How Life Drawing Became One of the Most Popular Hens Party Activities in Australia

A Trend I Never Saw Coming

I’ve been working in the hens party industry for over 10 years, and one of the biggest changes I’ve seen has been the rise of life drawing.

If you’d asked me back in 2018 what the next big hens party trend would be, life drawing probably wouldn’t have even made the list.

Back then it was mostly topless waiters, male strippers, drag queens, cocktail classes, and the usual hens party games.

Life drawing was around, but it was definitely more of a niche activity.

Then something changed.

The Question Started Changing

For years, the question I used to get asked at hens parties was:

“Do you do the stripping as well?”

It didn’t matter whether I was working as a topless waiter, running games, or helping host the event. At some point during the afternoon someone would always ask if I was also one of the strippers.

That was pretty normal in the hens party industry.

Then around 2021 I noticed the question changing.

Instead of asking whether I stripped, guests started asking:

“Do you do life drawing as well?”

At first I didn’t think much of it.

Then I started hearing it almost every weekend.

Guests weren’t asking about strippers anymore. They were asking about life drawing classes, whether I’d modelled before, and what life drawing parties were actually like.

The Industry Started Noticing Too

Not long after that, some of the entertainment companies I worked with started asking me the same thing.

“Have you ever done life drawing modelling?”

They were getting more enquiries than ever before and were looking for suitable male models they could advertise for their life drawing classes.

That’s when it clicked for me.

Something had shifted in the hens party industry.

Life drawing had gone from being a niche activity that only a handful of groups booked, to something that brides and their friends were actively seeking out.

Even The Strippers Started Talking About It

One thing that convinced me this wasn’t just a random trend was hearing other entertainers talk about it.

For years, strippers were one of the most common hens party bookings going around. Then suddenly agencies started asking entertainers if they had any life drawing experience.

Guys who had spent years doing strip shows were now being advertised as life drawing models as well.

I remember conversations where entertainers would say they were getting fewer requests for traditional stripping and more enquiries about life drawing classes.

Not because groups wanted something less cheeky.

If anything, the guests were looking for a way to spend even more time with a handsome naked guy.

Life drawing gave them exactly that.

The model wasn’t disappearing after a 20-minute performance. He was there for an hour or two,

For a lot of entertainers, it was obvious something was changing. Life drawing wasn’t replacing strippers entirely, but it was becoming one of the most requested activities in the hens party industry, and the entertainers themselves were some of the first people to notice it.

My First Life Drawing Class

One thing that always makes me laugh now is how nervous I was before my first life drawing class.

I’d worked plenty of hens parties before. Topless waiting, hosting games, entertaining groups. None of that bothered me.

But standing completely naked in front of a room full of strangers with sketch pads?

That felt very different.

What made it worse was that my very first life drawing party is still probably the biggest one I’ve ever done.

There were close to 40 people there.

The house wasn’t particularly big either.

As guests kept arriving, we realised there wasn’t enough seating.

We ended up dragging every chair we could find into the lounge room. Dining chairs, outdoor chairs, stools. Anything that could be sat on.

Even then it wasn’t enough.

Everywhere I looked there were guests squeezed into corners, sitting cross-legged on the floor, leaning against walls, and somehow finding space where there shouldn’t have been any.

It felt like one of those nightmares where you suddenly realise you’re naked in front of a crowd and everybody is staring at you.

The funny thing is I’d spent most of the previous night worrying about it.

What if I felt awkward?

What if everyone else felt awkward?

What if I forgot a pose?

What if I looked nervous?

Then about ten minutes into the class something strange happened.

The nerves disappeared.

I remember standing there holding a pose and suddenly finding myself thinking about what I wanted for dinner later that night.

That was the moment I realised I’d been worrying about absolutely nothing.

The guests were laughing.

The bride was having fun.

People were chatting while they sketched.

Nobody cared about perfection.

Nobody cared about awkwardness.

They were there to have a good time.

That’s probably the biggest lesson my first life drawing class taught me.

Most people are nervous before the class starts.

Five minutes later they’re laughing so much they forget they were ever nervous in the first place.

Read the blog My First Life Drawing Class

Why Were Groups Booking Life Drawing?

When I first started doing life drawing, I was curious about why groups were choosing it in the first place.

So I’d ask.

The answers were often hilarious.

Some groups were very honest about it.

“I was going to book a stripper anyway. Why have a quick look when we can have a hot naked guy standing there for an hour while we draw him?”

Others saw it as the perfect middle ground between classy and cheeky.

You’d hear things like:

“We wanted something a bit naughty, but not full stripper naughty.”

Or:

“We wanted to make the bride blush.”

Making the Bride Blush

That answer came up a lot.

The bride-to-be would usually arrive pretending she was completely comfortable with the whole idea.

Then five minutes later she’d be bright red, laughing uncontrollably, while the model was giving her far more artistic attention than necessary.

Her friends loved every second of it, because making the bride blush was often half the reason they’d booked the life drawing class in the first place.

And honestly, that’s part of the magic.

Life drawing gives groups permission to be a little cheeky without going completely off the rails.

Nobody Cares If You Can Draw

The funny thing is that most guests arrive convinced they can’t draw.

Every class seems to start with someone announcing:

“I can’t even draw a stick figure.”

Then forty-five minutes later they’re proudly holding up their artwork like they’ve just completed a masterpiece.

The reality is that nobody cares whether the drawing is good.

The drawing is almost beside the point.

The fun comes from the experience.

It’s the bride laughing at her friends’ sketches.

It’s the bridesmaid who somehow turns the model into a cartoon character.

It’s the mum who’s taking the competition far too seriously.

What Life Drawing Is Actually Like

What surprises most people is how relaxed life drawing actually is.

A lot of guests imagine some serious art class where everyone sits quietly concentrating.

That’s not what happens at hens parties.

There’s music playing.

People are chatting.

Drinks are flowing.

Someone is taking photos.

Someone else is trying to convince the model to hold an increasingly ridiculous pose.

The atmosphere is fun, social, and surprisingly inclusive.

Why It Works So Well For Hens Parties

I’ve seen groups ranging from 20-year-old bridesmaids through to mums, aunties, and future mothers-in-law all get involved and have a fantastic time.

That’s one of the reasons life drawing has grown so quickly.

It appeals to almost everyone.

It’s cheeky without being over-the-top.

It’s interactive without being intimidating.

And unlike a lot of hens party activities, everybody participates.

Nobody is sitting in the corner watching.

Everybody gets involved.

Everybody leaves with a drawing, a laugh, and usually a story they’ll be telling for years.

From Niche Activity to Hens Party Favourite

After watching the trend grow over the last few years, I’d comfortably say life drawing has gone from being a niche hens party activity to one of the most requested experiences in the industry.

And judging by how often we get asked about it today, I don’t see that changing anytime soon.

If you’re looking for something that’s equal parts classy, cheeky, hilarious, and memorable, it’s easy to see why so many brides are choosing life drawing for their hens party.