Save A Life Drawing raffles work by Genie Espinosa, Kelly Anna, Alva Skog, Marylou Faure, Stina Persson and more

During the first lockdown, Rowena Cox-Willmott had taken her once IRL life drawing class online, and friend Stephanie Flynn – a regular class participant – realised something. “After spending week after week staring at someone else’s boobs, I, like many other women, realised I just didn’t check my own boobs enough.” During the pandemic, breast cancer charities have seen a terrifying 80 per cent drop in donations, Steph says, and in her friend’s popular class, she saw an opportunity to help. Hence, Save A Life Drawing was born, an online life drawing event featuring models that had been affected by breast cancer, to raise awareness and money for Breast Cancer Now.

“It felt like the perfect event, as when you’re in a life drawing class you really have to focus on the body,” Steph says. “You have to examine every curve, line, dimple. Look at the colour and texture of the skin. It’s a really thorough examination, and yet we don’t look at our own bodies with the same intensity, but we should.”

Steph and co-organiser Olivia Shortland, both BBH London creatives, also had the clever idea to invite leading illustrators and artists to the event, with the resulting artworks to be given as prizes in a raffle, raising further funds for the charity. Thanks to their creative intel and network, that esteemed list of contributors includes Alex Grigg, Alva Skog, Kelly Anna, Jasmin Sehra, Marylou Faure, Genie Espinosa, Stina Persson, Paula Castro, Kadna Anda, Annemarieke Kloosterhof, Alice Bloomfield and Hayley Wall. The artists were chosen because “their styles have a common thread,” Steph tells It’s Nice That, “either studying the human form in some way or representing a feeling of positivity”.

“We wanted to create a celebration of bravery within this collection,” she adds. “The fearlessness of a person who has been affected by breast cancer, stripping naked on a webcam to hundreds of complete strangers has been perfectly captured in each piece. The incredible spread of work that they have created is not only aesthetically beautiful, but each piece is a reminder to check your boobs more often.”

The organisers say it was important the models were as diverse as possible as breast cancer affects every age, gender and race; so five models were cast, four female and one male, all affected by breast cancer. “We wanted the event to be really powerful and authentic,” Steph continues, explaining how the models were key to this. “[They] posed in positions which were both beautiful as well as educational,” she explains, and the artists’ work reflects that.

Stina Persson said of the experience that she has “attended a gazillion life drawing classes and I always love it, but this time it was really special. I didn’t really know what I was in for, I hadn’t expected to be quite as overwhelmed and amazed as I was. When I draw the figure I go into a meditative place and the models just gave it their all. I thought that maybe Zoom would take away from the experience but you could actually really feel the mood of the models; their nervousness and bravery knowing what they have been through took it to a new level. And I didn’t just end up drawing boobs, I went home and checked them too.”

All the original artwork is being given away in the raffle TheyMadeThis.com, with tickets on sale for each specific piece for £5 or three for £10. The draw will take place on Sunday 20 December and (Covid restrictions-allowing) displayed at the They Made This shop in Seven Dials, London. The draw will be streamed live and the winners announced on Save A Life Drawing’s Instagram page. There are also plans to hold a second Save A Life Drawing event in early 2021; follow @savealifedrawing on Instagram for more information.