A strange situation

A thorough understanding of the anatomy of the human figure in its ideal form (i.e. Leonardo’s geometric figure) is fundamental to relating to, and interpreting, our perception of the world. Drawing it drills it into our psyche. And, I just saw the Lansdowne Herakles at the Getty Villa in Malibu the other day…a classic example of quintessential proportion.

Having had some training in classical life drawing I appreciated that opportunity to gain that experience. There are a few critical factors that you need to consider: you need an environment where the model is comfortable, the cost for hiring a model, and time needed to complete a drawing or painting. Some colleges and universities offer classes in life drawing and painting in their art department. Usually is not a problem for anyone who wants to can get permission to take such courses but there will be fees to take these courses. Workshops are another venue. Formal training, in my opinion, is highly recommended but not required. I often draw people I see on my HD television. I just pause the image and start drawing. It’s not as good as life drawing but it can be fun and challenging.

Huh? Why the blame on Toulouse Lautrec? That doesn’t make any sense to me.

There’s no doubt that the human figure is an essential subject in art. I was lucky enough to have a high school art teacher who taught us the basics of drawing the figure (not nude, but short drawing sessions in which we took turns modeling.) It would be interesting to paint highlighting different societies’ ways of regarding the human figure, not just on the subject of clothing or lack of it, but weight, age, gender, makeup/tattoos/piercings, commercialization, etc. It’s hard for me to understand why the naked figure is such a taboo when we’ve all got bodies, and have seen them naked at some point. After all, we’re all naked under our clothes!

I understand Patricia’s confusion around painting the Nude form and the viewer seeing this as Naked. In Art School we learn to draw the nude form as a tool to understand what the mechanics of the body are and therefore paint or draw the clothed form more accurately but as we draw the nude model we stop seeing him or her as a Naked person and as a unique landscape of light and shadow, moving and still at the same time. When I realized that there were some that had a problem with the Nude painting I adapted my style to be more gestural than literal and left the facial features off or obscured. This is my attempt to help the viewer see the beauty of the human form and not the object.

The “beauty of the human form” is not universal. For many of us clothing covers a multitude of sins. On the other hand, a female friend of ours, on seeing Rubens paintings in Europe said, “Now there’s a man who knew what a woman is supposed to look like.”

It is a rare patron who will display a nude in their home. The final home for figure painting is limited, unless you are one of those very few whose work resides in a museum. So then you’re faced with what to do with all those paintings after you’ve mastered the human form. I’ve noted those nudes that have endured as great paintings are the more classical depictions: women bathing, men warriors, and as gods or virtues. Fine for the 19th century but difficult with our modern day sensibilities. You could settle for partial nudes with dancers or athletes but then it becomes just another figure or portrait, not a nude. Good luck trying to change peoples’ perception of what the human form should be … culture is too much of a brick wall to break through. It’s exhausting and draining of energy, and I’m not up for it anymore. Other than some life classes in college most of my anatomy lessons came in the ER and labor and delivery. The glare of an overhead light can’t substitute for subtle soft lighting but it all sufficed for what I want to do. I think the greater question is suitability. If you can answer that it might give you guidelines in how to present your nude figure. Other than suggest you keep it classic and keep it classy, I don’t know.

“Perhaps we might, within the anatomy of our imaginations, think once more of the naked body as a vessel of grace, taste and wonder. In the spotted history of art, stranger things have happened.” Robert that is a beautifully written sentence.You handle the pen as beautifully as the brush. Thank you.

A couple of personal observations. I have never seen a painting of a nude in any home I have been in, so I expect it has a limited market. Secondly, and not particularly important I suppose…but it seems to me that women outnumber men in painting female nudes, ten to one.

Holly- This all has to do with a puritanical society we all live in. Even with a (brilliant) painter Dad, his daughter is subject to her environment with school, television – which is getting racier every day not only in content but language and peer pressure. With the Internet and much of its objectionable content, the world hasn’t gotten better as regards nudes or nudes in art. Also, if you look back in Greek and Roman history, men where the ones with no clothes, very few women. The ideal body was personified in the male form, not the female form. Today, all that has reversed itself. But here too, things are changing since women have come into their own, they want to see more male skin than ever before. Looking far into the future there may come a time when nudity will be the norm. But, alas, I dream.

