The scene in Titanic where Rose asks Jack to draw her like one of his French girls (i.e. completely naked bar a necklace), is probably one of the most seductive moments in cinema. In reality, however, life modelling is neither glamourous nor sexy. It’s just plain and simple art. The first time I life modelled for the Art Society, I was in first year and I’ll admit I was more than a little nervous. I’d once barely been able to look at my own body in the mirror so the thought of having a room full of people staring at it, studying it and drawing every curve and crease in explicit detail filled me with dread.
However, I like to live by the philosophy of ‘feel the fear and do it anyway’ and I couldn’t think of any better way to finally conquer my body hang-ups, so I signed up to be a model and before I knew it I was dropping my leopard print dressing gown in a room full of strangers.
The first experience was made a lot easier as there was another female model posing with me and coincidentally she also had a leopard print dressing gown. I immediately took this to be a symbol of solidarity and her totally blasé attitude to getting naked, even though it was also her first time, immediately put me at ease and gave me the confidence to bare all.
At first, I didn’t dare to make eye contact with any of the artists and just stared at the bricks on the wall. After a while though, I became intrigued by how others saw my body and tried to get sneaky glimpses of their sketches. In the end I was really enjoying striking the different poses which could last between five and twenty minutes. A common misconception about life modelling is that it just involves standing still for a long time.
If that were the case the classes would be very dull indeed. The object of a life drawing class is to study the intricacies of the human form which means seeing it from a variety of angles and in an array of positions. I’ve posed with my arms above my head (usually a short pose as it can get quite sore), lying down, crouching, stretching and most challengingly straddling a chair backwards.
Initially, when I told my friends I did life modelling, most were very supportive and called me ‘brave’. However, one of my male friends said memorably: “So you’re getting paid to be naked in front of people. You’re basically doing porn”.
It couldn’t have been further from the truth. There is absolutely nothing sexual about a life drawing class. Whether they are male or female, young or old, everyone who participates in the class is there for the sole reason of drawing a human body. They don’t jeer or perve or make lewd and inappropriate comments and I’m sure that if they did they would swiftly be shown the door.
In my second year I responded to an advert posted on Career Zone by a woman who was running her own private life drawing class in Topsham and needed models. This was a really fun experience because she liked her pupils to experiment with different media and materials and to consider different perspectives and approaches to drawing the human body. She also gave me free reign in deciding which poses I did and one of the exercises she liked to do was to play music and have me transition slowly between different poses. It was then that I realised just how creative life drawing can be, not only for the artist, but also the model.
You only need to be yourself. Artists don’t want to airbrush you
The main reason I think life modelling is commonly misconstrued as being sleazy is because “modelling” has become a somewhat dirty word, which often conjures up images of anorexia, eating disorders or page 3 girls with their boobs out. There are no pre-requisites to be a life model. You can be short, tall, skinny or curvy, athletic or muscular: it doesn’t matter. You only need to be yourself. Artists don’t want to airbrush you. They want realism and to depict the human body for exactly what it is: a naturally beautiful work of art. I can’t imagine that there are many experiences which are more liberating than life modelling. So go on, strip off your fears and give it a go!
If you’ve been inspired to have a go yourself, contact the Art Society.
