Drawing the Human Figure: Life vs. Photo References

Written By Ryan McJunkin

Whether you’re just getting started with figure drawing or you’ve been sketching for years, finding the right reference makes all the difference. While drawing from photos can be convenient and educational, there’s nothing quite like drawing from a live model. Both approaches offer unique benefits — and combining them can help you grow faster as an artist.

Benefits of Drawing from Life

Drawing from a live model, often called life drawing, gives you a direct, dynamic experience with the human form. Each session challenges you to see in real time — how light changes, how muscles shift, and how weight and gesture affect the pose.

  • You learn to observe quickly and accurately

  • You build hand-eye coordination and confidence

  • You develop a better sense of proportion and perspective

  • You experience the energy and community of other artists drawing alongside you

  • You can create a truly unique and individual drawing without copy right issues, and see the figure through your own eye, rather than the lens of a photographer.

  • Proportions aren’t distorted by the camera lens. Many reference photos are done with a zoom lens to capture the whole figure in focus, flattening out the image and giving the appearance that the model is farther away

  • You’re at the artistic mercy of the photographer, you’re recreating their vision instead of creating your own

  • Online photos are almost always compressed, deleting valuable information, usually in the shadows, a great reason for taking your own reference photos!

  • Setting aside a dedicated and focused time to draw, with fewer distractions than drawing photos off your computer at home

At Faultline Gallery in Oakland, our life and figure drawing sessions offer this exact experience — a relaxed, creative environment where artists of all levels can practice drawing from professional models. The act of drawing from life pushes your observation skills in ways photos simply can’t.

Benefits of Drawing from Photos

Of course, photo references can be incredibly useful too — especially when you’re practicing anatomy or gesture drawing on your own. They let you study details, experiment with compositions, and draw anytime, anywhere.

Some key advantages include:

  • The ability to pause, zoom, and revisit poses

  • Access to a variety of body types, lighting, and perspectives

  • The freedom to practice outside of scheduled sessions

  • A chance to focus on refinement and longer studies

  • Cheap and easy access- free references can be found for free and copied without leaving your studio

When used well, photos can complement your live drawing practice, helping you reinforce what you’ve learned in the studio.

Recommended Figure Drawing Photo Resources

If you’re looking for reliable online resources, here are a few excellent ones to explore:

Free Resources:

Paid or Premium Resources:

Why Drawing from Life Still Matters

While photo references are convenient, drawing from life brings something irreplaceable: presence. A live model has energy and subtle movement that a photo can’t capture. You see how shadows shift, how posture changes, and how emotion translates through the body.

Life drawing trains your eye to truly see, not just copy — and when you combine both approaches, your figure drawings become more expressive, confident, and alive.

If you’re ready to take your skills to the next level, join one of our figure drawing sessions at Faultline Gallery in Oakland. You’ll meet other artists, draw from live models, and experience firsthand how much more you can learn when drawing from life.

👉 Check our current life drawing / figure drawing schedule

Ryan McJunkin
Next

Apply For One (or More) of Our Upcoming Art Shows