A painter worked from a nude female model who came to his home/studio every day. One day, as the painter’s wife was just leaving for work, the model arrived. The painter announced he was not feeling well and would not need the model’s services. The model asked if she could make him a cup of tea so he might feel better, and the painter agreed. Just as the model brought the tea to him a car was heard in the driveway. “Quick,” said the painter, “My wife’s come home. Take off your clothes!”

I’ve been conducting open figure drawing workshops for local artists for nearly 5 years, and I can say that the artists at all skill levels work very hard at mastering the nude. It’s complex and challenging, a ‘landscape’ where there can be no deviations, the viewer’s eye will always detect them. If you can master the nude, you can master any subject because you’ve fine tuned your hand eye coordination, your perception of line and volume, your observation of color and transluscence. It doesn’t matter what your style is or how you interpret what you see. There’s no substitute for working from a live nude model to aid in furthering your artistic skills. Also, let me put in a word for the hard working models. A good professional model understands they are an integral part of the creative process and works, sometimes painfully, to facilitate that process. A good professional artist understands and appreciates that a model like that is golden!

Reading your letter on the nude model in art brought to mind an incident in which I was asked by a male friend whether the excitement of seeing a woman unclothed was the main reason for taking the class. I can’t recall what I told him exactly but it was a variation of “you don’t understand.” Many life drawing classes later I polished my answer down to ‘ The model is the challenge to my self -image as an artist and there is no time to waste’. Can I produce an evocative image? Time is flying. Every mark counts. The concentration required blocks all other thoughts. Aspen, CO

I adore the nude figure as a subject (clothed as well) because I see something beautiful and sacred in every original person. I paint the landscape and I love floral exercises but always a passion for the figure. I am shocked by the numbers of people who do not want to confront nude images depicting older age or ones with large bodies. The pressure to be young and perfect is what I see that contributes to the viewing enjoyment and of course the purchase of nude images. I have friends who very much admire my art but have said please don’t share the images of people who are overweight. These critics are people of educated taste and in some cases buy art….but not a nude. Well maybe a back view of a young beauty. I do of course live in Los Angeles California.This is not a reflection of other artists I draw/paint with…only the people who can actually buy and hang a purchased painting in their living room. Of course I shall continue my beloved interest.

The nude figure is my most preferred subject since it is always new; and yet … each is a marvelous work of engineering. Believing as I do in our Creator, and knowing this is the closest image to God himself, how could I consider myself accomplished in the arts if I did not continue to explore the human figure. Aside from these personal comments, I will not try to add to your already erudite description of the human figure, and the benefits of studying it by students and advanced artists. Drawing from the nude model always humbles me … and yet, following my exploration, if I have done justice to my subject, I breathe a sigh of one who has achieved something of worth.

I once took a life drawing class with male and female models, old and young, and came to the conclusion that “every” “body” is beautiful.

It has always been my firm belief and experience, that no matter what kind of work I might be drawn to – landscape, whatever – the practice of drawing the nude human form has always been the most inspiring and enlightening of all practices. It improves my work, no matter the subject. Depending on proximity to an art center, university, or museum with a suitable classroom, it can be difficult to find available opportunities. Even if the chance to practice is only occasional, it’s worth the effort and a little travel to make it happen.

I took a nude drawing class once. The thing I learned is the human body is one of the most difficult subjects to draw. The reason is you can tell right away if something is off kilter! The person does not look like himself/herself. It was really difficult to capture the person’s essence. A few people in the class got it right and it was beautiful. All of us others just stood in awe. Very humbling.

I went to an evening workshop, they served wine, there were mostly men over 50 drooling over two nude female models under 25 who shaved their pubes into designs and posed in manners that could easily be seen as dominatrix or S&M. I was so uncomfortable. I went back home sure that I have crossed over into the realm of flower painting forever, an old, old woman. I’m currently in a clothed model workshop and it works better for me. I know they aren’t all like this, but…too much for my 60 plus sensibility.

When I was practicing drawing as a younger person, the nude drawing sessions organized by an artist friend would draw 20 to 30 people a week and were one of the only ways I met other artists. At the time, my ambition was to paint a glorious nude which I would sell to to hang above the liquor in my favorite bar. I would imagine going there ever so often to have a drink and meditate upon it.

