I got the opportunity to model for a portrait anatomy class last night at the Texas Academy of Figurative Art. This was my second session for this course, and from the lectures I've heard to start each class, it seems to be a pretty intensive study of the anatomy of the head. In fact, I joked with friends before that class that I was going to get my head examined.
Portrait modeling and figure modeling have some distinct differences, and I have to confess that I find modeling for portraits more taxing. The most obvious difference is, of course, clothing. Portrait models are fully clothed, while figure modeling is usually done in the nude. When doing a figure class, I'm aware that my entire body is being studied, and while I will focus my eyes on a certain point in the room, I usually feel free to look about at times (without moving my head, of course). When modeling for a portrait class, I'm aware that the focus of every artist in the room is my head; therefore, I try to keep my eyes on one fixed point and not move them. This takes a lot more concentration, especially when my contact lenses start to feel like they are sticking to my eyeballs.
People who have never modeled (or just don't take their modeling job seriously) might think that, since artists are only studying the head, the model ought to be free to move his or her arms and legs throughout the pose. That's true to some extent, but I try to keep any movement to a minimum. Moving a leg can affect the position of the head, and if the head moves, the pose (not to mention the lights and shadows) is changed. So I treat each pose as a full body pose, even if the artists are just studying one part of my body.
Since I treat each pose as a full pose, clothing can sometimes affect my comfort. When modeling nude for a figure class, my physical comfort is determined solely by muscle fatigue and blood circulation. When modeling clothed, the neckline of my shirt, the waistline of my pants, the tightness of my socks or undergarments, etc. can all be contributors to the comfort level of a pose.
Last night's class was a relatively short one, only two hours, with just an hour and a half of posing/drawing time, and yet, I left feeling more tired than I do after a three hour figure session.
Friday, November 30, 2012
Tuesday, November 27, 2012
Job Uncertainty
My full-time job is coming to an end. The company for which I have worked for the past two and a half years, Union Drilling, Inc., was purchased by another drilling company based in Houston. Our division offices should stay relatively intact, but our Fort Worth corporate office will be closing. I have unequivocally declined to move to Houston, so I have been notified that my last day will be December 31, 2012. I'll get my regular year-end bonus, and I'll get a nice severance amount. Between that, unemployment compensation, and modeling gigs, I shouldn't even feel any pain for at least three months, although I doubt that it will take me that long to find another job.
In the meantime, I'm looking forward to getting some daytime modeling assignments in January, and maybe into February. I've already talked to Ron at the Texas Academy of Figurative Art about a multi-week long pose. While I don't look forward to the discomfort of such a long pose, I am excited about being a part of a long term project by a group of realist painters and artists. The following is a drawing of me in a couple of 30-45 minute poses by a student at TAFA.
If that level of detail can be achieved in such short poses, I'm excited to see what they can do with a long project. Because the students at TAFA capture such detail, I'm using the prospect of modeling there as motivation to change my diet and exercise regimen. I hope to lose at least fifteen pounds by the time this project starts, not that it will matter to the artists; they are happy to draw whatever body takes the stand. But it will matter to me. I'm anticipating some amazing work by Ron and these students, and I'd like to look my best for posterity...
In the meantime, I'm looking forward to getting some daytime modeling assignments in January, and maybe into February. I've already talked to Ron at the Texas Academy of Figurative Art about a multi-week long pose. While I don't look forward to the discomfort of such a long pose, I am excited about being a part of a long term project by a group of realist painters and artists. The following is a drawing of me in a couple of 30-45 minute poses by a student at TAFA.
If that level of detail can be achieved in such short poses, I'm excited to see what they can do with a long project. Because the students at TAFA capture such detail, I'm using the prospect of modeling there as motivation to change my diet and exercise regimen. I hope to lose at least fifteen pounds by the time this project starts, not that it will matter to the artists; they are happy to draw whatever body takes the stand. But it will matter to me. I'm anticipating some amazing work by Ron and these students, and I'd like to look my best for posterity...
