Awesome Article on Nude Modeling
Dec. 7th, 2008 12:02 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jhameiaFound in the Chicago Tribune.
"Artists don't want models to all look alike," agreed Mandy Corrado, 27, of Evanston, who modeled while a student at the Art Institute of Chicago. "They appreciate models for their uniqueness and differences. Artists can look at people of all shapes and sizes and see beauty in them. ... To be accepted by artists for who you are and what you look like, without being judged, is liberating."
Still, using all types of models can meet resistance, Rosen said.
"If you're in a classroom or in workshop situations, [students] have very big responses to that. They'll be like, 'I don't want to draw her;,she's too fat. I don't want to draw her; she's too skinny. I don't want to draw him; he's a him.' "
Then it's up to the teacher to set people straight.
"Today we are drawing this person," Rosen said she tells students. "That's what's so interesting about drawing from life. ... Somebody's willing to sit there for us. They're sacred. And they should be treated as such. They're a gift."
It's not only students who might have the wrong image of art models.
"In society at large, it's quite misunderstood," said Corrado, who is now the assistant to the director of human resources at a Chicago company and a working artist. "For example ... people I tell [that she used to model], they look at me funny, they look at me weird, like, 'Oooh, a sex worker.'."
And it is SO frustrating whenever I think about how I'll ever have to explain this to people I know, that I DO happen to take off my clothes for more or less complete strangers, for the sake of art. Some people are all like "I'd have to be paid X amount of money", as if putting a price on their nakedness makes them all the more valuable than people who get paid the pittance we receive for the sake of art.
So far, I haven't had to explain this, because I somehow surround myself with really awesome people who understand and really like my work.
"It goes back, really, to the Renaissance," he said. "The underlying thought is you draw from a live model to develop your visual thinking skills, develop a strong foundation that you can use in whatever medium you choose. ... You can see, like, these drawings, Raphael drawing the nude figure in a study for a finished clothed figure in a painting. "Thinking about the education side of it, the human figure provides almost limitless teaching opportunities. You're talking about volume, mass, light, structure, anatomy, all these key concepts that an artist needs to learn."
Goodness YES.
Having been working on my costume for a while now, I'm so much more keenly aware of what cloth can and cannot do as a result of trying to design this dress, and I can imagine that artists become that much more aware of what the human body really is like when trying to draw an actual human, rather than ome stylized vision of what a human might look like.
And yes, there is sometimes that ewwwwww factor.
Corrado tells of a robe she used to wear, black silk with red flowers. Artists loved it. Sometimes too much.
"I'd hate it when they'd say, 'Keep your robe on. Just drape it, just show one breast.' I'd go, 'Oh, I'd rather be naked.' I mean, [their suggestion was] seductive, erotic. ... In a group setting? 'Show this, show that.' Ooohhh."
Yeah, I'd rather take off all my clothes too.
The idea of half-dressed-ness lies in the temptation, the hint of a striptease.
What grates me most often is the idea that nude = porn. Nudity happens in porn, yes, but porn does not happen just because someone is in the nude. Hell, porn doesn't even have to be dirty - it only happens to be so because we have some messed up, IMMODEST ideas that just because a person is without clothes, it means they WILL have sex (and this is bad because...?), which i a fallacy in itself.
Without clothes, in nudity, there are no hints. No teasing. It's a "this is what I am, FUCKING DEAL WITH IT" sort of attitude.
So the whole 'look-innocent-but-show-a-boobie' makes no sense to me from an artistic point of view, because as I wrote to an artist recently, the point of getting clothes off is to how the natural beauty of a person. To ask them to put on this show is hyper-sexualisation, and that's not natural anymore. Bodies aren't inherently sexual. So why sex it up? We're surrounded by hyper-sexualisation everywhere already - to actually portray a nude body as it is (i.e., not necessarily sexual nor particularly alluring) isn't really common enough.
It's a wonderfully-written article, and I highly encourage more people to read it. Not enough people really understand these little things about art modeling, and as a hobbyist model, it feels very gratifying to see someone taking art models so seriously.
"Artists don't want models to all look alike," agreed Mandy Corrado, 27, of Evanston, who modeled while a student at the Art Institute of Chicago. "They appreciate models for their uniqueness and differences. Artists can look at people of all shapes and sizes and see beauty in them. ... To be accepted by artists for who you are and what you look like, without being judged, is liberating."
Still, using all types of models can meet resistance, Rosen said.
"If you're in a classroom or in workshop situations, [students] have very big responses to that. They'll be like, 'I don't want to draw her;,she's too fat. I don't want to draw her; she's too skinny. I don't want to draw him; he's a him.' "
Then it's up to the teacher to set people straight.
"Today we are drawing this person," Rosen said she tells students. "That's what's so interesting about drawing from life. ... Somebody's willing to sit there for us. They're sacred. And they should be treated as such. They're a gift."
It's not only students who might have the wrong image of art models.
"In society at large, it's quite misunderstood," said Corrado, who is now the assistant to the director of human resources at a Chicago company and a working artist. "For example ... people I tell [that she used to model], they look at me funny, they look at me weird, like, 'Oooh, a sex worker.'."
