There’s a certain formality in the relations between artists and models which works for everyone if it's observed conscientiously. I've been in classes where a male artist addresses a female model as "darlin'" or "hon." Even when it's friendly, it still throws a disturbing kink into the protocol. On more than one occasion I've seen the male teacher of a figure class just walk up to a female model when she's in her pose, and make some minor alteration, move her wrist over a half inch or so, or sweep her hair from in front of her shoulder to down her back; or use a finger or a pointer directly on the model's body to explain some detail of anatomy without asking the model for permission. This seems seriously out of line to me. Professional models become experienced at resuming the same pose down to pretty fine details, and if they miss slightly it's more respectful to ask them to make the correction ("Could you please move your left wrist about one half inch to the left?"). The familiarity in touching a model is not only presumptuous, but it suggests an extraneous and irrelevant physical intimacy which makes many of the artists who witness it uncomfortable. I think that one of the responsibilities of an art instructor who uses models is to promote a wholesome and functional attitude toward modelling both among the students and for the models themselves. It doesn't help the development of a less experienced model to be subjected to a physical contact without acknowledgment and agreement. It’s a serious breach of an important protocol.
Sexual humor, or conversation about sexual characteristics may give the surface impression or presumption of lighthearted sophistication, like we're all adults and we understand about sex and we're all real blase about all this, right? But in fact, this behavior is a breach of the formalities, and doesn't just 'disappear,' but reverberates and creates a disquieting static in the room. The formalities are intended to make everyone feel very comfortable and relaxed, so everyone can do the job they came to do in the least distracted way. I'm not suggesting that nobody should ever experience sexual feelings when they draw, or even that nobody should have a prurient interest. I don't want to tell anyone else what kind of interests to have, that's their own private business. But it's not legit to put the vibes out where they make other artists or the model uncomfortable. The best thing that artists or students can do in a life-model session is to concentrate on their own work, and really use the resources the model offers them.
The San Francisco Bay Area Models' Guild, for example, an agency which supplies models extensively to art institutions and individual private artists, issues comprehensive guidelines for both models and for the clients they serve. These guidelines include information about bookings, payment, hygiene and safety, photography, etc. One of their guidelines, regarding privacy, is worth quoting here:
Models are never to be touched without their permission. The instructor and students are the only people permitted in the room while the model is posing. The client is responsible for providing privacy for the model, including closing doors, covering windows, etc. If privacy is inadequate, model will pose clothed.
The Guild also provides access to a Client-Model Relations Board, which handles any problems which come up. Clients who abuse the Guild's professional standards may find themselves unable to hire models again.
In my own practice, when I have models in my studio, I’m dedicated to maintain professional standards and be alert to their needs: temperature, privacy, breaks, etc. I also explain something about my work, about my process. I try to be explicit about the work which is going to go on, so that the model feels safe and comfortable. When the model feels relaxed, then I feel relaxed and can do my best work. The older I get, the more seriously I appreciate the studio time which is available to me; I have no interest in wasting it in tension and misunderstanding; I want to work. I know that if I made a practice of suggestive remarks, or made impolite moves on my models, word would get out fast and I would find myself without models. This would be an enormous loss to me and to my work, so I have strived over the years to make my relations with my models as sensitive to their comfort and safety as I can. As a result, I have the trust and support of my models; they want to help me out. For me, and for so many artists I know, this constitutes true wealth, and I wouldn't trade it for fame, sexual opportunity or any amount of money. I love and respect my work too much to damage or squander the essential and precious resource of life models.
Copyright 2006 Robert Ross
The Models by Robert Ross
The preceding sections give some idea of my sensations and motivations working from nudes. How, then, do I view the work of the model? The first, most essential consideration is that the model's work is, in fact, work.
The hardest part of the model's work is not disrobing and appearing nude, although there are still plenty of taboos around nudity. And these taboos flourish despite the proliferation of images of nudity or near-nudity in magazines, soft-drink or soap commercials on TV, and so forth. Images of nudes are everywhere. In most of their appearances they function to sell something by means of sexual arousal or titillation. This is widely considered to be "OK." Yet for a person to disrobe in public, in person, literally in the flesh, is considered degrading, immoral, insulting, perverted, etc., or even criminal. (It actually seems to work to the benefit of mass-manipulation and power-interests to collapse the distinction between nudity and sex, to maintain a sense of taboo around nudity, a sense of sexual guilt or shame of ugliness or badness around our physical bodies. Amazing! Kinky!) In this cultural environment, the work of artists' models is sometimes viewed as just a tiny step up from prostitution: "They take off their clothes for money!" This degraded view of models' work is reflected in the low wage paid by some institutions.
At one time there was a strong element of sexism in modelling. When I was in art school in New York in the late 50's and early 60's, female models were nude, the men wore jockstraps. I don't know if this was more insulting to men or to women, but the inequality of it was disturbing, and the shame implied in it was a complete drag.
Nonetheless, today there seems to be a healthy contingent of humans in our culture who have not been propagandized into body shame. Artist's models, I think, as a general class, are among these. Being conscious of the distinction between nudity and sex does not signify that every time you see a nude person your sexual awareness is supposed to be somehow mysteriously lobotomized. It just means being aware of the distinction. Of the context. Of the vibes.
The real work of the model is physical work: sitting, standing, bending, kneeling, twisting, reclining, stretching, gesturing. If you think this is not work, just try sitting still, no moving, no turning your head or changing your face or shifting your hands or feet, for twenty minutes. A model performs these physical labors more or less on demand ("How about a twisted torso pose for half an hour?"). An experienced model develops the savvy to know which poses, which exertions, can be held for what length of time. It's a great service to an artist for a model to take a stretched and tense pose, exhibiting features of musculature and gesture which normally can only be observed in motion, and to hold this pose for, say, fifteen minutes. (Then at the end of fifteen minutes, an artist may ask: "Gee, do you think you could hold that for just two more minutes?" And sometimes the model can and will.) The physical strain of this activity is great, as is the physical capability to sit really still for twenty minutes or resume the same pose, with short breaks, for up to three hours or even longer.
Part of the model's work is to maintain a fine line between sociability and professional reserve. Many of the best models I've worked with have an ability to take a pose, and mentally detach or 'go away,' leaving the body there for the artist to draw. This is also a skill. I've worked with some models who seem to want to actively socialize with the assembled artists, chat about this and that while posing, turn their heads, gesture with their hands, engage. This is something that definitely interferes with the process of drawing. Artists and model don’t need to maintain rigid non-recognition. But in my experience a very little bit of conversation in a three-hour session goes a long way. Some group conversation (say, during breaks) or gossip, about art or food or other intriguing subjects, really helps build a cohesive group energy and create an atmosphere of friendliness and relaxation. But when there's a lot of chit-chat during the pose, clear attention to drawing just becomes impossible.
So the model supplies dignified comportment – “tone” -- as well as physical labor. And the model also serves by having a large repertoire of poses, of taking unusual poses, refreshing the artist's vision, or challenging the artist's expectations or congealed habits. Understanding, sympathy, support and imagination are little-recognized but significant features of the modelling profession. The model honors us by this work, and we honor the model by honoring the model.
Given the demands of the artist's work, and the demands of the model's work, what can I as an artist do to facilitate the optimal performance of our respective functions?
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