My first experience with a nude model started off a little rocky. I was a little late for my drawing class the day we started “life drawing” only to find the last space left was right smack dab in front of the model. Then I found out “Life drawing”= Looking at a really naked person.

I went to a girls’ school so ending up in front of a bare-ass strange man was a bit much at first. And he was staring right at me. I wanted to run out of the room. But I bit my lip and tried to separate myself from, “OMG naked man!” thoughts and concentrate on “it’s just for art, it’s just a body” thoughts and soon I relaxed and had some decent charcoal sketches of Billy the Hairdresser.  After that it was a piece of cake.  I drew fat people, short people, athletic people, all kinds of people. And after awhile it stopped being about the fact that there was a naked person in front of the class but about the similar shapes of many arms, legs, head, hands, feet, etc. It was about the beauty of the human body.

If you wanna model for local artists or find a local model to work for you, look no further. I saw this flyer about an Art Model Meetup on the bulletin board at Ben Around Tattoos and was intrigued. Here’s their website .

Never modeled before but are interested in trying it? Physique isn’t important but you should be able to sit still for 30 minutes at a time. Here’s a website that talks about what it takes to be an artist’s model. Now go get naked.

[Photo: Nude Model by Henri Matisse]

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