Even at the tiny school I go to, not everyone realizes there is a figure drawing class. In the last year I’ve had a surprising number of people ask me about it, giggling & blushing, & it’s time to clear a few things up.
“So figure drawing is where you draw, uh, like, naked people?”
Yes. It’s actually much harder to draw people clothed, so you classically start with the nude.
“You draw naked people for a whole semester?”
Yes, a whole semester. Sounds crazy, but a lot of people are surprised, thinking that once you’ve seen one you’ve seen them all, or something. But between gender, age, build, ethnicity, & so on, there is no exhaustive way to approach the field. You rotate between models, ideally getting equal time with each gender. (Age is a little harder to get decent variation on, unfortunately. I hope to get some exposure to different aged models in the future, because from what my colleagues tell me, it’s a lot harder to work outside of your “age-bracket,” because you are unknowingly so familiar with your own body & those of your peers.)
“Is it. . . uncomfortable?”
A good model knows how to make it comfortable. A good artist knows how to make it comfortable. If both artist & model are mutually dedicated to the task at hand, & aren’t approaching it as something weird or taboo, it goes smoothly. A good model knows his limits in holding a pose (or a good instructor can guide him). You chat with them before & after the session or during a break & you become acclimated to the model/artist dynamic. tl;dr, maybe, but you get used to it.
“What if it’s a student or a friend?”
People are weirded out by seeing their peers naked, but you have to understand you’re both there willingly. My giggling, blushing peers asking me this are probably imagining this “you’re naked, I’m not” instance. Yeah, that’d be weird. But that’s not it. It’s “we’re here to work, let’s get to it.” & yes, sometimes it’s weird the first time you see them outside the studio, but, again, you just get used to it.
“Were the models hot?”
I wasn’t there to assess that. There’s also a sort of myth that models do it because they think they’re “hot,” but I don’t think someone that base would bother to learn the technique. They might have an interest in art or aesthetics, or have been on the observer side before, or just need a little more money, I dunno. Let’s just say you don’t take the course because you want to see hot, naked people. That’s why the internet was invented, remember?
“Oh my gosh, did any of the guys ever get a [insert crude word for erection]?”
No. Not once.
“Do you draw their genitals?”
Yes. But you can pretend we insert fig leaves if it helps you sleep better.
Then, usually at this point in the interview, the giggling has commenced & there is nothing I can say to stop it. But while I’ve got your attention, it just isn’t as sexual as you pretend or imagine it is. Sometimes it might feel that way because, well, you’re spending an hour or two focusing on flesh & the human form, but it’s awfully abstracted because it is a class for study, not for finished works.
I’m on my spring break & have spend most of it in bed sick, so far. I guess I’m feeling more irritable than usual, but I honestly do wish this very serious part of art education weren’t so misunderstood by so many people.
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