Wednesday, November 14, 2012
Church and Modeling
Before this entry, there are 25 posts on this blog. My stats show that of those 25 posts, one receives a much higher "hit" count than all the others. In fact, the hits on "A Christian Model" outnumber the hits on the 24 other posts combined. Why is that? When I look at the search keywords used to send people to my blog and that particular blog post, I see such things as: "naked crucifixion," "crucified naked," "public nude crucifixion," etc. While I will never know if the majority of people making these searches are doing so in a desire to learn more about Jesus Christ or merely a (somewhat disturbing) fascination with torture and execution, I hope that all visitors find something enlightening in what I wrote back in February.
I was recently scheduled to model for a drop-in session at Oil and Cotton, a relatively new artist venture. In an attempt to boost their attendance (because better attended figure drawing sessions tend to spark even more figure drawing sessions which means more work for us models), I invited a few people on my Facebook list. I invited only those whom I knew to be serious artists. Many of those had drawn me before. Of the ones who had never drawn me, one was a lady from my church. She has a degree in art and recently started her own art school for children. Her response was: " lol I would totally go but I cannot go if you are modeling. Im not squeamish but I just can't see my friend or my friends husband nekkid lol." I told her that I was a professional and that it wouldn't bother me, but she replied: " haha i'm sure its not but it would be weird for me. I would consider going though because I really love figure drawing. It is challenging and beautiful and every time I do it it turns out differently. love that." Seeing that she loves figure drawing, I made one last attempt to get her to go, but I got this rather emphatic reply: "Maybe I was a little unclear. I mean this in the nicest way possible. It would be somewhat offensive to see my friend, my husbands friend nude. I have not figure drawn since college days!" She wound up not going, of course. I continue to be disappointed with the church's view on simple nudity and on my part-time job.
Keeping with that theme, I did recently add a new blog to the roll at the right side of the page. My Chains Are Gone is a website designed by Christian ministers to help those struggling with an addiction to pornography. I highly recommend reading the articles to everyone, but especially to those who view life drawing of the nude and Christianity as somehow incompatible. The articles explain very eloquently and with scriptural references that they are not. I plan on "liking" and commenting on posts on the My Chains Are Gone Facebook page in the hopes that some of my friends from church will see it. Maybe some of them will even begin taking a view that seeing nudity, even the nudity of our fellow church members, is not "somewhat offensive."
Sunday, November 11, 2012
"Have To" Versus "Get To"
I was having a conversation with someone the other day, and when I told her that I modeled for art classes as a part time job, she seemed somewhat interested in doing it herself. It seems like everyone is searching for a way to make ends meet in the current economy. Once she expressed some interest, she asked me, "Do you have to pose nude?" My answer at the time was, "Yes, usually." That seemed to kill her interest...
But when I thought about it later (while doing a two hour pose at Oil and Cotton), I realized that I have never thought of modeling nude as a "have to." It has always been a "get to" for me. I get to model nude. In the art studio, the teacher and artists all have to wear clothes because of the law, the rules of the college, university, or art center, and/or the expectations of society. But I, as the model, get an exemption from that. I'm expected to be nude. I get to be nude. I consider it the most wonderful of freedoms. Free from clothing, from covering, from disguises. Is that what makes the difference between those of us who continue to model over many years versus those who model for only a year or two and then move on? And are artists/art students able to tell the difference between the "have to's" and the "get to's"? I've heard it said that artists really prefer a model who appears comfortable over one who seems uncomfortable. Is that why there seem to be so few of us who are suited for art modeling as a long-term job?
Over the years, I have had a great many people tell me that they would like to try modeling for art classes. Of those, I know of only two who went ahead and actually modeled for at least one session (and one of those had grown up in a nudist family). In the current climate of gymnophobia that seems to have the United States in its grip, those of us who are truly comfortable in our natural, God-created state, seem rare.