I have always believed that if you cannot paint/ draw the body correctly then you cannot drape It correctly. Certainly it is those people who either have their mind on the gutter or are overly religious that object to nude studies. Please don’t think that I am objecting to religious beliefs…I am not…only to those who take it to extremes.

Figurative art is one sure way to measure our eye’s accuracy. When an observer comments and names the person you’ve drawn you experience the magic of out talent, to speak without language. Marks on paper become something else” those are my eyes, but, that is not my nose”. In fact they are our marks on paper. Without use of the figure, structure may be more difficult. Artists are always looking to find a simple formula that will allow them to produce original and inspirational works. The figure is, I believe, a good place to revisit whenever I need inspirational energy.

I don’t agree that “whole cultures” are trying to get us to cover up. I think there is only one culture that’s going in that direction.

My only comment is that if all you said about the nude is true…. then theoretically 50% of the nudes sketched, painted, or used as models would be males. Any argument to the contrary would have to notice that if 80% of the nude models/subjects are female, it corresponds curiously with the fact that 80% of the artists are male. ????? A strange situation indeed

The nude was center to my learning curve when I became serious about studying painting and drawing. It became clear to me over time, that some artists thought this to be too risky to paint nudes. I was told NUDES don’t sell in Canada, people may like them but afraid to hang them in their homes cause someone might report them as pornographic. My son grew up with NUDE paintings all over the house and each time he brought a new friend over, there was the initial shock but they got over it and found art not pornographic images. Educating people to open their minds to art making, takes patience. Artists may need to explain that it’s historically important to draw from the nude, mastering the craft of observation, learning anatomy while capturing the personality of each model. I joined many ‘life drawing’ groups to eventually hiring some of those nude models to come to my loft, to pose for just a few of us. Such fond memories of those times and enjoyed getting to know the models while respecting their knowledge of what poses look good for artists while sitting long poses without falling asleep with boredom. Just try to sit still for 35 minutes without moving, and then do it nude while people are staring at every inch of your body. Many models take up yoga to help them focus on being still and to keep themselves limber to hold many types of poses. I honor those nude models and thank them and their nude bodies to giving LIFE to my art.

Regarding the clothing of animals: it seems they have a natural clothing, fur, feathers, etc …. nature provided them the protection they need … lobsters have shells, etc. We are the only ones who go around naked … if some folks want to “revere” the naked form, so be it. But I think that those who don’t necessarily agree that it is the ONLY way to learn to paint, should be respected for their views as well. It takes diversity to make the world go round as they say and especially in the art world, we should recognize that fact. Respect is key here.

Drawing the body is such a challenging exercise, artistically and emotionally. We are allowed the privilege of seeing a person without their protection, their daily armour. We do honour to the human being by depicting their perfections and flaws, the articulation of bone and muscle, the gesture. We had a model here for many of our classes. He was very shy, only spoke a few words, but what an amazingly expressive model he was. He left this world too young, but the many drawings of him that exist now are his message to us.

I must admit the nude figure is my most lacking area of art subject matter. Upon doing some of my first nude drawings, and having them framed, they were resting against the counter in my kitchen. A five year old friend of mine came strolling into my kitchen and was promptly was scandalized. “Miss Annie! I can’t believe you have that kind of pictures in your house!” was his comment. I tried to be very serious and pulled out all my art books. I patiently explained that, as an artist, the body is the hardest thing to paint or draw. Each artist, trying to do it well, does it in their own style. We covered Matisse, Klimt, Michelangelo, and many others. I told him, there was a big difference between these pictures and “naughty” pictures. He went over each book carefully, the last book being Picasso. Putting his hand up to his face in an aside. He said in a stage whisper, “These are all very good, but that guy, Picasso, doesn’t do very good does he?” I almost fell down laughing and replied, “I guess not sweetie; I guess not.”

The lack of the nudes male or female is, I think, due to a renewal of prudery in culture. At least, here, in the US. Do not even think about having an image of a male nude in most galleries! Very sad.

Imagine my surprise as a seventeen year old freshmen in college, my first nude model in painting class was a male, playing a violin no less. I just wanted him to stand still, drawing a moving figure was just too difficult.