And it is SO frustrating whenever I think about how I'll ever have to explain this to people I know, that I DO happen to take off my clothes for more or less complete strangers, for the sake of art. Some people are all like "I'd have to be paid X amount of money", as if putting a price on their nakedness makes them all the more valuable than people who get paid the pittance we receive for the sake of art.
So far, I haven't had to explain this, because I somehow surround myself with really awesome people who understand and really like my work.
"It goes back, really, to the Renaissance," he said. "The underlying thought is you draw from a live model to develop your visual thinking skills, develop a strong foundation that you can use in whatever medium you choose. ... You can see, like, these drawings, Raphael drawing the nude figure in a study for a finished clothed figure in a painting. "Thinking about the education side of it, the human figure provides almost limitless teaching opportunities. You're talking about volume, mass, light, structure, anatomy, all these key concepts that an artist needs to learn."
Goodness YES.
Having been working on my costume for a while now, I'm so much more keenly aware of what cloth can and cannot do as a result of trying to design this dress, and I can imagine that artists become that much more aware of what the human body really is like when trying to draw an actual human, rather than ome stylized vision of what a human might look like.
And yes, there is sometimes that ewwwwww factor.
Corrado tells of a robe she used to wear, black silk with red flowers. Artists loved it. Sometimes too much.
"I'd hate it when they'd say, 'Keep your robe on. Just drape it, just show one breast.' I'd go, 'Oh, I'd rather be naked.' I mean, [their suggestion was] seductive, erotic. ... In a group setting? 'Show this, show that.' Ooohhh."
Yeah, I'd rather take off all my clothes too.
The idea of half-dressed-ness lies in the temptation, the hint of a striptease.
What grates me most often is the idea that nude = porn. Nudity happens in porn, yes, but porn does not happen just because someone is in the nude. Hell, porn doesn't even have to be dirty - it only happens to be so because we have some messed up, IMMODEST ideas that just because a person is without clothes, it means they WILL have sex (and this is bad because...?), which i a fallacy in itself.
Without clothes, in nudity, there are no hints. No teasing. It's a "this is what I am, FUCKING DEAL WITH IT" sort of attitude.
So the whole 'look-innocent-but-show-a-boobie' makes no sense to me from an artistic point of view, because as I wrote to an artist recently, the point of getting clothes off is to how the natural beauty of a person. To ask them to put on this show is hyper-sexualisation, and that's not natural anymore. Bodies aren't inherently sexual. So why sex it up? We're surrounded by hyper-sexualisation everywhere already - to actually portray a nude body as it is (i.e., not necessarily sexual nor particularly alluring) isn't really common enough.
It's a wonderfully-written article, and I highly encourage more people to read it. Not enough people really understand these little things about art modeling, and as a hobbyist model, it feels very gratifying to see someone taking art models so seriously.
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(no subject)
Date: 2008-12-07 09:05 am (UTC)In traditional parts of the world, there is the struggle between traditional values and ideas of sex & the human body versus what the mainstream media wants us to see. As a result, authorities decide that the naked body itself is pornography & therefore taboo to be simply put on display; never mind if it is a Renaissance painting which draws focus to the curves, lines, shadows, and colours together with composition of the human body (which has nothing to do with sex). In fact, it's ironic to think that the more "modern" we become, the more preoccupied we are about the concepts of sex (and how to curtail it) and not looking beyond it.
But ultimately, what people see when they look at the photo of a naked woman is what makes art subjective - where do we draw the line between art being art and pornography masquerading poorly as art?
Then there is also the stereotypical views of what makes a model - do we expect someone pretty with a good figure or are we willing to look beyond that? Personally, I am growing tired of seeing most Asian models on MM baring their all in seductive, porno-based positions. It's living up to the stereotype that if you see an exotic, all she represents is sex (open legs coupled with the subtle open mouth OR the come hither virgin pose). Please. There is more to us women than just sex. Thankgawd for the few who break the stereotype by trying something different and new.
I like your recent work, especially the one of you posing in those tubes. It reminds me of how Ancient Olympians used to jostle and play sports buck naked. Don't see people thinking that they were up to some no-good orgy. :)
Now, if only I can convince the hubby that I'd like a nude pregnancy shoot. :)
(no subject)
Date: 2008-12-07 01:47 pm (UTC)Sometimes, these "traditional" values aren't as traditional as we think they are. Somehow or another, the people who think women (or the human body) are sexual objects got in charge and put that into our mythos.
I think one of the problems with the hyper-sexualization is the fact that we do SO much to "hide" the naked body - thus portraying the naked body as something forbidden, and thus, arousing. Whereas in certain parts of the world, topless boys and girls hang out in a pool and flirt without getting hot and heavy by it. Normalize the human body, teach children that the naked body is perfectly natural, and we wouldn't have all this hyper-sexualisation.
AAAAAARGH RE: Asian models in stereotypically sexpot poses! It seems like that's ALL you see Asian models in. That, or in these commercial "safe" stuff. There are the few who do differently, but they are clearly mixed. I don't blame them entirely since they are only supplying, not creating the demand (and most Asian models are too short to do anything other than trade shows, using sex to sell cars and stuff).
Funny how a bikini seems to make that much of a difference in whether something is 'porn' or not for some people, too.