QAS Life Drawing Classes
Wednesday Evening Life Drawing in Queenstown
with Kasia Hebda
Life drawing in Queenstown, every Wednesday evening through the term. Draw from a live model – come for one session or make it your weekly practice, in a room where nobody is judging your line.
If you can hold a pen, you can draw.
Life drawing isn’t about arriving with a skill in hand. It’s about learning to really look, and quieting the inner critic that says “I can’t” long enough to draw what you actually see.
The session opens with quick gestures to loosen your hand and your eye, then settles into longer studies where you can build something.
It also builds skills that carry into everything else you make: hand-eye coordination, focus, and a real understanding of composition, form and balance.
These are guided sessions, but you draw at your own pace, in the medium of your choice. Kasia meets you where you are. She gives you tools to improve and guides you through the process, week by week.
No previous experience needed. Come as you are.
You will finally draw what you see, not what you think.
Train your eye.
Drawing from a living, breathing person teaches you things no photograph ever will.
A regular practice, held for you every week.
The hardest part of drawing is not the hand, it’s the looking. A live model gives you weight, balance and foreshortening that shift every time the pose changes, so you learn to see quickly and commit.
Because it runs every Wednesday through the term, you don’t have to find the discipline on your own. The room, the model and the time are already sorted. You book the week you want and bring a sketchbook.
Beginners are genuinely welcome. So are artists who have been drawing for forty years, and there are usually both in the room.
Please arrive 10 minutes early. Doors close and drawing starts at 6 PM sharp.
Prefer to just draw?
The sessions are guided, but you’re just as welcome to come along and work quietly on your own. Kasia will leave you to it unless you’d like her input. Same room, same model, no pressure either way.
How a session runs
- ~5:45 PMArrive early to set up your spot and materials
- 6:00 PMDoors close, the model starts posing and drawing begins
- BreakA short breather in the middle of the session
- 7:30 PMDrawing ends, and we admire what we’ve done
Within that hour and a half, the drawing itself moves through:
- Short warm-up gestures, one to two minutes each, to get you moving
- Medium poses to work on proportion, weight and balance
- One longer pose to take a drawing further
- Guidance from Kasia throughout – she meets you where you are and gives you tools to improve
- A quiet, focused room with a friendly group
You leave with a stack of drawings and a sharper eye than you walked in with.
What to bring
- An A4 to A2 sketchbook, visual diary or digital tablet
- Pencils, coloured pencils, oil pastels, conte and graphite sticks, markers, charcoal
- Erasers, kneadable or soft
- Bulldog clips
- For wet media: watercolour, gouache or ink, plus a jar with a lid and a waterproof drop sheet
- A drop sheet for any medium that makes dust
No solvent based paints please. Materials aren’t provided for this class, so bring what you like working with. There are a limited number of easels on site, so arriving early is worth it.
Who it’s for
- Complete beginners who have never drawn from life
- Artists keeping a regular practice going
- Painters wanting to strengthen their drawing underneath
- Anyone who wants a creative evening that isn’t a screen
- Visitors to Queenstown – one-off sessions are fine
The classes work from nude models, both male and female. Learners under 18 are welcome with parental consent: ask your parent or guardian to email [email protected].
Drawing room etiquette
- No smartphones, personal music devices or photographic equipment in life classes
- Arrive 10 minutes early to set up. Doors close and we start at 6 PM sharp
- If the model is working, knock and wait outside until a pose is broken and the model is robed
- Models have preference over room temperature
- Be conscious of the model’s personal space, and don’t approach without permission
- The model’s privacy is maintained at all times, in and outside the room
These protect the model and keep the room focused. They aren’t negotiable.
From past sessions
In the room
Dates
Wednesdays, 6 to 7:30 PM at Te Atamira. Term 3 runs to 23 September, then classes pick up again on 14 October. Book whichever weeks suit you.
Term 3
Next up5 Aug to 23 Sep 2026
- 5 Aug
- 12 Aug
- 19 Aug *
- 26 Aug
- 2 Sep
- 9 Sep
- 16 Sep
- 23 Sep
Term 4
Upcoming14 Oct to 2 Dec 2026
- 14 Oct **
- 21 Oct
- 28 Oct *
- 4 Nov
- 11 Nov
- 18 Nov
- 25 Nov
- 2 Dec
* Free of charge classes. Please reserve your seat prior.