Perhaps the few nudes in art galleries is because the female body has been so cheapened by trashy and slutty clothes on young girls’ (and old?) bodies – flaunting for popularity. It’s simply not that attractive at times with diabesity running rampant. Hence, growing lack of interest in WELL DONE nude art – we’ve been trained to look away – it’s less painful most of the time. As a mother of 2 teenage girls with beautiful bodies and still so innocent, I worry that they will not treasure their bodies and pureness for as long as they can — rather will succumb to the current young society’s pressures to “put out or get out”. My challenge is to teach them otherwise — which involves some covering up because “it’s not just not right” to walk around with your butt cheeks hanging out, showing your belly and revealing cleavage.

I am studying a Diploma of Visual Art and due to cutbacks there will be no life drawing classes. Ridiculous. Some of the best nude male drawings I’ve seen were done by Paul Cadmus who specialized.

Patricia Godvin wrote; “As an artist who works with the nude figure, I find so little quality dialogue or artists’ exchange of ideas concerning this subject. I would love you to stimulate some discussion on working with the unclothed figure.” Seems rather vague about what Patricia is looking for, what is quality dialogue? I will offer this.. I believe when one looks at another closely, they will always see something beautiful.

I’m not trying to create narrative symbolic content or trite pretentious allegorical pictures, I just enjoy painting from the model in the studio each week.

Just the same during the Victorian Era we don’t lack for great painters. Rodin also spent hours drawing circles. Perfect form and beauty I think were synonymous for him. Modern pessimism denies the intrinsic beauty and replaces it with a subjective vision that cares little for the objective truth. In this thought the figure whether nude or clothed loses its form by putting more value on its symbolism than its actual form. That’s when you need a Rembrandt to step in a remind us of the value of content in its relation to form and beauty!

Twenty-five years ago when I was in art school it was all about the female nude.

Prague is an European city thus by definition has a lot of outdoor sculpture, much of it Baroque. A friend of mine had AMERICAN visitors who after two days commented that Czechs should do something to cover up all of the nude art, it was disgusting.

I’ve only been attempting figurative work (specifically pinup style) for about a year now. Other than complete abstracts with liquid paint and no brushes, I haven’t really done any painting before. I have high aspirations of getting good at this genre and then expanding into more serious paintings that will include some nudity, some suggestive eroticism but not anything explicit or pornographic. I get some sideways looks and lots of ‘no comment’ type reactions from people who see my paintings. What’s the big deal? The nude and eroticism such a compelling and intriguing subjects. I’ve wondered if The Painters Keys has a policy of avoiding them?

I wonder what Patricia would think of my “nudes”. I put the word in quotation marks is that nudity is really for most of my paintings. Explicit sexuality is in the foreground, which very often involves nudity. I’d love to have dialogue about all that too!!

Nudes are not appreciated because they tend to appeal to the sensitivities of our puritan interests. The human body, in and of itself, is beautiful, God’s work, and should not be dismissed as a wonder of nature. What many tend to dismiss or, rather, assume is that artists are looking at the body as a sexual object. Quite to the contrary, the artist looks at it as an object of beauty and majesty. It is, without a doubt, the most perfect form in our universe.

For 40 years with a short break here and there, I have gone to life drawing groups, and now attend two separate ones week about. I love the silence, the concentration, the scratchings on paper, the praise given to the model, and then wandering around to ponder on the achievements of each artist. It takes practice to get the proportions correct, and it is surprising how few can these days. I am now drawing part time on my touchscreen computer, and then cross to paper when the battery runs low. Maybe I’m addicted, but I don’t care!

Loved that you addressed this subject. I currently attend a weekly life drawing group and do some of my best work there. But nowhere to exhibit. We have wonderful female models but I wish we had more males.

I wonder if the mystic of the human body is a bit lost with the easy access to seeing EVERYWHERE… magazines, commercials, TV shows, movies, billboards…. just a thought.

I took a life drawing course at Red Deer College a few years ago. It was interesting and fun, most of our models were men, some enthused, some not!”

From my own perspective, I was taught by John Stewart Osborne who was adamant that drawing from the human body was about understanding form. That’s virtually all he said in 6 years of studentship with him. Eventually, I understood what he meant. Form – not as ‘body’, but as pure form. It’s difficult to express what it is as few people see it, let alone express it. Sorry, it’s not describable. Most of what I see in life drawing or painting is reproduction (though useful of course).

