raeanna74

I got a job modeling for a 'life drawing' art class at the university. For the first hour or so I'm free to do 20 action poses of my choice about 2 minutes long each. I've never done anything like this before or seen an art class. I thought I might do a few yoga poses but there's only so many of those that I would want to do for this. I'm looking for other position ideas. Or pictures of poses that I could do.

Any ideas?? Shoot!

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Crack

Just a shot in the dark here, but these wouldn't happen to be... I don't think I have the gumption to even ask... Nude?

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MexicanOnABike

in libraries, you can usualy find art books with nude poses. look at how they're placed to know what you should try. i Took a few art classes and the laying down, sitting down, etc.. are the best pose for the model because they're easy. as soon as you put your hands up or leg up or anything like that, you'll get tired in 30sec. 2mins is VERY long when you can't move.
also, if you're doing nudes, try to do poses that AREN'T sexual. like legs apart or arms behind your back.

Good luck!

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ngdawg

One of the models they used in my drawing classes was into yoga-they're great positions for modelling and you learn to hold them longer.

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zkara

I had sketched nude and clothed models for 3 years. The positions that I find really challenging and yet beautiful to sketch are poses where the torso is twisted.

I had a model that did 2 minutes poses for me, with a chair. Most of her poses allowed her to lean her weight onto the chair instead of fully on her feet, which I think really helped with the fact that she was posing for 3 hours, from clothed, to naked.

The fact that it's an art class, you will normally have students sitting all around the perimeter of a raised stage. Remember to keep your poses going at a full 360. Everytime you change pose, think of the students who were sketching you full frontal, make sure you rotate yourself so that they get a different angle. Simple things like resting one hand on your waist, the other touching your butt, hugging yourself, twisting your torso.. these simple movements rotate your abdomen, and all the different planes every limb is on.
Students are looking for lighting and shadow to define shapes. The more you twist your body, the more challenging it is for them to find muscle definition that do not normally show when you are just standing straight.

Bring props if you are allowed to. Lots of poses to come up with if you are holding a stick, a ball, a ... pail. You can hold these things, up, down, side, back. Most art classes have a stash of props that you can pick from. Find things that allow you to hold, yet rest on. For example, a pail. You can hold it up, down, or rest a foot on it... you might even be able to sit on it.

I'm rambling. I hope some of these points help. Good luck, and have fun.

raeanna74

Yup nude. I think it will actually help me to focus more on the artistic quality of my body rather than the formerly more sexual thinking I've had.

I looked some nude drawings online and got a few ideas but I don't know if I can think of TWENTY of them. It seems like a lot to me sortof. I can only think of about maybe 6 or 8 yoga ones offhand that I wouldn't find too exposing. Then I found probably 5 or 6 ideas so far. Still got at least 5 or so to go. I want to have a few more ideas in mind in case the teacher vetos one because of some reason.

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"Always learn the rules so that you can break them properly." Dalai Lama
My Karma just ran over your Dogma.

MexicanOnABike

one thing the models in my classes did was to do action pose. for example: start with a ball on the floor. then bend to pick it up, then pick it up slowly and then get up and then prepare to throw it and then extend your arm like you threw the ball(remove object).

right there would give you 3-6poses depending what you try as your action.

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Redjake

This is probably immature, but anyone who gets to make art from nude models is laughing all the way to the bank. The SPERM BANK!!!!!!!

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Crack

Where the hell are these damn classes? Seriously!

I can't draw worth a shit, but I think I might at least give it a try if there was a nude model!

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vanblah

Look to martial arts and ballet. You don't have to be a "master" of either one of those things to get some great poses. The yoga thing is a great idea too.

cadre

Everyone so far has some good ideas. I'd just like to add that you don't have to change your position very drastically to change the pose. You can go from leaning forward to leaning back or something like that. This is what I did alot of when I was modeling for my art class. Definately make sure to turn as you go too. Also keep in mind what they want as far as action poses go, some places define that differently.

Let us know how it goes.

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zkara

Crack : Art schools usually have art groups at least 2 nights a week, where the school pays for a model to pose for 3 hours, and ANY students from any art major can go in and grab a bench to sketch/paint/sculp... I think the only thing you are not allowed to do is to photograph or film the model.

