You don’t feel any different until you are in the nude, not for your own view alone, but for students in the classroom to stare at. It can be real deal when every part of your body is all out in the light of day. Sometimes, you have a chair or a pedestal or maybe a stage you'll want to hang the towel you should have brought along. And maybe sometimes, you may or may not be provided with things like slippers and a robe. At most times, you only have a pole to rest on or just the floor. In front of the class will be a teacher and his/her students, maybe 15 in an advanced class, and roughly 22 in the introductory level. That has been the scheme of things at most of the universities and art centers I have posed for. The class time frame is usually about three hours. Nude drawing also known as figure modeling sessions, commence with short sketches of diverse poses which often exhaust only two to five seconds, and then to ten seconds staying all up for more than twenty minutes, the maximum session for standing pose is usually thirty minutes.
Nude modeling can be a bit tedious. Who knew being still could take so much focus and work.
And when there is a need for a shift in a pose, the teacher calls out. Sometimes the model will have to count Mississippi silently in her head to stay entertained. Seated poses usually take longer hours so models are required to take 5 to 10-minute breaks. The instructor puts tape around the body contours to help the model resume initial position. Although classes prefer all types of bodies (huge, small, young, mature, male and female) schools have a difficult time hiring men because not many apply to become a nude model.
I have a background in belly dancing. I find dancing to be erotic and delightful. So when the chance to start dancing in a strip club before college came, I grabbed it and later started art modeling. I was in college at 15 but was under age, so I couldn't apply to become a nude model at that time. I have always wanted to model and in my 30's I begin modeling for art classes since i'm too short and not within the age range for runway modeling. The hardest lesson I learned from nude modeling is that it turns boring. The shock of it fades away after you have been standing around for almost an hour without the liberty to ever lock your knees. However, I do enjoy the fact that I am painted as a beautiful muse. It makes me feel beautiful serving the class.
What keeps me actively involved is the fact that I love the art community. I enjoy watching the students progress but what I find most satisfactory is watching how beautiful the students can paint my imperfections. The human body is the most beautiful art form. It is an honor to be a nude model. It not only makes me feel beautiful, but I feel more confident about my perfect imperfections after I gaze in awe at all their beautiful illustrations and paintings of me. There are times I drop my robe and feel like I am being adorned like a goddess. The paintings will make my beauty immortal. Some of my boudoir photography work was featured in the art galleries throughout Berlin, Germany. This is one of my greatest accomplishments as a nude model. My work will be somewhere in an art gallery or hanging on someone's wall to be admired and each time I am painted or sketched a small piece of me is left behind to remain immortal. While my beauty will, one day fade, there will be pieces of beautiful art work left of me some where in time to be revered. People will see how I once was and capturing my essence in that moment with pastels and charcoals, people will see how I will always be.
Becoming a nude model becomes more than simply nude modeling. You learn to fall in love with your own imperfections because of the way the artist captures the very essence of your unique beauty in a sketch or painting. You begin to appreciate the artistic process because it allows you to develop and discover a deep understanding of your own individualism. What you may not like about yourself the artist may turn that very same thing into a unique beautiful illustration which shifts your perspective on how you see yourself. Suddenly, a process of healing begins and through nude modeling, I found empowerment because it teaches me to love everything about myself that's raw, real, imperfect, and simply all of me.
Lastly, you still may be wondering what it is still like to be a nude model standing nude and vulnerable in front of a class. Well for me I am accomplishing a life long dream of always wanting to model. Through nudity and vulnerability, I found strength and confidence when I displayed all of me for the world to see. I found a connection I had lost. I found a wholeness I thought was broken. Nude modeling has been a life long dream that has connected me to the art community and a place I have found the most profound healing. Becoming a nude model is not only teaching me to be confident but I'm learning to fall in love with everything.