Robert, why is this topic ‘strange’? In the past, artists were primarily all male and the models were primarily female. Why? Because of HOMOPHOBIA. So male artists who also did male nudes were not heterosexual even if they lied and presented themselves as such. So ALL male nudity was homo-erotic even if the work wasn’t particularly erotic. Why? Because we silly stupid humans remain unable to think of eroticism (obscene pornography) as anything but bad. Sex is one of the most natural human expressions there is. I’m an abstract artist, but because I’m gay everybody thinks I’m going to be producing GAY ART- read- homoerotic. Oh well. I did recently expose my one and only 30 years old (literally) life-size, full-frontal anatomically-correct male nude padded relief, at my recent lecture. I was never able to sell it. Nobody wanted it. In the present the art-group was less shocked than they would have been 30 years ago when I first produced it. I would have gotten banned from the group- then. It’s stained. A dog pissed on it. Kinda gives it character! It’s lived in both a storage space and a garage, and right now stands just behind my refrigerator. I can’t toss it as it’s become way too valuable… just for existing!

On male verses female nudes, it is more likely because historically, there have been more male artists. One assumes the majority prefered painting women. Trying to remove sexuality in painting nudes is almost impossible; we are sexual beings. Some artists present erotic figures while others, the asexual classical figure. Many object to the former but are perfectly at ease with the latter. It is a fine line and is as much in the mind of the viewer as the intent of the artist. I don’t know why I have nothing but admiration for Old Masters’ nudes, Thomas Eakins, or even Vargas, but yet bristle at others. Go figure … excuse the pun. I’d like to hear from some models.

The most puritan societies presently are Islamic countries, followed by the North America. Nowhere else is nakedness judged strongly by the society.

Some years ago I conducted life-drawing classes in Melbourne. After one of these sessions I entered a rather crowded elevator in a busy department store and was greeted by someone at the back who said, ” Don’t you say hello to your friends Jim “. When I saw who it was I absent-mindedly responded with, ” Oh, I didn’t recognize you with your clothes on “. Some of the passengers were highly amused whilst others appeared horrified. I thought about explaining but only briefly.

At one time I was taking a figure sculpting class and a drawing class. In sculpting it seemed we took a zillion measurements. In spite of that my clay figures never seemed very “human”. My teacher made the wise comment: “Art occurs between the measurements.”

As an art dealer I could care less what an artists credentials are. Its all about the work and how professional they are.

Some professions need those titles added to their names like medicine, dentistry and other professions with the corresponding diplomas or certificates stating that they are indeed qualified for the service they render. I am not sure for artists if titles will speak for the pictures they produce. The finished pictures speak for themselves and the viewers choose what appeals to them. Some artists never went to art school or have earned certificates to show except for their work. Artistic ability is instinctive and a God given talent. They have the ability to see beyond what is obvious and interpreting what they see in their own on paper, canvas or what ever media available to them. Perhaps those letters give a sense of prestige and belonging that give a distinction of importance. But who bothers to check those letters?

Drawing from the nude is such an essential part of developing as an artist. The nude figure is the ultimate yardstick if you like, for attempting to capture reality in 2D. We all know just how a human being looks, how a person moves, what the feeling of weight is like ect and can judge in an instant if an artist has captured all the elements of humaness in a drawing. It should never be alowed to “go out of fashion” or be considered outmoded. It would be like a mechanic not needing to learn how the engine works!

Incompetent painters need letters and can get them. Competent painters don’t need letters but are given them.

I’m just running off to teach an Intro to (nude) Figure Drawing Class aka ‘learning to draw the most complex grouping of forms – so if we can do this, we can draw anything” … I am very interested in this discussion …

When I was in art school I looked forward to drawing nudes. Male or Female it didn’t matter. What I remember is the attention to contour lines and the flow of my pencil moving as I focused on the form. I loved to draw this way. I didn’t like that this practice would stop there in the drawing room. In studio I would go back to my figure drawings and add my own flare or additional touches. I still have many of my favorite nude portraits with me hidden away in storage. Isn’t that a shame. Some I like so much I would like to exhibit them but not sure how they will be received. Living in Winnipeg I haven’t seen exhibits with nudes. Although people I know still go to life figure drawing classes. What happens to all the beautiful nude drawings that people produce.

I’ve managed a life drawing group in Atlanta for over a year and find variety–male/female, old/young, beautiful/not, and even pregnancy bring compliments and greater attendence to our sessions. All bodies are beautiful and bless all models who share them. “I facilitate creativity”, one model tells us. Thank you, thank you.