The Artist Models
December 20, 2018 9:06 AM Subscribe
Artist Matthew New draws on his own experience to create this comic about the joys and pitfalls of working as a fine art model. [Comic contains non-explicit figure drawings, so maybe NSFW depending on your W]
I originally encountered fine art modeling as a frequently cited "weird job" at the end of author bios, e.g., "She has worked as a steamship captain, alligator wrestler, and artists' model." So when I moved to Chicago after college, it occurred to me that it might be possible to tide myself over with fine art modeling until I was able to land a real job. And then I somehow ended up doing it full time for the next nine years.
This comic felt so true to me, reflecting both the sometimes challenging physical and mental aspects of the job and also some of the emotional benefits. I'm so grateful that I spent my 20s being admired for my resemblance to Bouguereau's bathers or Sargent's Madame X, as an antidote to the toxic messaging that young women receive about their bodies from absolutely everywhere.
I finally left that job, reluctantly, in favor of a steadier paycheck and health insurance. But even 10 years later, I still pose occasionally, just for the sheer pleasure of seeing myself through a different lens.
posted by merriment at 12:26 PM on December 20, 2018 [1 favorite]
This comic felt so true to me, reflecting both the sometimes challenging physical and mental aspects of the job and also some of the emotional benefits. I'm so grateful that I spent my 20s being admired for my resemblance to Bouguereau's bathers or Sargent's Madame X, as an antidote to the toxic messaging that young women receive about their bodies from absolutely everywhere.
I finally left that job, reluctantly, in favor of a steadier paycheck and health insurance. But even 10 years later, I still pose occasionally, just for the sheer pleasure of seeing myself through a different lens.
posted by merriment at 12:26 PM on December 20, 2018 [1 favorite]
I was the first nude model in Asheville back in the 60s. It was for a Life Drawing class at the art museum. As I recall, there was no pay involved. It was an hour/week. And it's hard work; the comment about choosing your pose carefully is true. I'm still friends with an artist who was in that class.
posted by MovableBookLady at 12:47 PM on December 20, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by MovableBookLady at 12:47 PM on December 20, 2018 [1 favorite]
Thanks, I really enjoyed this.
I worked as a nude model in the same art college I took classes at in my early 20s. It was a part time gig over a couple of years and paid $15/hour at the time (early 90s). That was a good wage for a broke college student especially when I was already at work anyway. I first got the job because I was posing for a friend, well, my first girlfriend actually, in the corner of the studio. This was shortly after I had come out as gay and I was trying to do all the things I could to show what a radical lesbian feminist I was. That included shaving my head (like my new girlfriend), piercing my nose (like my new girlfriend), wearing nothing but surplus hounds tooth chef pants with t-shirts and sweaters from the thrift shop, getting a tattoo, painting lots of huge paintings of women having sex with each other, building a giant sculpture of priest with a gun instead of a penis and standing up loud, proud and naked in front of large groups of my peers. I don't know how my professors put up with me, but I also have no idea how they hired a student from their class to pose for other students. I teach art now, the same age group, and there is no way in hell that would fly at my college.
The funny thing about the nude modelling though was that it did give me a huge amount of confidence in my body, and that confidence persisted long after I grew the hair and took out the nose ring. As a teenager and young adult I struggled with eating disorders and body image. The combination of learning what misogynist bastards Gauguin and Picasso were, looking at work by Carolee Schneeman and Ana Mendieta and then using my body to make money and see people make art from it was extremely healing. I ended up working on semi-narrative paintings that used my body as model for years afterwards, playing around with space, gender, erotica, pornography and sexuality. The modelling led into all that.
In a box in my basement I have hundred and hundreds of reference photos that I took of myself in my 20s , pre digital camera and pre internet of course. In most of them I'm nude or semi-nude and some are certainly pornographic. I have images of friends at the time, some still friends, who I convinced to pose for me. I developed a bunch of the images myself but most of them I used to take to the local photo finishing places which now strikes me as incredibly naive. I had to go through the box when we renovated the basement last winter and those old images that I used to think were so edgy now drip with nostalgia.
There are always dancers available to model for my classes, with their perfect muscles and incredible ability to hold poses. I have one super tall bone thin middle aged man who is amazing in gesture poses, and I recently found a young couple who are willing to pose together, which is gold. I have a sexagenarian who models for me and is just a delight. I have probably been using her for about 15 years, and her body sags in the most wonderful ways. These days, as I edge up on 50, I recognize her body more clearly as part of my future. You learn a lot about scale, shade and proportion from observing the figure and for me that has been helpful for more a lot more than drawing.
posted by Cuke at 3:30 PM on December 20, 2018 [4 favorites]
I worked as a nude model in the same art college I took classes at in my early 20s. It was a part time gig over a couple of years and paid $15/hour at the time (early 90s). That was a good wage for a broke college student especially when I was already at work anyway. I first got the job because I was posing for a friend, well, my first girlfriend actually, in the corner of the studio. This was shortly after I had come out as gay and I was trying to do all the things I could to show what a radical lesbian feminist I was. That included shaving my head (like my new girlfriend), piercing my nose (like my new girlfriend), wearing nothing but surplus hounds tooth chef pants with t-shirts and sweaters from the thrift shop, getting a tattoo, painting lots of huge paintings of women having sex with each other, building a giant sculpture of priest with a gun instead of a penis and standing up loud, proud and naked in front of large groups of my peers. I don't know how my professors put up with me, but I also have no idea how they hired a student from their class to pose for other students. I teach art now, the same age group, and there is no way in hell that would fly at my college.
The funny thing about the nude modelling though was that it did give me a huge amount of confidence in my body, and that confidence persisted long after I grew the hair and took out the nose ring. As a teenager and young adult I struggled with eating disorders and body image. The combination of learning what misogynist bastards Gauguin and Picasso were, looking at work by Carolee Schneeman and Ana Mendieta and then using my body to make money and see people make art from it was extremely healing. I ended up working on semi-narrative paintings that used my body as model for years afterwards, playing around with space, gender, erotica, pornography and sexuality. The modelling led into all that.
In a box in my basement I have hundred and hundreds of reference photos that I took of myself in my 20s , pre digital camera and pre internet of course. In most of them I'm nude or semi-nude and some are certainly pornographic. I have images of friends at the time, some still friends, who I convinced to pose for me. I developed a bunch of the images myself but most of them I used to take to the local photo finishing places which now strikes me as incredibly naive. I had to go through the box when we renovated the basement last winter and those old images that I used to think were so edgy now drip with nostalgia.
There are always dancers available to model for my classes, with their perfect muscles and incredible ability to hold poses. I have one super tall bone thin middle aged man who is amazing in gesture poses, and I recently found a young couple who are willing to pose together, which is gold. I have a sexagenarian who models for me and is just a delight. I have probably been using her for about 15 years, and her body sags in the most wonderful ways. These days, as I edge up on 50, I recognize her body more clearly as part of my future. You learn a lot about scale, shade and proportion from observing the figure and for me that has been helpful for more a lot more than drawing.
posted by Cuke at 3:30 PM on December 20, 2018 [4 favorites]
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From near the end:
“I don’t think I’ll ever really feel attractive or handsome.
But when I model, I do feel something I’ve never felt before.
That my body is appreciated.
Exactly as it is.”
posted by darkstar at 10:51 AM on December 20, 2018 [1 favorite]