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Hi Pat,
Don't wait to form a group. Get a model, put her/him on a podium in a room with a single light source, and get started. Personally, I have decided to bite the bullet and pay for a model to come for two hours a week. The benefit of not having other artists around include my total control of the situation, and when I say, "rotate your head to the left a bit", danged if the model doesn't go and do that. Power! Control! On the other hand, you can't blame another artist for taking the best spot.
You may be very lucky and have relatives or friends who will sit for free. I am budgeting for my modelsbecause I feel it's very important to do this.
It took me a long time to feel good about painting from life, just because I was so bad at it at first, and I would go home and hit my head against the wall. When things go well, it is tremendously exciting to see a recognizable head developing on the canvas. It absolutely knocks your socks off. It's a little like seeing your newborn child for the first time. "Oh! So that's what you look like! I've waited so long..."
Marvin, meanwhile, probably skipped the head-banging stage and went right to the endorphins.
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