OK, so, I have been getting a number of e-mails requesting that I re-post this. On my old, recently departed Figure Drawing website, I had this section full of info for guys interested in posing for figure drawing groups & classes. So, here it is; since it's pretty long, I've broken it into 3 parts. This is the first, and I'll post the rest over the next few days.Through the years, I’ve been asked various questions from guys interested in posing for figure drawings. They want to know what it’s like to pose nude in front of a crowd….what sort of experience they need….how much they can expect to get paid….how to get hired….what situations to avoid….and of course, the most-often asked question… “what happens if I get an erection while posing?”. That’s why I created this section of the website: to answer the most frequently asked questions I have received on this subject.
I’m probably what you’d call very qualified to discuss this subject; during my 4 years at Geneseo College in snowy, upstate New York, I specialized in taking so many Figure Drawing classes, they had to invent some new ones for me to take, (like “Advanced Independent Study in Figure Drawing III”...I kid you not!). After college, I spent several years studying the figure and anatomy books & such on my own, while making my way in the comic book industry. I attended Figure Drawing groups here & there, and sat in for a semester on a teacher friend’s college Figure Drawing class, too. As my comics career accelerated, I had less time for drawing with live models in the classroom or group setting, but fortunately, in the past couple of years, I have gotten back into it more seriously than ever, (as the drawings throughout this website will attest), and found it helps me in my comics work, too. Throughout all of this, I have worked with quite a variety of male figure drawing models, and have learned firsthand the challenges they face, and the methods they use, (and don’t use), to be successful in the business. For the most part, I have worked with some spectacular models. I hope that I can help you find your way in this field with the wealth of information I have accumulated on this topic over the years.
A nice thing about getting into posing as a Figure Drawing model is that you don’t need to spend huge amounts of money to get started in the business. Hell, you don’t have to spend any money, if you don’t want to! (A bonus about posing nude; not a lot of thought needs to go into what you’re going to wear to work!). However, I would strongly suggest you purchase what I call:
The 7 Essential Items Every Male Figure Drawing Model Should Own:
(Relax, none of this is expensive, and it’ll all fit into a backpack...and lightly, too). You really should bring these items with you to every drawing session you pose for.
Robe or other covering. To wear between poses. You will generally get a 5 minute break every 20 minutes or so. It’s helpful to have some covering to slip in & out of easily. Some guys use a pair of gym shorts, some don’t bother at all, and stay nude the whole time. I think a nice idea is an extra-long t-shirt….long enough to cover your butt, easy enough to slip on & off and packs easily in a backpack
Timer. To time your poses. Yes, I know, the teacher or group moderator should be timing your poses. But don’t count on it, especially if they forgot their timer that particular week. The best models I have seen bring along their own timer and time their poses and breaks, keeping the drawing session running smoothly and in a timely fashion. What you do not want to do is rely on someone to watch a clock on the wall...artists get caught up in their drawings, and, oops...your 20 minute pose has suddenly become 45 minutes! Be smart….bring your own timer along. If the teacher has a timer, great...let ‘em take care of the timing. But it they don’t….you’re covered because you brought along your own. (Most use digital timers...but even a wind-up kitchen timer is acceptable. If you’re going to use the digital type, make sure you’re well-versed in how to operate it before the drawing session; you don’t want to be fumbling with the damn thing up on the drawing platform!).
Water & Snack. At the very least, you should bring along a bottle of water. Chances are, you won’t have time to leave the drawing room to go out and buy a snack. And some of these sessions can last up to 4 hours! Bring along something healthy to munch on.
Sheets & Pillow to Cover Drawing Platform. I cannot believe how many models don’t bring along their own coverings for the platform. Let me explain something. You will be posing nude up on a wooden platform that rarely, if ever, has been cleaned. There is usually an ancient blanket or sheet draped across the platform, or some horrible 70s-style shag carpeting, which every model before you for months, years, (decades?), has been posing on. And you’re going to lie on that? Please...bring along a simple, neutral or pastel-colored, clean sheet or 2 of your own. And a small pillow to prop yourself up for reclining poses. I can assure you, you will thank me for this.
Business Cards. Posing for a drawing class is a great opportunity to network with artists, to book future drawing sessions. Have a bunch of business cards on hand to give out, with your contact info clearly listed.
