|
We had our first opportunity at a Canadian University. ~
That’s where Jenn drew the one above. It was not actually worth it going there. ~ Driving back and forth took longer than the time there, not to mention the gas. ~ But it was something new to do. ~ We opened the door to that class room and found all these kids in there. ~ About 16-18 of them, about equally divided as to males and females, and none more than 20. ~ I was told it was the first such class for many of them, and I’m sure a lot of the females had never before been that close to a live nude guy. ~ Well you know, a nude ‘stranger’
at least? <g> ~ It was a first for most of us.
We did several sessions with that class and others, in Canada. ~ All of them went
very nicely. ~ I bought some drawings during that semester. ~ I talked to the students a lot during breaks and lunch. ~ They’d tell me the poses they’d like; what positions to take and so on. ~
One got carried away a bit and had me do the Mr. Bojangles thing. ~ Complete with a lamp post and top hat. ~ I had liked the Dirt Band up till then. :-/
There were students walking in and out all the time. ~ All with studied
‘nonchalance’ on their faces. ~ Some of them worked in media other than charcoal. ~ Bending wire into ‘shapes’ or forming plaster goop. ~ Some of their work looked ok and maybe they would develop into
reasonable artists. ~ But most seemed like they were using their parents tuition money for a vacation. ~ Gad it was terrible stuff.
The biggest laugh was when they got to the part of why a nude model is called a nude
model.
:-/ ~ This was a real problem for some of the girls. ~ It’s too bad they have such a problem dealing with the conditioning they receive while growing up. ~ Not even considering what they’re trying to do with their life as artists. ~ Of course many of them were simply new and nervous, but a few were pretty much ‘basket cases’. <g> ~ I mean not just from their expression or actions, but simply by looking at their work... ~ It was obvious they never even looked in ‘that’ direction much less to draw it in *detail*. ;->
It seemed they just picked up a piece of charcoal, closed their eyes, and went on
some mental image they had. ~ The results were often startling.., often resembling a ‘log’. ~ They were always fairly generous with the charcoal though. ~ I liked that part. ~ I thought they were trying to be
nice to me. :-)
A female friend who also models told me about one guy who was looking over to his neighbor’s drawing to go by, instead of looking at her directly. ~ So I can’t lay the inhibitions on the girls alone. ~ Some of both were equally uptight. ~ We’ve come a long way in the past ten or 15 years but there is still this dumb ‘body shame’ thing going on.., you know? ~ And *that*, remember, was in Canada, which I had thought was more ‘European’ than the U.S.
That was about 6 years ago... ~ When the semester ended for the Christmas vacation I
chose not to go back. ~ But about the beginning of October the next year, as it started to get into cloudy & cooler weather again, I felt like doing it again. ~ You know, making money for standing in one
spot doing nothing isn’t a bad idea in the first place.., and it gets me out.
:-) ~ But, I was probably just still on a roll after the great summer and hated to quit. ~ There were several schools that said to come in so I went to the nearest and kept it at that. ~ One or two sessions a week is all I’ve been doing and that’s enough.
In the U.S. it’s been quite different. ~
Surprizingly to me, the students cope with the nudity better. ~ At least I *think* they do. ~ Maybe I’m just more used to it myself now, and not looking for reactions as much as I did at first? ~ I did work with one woman instructor who seemed not very up to it. ~ She had that ‘shame’ thing.., as if there was something wrong with nudity in and of itself. ~ Like she had a choice as to what a ‘life studies’ course was really for? ~ She went around before class and quietly asked the female students if they would have a problem with my being nude. ~ No one said it would bother them but it was very strange that the teacher thought it was something she needed to think about. ~ I’ll bet she does some super work with still-lifes... Vases, flowers and the like, eh? ;->
The next time I worked with that instructor I was late and she thought I wasn’t
coming. ~ It was a beautiful day so she took the class outside. ~ When I showed up I found them near some Grecian columns and I started to undress right there. ~ Ha! ~ She almost choked... ~ Outside??? ~ Never
~ She stopped me of course.., but it would have been nice to do. ~ What are college campuses coming to... ~ I remember the 70’s, you know?
One more thing I found was that *that* school, at least, has a rule that male and
female models can not be nude in the same class together. ~
Like we might strike some really interesting poses together? Ha! ~ If a painting were to be of a ‘couple’.., two classes had to be arranged to allow the two models to pose separately. ~ Isn’t it amazing how nervous people can get about nudity? ~ Thankfully, I have some better news on this, a little further down...
The longest single pose was three hours. ~ Not really too bad, with
two little breaks and one 15 minute break at midpoint. ~ Actually it was a piece of cake. ~ That one was a sculpture class.., another first for me.
~ Just one woman and one man and the instructor. ~ The woman did a great job and I asked the instructor if I could buy it, it being my first and all, and because they simply squash them again, once they’ve created them. ~ But I found, to actually make it a finished product, it becomes much more involved. ~ What was used in class is just the clay ‘shaping’ material. ~ That would have to be followed by a fibreglass casting and then the actual plaster figure is made and fired, plus other work. ~ Not that easy and I didn’t know who would do it all for me... ~ Oh well..., live and learn. ~ But I still should have asked for just the clay sculpture anyway. :0)
More recently I went to an art class as a student, to see if I was learning
anything. ~ These were on days when I was normally tied up with other things..., but I finally had a chance to try it. ~ Believe it or not the model didn’t show up... ~ So I ended up volunteering to model again. ~ I
just can’t seem to keep my clothes on. :-)
It was fun though, as usual. ~ I got a chance to do a pose I have been wanting to
try. ~
It was of a nude art class student, painting a clothed model.. :-) ~ Teach said it was ‘inspired’. ~ There were a couple of very good painters that night, and one watercolor was really good... ~ Unfortunately the jpg of it didn’t get emailed to me as promised. :-/
I did get a Christmas present from one class last year... ~ A great
group shot of the students and I (not my best), taken on the last class of 2004. ~ Thanks to everyone in the picture. ~ I love it. ~ It’s something I’ve wanted for a long time... :-)
|