Nothing profound here; just some random thoughts that passed through my mind during that two-hour pose I just completed...
But when I thought about it later (while doing a two hour pose at Oil and Cotton), I realized that I have never thought of modeling nude as a "have to." It has always been a "get to" for me. I get to model nude. In the art studio, the teacher and artists all have to wear clothes because of the law, the rules of the college, university, or art center, and/or the expectations of society. But I, as the model, get an exemption from that. I'm expected to be nude. I get to be nude. I consider it the most wonderful of freedoms. Free from clothing, from covering, from disguises. Is that what makes the difference between those of us who continue to model over many years versus those who model for only a year or two and then move on? And are artists/art students able to tell the difference between the "have to's" and the "get to's"? I've heard it said that artists really prefer a model who appears comfortable over one who seems uncomfortable. Is that why there seem to be so few of us who are suited for art modeling as a long-term job?
Over the years, I have had a great many people tell me that they would like to try modeling for art classes. Of those, I know of only two who went ahead and actually modeled for at least one session (and one of those had grown up in a nudist family). In the current climate of gymnophobia that seems to have the United States in its grip, those of us who are truly comfortable in our natural, God-created state, seem rare.
Nothing profound here; just some random thoughts that passed through my mind during that two-hour pose I just completed...
Tuesday, November 6, 2012
November 6th
November 6th has always been a milestone date in my modeling career. It was on this date in 1984 that I modeled for my first life drawing class. Modeling Session Number One was for a Tuesday night drop-in session at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville. I had attended that session as an "artist" a couple of times before when I had been considering modeling, and I had given my name and number to the moderator as a potential model. He called me just an hour or two before that session was due to start, just as I was about to go eat at the cafeteria, and asked me to model. After swallowing the lump in my throat, I said OK. My appetite suddenly gone, I took a long walk around campus and arrived at the art studio just a bit early. The moderator wasn't able to attend, but there were two ladies there to draw. I was somewhat relieved that it would be such a small class. A more detailed description of that experience can be found here.
Just like that November 6th 28 years ago, today is a presidential election day. In 1984, Ronald Reagan easily won re-election over Walter Mondale. Even though I was only 18 years old, I was a big Reagan fan. Before receiving that first model booking, I had been looking forward to sitting back in the TV room at my dorm and watching the election returns, confident that Reagan would win. I remember really liking him way back when I was 10 years old, watching his concession speech at the 1976 Republican National Convention after Gerald Ford had won the nomination. I guess I've always favored lower taxes and smaller government.
This year's election presents something of a dilemma for me. I neither like nor trust either of the major party candidates. I voted for the Libertarian Party candidate, former New Mexico Governor Gary Johnson. I don't agree with him on everything, but I've had a chance to meet him and talk with him and believe that he is, by far, the most qualified and best suited candidate for the job.
Realistically, I know that either Romney or Obama is going to win the presidency. And in my state, it is a forgone conclusion that Romney will win the 36 electoral votes up for grabs here. So my vote for Governor Johnson amounts to a mere protest vote--a protest against the ever-increasing power of the state, the status quo, and the lack of a trustworthy Republican candidate. And yet, of the two, I have to root for Romney. The Obama presidency has been an abysmal failure, and considering the damage over the last four years to our economy and to the limits on government that were specified in the Constitution, I cringe at the thought of what an Obama who doesn't have to worry about getting re-elected would do. And when I really think about it, I'm amazed that Obama has a chance of winning, given the current state of our country and of the economy. I guess that is just a testament to how lackluster the Republican candidate really is.
But the best thing about Election Day is that tomorrow the political ads will all be gone from the airwaves.
