Life drawing without models?

Death of Rats

I want to start doing some life drawing, but I have no models. I have tons of reference images that I'm trying to use as a workaround, but I know it's not the optimal experience. Anyone have any methods they use to get the life drawing experience (ie, getting form, flow, force, and anatomy all down pat) without having to take expensive classes?

Skoal Cat

Friends?

Death of Rats

To be honest, at the moment my friends are at least 300 miles away.

Skoal Cat

Make new friends?
www.meetup.com ?

Iruka

I posted this in the AC, but a mirror and yourself can be an acceptable substitute, if you have some privacy and a full length mirror have at it. If you have reference images, I would try and supplement them posing yourself and observing, and books, if you have any decent anatomy ones.

If you have any public areas where people sit and read or wait, thats a good opportunity to get some gestures done. Book stores, restaurants, the subway, the bus station, anything like that will do.

Death of Rats

I actually have most of the bridgeman ones (ones from the 70's I believe). I'm using those, the Force life drawing books, and "Drawn to Life" by Walt Stanchfield as kinda my "inspiration" for this. It's been at least 5 years since my last life drawing class, and I spent too much time worrying about making pretty drawings instead of actually making good observations and habits. As far as my reference images, I'm getting them from This Deviant Art Page, which is NSFW, but would love hints at any other pages that have good images at high resolutions and good lighting (softcore porn images have none of those). Especially for the male/heavier set female body types.

I might have to try doing stuff uptown someday, but being in a small town, people get kinda pissed when you start staring at them/drawing.

Belruel

I usually just take my sketch pad and some pencils to a local place where people gather and mostly hold still (food court type areas usually). Yeah you'll get some looks for staring a bit, but it isn't like you're staring at them dead eyes, people usually get the gist of what you're doing when you glance at them, then down and scribble.

oldsak

I don't know if you have public transit wherever you live, but here it's not unusual to see somebody drawing people on the subway.