Foot Covering. For wearing on the breaks between poses. The floors of most drawing studios are not great for going barefoot on, and it’s incredibly awkward to have to put shoes on & take off between poses. Bring along a light pair of sandals or slippers for between poses...or at the very least, a pair of socks.
Jock Strap. Hard to believe in this day & age, but some schools and drawing groups do not allow male models to pose completely nude. You should always have a jock strap with you before you pose for any class. Even if you’ve posed at that particular college before, the rules may change without notice, there may be a substitute teacher...I have heard crazy, whacky stories about this. Be prepared, have one with you just in case. I highly recommend the Bike brand Swimmer’s Jockstrap. It has a very narrow waistband, unlike those somewhat bulky traditional jockstraps, and is very streamlined. (See column to the right for an example; you can click on either of the images to purchase one). This one is skimpy enough to fit under a Speedo, and is extremely comfortable. And it costs under 10 dollars!
OK, now let’s get on to the main info….I have designed this area of the website in a “Question & Answer” format, as I seem to get a lot of the same sets of questions about the subject. So, on to the first question I usually get asked, (the questions are in purple, my answers are in black).
Q: How does it work? Do I just walk into the studio and strip naked?
First of all, no artist or art class runs things exactly the same way. For the purposes of this discussion, there are 3 posing situations I will be covering here:
1. The Figure Drawing Class
2. The Drawing Group
3. Individual Artist
The Figure Drawing Class is what people seem to be most familiar with. Many folks have had at least one figure drawing class in their college experience. And many general drawing classes, that are not specifically figure-oriented, will devote a day or 2 to figure drawing, too, to give the students a chance at drawing the human figure. Here’s how it usually goes: you, (the model), show up about 10 to 15 minutes before the class begins. You check in with the teacher, get changed from your street clothes into the robe you brought along in your back-pack, (see those 7 Essential Items above!). Usually, the teacher will indicate where to change. Most often, there is a chair set up in the rear of the classroom for you to use. Occasionally, there is even a separate changing room for the model.. I have even seen models undress in front of the class up on the posing platform, but that is very rare, and if you are not comfortable doing that, I am quite certain the teacher running the class will let you undress & change into a robe elsewhere. If you’re not sure where to go to change, ask the teacher. After you’ve changed, this is a good time to lay out your clean sheets on the drawing platform, (again, see those 7 Essential Items above!). Also, you verify with the teacher whether or not you’ll need to use your own Timer, or if he or she will be timing your poses.
A nice thing about the drawing class is that even though you’re being paid for the entire time you’re there, you probably will not be needed to pose for the whole class. A portion of the time, the teacher may be lecturing the class, so you may end up sitting around for that time, (don’t disappear, though...you need to be ready to pose at a moment’s notice. Bring along a book to read!). When the teacher is ready for you to pose, you will be called forward to the posing platform, (a wooden platform, usually about 18 inches high, located in the center of the classroom, or against the wall with the student’s drawing desks arranged in a semi-circle around it). You will remove your robe once you’re up there, and take poses as directed by the teacher, (usually starting with short warm-up poses, usually 1 to 2 minutes a piece). You will generally be working in 20 minute blocks, with 5 minute breaks between. So, you’ll start with, say, ten 2-minute poses, get a 5-minute break, then do four 5-minute poses, get another 5-minute break, then do two 10-minute poses, another 5-minute break, and finally a few 20-minute poses. (I’ll go more into the essentials of good posing & bad posing a little further down on this page). If it’s a long class, (3 to 4 hours, as many of these are), you’ll probably get a long, 15 minute break at about the halfway point. Do not disappear during the breaks; if you need to use the bathroom, be very quick about it. Why all of these 5-minute breaks, you may ask? Try posing for 3 to 4 hours, and you will understand. It is not easy, (or healthy!), to be posing for more than 20 minutes at a time, and you need this time to rejuvenate and get ready for the next 20 minute set. (UPDATE: I recently attended an open Figure Drawing session in Burlington, Vermont, and I was shocked that the model was given only one break during a two & a half hour drawing session! Frankly, this is the first time I’ve ever seen such a thing, although the model didn’t seem to have a problem with it. But I think this is highly unusual, and not something many models are asked to do. I also think it’s bad for both the model and the artist; as an artist, you need breaks between drawings, not to be firing off one drawing after another with no break in between).