Just like that November 6th 28 years ago, today is a presidential election day. In 1984, Ronald Reagan easily won re-election over Walter Mondale. Even though I was only 18 years old, I was a big Reagan fan. Before receiving that first model booking, I had been looking forward to sitting back in the TV room at my dorm and watching the election returns, confident that Reagan would win. I remember really liking him way back when I was 10 years old, watching his concession speech at the 1976 Republican National Convention after Gerald Ford had won the nomination. I guess I've always favored lower taxes and smaller government.
This year's election presents something of a dilemma for me. I neither like nor trust either of the major party candidates. I voted for the Libertarian Party candidate, former New Mexico Governor Gary Johnson. I don't agree with him on everything, but I've had a chance to meet him and talk with him and believe that he is, by far, the most qualified and best suited candidate for the job.
Realistically, I know that either Romney or Obama is going to win the presidency. And in my state, it is a forgone conclusion that Romney will win the 36 electoral votes up for grabs here. So my vote for Governor Johnson amounts to a mere protest vote--a protest against the ever-increasing power of the state, the status quo, and the lack of a trustworthy Republican candidate. And yet, of the two, I have to root for Romney. The Obama presidency has been an abysmal failure, and considering the damage over the last four years to our economy and to the limits on government that were specified in the Constitution, I cringe at the thought of what an Obama who doesn't have to worry about getting re-elected would do. And when I really think about it, I'm amazed that Obama has a chance of winning, given the current state of our country and of the economy. I guess that is just a testament to how lackluster the Republican candidate really is.
But the best thing about Election Day is that tomorrow the political ads will all be gone from the airwaves.
Tuesday, October 30, 2012
Emergency and Exposure
Every once in a great while, I will get a call to model immediately for a class due to a model no-show, a mix-up in booking, or a teacher or coordinator just forgetting to schedule a model. Such an instance happened last night on my way home from my regular job. I'd already had a busy weekend modeling after a Saturday afternoon drop-in session at the Fort Worth Community Arts Center and a Sunday drop-in session at Oil and Cotton in Dallas. Modeling for a third day in a row was not on my radar, especially after putting in a full Monday at my day job.
The call came at about 6:20. A mix-up had occurred, and the session organizer needed a model for the 6:00 to 9:00 long pose session at the aforementioned Fort Worth Community Arts Center. I never turn down modeling when I don't have anything else scheduled, so I took the gig, altered my route, and made it to the Arts Center at around 6:35. The only problem was that I didn't have my modeling bag with me. No robe, no towel to sit on, no slippers, no timer, nothing.
My son and I had gone to the Texas Rangers' playoff game with the Baltimore Orioles about three weeks earlier, and upon entering the Ballpark, we had each been given small rally towels to wave. I still had those two rally towels in the car, so I grabbed them and scurried into the Arts Center. I figured I could sit on them rather than the black felt material that they use to drape the model stand. That stuff might be good for theater, but it's not good for bare skin. Besides that, who knew how long it had been since that black felt stuff had been washed, and I was fairly certain that no other nude model had sat down on my Texas Rangers rally towels.
I was moving so quickly as I entered the drawing studio that I didn't think about much else. I went to the back corner of the room, stripped down to nothing, grabbed my rally towels, and sauntered over to the model platform. Once I got into the pose, I held it for about thirty minutes. It can sometimes be a trick to go from moving as quickly as possible to being motionless in a pose. As the hand I was leaning on started to go numb, I thought about the upcoming break and the fact that I didn't have a robe to put on. My clothes were across the room, and they were my business casual office clothes, not the shorts and t-shirt I could throw on easily. My options would be a) stay nude during the breaks, or b) run across the room, put my clothes on for two or three minutes, then take them off and run back across the room to get back into the pose, or c) run across the room on the first break, get dressed for a couple of minutes, then get undressed next to the model stand in front of everybody, which would mean getting dressed and undressed in front of them for each of the remaining breaks. I decided to go with option a.
