drawing the nude II

Here is one of the results from last night´s class. The student drew this during the 2,5 hour class. Pretty impressive.
Maybe I should use this as my new Facebook profile picture :-)

the evolution of guy

I just loved this! It is one of the drawings from one of the artists in my class. Looks like he did one version per day, so after 4 days he had the drawing below. He let me take a picture of it, but I forgot to ask his name so I can´t credit him, sorry.
Also, I did not realize my back was twisted that much... no wonder my back hurts after 2,5 hours.

the standing nude male - a tough day at work III

So Thursday last week was my 4th day modeling for the art class, still in the same pose as the 3 previous times. The teacher saw me stretching during one of my breaks and asks me if it´s tough. I said "Yes, I am starting to feel it".
He says "well you know we´ve been easy on you"... pointing out afterwards that he normally wants an even more complicated pose, with more twists, and maybe arms in the air.
So... today will be my 5th time (out of 8 total), and he has already told me that they will now want me in a different pose for the remaining 4 classes, and that it will be more complex.
Not sure if I am looking forward to this, but I´ve already lined up my physical therapist to take care of me this week ;-)

drawing the nude

I thought I´d explain a little bit more what the students are doing during my Tuesday and Thursday life drawing classes. The reason that the teacher wants me to hold the same position for the entire 2,5 hour class is because the students need to "build me up" from the ground, breaking me up into cylinders and geometric shapes, and not just draw what they see.
It´s basically a study in how the body moves, and stands. So they draw me from one angle, then move to a different spot in order to study the same pose from a different angle.
It´s really cool, and if I were to take a drawing class I would probably want to go here, because I have not seen any other school here in Norway teach life drawing in this manner.
Here is an example that I found on the web (it´s not a drawing of me).

the standing nude male - a tough day at work II

This should really be called part 3, but I never wrote an update from day 2.
On Thursday, last week, I went back for my second day posing for the 2,5 hour life drawing class at the Christiania FriAkademiet school in Oslo. I was still sore from the static one-pose-class from Tuesday, so I was looking forward to doing something new. I got changed into my robe and slippers (always looks like I live there when I do), and got ready to pose. The teacher looks at me and says "do the same pose you did on Tuesday", and "I want the same pose all day".
Oh well.

Yesterday I had my third modeling session with the class, and sure enough: "keep the same pose as last week".
The pieces of tape that mark where my feet were are still stuck to my yoga mat, so it´s easy for me to get back into the pose. But it´s killer on my lower back and my left shoulder (since he wants my left arm to be resting behind my back, right over my bum).

I have already started going to a physical therapist to help me get re-alligned. Probably something I should do regularly anyways, because there is still some knots in my neck from my bike/car accident from 6-7 years ago.

I do enjoy posing for the class though. It´s a very structured class, and it´s the first time I´ve seen a school here in Oslo teaching the fundamentals of drawing the human body. I just wish he would let me do different poses. I´m more than a one-pose pony ;-)

the standing nude male - a tough day at work

It has been a while, about 2 months, since I have posed for a life drawing class. So I was pleasantly surprised when I suddenly got 8 classes lined up for February.
Last night was my first class, and it is in a school I have not been to before, so I was a little nervous. Every class demands something different, both in the types of poses and duration of each pose. I am used to the short poses, ranging from 1 to 5 minutes, and pretty much poses of my own choice.
It was a fairly big class, with about 15 students, all ranging from about 20 to 60. The teacher wanted me to stand on a table, in the classic "contrapposto" pose, and keep it for 20 minutes. In fact, he wanted me to keep that same pose for the entire class, which lasts 2,5 hours. They put tape around my feet so that I can easily find my way back to the pose after my 10 minute break.
The pose was not that unusual, to start with, but he wanted me to put more weight on the right foot, plus twist my body a little to give the students more angles to work with. In addition he wanted my left arm to rest behind my back, right above my bum, which gave more definition to my back (I guess), and for me to look a little more up at an angle.
The pose is a little similar to the classic Michelangelo´s David, except for the arm.
I spent every 10 minute break with stretching and stretching and drinking water. My right foot was tensing up, and it got worse for every 20 minute session. My left arm and shoulder were kinda sore too from being twisted behind my back. Luckily I have spent the last month preparing for this, with some running and yoga, and I think that saved me.
I got a lot of positive feedback from the teacher and some of the students, and they clapped for me at the end of the class, so I guess I did good. I felt I was shaking a bit towards the end, but maybe they didn´t notice.
Tonight I need to do some yoga in order to stretch out. Next class is tomorrow already, and who knows what he wants me to do then.

croquis class again

It has been a while since my last croquis class. Yesterday was my first time this year and it was a lot of fun, as usual. But then Rita´s classes at the Kreaktiv KunstKollektiv in Drammen are always a lot of fun. Plus we were 2 models this time, which is an extra challenge.
I was able to take a couple of pictures of a couple of the drawings. I just love the lines in these.
The artist is Jeanette Ruth Sveiven.

vernissage II

Friday I went to another art opening. This time at Kreaktiv in Drammen.

Here with the lovely Rita (to quote John and Paul), the curator of Kreaktiv. This is one of her pieces from the Elva Rundt, where I posed together with Ann Karin for her.
It`s a great piece!