The second posing situation you may be hired for is the Drawing Group. This is similar to the Figure Drawing Class, but there are some key differences. Drawing Groups are usually a little less formal than the Figure Drawing Class...they usually consist of older, more established artists getting together to do figure drawings. There is no teacher giving instructions, but there’s usually one person who is the moderator, who keeps things running. Because there’s no teacher giving lectures, you will be posing the whole time, (except for during your series of 5-minute breaks). The posing sequence is pretty much the same as a drawing class….starting out with a set of quick, 1 to 2 minute poses, and working up to the longer, 20 minute poses. Sometimes, the artists will want to spend a long time on one pose….40 to 60 minutes or longer. In that case, every 20 minutes, when you get your break, the moderator will lay down artist’s tape on the platform, to outline where you were posing, so you can resume the same pose after your break. Drawing Groups meet in a variety of locations….sometimes they take place in local art centers, sometimes in a rental studio the artists have arranged for, sometimes in one of the Drawing Group member’s home or apartment, and sometimes in a college classroom just like the drawing class.
The third posing situation you may pose for is with an Individual Artist. Many professional artists hire models to pose for their paintings or drawings on a regular basis. It is usually a “one on one” situation, where you will go to their studio to pose for an arranged amount of hours, and work only with the artist. You should discuss exactly what the artist has in mind before the first day you pose for him, (or her), to make sure you both agree on the focus of the project. Individual artists work in a variety of methods and formats; with some, you may be posing in a similar fashion to the figure drawing class or drawing group: a series of short poses building up to longer ones, with 5 minute breaks all along. Other artists may want you to pose for a single, very detailed painting, so you will be holding the same pose for the entire session, (or perhaps multiple sessions. Especially with paintings, which can take days or even months to produce).
While posing for an individual artist can be less pressure, (you’re not posing for a crowd, you’re posing for just one person), I would suggest you don’t start out your career that way. I believe that drawing classes or groups are a better way to get started in the business. I think you learn the rudiments of posing more fully that way, and also, it’s a safer route to go. Safer? Yes, that’s what I said. While, of course, there are plenty of reputable and thoroughly professional individual artists who you can work with….the fact is, you are going to pose nude in a stranger’s home. You don’t always have character references to guide you here. Which can mean, you’re putting yourself in a very vulnerable position. If you are posing for a Figure Drawing Class or a Drawing Group, however, not only is it a much safer group environment….you will also have a chance to meet and associate with individual artists there who you can network with and perhaps pose for them solo at a later date, having already established a working relationship at the class or group. (I’ll talk more about safety issues later on here).
Do I have to have a perfect, muscular body to pose?
Not at all. Most Figure Drawing Classes and Drawing Groups aim for a diverse variety of models, and it is common to see all sorts of body types posing in the course of a semester in a drawing class. Personally, I have drawn guys with all body types; overweight, skinny, muscular….and I offer no judgment on any of them. Neither should you. Everyone should have the opportunity to pose nude…and everyone has their own beauty. Some individual artists may have a specific “type” in mind when hiring a model for a certain painting or drawing. But, again….most college art instructors aim to present a diverse array of body types for their students to draw. And, more importantly, they are most concerned with whether a model can strike creative, interesting poses...as well as hold them for the specified amount of time. There are some guys out there with gorgeous, muscular bodies who make dreadful figure drawing models because they cannot stay still for 20 minutes, and/or they cannot create anything more than stiff, uninspired, lifeless poses. I’m not so much interested in drawing guys with a “perfect body”, (whatever that is), but I am interested in drawing guys who are healthy. That does not mean on steroids, on drugs, etc. It means someone who has a healthy outlook on life, and treats their body with respect. I’ll admit, I am greatly influenced by the Italian Renaissance artists and the ancient Greek & Roman sculptors, where the “ideal” body was greatly admired and preferred for posing. So, of course I enjoy drawing a nicely sculptured figure, and I value the opportunity to draw someone with visible muscle structure. But, it’s not the only body type I’ll work with. And, again...there is beauty in all body types. So if you’re interested in posing nude for art classes at some point, but don’t think you can because you don’t have a “Men’s Workout” body, well….you will be pleasantly surprised to find out that, indeed, you can. Remember this: the most important 2 things for a Figure Drawing Class model are to be able to hold poses, (sometimes for long periods), and to be reliable, (meaning you always show up, & always on time). One qualifier here: one of the main purposes of a beginning Figure Drawing Class is to learn muscle structure & human anatomy. I have to state that to learn anatomy most optimally, a model with visible muscle structure is most ideal. That does not mean the model has to be a muscle guy; muscle structure is clearly visible on both very slim men & on men with “average” bodies. It is more difficult to learn muscle structure on an overweight model, though. Again, most Figure Drawing classes will hire models of all different body types. But if I were teaching a beginner’s class, I would tend to hire models with visible muscle structure, (but still alternate with some overweight models).
