ‘a bit extra’, everyone that comes to a class will have their work shared on their Instagram, contributing to this lovely community feel. Next step is putting out merch, although, it is currently proving a bit of a stress.

In terms of any challenges that have come with FLD, the sisters express how sometimes criticism can be draining. With online zoom classes sometimes reaching up to 250 attendees, Emily highlights how each person brings their own experiences with them. While there has been an occasion where an attendee’s mum sent a harsh email regarding the class ‘inappropriate’, the majority of responses to Fat Life Drawing have been overwhelmingly positive. One of the models, Sarah, even got a tattoo of their session to commemorate how much they had taken away from the experience. On conducting this impactful activity, Emily professes, “I have to take a step back sometimes and realise that we’re helping people to accept their bodies. I think we’ve been able to help a little because we live in marginalised bodies as well so we can approach it from that angle.” Because of FLD, many people are seeing their body shapes represented for the first time. According to the sisters, many of the attendees confess to not having drawn since they were in school – overwhelmingly for lack of confidence in their own abilities. This is what the FLD team are immensely proud of. Emily states, “it’s an untutored class and we aren’t art teachers. We just enjoy art as a pastime and therefore we welcome people with different skills. Whether you’ve been to art school, or you just enjoy drawing. [with FLD] You can just be comfortable in your own abilities.”  

Oliver by Molly Pukes (Instagram: @mollypukes)

[image description: a sketch of a seated model surrounded by green plants]

From speaking to FLD, it is clear that an increase in confidence; regarding both the body and the self, is at the core of their mission. The decision to name the community ‘Fat Life Drawing’ was a significant one. For Emily, “actually using the word ‘fat’ as a descriptor that is not attached to any negative connotations was quite difficult for me, but [she] wanted to reclaim it.” With bodies of all shapes and sizes, the whole point of FLD is to “celebrate difference and diversity”. Emily hopes that by including the word ‘fat’ people may begin to feel comfortable using it. She tells us, “I’ve been fat my whole life and it was something I wanted to hide, but having that in our username makes it something normal with no bearing on your personality. It still feels like it’s taboo to say, “I’m fat” or facially different when that should have no effect on how people treat you. I don’t really agree with the positivity thing because you can’t always feel positive, but you can feel neutral and realise that your body has no bearing on who you are as a person.” 

Looking towards the future, Fat Life Drawing hopes to offer in-person classes and create their own FLD merch. With these hopes come post-covid anxieties, however, the sisters’ main aim is to “continue to do what we’ve always done, and to grow.”  

Em and Isobel are siblings, originally from the south coast in the UK. They are currently split between London and Yorkshire, and founded FLD in June 2020 alongside their day jobs: Em is a Content Manager and Isobel is a Customer Experience Agent. They have raised over £27,000 for various fundraisers, charities, and causes in the 15 months that they have been running so far. All classes are online and untutored, with all ticket proceeds donated to the model's choice of cause. Fat Life Drawing is open to anyone, and welcome first-time life drawing attendees as well as seasoned artists. For tickets, head to fatlifedrawing.co.uk.