Hen Party Life Drawing Harrogate
Harrogate does hen weekends its own way: the Turkish Baths, afternoon tea, a walk across the Stray and cocktails in the Montpellier Quarter. It’s a daytime sort of town. A life drawing class slots into that easily, being a civilised activity right up to the point the model undresses.
What the class is
It’s a life drawing session and a butler booking joined together, 90 minutes in total, or two hours if you add £50. For the first 45 the model, a Butler in the Buff by trade, strikes three or four nude poses and guides the group as they draw; nobody else teaches and no talent is assumed. He then steps out, returns in butler attire and gives the next 45 minutes to pouring drinks, leading party games, crowning one drawing the winner and getting into the photos.
We send pencils, rubbers, sharpeners and A4 paper to cover 20 guests. You find the room and something flat for each person to lean on. It’s from £15 per person at that group size, and you can ask for a particular model, though we can’t promise him.
Stray-side villas and Dales cottages
Groups staying in town are mostly in Victorian stone townhouses and apartments near the Stray, around the Montpellier Quarter and along Cold Bath Road. The rooms are generous, with high ceilings and big bay windows, and the bay is where the light is best. It’s also where the audience is if the house fronts the Stray or a main road, so shut the curtains or pose him further back.
Other groups rent a place out in Nidderdale. Dales cottages have thick walls, small windows and low beams, which is good for privacy and poor for light and space. Bring lamps in, clear the middle and use the floor as seating too. He needs a bedroom or similar to change in.
Town, Nidderdale and the Dales
From Harrogate itself the class reaches Knaresborough, Ripley, Killinghall, Hampsthwaite, Pannal, Wetherby, Boroughbridge, Ripon and Pateley Bridge.
Skipton, Grassington and the Wensleydale villages around Leyburn, further into the Dales, are covered too. Ask the instant quote for the price at your postcode.
Around the baths and afternoon tea
Because Harrogate days are booked in slots (a session at the Turkish Baths, a table for tea), fix the class time first and fit the rest around it. Allow 90 minutes for the class, or two hours if you have booked the longer one, plus a spare hour afterwards in case the model is delayed. Early evening before a late dinner on Parliament Street or in the Montpellier Quarter is a tidy answer.
Chocolates and a bottle of bubbly are a £25 add-on. Put sip and paint and a cocktail class alongside the drawing and the three together earn £40 off.
The life drawing page for all areas has everything else.
Harrogate Life Drawing: Quick Answers
We’re coming on the Spring Flower Show weekend. Will that slow things down?
Traffic near the showground is heavy that weekend, so journeys across town take longer. Reserve the date early, which costs nothing, and keep the hour after your planned finish clear.
Our Nidderdale cottage has a tiny beamed sitting room. Will it do?
It can, if there’s a clear spot for him to pose and everyone can see him from where they sit. If not, use the kitchen, or ask us about hiring a venue nearby.
We’ve booked the Turkish Baths that afternoon. Should the class go before or after?
Either, as long as the gap is big enough. Count 90 minutes for the class and another hour in hand, then set your slot at the Baths or your dinner table beyond that.