(I'll continue with part 2 in a few days!)
9 comments:
I am interested what do I do next
Good advice. All you say is true--especially slippers for dirty floors in art studios. In 12 years I've modeled at 20 different art schools in PA, NJ, and FL for over 40 different teachers all of whom had their own ideas of what they wanted from a model. All of them complimented me on my work.
Never did I show up late or cancel a session and got requests via referrals for work at other art schools.
I use the timer; some teachers prefer their own. Have some large colorful beach towels for color in case the class is a painting class. And I'm known for having lots of props for short gesture poses.
Thanks for your information
I did have a session at a year 11 girls school the art teacher was very radical and the class started out ok but the girls just went nuts and couldn't settle they made comments giggles laughed and stared in shear disbelief at my groin area. I did actually start to get aroused and couldn't help it the girls just went quiet then and actually settles down and started to concentrate and it was weird but I just couldn't stop it and the teacher actually saw the effect and he just let it continue must have thought it was an education of sorts , this was a senoir high school and I was invited back all term and i think now the teacher had a strange take on it all in that he might have liked to be me and was getting off on my being nude ( he just seemed to be understanding and not concerned) he often left the room and I had got erect each time the girls began to expect it and they all just hushed and went all quiet. I ptetended to not notice and just let it happen. it felt good though and I was taken aback by that attention.
what started out as a simple job I had started something now and it just went into something unreal. I had my business cards at the front of the class for each job I do and everyone pics them up and take sone becuase it's actually pic of me nude and especially the younger girls just get so excited about that. so besides actually taking my clothes off and laying naked in front of hundreds of girls all term at colleges schools etc.. which i have to say is quite erotic and turns me on . I actually have on occassion just had a full blown erection while laying on my back reclining so it just flops on my belly and while it starts and is beginning to slowly get hard thats the time the eyes light up and the transition between drawing class and a filmsey excuse for paid exhibitionism. I then realized how the cards can work ofr me the girls ring really late at night and want to chat they don't identify who they are but I can tell its on loud speaker and hear giggles and muffled sounds in the back ground. they say they like my body and watching me get hard and tried really hard to make me get hard by wearing low cut tops and leaning while sketching so i would see there cleavages. they also know i can see up there short school skirts and when they open there legs they see the effect so I guess I get off on the interplay between me and them. so each time i go back i get more and more risque. they get close and comment all the time. but still the male art teacher lets all this go on so i am thinking he is getting off on the girls getting off on me somehow. I love my job and the free phone sex late at night one girl rang and talked for hours and was on her own and we had a very sexy erotic talk and she was masterbating I think. so all this pure talk about make nude models and stuff not all of us are !
it's very strange when you do something you think is a bit kinky or weird and even feel like your being a deviant and when you get nothing but good responses and postive feedback you think twice. some of these high school girls come up to me after life drawing class after staring at you naked for hours and chat and thats when i have to start to think one day these girls will be up for it. I have to dress at this point and they feel quite relaxed watching you dress and i slowly put my clothes on and just let the conversation flow. I met one for a coffee accidently at my favourite place and she asked if she was intruding if she sat with me. I just think that once you take away the barriers and I am th evunerable one here I have all this room to move and the interaction becomes quite fluid. as I am the one who has taken his clothes off they feel they can trust me and feel able to talk about anything. very interesting socialogical experiment. I would of course love to see them all naked and be equal . I have a privlaged job where I expose myself to young women in a socially accepted forum and now its them who have all the power and confidence. I just love getting the calls late at night and chatting about how i feel and what i would like to do and they just get more and more interested in me because its safe. yet my young athletic body is such a turn on for them I am somehow giving them confidence and they are getting familair with mens bodies and that is a good thing for them. I just get more and more sexually frustrated its so one sided and supressed. I do think a couple of girls are seriously interested in exploring more and i am 6 years older but I will not make a move so I have to just leave it to the night phone calls and wank off while they talk its so cute and sexy, and especially if I have a good day and they make me hard and tease they just get so outrageous and i have been getting such massive hard ons now its been months and they just want more and more. I put a cock ring on the last time and my whole package looked massive and protruded so much it was so massive. the art teacher is so liberal and has on occassions even said to the girls don't embarrass the model " imagine if you were a guy ? it would be so hard" he doesn't realize how that pun just made the girls all go red and blush and giggle. i get my gear off and get off twice a week . I just think I am the luckiest guy in the world with my job . all I want is head job or a hand job and I would be in heaven.
