Southern California is renowned for its sunny weather, scenic beaches, and celebrities, but perhaps it should also be admired for its “competitive figure drawing. It’s an Olympic sport here,” says Hope Railey, who should know because she chairs the fine arts department at Laguna College of Art + Design (LCAD) in Laguna Beach.
You would be forgiven for not apprehending this fact if you saw only what is highlighted at the region’s most prominent museums; the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Museum of Contemporary Art, The Broad, and the Hammer Museum, for instance, focus on much more cutting-edge approaches. Nonetheless, Railey explains, whole communities of artists here support one another through figure drawing circles, exhibitions, and organizations that feature “skill-based” realism. Actually, none of this is news for insiders,…