** The class on 14 October is held in Mahi Tahi rather than Puāwai, with limited seats.
Organized by the Queenstown Arts Society and Kasia Hebda Studio.
Huge thanks to QLDC for backing our life drawing programme through the Creative Communities Scheme and keeping it going for the community.
About Kasia
Kasia is a professional artist and art restorer who has been drawing from life for over twenty years, filling sketchbook after sketchbook. She has been teaching figure drawing since 2022.
Having spent the last two decades making every mistake you’re about to make, she knows exactly where you might get stuck and how to get you moving again.
She runs her creative studio at Country Lane in Frankton, Queenstown, and tutors the Queenstown Arts Society’s life drawing sessions. Her focus is always on helping you find your own way of seeing, rather than teaching you to draw like her.
Drawing from a life model is a one-of-a-kind experience – it puts you on the spot. You get ninety minutes where there’s nothing else, just you, your pencil, the paper and the model. Your focus has to be exactly there, and once you get going the time disappears without you noticing.
That’s what I love most in art: drawing people. The human form never gets boring. It’s always different and yet always the same – the most fun puzzle in art. And looking at the history of art, I’m clearly not the only one who thinks so.
Kasia works across fine art and design, creating murals and illustrations. Outside the studio, she’s usually out hiking with her husband and dog, Muppet. She’s an avid bird nerd, with a particular soft spot for ducks.
The details
When
Wednesdays
6 – 7:30 PM
Arrive 10 minutes early
Where
Te Atamira, Puāwai
12 Hawthorne Drive, Frankton
Find it on the map
Price
$30 per session
plus booking fee
Bring your own materials
Booking
Book and pay as you go, one session at a time.
See you Wednesday?
Book a life drawing session
$30 + BF
Per session, plus booking fee. No term commitment.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need any experience?
None at all. Life drawing is one of the best places to start, because everyone in the room is working from the same model and nobody’s drawing looks like anybody else’s. Kasia will meet you where you are.
Do I have to book, or can I just turn up?
Book ahead. Tickets go through Te Atamira, and it’s pay as you go, so you’re only ever booking the one session. The room has a limited number of seats and the doors close at 6 PM sharp, so it’s worth grabbing your spot rather than chancing it.
Do I have to book the whole term?
Not at all. Every session is a single drop-in, booked on its own. Some people come every Wednesday for the whole term, others drop in a few times a year. Both are completely normal.
What should I bring?
An A4 to A2 sketchbook, visual diary or digital tablet, and your preferred materials: pencils, coloured pencils, oil pastels, conte and graphite sticks, markers or charcoal, plus erasers and bulldog clips. Bring a drop sheet for anything that makes dust. Materials aren’t provided for this class, and easels on site are limited, so it’s worth arriving early.
Can I use paint, not just dry media?
Yes, and this is new. Thanks to the team at Te Atamira we’re trialling wet media this term: watercolour, gouache, ink and wash. Bring a jar with a lid and a waterproof drop sheet so Puāwai stays lovely for the next class. No solvent based paints please.
Is the model nude?
Yes. The sessions work from nude models, both male and female, which is what makes them useful for learning anatomy, weight and proportion. No photography of any kind is permitted, and the model’s privacy is maintained at all times, in and outside the room.
Can someone under 18 come?
Yes, with parental consent. Ask your parent or guardian to email [email protected] before booking.
Can I come on my own?
Absolutely. Most people do. The room is quiet and focused while the model is posing, and friendly in between.
More workshops with Kasia
If you’d rather paint than draw, here’s what else is coming up. Swipe to see more.
NZ Birds · 5-Week Watercolour Course
Wānaka · NZ Birds · Full-Day Workshop
NZ Landscapes · 6-Week Acrylic Course
Paint & Nibble! · Aurora · Painting Night
Silvereye · Watercolour Workshop
Hoiho · Full-Day Watercolour Workshop
Portrait Painting · 5-Week Acrylic Course