Maybe you can enroll in a class 'Life Drawing' - Understanding the Human Body..

(sorry for hijacking the thread a lil, raeanna)

serlindsipity

I always recommend to twist and turn a lot. it makes it harder for the artists to draw, thus forcing us to work harder. get props too. A chair, a stool, a stick to balance with on the shorter ones. look at greek and roman sculpture and even modeling catalouges, those will give you many ideas. and dont be afraid to park your butt (or your back) on teh floor once in awhile for something different as well.

oh, and as an artist, please dont fix your gaze on any poor student, its makes us SUPER nervous. good luck!

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ASU2003

http://www.artshopua.com/imageproduc...rt_print_b.jpg

http://dota.ru/celeb/big/p415_32.jpg

http://feromono.com/Galerias/albums/..._091.sized.jpg

http://lancemannion.typepad.com/phot...son_008b_1.jpg

http://www.adrants.com/images/026_ce...ansson_006.jpg

Can you print some pictures out so you don't have to memorize them? There are plenty of other pictures of women on the internet. Pick a few of those and add in the yoga poses, and you will be set.

How did I forget Natalie?

http://feromono.com/Galerias/albums/...ortman_064.jpg

http://feromono.com/Galerias/albums/..._011.sized.jpg

http://feromono.com/Galerias/albums/...ortman_008.jpg

raeanna74

Thank you so much all of your for your ideas and tips. I will try to remember it all.

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"Always learn the rules so that you can break them properly." Dalai Lama
My Karma just ran over your Dogma.

Sultana

You know, just because you have a nude model, it doesn't automatically mean it's someone you'd like to look at nude. Go to a nude beach sometime, I guarantee it's not all supermodels and what not, esp. in Europe.

Raeanna's classes will be lucky, but that's not always the case.

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Kalnaur

As an art student myself, I would suggest the following ideas. Since these are called gesture, where the student is trying to get the general idea of the human body and how it changes when it is "in motion", the ideas of martial arts/yoga/exercises are good, but also think about ways that you can move (and hold a pose) that would show someone possibly just starting out in art the many ways that we think a body moves, but doesn't really. For example, what does the body do when you are bent touching your toes? How does it balance? How can you shift yourself into a way that looks like you shouldn't be able to balance and yet you can. These poses are the best mainly because when people think of the human body, they do not realize that the torso moves to a place where something is under it and supporting it's weight (as long as it is not laying down. ) Thus the reason that yoga or fighting poses help us see that. But also use poses such as "the stretching for the very last glass in the really high cupboard without a chair because you're sure you can reach it" type poses of everyday life. Those poses are what we as artists want more of.

t Redjake: yes, that is a bit of an immature idea. Most of the models might have a nice or ok body, but remember two things about these classes: First, the woman or man is not an object of sex, they are a tool to help the artist see one thing and that is how an actual human body moves and twists and how our preconceived notions can ruin our art. The other thing is that while some may have a nice whatever, there are more often than not older women, larger men, etc; these classes are to show an artist that not all humans look alike, not to get them hot and horny.

