Life Drawing in Sydney CBD & Surrounds

Some groups want a teacher, some want a party host, and some just want a quiet room and a model holding still. The city fringe covers all three, split between two neighbourhoods: Chippendale, where Gladdy Drawing Club and Peach Black Gallery sit a few blocks apart, and Darlinghurst, just east of the CBD around Oxford Street, home to The Artful Hen and Darlinghurst Life Drawing. The format varies more than the subject does. A 90-minute club class, a gallery booked exclusively for the night, a two-hour hens session built on drawing games, or a teacher-led studio class for up to 20 guests – each suits a different kind of outing. How the four operators line up:

• Gladdy Drawing Club, 115 Regent Street, Chippendale: a club that gathers upstairs at The Lord Gladstone Hotel, with public Tuesday classes from $22 per person and private classes for workplaces and hens groups by email arrangement.
• Peach Black Gallery, 126 Abercrombie Street, Chippendale: an artist-run gallery you take over for the night (From $390 minimum spend), where a tutor, a professional model, drawing materials and wine on arrival are all part of it.
• The Artful Hen, 2A Liverpool Lane, Darlinghurst: women-owned and running hens parties since 2001, with an artist host leading games around a nude model, from $35 per person.
• Darlinghurst Life Drawing, 205 Oxford Street: a teacher-led studio known as Room 205, booked privately for groups of up to 20, with prices quoted on enquiry.
• Materials: all four supply what you need, from Gladdy's masonite boards and charcoal to sepia ink and cartridge paper at Room 205.

If the plan is a quiet creative evening with colleagues, the Chippendale pair lean that way; if it is a bride-to-be and her friends with drinks in hand, the two Darlinghurst studios are set up for exactly that, and Oxford Street is right there for the next stop.