Nude life model

jh1979

Hi, I'm 44 single male, in decent shape. i'm working fulltime but i wanted something a bit more exciting. I offered myself as a nude model for an art class months ago and got a call to saw they would like me to pose for a class for them. I've never done this before and am getting a bit nervous now. It's in a town about an hour away. Am i just having a mid-life crisis!!😐️ Do you think i should go ahead or pull out. It could be embarressing if someone i know is in the class!! Please advise, i need it!!! 🙂

Princess Consuela Bananahammock

If soneone you know is the class, then they're taking the art simewhat seriously and seen lots of naked people before Might have a little laugh at the coincidence and that would be it. They're there to draw/paint.

Advice? Check out poses beforehand (you can find them online) as you'll need a much much wider variety than you think. Rotate poses, so you're facing different directions (facing the artists, back to the artists, etc.).

Also, practice standing or sitting till for 10 minutes - not as easy as you might think!

jh1979

How about the 'mid-life' crisis part!! 😮😅

BornSkippy

Just make sure the windows are closed and the heat's on before you "pull out", as you describe it.

First impressions are lasting impressions.

Princess Consuela Bananahammock

Oh, and bring a bathrobe or something if you have one. Most models undress in private, come on with the gown and then disrobe (although not mandatory). You can also use it a a prop for your posing or as something soft to lie on.

Beechwoodspark

Did it years ago as a fit 23 year old.

Got a number of dates and few quid out of it. Go for it OP

BENDYBINN

Would there be much money out of this sort of thing?

jh1979

€60 for 2 hrs, but it's an hour drive to and from the town as well. It's more to do something out of my comfort zone.

thefa

If you’ve gotten to this point and it wasn’t an out of the blue (mid-life!) notion, it sounds like something worth trying.

An hour is a decent enough distance away and it sounds like a fairly serious class rather than a hen do at your local.

Being a bit nervous pushing your boundaries is ok.

lainers99

Fair play to you. Pretend to yourself that you feel confident about it and the confidence will come. Good luck!

I don’t think it’s a mid life crisis, just a person setting themselves a new mental challenge to overcome.

YellowLead

I’d be a little concerned that you called this ‘exciting’ - it’s not supposed to be sexual in any way, it’s just a job.

Norrie Rugger Head

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121759427#Comment_121759427

Excitement is not synonymous with sexual

YellowLead

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121759442#Comment_121759442

Fair, but what if you get excited by being naked then can easily be inferred a little.

The DayDream

Well tbh being a life model isn't something I would do on a whim, and that goes beyond being naked in front of strangers. It's quite challenging from both a physical and mental point of view to stay in a pose for long periods. Generally though, the class will start with several short poses for quick warm up sketches and then progress to longer poses.

Definitely inform the instructor it's your first time posing so they don't put you into a strenuous pose for long.

The people in the class are not there to judge your physique, they will be worried about their drawing/painting. A live model is just another thing to try and draw, same as a still life or landscape. It would be seen as extremely immature, inappropriate and unprofessional to not treat the model with respect or for there to be any snickering or comments.

Many models will put their robe on during breaks and have a look at the work on easels and chat away to the students, it's all very relaxed and respectful.

If you happen to move during a pose, don't panic, just quietly try and correct it yourself. If you can't, await for any instructions from the person running the class. Don't let the students doing the drawings tell you how to correct the pose as you will almost certainly get different people from all over the room telling you different things and you will get all out of whack. It happens to everyone, don't let it bother you or think you have ruined the artists' work, it's their responsibility to deal with it however they see fit, same as if the sun goes behind a cloud during a landscape painting.

Day Lewin

I've done some life drawing and I've seen many male models. Usually they were quite experienced and none of them ever showed any signs of "excitement".

I've posed myself, as well, for an informal drawing workshop. Holding a pose for even ten minutes is harder than you think; and for any longer time (there's often a "half-hour pose" too) you'd need to choose an easy, relaxed position where you won't get cramps, and can recover the identical pose if you need to stop for a muscle stretch or to scratch an itchy place. Yes, this is a recurring problem!

PS Models are by no means all beautiful. Some of the most draw-able are interesting shapes: either curvy, or very skinny, or with tattoos or very long arms etc etc.

Most of all, a bit of personality - which is a hard thing to describe, but I've seen models just stand there like a twit with a droopy drab face, no energy at all.

Go for it, it'll be fun! And a handy little sideline for a bit of weekend money. Good models are in demand so this could turn out very well for you.

HildaOgdenx

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Thanks

Hilda

ElizaBennett

Well done on taking on this challenge. I did this when I was back in college as it paid very well at the time (maybe three times the minimum wage at the time.) I was about 20 and decided to do it to shame myself into losing weight lol - funny approach, which didn't entirely work out. As others have said, it's incredibly hard work and can be extremely painful to hold poses for 20 or 30 minutes - especially if you don't move an inch, which i used to pride myself in not doing. It taught me great stoicism in general and was a great life skill.

As to the question of someone you know showing up - that happened to me. An old boyfriend from when I was a teen, who had never seen me naked as it happened, turned up in the class. As others have said, there's a great atmosphere of respect in the class and you should feel safe and comfortable at all times. I decided not to be a baby about the old boyfriend showing up and got into my robe at break time and came out to chat - but he'd run away like a frightened rabbit lol. So that was that.. So, even though you're a mature adult, it's still possible that a person you know being in the class could feel awkward. So be it, it won't be your fault. the best advice on here is to be very aware of how physically strenuous this is going to be - especially standing poses with most of the weight on one leg. If you're asked to do a lengthy standing pose do your very best to evenly distribute the weight (though teachers used to spot me doing this and tell me to lean more on one leg as it makes a more interesting shape and throws one hip out etc. ) The other thing is temperature - obviously you'll need the room to be very warm (not sure but i'd imagine mid 20s C) - you'll have students moaning about being too warm, which is very annoying - ignore them, or remind them that sitting still - even fully clothed - can make you get very cold very quickly. Ask to see a copy of the working conditions / entitlements if it's a college (mandatory breaks, longest poses expected, temperature etc.) Some days if the heating really wasn't up to it the tutor would say it's fine, stay clothed - well some of them said that (the decent ones.)

Be aware that it's very unlikely that anyone will have much talent. I worked with fine art dept in NCAD for 3 years and probably saw about 5 students in that time who were actually brilliant at drawing. They'll make you fatter, uglier and more wrinkled than you are so don't take offence:) In fact, I usually didn't bother looking at the work as it was so crap. You'll have a great opportunity to think deeply about a lot of things and be very mindful, that's a gift. And bear in mind you can feel faint so make sure to have eaten and not be hungover. Best of luck!