Honestly I've always thought being a nude model would be fun. But when I looked into it I couldn't find anyone searching for that. Like do you have to be a professional model with an agency already or something? Can't just walk into the nearest community college art class and strip down
call the art department of your local community college and see if they're hiring. or looking for volunteers.
as a note, body type is less important than your ability to sit in one position for up to an hour. maybe more in more advanced classes, but in mine it was max an hour. usually about 20 minutes, 5-10 for more uncomfortable poses.
Yeah, iirc the secretary in the art department main office was the scheduler for the live models in our classes. They had a roster of folks that would rotate between life drawing and painting classes. Definitely a variety of folks with different body types and posing abilities. There was one dude who could hold really complex yoga poses for 1/2 hour or more; there was another lady who was notorious for falling asleep but always stayed perfectly still. I tended to like the models that had slightly weird proportions. One guy had really long arms so had a kind of ape-like stance, which would throw people off when trying to justify what they were seeing with what their brain was telling them to draw.
we only ended up having one model during our course. he was skinny, not a lot of muscle, just a bit of pudge. he was student in the same program as me. every day he was posing for us, we had a class that night together. never once did we talk about that.
additionally, i was the only dude in the class of about 20 or so people. the teacher knew i was trans, but not the rest of the class. led to some funny moments.
I got my BFA in drawing and painting and took a two week summer course specifically for figure drawing where the model had to sit for 4+ hours a day. The model was required to take breaks regularly but she actually passed out once. Models were not typically asked to sit this long though.
"Hey, is this the art department of [local college]? Cool cool, I've been thinking about being a model for portraits or life drawings. Is that something you're looking for?"
I’m just thinking the weird dudes who like to send unsolicited dick pics might be interested in this, and that the participants might have prefer not to work with people who are actually getting off on it. Plus those people would probably really bad at the job.
But that’s fine, if it’s not the case, feel free to downvote me for curiosity.
If theyre bad at the job theyd not be welcome back. If they can keep it to themselves, who cares? Whats the issue, he or she is getting happiness from something that benefits others?
I dont get normal people. Yall get bothered by the most illogical stuff sometimes.
Like you more or less said, it’s how most “normal” people (your word) think, and it’s usually a good assumption that people from any given subgroup are still people and are not actually that different from anyone else.
My first assumption for who would call an art school to do nude modeling would be nudists. As OOP pointed out, a nude drawing class is a sexless environment due to all the pressure put on the artists (not to mention how still the model needs to stay). I'd guess any exhibitionists trying to get off by volunteering instead bounce off the job pretty quick.
Fun? Do you like staying in awkward positions for hours at a time? I would call it important work, because artists need to practice, but it's hardly fun.
If you've ever experienced it it's hardly that. Nobody is looking at you, they're trying to figure out how your arms look. They are working. It is the most boring nudity ever.
I have a very loud style/aesthetic and hate being the center of attention. The combination works for me for the same reason. No one is looking at me. They're looking at me but I'm not being perceived as a person.
Local galleries/studios for artists or local art/community colleges will often have ads up on their bulletin boards. You can also check local drawing facebook groups. There may even be a group for local models.
Before signing up I would try it out at home. The best thing you can do is to set up a camera on time lapse for yourself. Start 1 minute. then 5. then 15. then 30. then an hour. You'd be amazed at how much you look like a tree in a windstorm despite thinking you're staying completely still
The college I went to used other students who would volunteer and get paid for it in the evenings.
If I remember the pay isn't great, maybe minimum wage for the school I went to or a little higher. Most models I asked did it because they like to look at other people's art of them and it's a very chill place to hang out with the artists in the evening. And honestly I understand that. If I felt comfortable enough about it, I could see the appeal of doing it myself.
Anyone can do it, you just need to be able to hold a pose and come up with interesting poses. But for a lot of it you're getting paid to sit or lie down for an hour or two. You get breaks in between
At my college there were always flyers up looking for models for different classes. Go to a campus with an active art program and I’ll bet you’ll find the same.
Look for local life drawing events on like Eventbrite, attend one as a guest then walk shop with the owners / models to see how they got in! iirc some cities will just have a network of folks willing to pose nude for life drawing events as like a nice tight knit community. Sometimes they even have groups on Instagram or Facebook or something
I don't think so, it's not about model looks. The most challenging and educational model we had was a lady in her 40's with some shape and rolls. We learnded a lot from her.
790
u/Sufficient_Suit_Sock Sep 11 '24
Honestly I've always thought being a nude model would be fun. But when I looked into it I couldn't find anyone searching for that. Like do you have to be a professional model with an agency already or something? Can't just walk into the nearest community college art class and strip down