A working forum, not a gallery wall
BeBrave Art Space is where people who draw, paint, print and build things post what they are actually making. Daily sketch habits, life drawing sessions in Cape Town and Johannesburg, gesso that refuses to dry in coastal air, cheap paper that still holds charcoal, and honest critique from people who have made the same mistakes.
New here? Read how a daily sketch habit survives a full work week, or check mixing your own gesso in humid coastal air. Questions about the forum go to contact.
Threads stay slow on purpose. Post a work in progress, ask about drying times, trade offcuts, or find a Saturday plein air meetup near you. No follower counts, no gatekeeping.
Short answers to the things new members ask most often. If your situation is different, say so in the thread and someone will reply.
No. The beginner boards exist precisely for people still working out how to hold a pencil, and the posting rules there are strict about tone. Nobody gets talked down to for asking what a fixative actually does or why their charcoal keeps smudging.
Critique threads have their own posting rules: state what stage the work is at, say what you want looked at, and expect specific notes rather than applause. Work in progress is welcome. Finished pieces are welcome too, as long as you are open to hearing where they could have gone further.
Those two cities carry most of the Saturday plein air sessions and life drawing evenings, but members elsewhere post their own dates. If you want to start something in your area, open a thread, pick a spot, and see who turns up.
Yes, and it is one of the busiest parts of the forum. Threads cover cheap paper that still takes charcoal, mixing your own gesso, drying times in humid coastal air, and trading offcuts between members who work in different media.
You keep ownership of everything you upload. We only ask that you post your own work and credit references properly. The full details sit in our terms and privacy policy, and anything unclear can be raised in the contact thread.
The forum is built around the parts of studio life that rarely make it into a portfolio: the failed page, the panel that stayed tacky, the question you feel silly asking. Below are the boards and threads members use most.
A running log where people post the same mug, the same street corner, or a ten-minute figure from the bus. No streaks to protect, no follower count to feed. Just a place to show the page even when it went badly.
The critique board asks for a specific question before you upload: composition, value, edge quality, or whether the print registration holds. Replies stay on that question. Applause-only posts get moved out.
Mixing your own gesso, reading humidity before you prime a panel, cheap paper that still takes charcoal without shredding. Members in Cape Town and Johannesburg compare what works in coastal air versus dry inland winters.
Saturday meetups get organised in the regional sub-boards, along with life drawing sessions and shared model costs. If you are new to drawing from life, there is a beginner thread that walks through what to bring and where to stand.
A quieter area for logging what actually worked that week: which ground held, which brush died, how long a layer really took to dry. Posts move slowly and that is the point.
Basic questions get answered without condescension. Members trade paper and board offcuts, and there is a thread on pricing a first small exhibition and photographing finished work without a lightbox.
New here? Start with the daily sketch habit thread, or read how members document work in photographing finished pieces.
Start where you are
You do not need a finished body of work to join. Bring a page from this morning, a panel that went wrong, or a question about paper that will not hold charcoal. The critique threads have clear posting rules, the beginner boards stay beginner-friendly, and the studio diary moves slowly on purpose. One honest post is enough to start.
Not ready to post? Read how a daily sketch habit survives a full work week or mixing your own gesso in humid coastal air before you introduce yourself.