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The Birth of Venus"
Many potential art models might be too worried about their less-than-ideal physique to even give it a shot. But art is not about perfection, it's about uniqueness. As artist Kelly Borsheim states: "Physique is not the main issue for an artist's model. Artists study the figure -- all kinds of figures and in all age groups." Of course, nude models typically are at least 18 years old.
Instructions
1. Learn what makes a good pose. Dance and yoga poses work well, but you don't need to be a dancer or know yoga. Artists are looking for angles, bends, shapes -- anything that breaks up the symmetry of the human body. Look at art books and classic paintings for inspiration.
Posing for a class usually involves holding poses for shorter periods of time at the beginning of the class, to give the class opportunities to draw many different poses in a relatively short amount of time. You might be asked to hold a pose for one minute, then change to another for 10 minutes. Short poses are a good time to do difficult or dynamic poses.
2. Stretch before the modeling session. It's much easier to get into difficult or twisted poses if you're limber.
3. Take a shower beforehand. A clean model is much more pleasant to work with.
4. Eat something before modeling. Typical classes are three hours in length. There is nothing more frustrating and potential embarrassing than getting hungry during a session and having a grumbling tummy.
5. Bring a robe or cover-up. In a student setting, you're almost never asked to disrobe in front of the class. You'll have a place to change into your robe, which you'll wear before the class. When you and the class are ready, you'll be asked to remove your robe. Sometimes, if the pattern or cut is interesting, it can be used as a drape in the pose.
6. Choose something to focus on if you will be holding a pose for 30 minutes or more. This will help you after return to the same position after a break. For long sessions where you're holding one pose, the artist might place masking tape on various places of the pedestal or seating arrangement that line up with parts of your body.
7. Let the artist or instructor know if you need to move while posing. You can stretch a leg or arm for a moment if you're holding a difficult pose, but don't do so unexpectedly. Also don't expect conversation while you're posing, unless you're friends with the artist or the class or artist engages you in it first. Most artists get into some pretty deep levels of concentration.
8. Wear your robe or cover-up during breaks. Some models are so comfortable with being nude they don't bother to cover up, but even though the artists have been drawing you nude, they might not be comfortable with you walking around nude out of the "model" role.
