Hi everyone!
Before I get into the topic of today's post, I want to take a quick second and mention something. Last night, I modeled at a new school for the first time. The class was pretty standard. Short poses to longer poses, breaks in between, etc. The instructor and the students were all very nice, and I had a great time. I may write a post about this experience in the future, but for now, I just wanted to put this information on there! Now, back on track.
Remember how I mentioned that art models don’t always pose nude? And remember how I mentioned that sometimes, my sessions are six hours long instead of three? Well, that's what happened today. Today was the first time I posed clothed in a class for more than three hours.
I have to admit, I was pretty excited when I first got the email asking me to do this booking. I was told to bring "a few interesting tops (street clothes or costumes)...for the instructor to choose from." I decided to wear a long black dress with a floral pattern, as well as my favorite pair of brown lace up boots. It was an outfit that not only looked interesting, but that I was more than comfortable in. An important factor, considering I was going to be working for twice as long as I normally do.
As soon as I arrived at the booking, I knew that I was going to have fun. The students were all incredibly kind and welcoming, as was the instructor. One of the students even came up to me before the class began and said that he was happy that I was there. That made me feel great, even before I got on the modeling stand. When the class did start, the instructor had the students gather around him and took out a book of paintings by the French-Polish artist Balthus. He talked a lot about how Balthus often painted his models in natural postures (e.g. standing up straight, seated in a chair, etc.,) but that there was usually something "off" about the pose itself. For example, he presented a painting that had the model standing erect, but with her shoulders slightly titled to the right. He also showed some other Balthus works that did this, in order to give the students some inspiration for their own paintings.
When something like this happens, the model for the class isn't technically required to sit and listen with the students. But I always like to do this anyway. I not only think it's interesting, but I've found that having the same information the students do makes my modeling that much better. Understanding what the students are trying to achieve in their works, and how I as the model can help them achieve that makes my sessions so much more gratifying and fun.
The pose for this class was fairly basic. I sat in a chair with my legs crossed and my hand resting on my knee. Nothing too extreme. But like my other six hour session, I held this one pose for the entirety of the class. I suspected that my legs would get stiff and numb, but I didn't think my arms would too, especially since I wasn't doing anything crazy with them. I guess that'll happen though when you're trying to sit completely still for twenty minutes at a time. It wasn't the best feeling, but it was nothing I couldn't handle.
After a few hours of posing, everyone got a thirty-five minute lunch break. Normally when this happens, a lot the students leave the classroom to go eat outside or at nearby restaurants. Today, though, the students and instructor set up a table and invited me to eat with them. The instructor asked me about what I do outside of art modeling, and I told everyone about being an actress. I found out that one of the students also graduated from Ithaca College, much to my delight! Before we were all done eating, I decided to ask the class about what they thought makes a good art model. Their response was simple; a good art model is someone that holds still.
I know that sounds like an obvious answer, but their reasonings made a lot of sense. While you're certainly allowed to shake out any stiff or numb muscles in a session, some models forget that it's important not to completely lose the pose. It makes the students' jobs a lot harder when this happens, and it gets frustrating if this occurs constantly in the class. Apparently, a lot of the students had been in other classes where this happened. As you might have guessed, this isn't advisable behavior for an art model. It's definitely not "model behavior!" Ba dum, sshh!
I was happy to know, though, that the students thought I did a great job this session. A lot of them gave me compliments about my focus, and told me that I had a great face and hair for modeling. Their kind words boosted my confidence so much, and I loved getting to see their final paintings at the end of class. All of them were, as usual, beautiful to look at it. I even got up the courage to ask them if I could take a few pictures of their work, and they agreed! I would share their paintings here...but I didn't ask the students if they'd be okay with me sharing their work on social media. I wouldn't feel comfortable posting the pictures without their permission, so I won't be showing any of them in this post. But I don't want you to get too disheartened. The great thing about this class is that I'll be posing in it again next week. Maybe by then I'll have mustered the courage to ask them about sharing their artwork online. Either way, I had such a positive experience at work today, and I'll really looking forward to coming back! I've said it before, but I'll say it again; I love my job so much!!!
That's it for me tonight. I'm off to watch some more YouTube videos before I hit the hay. Here's hoping my internal clock decides not to wake me up at 6am tomorrow. :P
See you soon!
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