There were lots of great pieces by many different artists that use Kreaktiv as their base. And as always, it`s pretty cool to see the different results.

This is another one of Rita`s pieces.

This was done by Rikke, Rita`s sister, who joined in on the croquis class for her first time. Pretty cool drawing.

One of the artists has his slipper for sale, supposedly worth 3000 kroners.

croquis drawings

These 2 drawings are done by 2 of the girls, Sissel and Margrete, from Nydalen Kunstskole and they hired me in for some extra croquis classes. I love to see the different results, so I took a picture of them (unfortunately my cell phone is not the best camera).

the nude male model

Posing nude for an art class.

After years of wanting to do this, and wondering if I had the guts to do it, I finally said "why not" and I posed nude for an art class. Here are my experiences:

I studied art for 4 years, which included a whole semester of "Life Drawing" or "Nude Drawing". Ever since my graduation in 1994 I have wondered what it would be like to pose for an art class. I had taken some nude photos while in college, and since then I have been taking more nude photos of willing models. I have also posed nude for a couple of photographers. During this process I started studying the human body even more and wanted to get a better knowledge of the human body. The shadows, angles, composition, direction, etc.

By the summer of 2008, I was not getting enough teaching hours and I needed another income. This was when I finally took the plunge and made that first call to an art school. At first it seemed difficult to get in the door, since they had already booked models for the whole semester. I did not even think of that. But I was put on a list, and shortly thereafter I got a call wondering if I could step in for one of the models who had called in sick.

They asked me if I had any experience, and I fibbed a little saying that I did. But I had done a lot of research, and was comfortable with my body, so I felt comfortable stretching the truth a little.

When I say research, I mean surfing the internet for croquis drawings from other classes, giving me an idea of which poses work. The only thing frustrating was that I found very few drawings of the male body, mostly female. I found several "confessionals" like the one that I am now writing, but this was also from women. Either there are very few male models, or they just keep quiet about it.

Anyway, I show up for class and meet the teacher. I go to the dressing room to put on my bathrobe (which I haven`t used in years and never thought I`d use for this). Plus some shower-sandals so I dont have to walk around barefoot on the floor covered in chalk, charcoal, paint, etc. (I found this out the hard way).

She wants me to do 2 minute poses, so I disrobe and try to remember all the poses I have been studying for the past few days. The weird part is: as soon as I disrobed, I didnt really think about being naked. I just thought of the next pose.

The class had 9 women and 1 guy, ages varying from early 20s to late 40s. I didnt really know what to expect, like snickering or pointing or whatever, but the room just got very quiet as the students started to draw me. After 2 minutes I did a new pose, and did this for 20 minutes. I get a 10 minute break after every 20 minutes of posing.

When I am up there on the little pedestal, in the middle of the room, I don`t look at the students, but try to fix a point on the wall or the clock, as I am thinking of my next pose. But sometimes I can`t help overhearing as the teacher comments on some of the drawings. "His hips are huge" or "his legs are not that long", or "he`s gotten alot more muscles" are some of the comments that would make me giggle, as if she was saying this to me. Sometimes she would even come straight up to me and point to the body part she wants the student to study more.

It`s all a bit surreal, if I look at this from the outside. But I am constantly thinking of the angles and positions that the students will like the most. One of the things I started using was a pole (an old curtain rod) which I use to either lean up on or balance over my shoulders. I have gotten great feedbacks from this and is something I use for the longer poses as well.

The students are really nice during my breaks as I walk around (robed) curiously looking at the results. And during the lunch breaks I will still be wandering around in my bathrobe, and it looks like I live there and I`m just getting my morning coffee or something. As I am writing this I have been pretty active for the past 9 months, and I must say it’s quite rewarding. The hourly pay here in Norway is about 200 kroners an hour (almost 30 USD with todays rate). Not bad for sitting around in the nude, but I would have to do alot more in order to have just this as an income.

It took me a while before I felt comfortable telling my family and friends about this, but when I started telling them the reactions were all positive, and some even just giggled saying it was typical me. Most people I tell would never dream of doing this, and I think this ranks pretty high up on peoples list of "things I would never dare do" or maybe even "things I would like to do one day".

I am glad I started doing this. First of all I conquered one of my "fears" or "goals". Second, I am getting to know more people in the creative field and I am finding it easier to get into creative poses. Plus I found out that standing nude in front of an art class is not as scary as it sounds. After all, it is an art class and studying the human body goes back to the oldest cave drawings and the old master painters like Michaelangelo.

What I have learned so far:

1. Ask questions before you arrive. Get an idea of what kind of poses they are expecting.
2. Study different poses, including standing, sitting and lying down.
3. Be ready for poses that you can hold for 20 minutes.
4. Arrive early, and maybe even talk to the students. It will help you loosen up.
5. Start getting used to telling time in your head so you are not dependant on looking at the clock.
6. Bring a robe and slippers/sandals.
7. Wear your robe during breaks.
8. Just relax and talk to the students before class and during breaks. They are always happy to have a live model.
9. Do yoga. It helps you be more limber and makes it easier to keep longer poses.

Here are some of the results from the students that have drawn me: