Essential Life Drawing Resources for Artists

Art by Ryan Woodward

Strong figure drawing skills are the foundation of good visual storytelling. 

Whether you’re working in concept art, illustration, animation, or simply trying to sharpen your observational skills, life drawing remains one of the most valuable practices you can invest time in.

But not everyone has regular access to live figure drawing sessions, and that’s where online resources come in. Over time, I’ve gathered a set of go-to websites that offer high-quality life drawing references. Each one brings something slightly different to the table, depending on what you’re looking to practice.

Here’s a breakdown of the best online resources for life drawing:

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Top Life Drawing Reference Websites

PoseSpace

https://www.posespace.com

A reliable source for high-resolution, artist-focused photography. PoseSpace offers a wide range of models, diverse poses, and carefully lit setups. Some poses even include full 360-degree rotations, which is a huge help when you want to study form and volume properly.

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Line of Action

https://www.line-of-action.com

Perfect for quick gesture practice. Line of Action lets you set up timed figure drawing sessions, focusing on capturing movement, energy, and proportion. You can also explore categories like hands, feet, animals, and faces.

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QuickPoses

https://www.quickposes.com

If you want to train speed and instinct, QuickPoses is ideal. The platform pushes you to work through a high volume of sketches in a short time, helping build fluidity and confidence in your strokes.

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Croquis Cafe

https://croquis.cafe/

Croquis Cafe brings the feel of a real-life figure drawing session to your screen. Their free videos simulate studio sessions with live models, timed poses, and consistent quality. It’s one of the closest substitutes for an actual drawing class if you’re working from home.

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AdorkaStock

https://www.adorkastock.com

For more expressive, dynamic, and storytelling-driven poses, AdorkaStock is a great option. The poses are often animated, dramatic, or exaggerated, making them perfect for character work, comic art, and animation studies.

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SenshiStock

https://www.senshistock.com

Focused on action, movement, and fantasy poses, SenshiStock is great for artists who want references that feel lively and filled with narrative energy. Lots of free pose sequences and motion packs are available.

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New Masters Academy (Subscription)

https://www.nma.art

If you’re serious about academic study, New Masters Academy is one of the best investments you can make. Their professional-quality model references and figure drawing videos bring classical art training into your workspace.

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Which One Should You Use?

Each site has its strength:

• Quick gesture warm-ups: Line of Action, QuickPoses

• Detailed anatomy studies: PoseSpace, New Masters Academy

• Dynamic storytelling poses: AdorkaStock, SenshiStock

• Simulated studio sessions: Croquis Cafe

Mixing different types of references into your practice keeps your skills flexible and sharp.

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Final Thought

Mastery in figure drawing doesn’t happen by accident. It’s built quietly, through repetition, focused observation, and constantly challenging your hand and eye to work together. These online resources make it easier to stay consistent, even without access to a live model.

Use them well, draw often, and remember: every sketch, no matter how quick or rough, moves you forward.

#LifeDrawing #FigureDrawing #ArtPractice #ArtResources #GestureDrawing #SimonLocheArt

Talking Tom Sky Run – Concept Art and Building a New Vision

Back in 2019, I had the opportunity to join Outfit7 to help establish a brand-new studio in Barcelona. One of the key projects I worked on during that time was Talking Tom Sky Run, a fresh take on the globally popular My Talking Tom IP.

The challenge was clear: innovate.

Rather than following the established formula of classic runner games, the goal was to reimagine the experience, offering players something freer, more dynamic, and distinctly different. Talking Tom Sky Run introduced a flying-plane runner concept, something that broke away from traditional linear gameplay and opened up new possibilities for movement, style, and world-building. 

Although my time at Outfit7 was relatively brief, the project was an exciting and rewarding challenge. Beyond the gameplay innovation, it was also about building a new team, aligning creative directions, and setting the visual foundation for a fresh branch of an already successful franchise. Being part of the early stages of something new, helping shape it from the ground up, remains one of the most memorable highlights of my career.

Throughout the project, I worked on multiple concept pieces to flesh out the look and tone of the game. From early environment ideas to mood explorations and gameplay visualization, each concept was aimed at supporting a vision that felt both familiar to fans and fresh enough to stand out.

Sharing here several of those concepts to give a deeper look into the visual development work behind the scenes.

#GameArt #ConceptArt #TalkingTomSkyRun #Outfit7 #VisualDevelopment #SimonLocheArt

Digital Painting Studies of John Singer Sargent in Procreate

There’s something about the boldness and confidence of John Singer Sargent’s brushwork that continues to challenge and inspire me. As a long-time admirer of his portrait work, I decided to spend some focused time doing a series of digital studies of his paintings using Procreate on the iPad.

The goal wasn't to replicate the pieces perfectly (even though I think I got pretty close), but to understand the choices behind his lighting, edge control, and value grouping, and to see how those choices translate into a digital format.

Working in Procreate allowed me to zoom in on details, study color temperature shifts, and break down how Sargent used simplicity and restraint to suggest complexity. Even in quick sessions, there’s a lot to learn from how he treated fabric, skin, and background with just a few well-placed strokes.

These studies reminded me how valuable it is to step back from original work and revisit the fundamentals through the lens of a master. And while nothing replaces the tactile experience of oil paint, working digitally let me experiment more freely and focus on observation without being bogged down by setup.

More of these are coming soon. There’s still plenty to absorb from one of the greats.

#JohnSingerSargent #DigitalPainting #ProcreateStudy #MasterStudies #ArtPractice #PortraitArt #SimonLocheArt