he left the class last time for ages and said you'll be alright and if there's any trouble or the girls muck up just finish and come and see me. so with no one in the room and just me laying prostrate on a soft red velvet podium i just let my feelings grow as it were and had a chance to just let the girls know exactly how they make me feel . I just ignored the whispers and pretended i didn't realize I was starting to swell and then I just couldn't hide it I had to just let it stick up in the air and throb I was pulsing and had heaps of pre cum dribbling from my knob and it glistened int he sun and dribbling down my shaft I pretended to be embarrassed and faked trying to hide it by moving and looking like I was embarrassed and looked at them all and all there pretty young faces eyes popping out of there heads and mouths open aghast and in sheer disbelief that this was happenning. they just seemed nicely shocked and in awe it was very strange indeed. I tried to move postions and eventually put my hand over and covered myself with my hand unable to actually hide my enormous throbbibng cock from these girls i just had to touch myself and i was ready to explode I thought i better stop and leave but all th egirls protested and said move your hand lets see it and actually voiced there objection and where very odd most of the girls from around the back had come to the front for a better view and had just about lost it. so I do think that nude life drawing is so alien to our culture that it is unique in that it is a novelty in so much as this was not a normal situation. some people take the conservative approach and if they are being naked they would play it down and be straight about it I take the other approach and go for bust . I like to break new ground and mayby i can cause a reraction where this sort of thing would be banned if it got out or there was complaints. its as if the establishment wants it stopped but at the same time there is this line of thinking that we are too prudish and we need loosening up. I proabably take ot to extreme obviously and push the boundries even more but i contest that life drawing is more than just about drawing its about taboos and culture and the fact we have a history of mostly female nudes and life drawing that we almost have to keep it alive. I do love the rush i get when i am naked and I start to get hard its just so erotic so nudity for me is about sexuality and not seperate i am unable to just be naked without interaction and having that sensuous relationship with the viewer. mayby its the age of the girls thats allowe dthe interation older women like it but its all repressed and they draw but are still liking a young buffed stud who is reasonably well hung comming to there classes at the adult education centre. so its about me wondering if i actually did cum in front of the girls at the high school if that would destroy my little weekly sessions and cause the school to press charges or ban this type of thing I wonder. I am so close to just exploding and just getting off one day. imagine it 30 girls watching you cum. ooohhh it's just too tempting.
