Art Model Handbook

Cari Amici (Dear Friends),

I wrote last time about trying to change the world through figurative art. To do this, I depend on others – collaborators, if you will. Each of us is unique and we all express ourselves with our bodies. People carry their bodies differently, sculpting them as they desire, moving in a way that exhibits their true thoughts. Some of us appear to do this without effort, while others go to great lengths to create their own looks.

Although there is a part of me in each of my artworks, I depend on art models. I prefer to celebrate the beauty of the individual and work with as many people as I can. Because of this, I receive a lot of inquiries from people interested in becoming a work of art and have set up an information page about modeling for artists. Generally, art models works alone. While the artists who hire them can help, it is not the same as being trained by someone who personally knows the work.

Finally, there is a book created specifically for art models by an art model, Andrew Cahner. The Art Model's Handbook: The Naked Truth about Posing for Art Classes and Fine Artists is now available for only $16.95 via this site and Amazon.com (thank you for your help by supporting my blogging time and images)

This book is a great resource. Andrew defines art terms so a novice to the art world can walk into a studio feeling confident. He describes the classroom situation, as well as what it is like to work privately for fine artists. This very experienced art model tells you what to bring to a drawing session, how to come up with interesting poses, and what artists or art instructors are usually looking for. He also discusses photography, security, nudity concerns and costumes, and gives you resources on where to find work as an art model.

I am also honored because Andrew has included many images of artist’s work and our words, including my bronze “Against the Dying of the Light,” in which I hired three different models after I did my initial clay sketch from my imagination.

My favorite section of the book contains interviews with long-term professional art models. Andrew Cahner even interviewed the female model that changed the TV world when she became the first to pose truly nude on a television show! (Your hint is that it was on a well-known science-fiction show.)

Also of interest to artists and models is that on the Art Model’s Web site, there is a page listing Figure Drawing Open Studios, Workshops, and Continuing Education Classes in the United States and Canada. Use that page to find work or to draw wherever you happen to be! I look forward to accessing this page when I am traveling and needing to draw.

Really, this resource: it is about time!

The Art Model's Handbook: The Naked Truth about Posing for Art Classes and Fine Artists (Paperback)
by Andrew Cahner (Author)

Sara – Big Form Modeling in Charcoal Drawing

Picking up where I left off:
The sooner I convey the illusion of form, the stronger my disegno (design or drawing). Allora, after I distinguish the main tone design, I want to start turning the form with Big Form Modeling. Like other drawing systems, I will work large to small. This means that my first objective is to depict the entire figure as a three-dimensional form. Then I will do the same, within the context of the larger form, for the smaller forms, such as an arm.

I tend to like the brush, thus far, for things such as subtle blending. I get plenty of dust as I sharpen my charcoal sticks against a sandpaper-covered board (a small cutting board or a ping pong paddle work well – something flat and strong). So, I dip my brush into the dust and work my way from darks to light. How quickly I go from dark to light depends of the form I am creating.

In today’s images, I am showing you the beginning of Big Form Modeling on the figure’s head. The first image shows the head as a pattern of light paper with generalized dark shapes. The second shows that I have started to indicate that the head is an egg-like form, becoming darker closer to the bottom of the face, which is further away from the light source above the figure. I can do Big Form Modeling from side to side, as well as vertically.