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raeanna74

Thanks guys for the suggestions and ideas. I finally did the class and it was great. If any of you have an opportunity to do this I highly recommend it. Even if you don't have a perfect body. For anyone who is expecting - the teacher told me that she had one woman do it who was 9 months pregnant and she purchased some of the sketches from the students. What a GREAT momento. She said they're always looking for models of different body types. It was fun and a great learning experience too.
It was handled all very professionally (I expected it would be but I'm sure there are instances where something comes up that causes tension sometimes. We don't live in a perfect world.) They talked about Rubenesque women before we even got started and there was a brief comment that I have the 'classical Rubenesque' figure. It was said in a positive tone because it allowed the students to try to DRAW that just after they had analyzed it in the slide show at the beginning of class. They liked the poses I chose (thanks to everyone here I had plenty to choose from) and they seemed to enjoy drawing them. After they'd drawn the action poses the teacher had the students pick their favorite pose of all the ones they'd drawn and place it in front of their bench. Then everyone looked at all the drawings and picked their favorites and talked about them. There were some very nice drawings that I may want to purchase even. I did talk to the teacher later about buying some and she said that would be fine. Then they did a few simple standing poses so they could get body proportion and shape right. They picked their favorite drawing again after two of those. Then they did the final pose where the teacher helped direct my pose. Then she threw a sheet over me and asked the students to draw me as a LANDSCAPE first. After they'd drawn in the simple shape of me she took the sheet off and they filled in the body. The students really enjoyed it and the ones who had struggled with proportion before managed to get things right. They weren't thinking "this is an arm" but rather, "this is a shape" and it turned out to be an arm. There were a few comments made by teacher or students while I was posing that were kind of funny. One was I heard one student say to another that "she doesn't have any bush" lol. It was said in a "wow, what do I do with this?" tone. Another student was having trouble drawing my breasts and the teacher was trying to help direct him. He'd apparently started them too high and once he fixed that he still thought they didn't look right. The teacher then commented that "You're making her boobs too big." lol and one final comment that was fun was, while they were looking at and commenting on some of the drawings, one student said "she needs to be drawn thinner here, she looks too thick in THIS drawing" He was talking about where you could see my belly. Though my belly isn't fat, it is a LITTLE rounded, and the student had seen that when he drew me. The other student seemed to think that my belly wasn't that rounded. I just said "Thank you." and all the students chuckled.
When all was said and done, after looking at artwork created from my body, I feel BEAUTIFUL. I could see myself as others see/saw me. I see my pooch when I look down at my belly, but they saw a curvy, voluputous, Rubenesque woman. I was amazed at how beautiful I looked in art. I don't think it's vain to think that, really. I LIKED looking at the drawings of me. I even LIKED the drawing that showed my belly as more rounded than the one student thought it was. It was a revelation and comforting.
I'm going once again in a month and then another month after that. Not very frequently obviously but it's an opportunity and learning experience that I'm not going to throw away. I'm glad I did it.

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"Always learn the rules so that you can break them properly." Dalai Lama
My Karma just ran over your Dogma.

zkara

Wow! That sounds like such a wonderful experience. To hear it from your perspective is so refreshing. I have never thought of how it is from the model's point of view. I am always the one sketching, and I have never posed in a room full of people, just private one on one.

Thanks for sharing, Raeanna.

soniclifemonkey

I am glad you had a good class. You have the right attitude about it. I have had life drawing and you need to realize too that students are suppose to draw what you see. Sounds obvious right? I was always getting the oddest perspective imagineable. Like if the model lied down I would end up basically drawing the bottom of her foot an almost none of her head becasue that was the angle I was sitting at and the instructor would not let us move around to get the perspective we wanted. You could end up drawing all ass and no head. And you expected to do it well.


Have you sever seen the SNL with Will Farrell as the drawing model? That is what not to do. It is a classic.

kramus

There is an artist forum I drop in on occasionally - wetcanvas.com - and there is a figure section you may like to browse through. See if this link directly to the figure forum works . . . there is all kinds of figure drawing information, input, posing guides etc etc
http://www.wetcanvas.com/forums/foru...?s=&forumid=41

http://www.wetcanvas.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=199

(p.s - if you join the forum, do a search for threads started by the member kramus )

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alicat

Raeanna74, I'm so glad you have enjoyed being a nude model. Please keep keepin' on. Artist's throughout the centuries would never have made alot of the beautiful art we have now if not for people willing to pose nude.

My father is a Prof. of Fine Art. (and an artist (duh), my mother too). I grew up spending alot of time in the mid-seventies in a massive building in Detroit that was for lack of better words a "hippie studio/gallery". I was 5-7 yrs. old (at the youngest and then thru teenager) running around the buildings spaces and not even blinking an eye at the nude models that were posing for the artist's.

I don't remember nor do I see in my father's sketch book's (or his work) from that time that any vagina (or crotch shots) were shown or drawn, although a whole lot of nudes were. The male sketches are different by nature because the goods are on display.

All of the models were normal people, warts and all, regardless of age/shape/size. It was the human form the artist's were after, not how perfect they were.

Ali

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warrrreagl

My Art modeling idea is for Art, Sus, and Mimi to do the famous treadmill dance like in the video. I don't understand the rest of these.

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Astrocloud

I used to be an art model.

#1 Avoid poses that hold your arms up for long periods of time.
#2 When you get your break move around.
#3 If you want to do a good job... try tylenol.