I had a different experience this week at a boys school. the teacher I had last time was a prude and made me wear a G string thong. I had a different teacher this week and he was expecting me to be naked. so I obliged willingly. boys have a totally different reaction to other naked men . they are awkward and reticent to draw genitalia. they laugh and giggle and whisper more than girls and make audible jokes and can't really cope. even if there was a boy who wanted to draw another man and was even interested he basically can't for fear of retribution. this is the paradox. the girls who you would think are more alien and being the opposite sex and young would have a reaction that would be more foreign but they don't they seem to enjoy or be able to enjoy the visual excitement of veiwing a male naked and all that that entails and conjours up for them. back to the boys it was a bit sad actually that they hadn't been educated to appreciate the male form and love their bodies. by their reaction i can only deduce that the veiwing for them of another male albiet interesting or valuable it was not able to be enjoyed as it was the social setting in which it was impossible for them to enjoy due to inate socail homophobia and alienation. I am no expert but I have had a myiad of reactions over the years as I have had visited 300 schools colleges and universities art classes and private settings. the most obvious is the high school gilrs which is to be expected of course due to the lack of exposure ( excuse the pun) to the male form which is in a sense a very valuable life lesson and somethimes the best education they will have until they find a boyfriend. well this is what is so bizzare the boys today have sport and I have one more class after them then go and get dressed. I walked into the boys change room next door and proceeded to get dressed. in their was 30 or so boys who had just played a game of football and were in the showers and all the room was array with strong straping lads and flesh and skin and males sweaty and wet and all joking and relaxed and comfortable and chatty. they saw me and just stopped and then i said just treat me as one of the boys and then they all relaxed. so when they are all naked they are ok and the mate ship thing and the boundries of masculinity are in place . they have no other choice but to koke around and play. they where slapping each others bums and whipping with towels and commenting and even pretending to be gay in their voices saying gee gary's well hung and stuff like that. I was mazed at this socialogical phenomina and at the same time not really suprised atthe same time. so what has this got to do with nude modelling. it has a place in learning and performs a role of being the last bastion of an old era where the body corperaral was celebrated and today there are limited areas where we can still perform these rituals and act them out. sport and mens bonding is very important as important as the self discovery in the showers. Imagine now totally in fantasy land if I was in the girls showers ooohhh la la probably more interesting for me than for them. not really appropriate in this observation .
I was at a boys school and the teacher actually made the older senior boys strip and pose for each other one at a time over the afternoon. sitting poses where 10mins and it was to teach the boys humility and to stop teasing and a wake up call after all the reactions to me and all that joking they allways called me gay or what ever and it was a sight to behold after the classes ended I had seen about 20 or so strapping lads pose naked and all I had to do was help them find a pose and move them around a bit. lucky i had clothes on today if i was also naked i think they would have seen how i felt and that might not have been a good thing. I love the male form and these boys had great bodies very fit from rowing and sports very muscley and exceptionally toned physiques. I have seen these boys oin anumber of occassions and in the school play they did one year it was a classical play and they all wore tights how much fun was it watching them all get embarrassed and have a bulge and wow did their bums look great in tights it was like being at the boys ballet classes which i also enjoy emensely. I like the boys and have had a couple of times on outings helping out and they look good in wet suits on surf boards for some reason guys bums just look wholesome and full and sexy. I would die if they knew how i felt. so back to the life drawing it was a lesson for them and the complete absense of all clothes and they made a few comments at first then they realized it was gonna be their turn. the curtains had to be closed and there was one lamp on at the side deliberatley so the drawings had to be about light and shade it just was so mood lighting and made them all look sensuous I think some had a hard time coping. I take my hat off to the teacher for instigating this and he is so brave and courageous to attempt to deal with mens sexuality in this way. they all see each other in the showers and stuff changing but this one very vunerable and each boy had a momnet of hesitation befor ethey stripped off and nooone joked. hunky jocks I love these guys
I was so turned on by a young boy in the life drawing class i had a behind view and he was laying forward so I got a back and bum angle he had the most beautiful behind his back muscles were equisit and the skin tone and his flesh just turned me on , this had never happened before and i was suprised I just had to draw him and had a hard erection all class, I was so turned on by his phsique i had to talk to him and he had just started out and I was the first to talk to him we actually went out for coffee and I ended up with him that night i was so turned on I had never actually been with a guy before and i just had a great time I have a girl friend and i see him now and then he thinks its funny and really is just suprised and captivated by my obsession with him its only him and he has something I love him and I have never had sex with any one else but it was the drawing him in the class and he was just the archetyple greek model and he was so sexy and his musculature and skin just smooth as silk and his gluteumous maximus is so round and bulbus but taught, I have never looked at another guys butt and thought about it, he is so special and i allways fuck him after class which is only once a month now but I can't help but think of all the artists who fucked their models and vice versa . its a natural progression and so easy to do, your half way there and I would love to have him in class , I love just being on his back and we don't kiss or hug or anything I just penetrate him and hold his beautiful arse and pump him cum inside and lay on his back for ages careesiing and kissing his kneck , i love my model and I can't get him out of my head. nothing else happens I wish I could do him in class after I draw him everybody could leave and I just go up onto the raised platform and have sex with him on the couch with him still in pose and just consume his essence and vunerability and enter him brom behind he is so so sexy its so unbelievable.
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