The break came, and I got up and walked around the platform, shaking the stiffness out of my hands and letting the blood recirculate to my butt and legs (it was a seated pose). Some of the artists talked to me anyway while I was stretching, as if they understood that I was robeless because I had been called in on zero notice. It felt just a bit strange at first, but I quickly got used to it. It's one thing to be nude in a pose, but it's another to be nude, in motion, and viewed as a person rather than a subject. It got to be just a little bit exhilarating.
Once I got back into the pose, I thought about the tradition of models wearing robes on breaks and about attitudes toward nudity in general. I have almost always been comfortable nude in a variety of situations, especially in art classes, but I wear the robe in consideration of the artists and art students. Even during that session, when I didn't have the robe, I kept my distance just because I didn't want to offend any of the attendees. What would an artist think if I had just walked up and stood right beside her, looking at her work, and striking up a conversation while I was nude? I'm sure answers to that question would vary considerably depending on the person involved. So it's always better to play it safe and only be nude when necessary, no matter how personally liberating I find nudity to be.
I agreed to stay until 9:30 since the scheduled 6:00-9:00 session got started so late. They were paying me three hours anyway, so I figured I might as well put three hours in (especially since each artist had paid for a three hour session). By the time we got done, there were only two artists left drawing (or painting), and I realized I had spent the entire three hours completely exposed, without ever donning any kind of covering. I was somewhat sad to have to get dressed, especially in my office clothes. But I did...
I will occasionally look for t-shirts to wear when I go model. Jen bought me one a few years ago that says, "I'm naked under this t-shirt." I got another one last year that says "I'd rather be naked." I found this shirt this morning, and I absolutely love the quote, attributed to Michelangelo, on it: "What spirit is so empty and blind, that it cannot recognize the fact that the foot is more noble than the shoe, and skin more beautiful than the garment with which it is clothed?" I don't buy many of the shirts that I see when shopping, but I may have to get this one...
The call came at about 6:20. A mix-up had occurred, and the session organizer needed a model for the 6:00 to 9:00 long pose session at the aforementioned Fort Worth Community Arts Center. I never turn down modeling when I don't have anything else scheduled, so I took the gig, altered my route, and made it to the Arts Center at around 6:35. The only problem was that I didn't have my modeling bag with me. No robe, no towel to sit on, no slippers, no timer, nothing.
My son and I had gone to the Texas Rangers' playoff game with the Baltimore Orioles about three weeks earlier, and upon entering the Ballpark, we had each been given small rally towels to wave. I still had those two rally towels in the car, so I grabbed them and scurried into the Arts Center. I figured I could sit on them rather than the black felt material that they use to drape the model stand. That stuff might be good for theater, but it's not good for bare skin. Besides that, who knew how long it had been since that black felt stuff had been washed, and I was fairly certain that no other nude model had sat down on my Texas Rangers rally towels.
I was moving so quickly as I entered the drawing studio that I didn't think about much else. I went to the back corner of the room, stripped down to nothing, grabbed my rally towels, and sauntered over to the model platform. Once I got into the pose, I held it for about thirty minutes. It can sometimes be a trick to go from moving as quickly as possible to being motionless in a pose. As the hand I was leaning on started to go numb, I thought about the upcoming break and the fact that I didn't have a robe to put on. My clothes were across the room, and they were my business casual office clothes, not the shorts and t-shirt I could throw on easily. My options would be a) stay nude during the breaks, or b) run across the room, put my clothes on for two or three minutes, then take them off and run back across the room to get back into the pose, or c) run across the room on the first break, get dressed for a couple of minutes, then get undressed next to the model stand in front of everybody, which would mean getting dressed and undressed in front of them for each of the remaining breaks. I decided to go with option a.
The break came, and I got up and walked around the platform, shaking the stiffness out of my hands and letting the blood recirculate to my butt and legs (it was a seated pose). Some of the artists talked to me anyway while I was stretching, as if they understood that I was robeless because I had been called in on zero notice. It felt just a bit strange at first, but I quickly got used to it. It's one thing to be nude in a pose, but it's another to be nude, in motion, and viewed as a person rather than a subject. It got to be just a little bit exhilarating.
