Cue the classical music radio station. It's Tuesday morning, January 28. The model, we'll call her “Annie,” begins a series of one, three and five minute poses, known as gesture drawings, designed as warm ups as the artists focus on the attitude of the model. Gradually poses will reach the 10, 15 and 30 minute marks. Sometimes Annie is clothed, sometimes she's not. Today she is wearing jeans, tall boots and a blouse. She is standing motionless while telling the group about her new dog.

DaVinci and Matisse did it. For the artist, figure drawing is a life-long practice. Or, it should be.

Here in the Boothbay region, the life drawing class has been around for 40 years. It started out in a back room at the Maine Art Gallery in Wiscasset, moved to John Dunning's East Boothbay studio and then to three different locations of the Boothbay Region Art Foundation. Artists at the time included the late James Wilmot, Lois Goldstone, Jean Swan Gordon and Dunning. In 2012, Gordon discovered some of her drawings from the East Boothbay days and exhibited some of them at the Gold/Smith Gallery in Boothbay Harbor.

After Dunning, other local artists facilitated the class: Lina Burley; Ruth Lepper Gardner; and Lois Goldstone. It was Goldstone who tapped Mark Mellor for the honor before she moved off the peninsula. Mellor began attending the classes after he and his family arrived in 1996 and he set up his gallery, Oak Street Gallery, at their home.

Artists attending over the past 10 years have included Helen St. Clair, Corinne McIntyre, Tony van Hasselt, Ron Parry, Philippe Villard, Monique Parry, Jean Harris, Virginia Forrest and Carol Palmer, among others.

On this day in late January, it was Sue Heil Kibbe (Southport), Jane Rosenfield (Bath-Brunswick area) and Jason Stearns (Edgecomb) joining Mellor for the Tuesday class on the second floor at BRAF. Mellor said the class typically draws 4 to 10 artists.

Mellor said models are harder and harder to find, but this group is fortunate. “Annie” has been modeling for it for 12 years. Annie heard about the Boothbay based group through another artist she modeled for and an ad in the Boothbay Register. Annie modeled at Round Top for artists and sculptors for 6 or 7 years, until it closed.

“It (modeling) is very relaxing. It's meditative, too,” Annie said. “I've always liked art and modeling. The people I meet are really nice, I make new friends and ... I get paid to chill out.”

The alarm clock sounds. She sets it for a “3-zee” and strikes another gesture pose, this time sitting on a chair. And the artists again set their pastels, brush or pencil to paper.

“I come for the privilege of drawing a human figure from life,” Kibbe said. “It's extraordinary.”

During this class, Kibbe is using pastels, Stearns and Mellor, pencils. Rosenfield started out with pencil, but unpacked her watercolors after the first half hour.

“Have drawing box, will travel,” she said, smiling. “A study (class) is a great time to try out new materials.”

Mellor, who has always attended life drawing classes, here and in Connecticut, his native state, said ideally, artists should draw every day.

“Matisse drew every day with a model. We can't, but the classes keep you looking, observing,” Mellor said. “A live model is better than a photograph or memory because she, or he, is three dimensional. A teacher I once had said if you could draw the human figure, you could draw anything.”

Drawing during longer poses of 30 and 60 minutes or more gives artists time to add detail. The longer poses of an hour or more include breaks for Annie every 15 minutes to stretch.

Female models are hard to find nowadays, but male models are almost impossible to get. In recent history, Annie's husband has posed for the group as well as Edgecomb artist Bob Rose. Rose was asked to model at BRAF, for summer life drawing classes, by the late Jim Taliana. Taliana, Rose said, wanted to keep the life drawing classes going year-round.

“I did it because there was a need for it. As an artist I knew we didn't have any male models,” Rose said. “But I knew I would have to get into shape first. The very first time I modeled I was nervous, even though I had been drawing male models for years. It was a rough road until I got used to it."

The Tuesday morning group has been talking about some of the other artists who join them during the summer months, when they can find a model.

The alarm sounds again. The room quiets.

Annie assumes another stance and sets the alarm.

One of Beethoven's string quartets fills the air.

The group begins the day's first 30 minute sketch.

For more information, call Mark Mellor at 207-633-0695 or BRAF at 207-633-2703. The classes meet every Tuesday from 9:30 a.m. to noon.