Once I got back into the pose, I thought about the tradition of models wearing robes on breaks and about attitudes toward nudity in general. I have almost always been comfortable nude in a variety of situations, especially in art classes, but I wear the robe in consideration of the artists and art students. Even during that session, when I didn't have the robe, I kept my distance just because I didn't want to offend any of the attendees. What would an artist think if I had just walked up and stood right beside her, looking at her work, and striking up a conversation while I was nude? I'm sure answers to that question would vary considerably depending on the person involved. So it's always better to play it safe and only be nude when necessary, no matter how personally liberating I find nudity to be.
I agreed to stay until 9:30 since the scheduled 6:00-9:00 session got started so late. They were paying me three hours anyway, so I figured I might as well put three hours in (especially since each artist had paid for a three hour session). By the time we got done, there were only two artists left drawing (or painting), and I realized I had spent the entire three hours completely exposed, without ever donning any kind of covering. I was somewhat sad to have to get dressed, especially in my office clothes. But I did...
I will occasionally look for t-shirts to wear when I go model. Jen bought me one a few years ago that says, "I'm naked under this t-shirt." I got another one last year that says "I'd rather be naked." I found this shirt this morning, and I absolutely love the quote, attributed to Michelangelo, on it: "What spirit is so empty and blind, that it cannot recognize the fact that the foot is more noble than the shoe, and skin more beautiful than the garment with which it is clothed?" I don't buy many of the shirts that I see when shopping, but I may have to get this one...
Wednesday, October 24, 2012
Aging...
I haven't been modeling as much this semester compared to the last couple of years, but I do have not one but two figure sessions coming up this weekend. I did a costumed painting session a couple of weeks ago in my vintage base ball uniform. This watercolor was painted that night by a lady named Judy...
Speaking of vintage base ball, I played in my second game on October 20th, and my quads are still sore from sprinting around the bases. I love playing though, and I give it everything I've got when I'm out there. But this 46-year-old body just isn't what it used to be.
A friend of mine recently posted a photograph of me with my shirt off and muscles flexed, taken in the summer of 1986. At the time, I had only been modeling for art classes for less than two years. I've often reflected on those early days of modeling. My perception of myself back then was that I was so skinny that the art students must have only had skin and bones to draw. When I saw this old picture, I was surprised by how good I looked. I had much more muscle definition than I remember having. And I'm really jealous of the size of my waistline then as compared to now...
I do remember modeling for a drawing class at Texas Wesleyan University back around the time this photo was taken, and a young lady in the class asked me if I lifted weights. At the time, I thought she was kidding; that skinny-kid self-image I had was too ingrained for me to take her question seriously. Now that I look at this photo of myself, more than a quarter of a century later, I can really envy the body I had back then. I only wish I could see some of the artwork done of me at the time...
Speaking of vintage base ball, I played in my second game on October 20th, and my quads are still sore from sprinting around the bases. I love playing though, and I give it everything I've got when I'm out there. But this 46-year-old body just isn't what it used to be.
A friend of mine recently posted a photograph of me with my shirt off and muscles flexed, taken in the summer of 1986. At the time, I had only been modeling for art classes for less than two years. I've often reflected on those early days of modeling. My perception of myself back then was that I was so skinny that the art students must have only had skin and bones to draw. When I saw this old picture, I was surprised by how good I looked. I had much more muscle definition than I remember having. And I'm really jealous of the size of my waistline then as compared to now...
I do remember modeling for a drawing class at Texas Wesleyan University back around the time this photo was taken, and a young lady in the class asked me if I lifted weights. At the time, I thought she was kidding; that skinny-kid self-image I had was too ingrained for me to take her question seriously. Now that I look at this photo of myself, more than a quarter of a century later, I can really envy the body I had back then. I only wish I could see some of the artwork done of me at the time...
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