Tuesday 4 September 2007

The latest model

Who'd want to be an artists model? Certainly, there aren't that many people who fancy the job. Not many people are happy taking their clothes off for other people. Especially people who are going to look intently at them. Examine them in minute detail. And then after they've done that they're going to put all the details down on paper infront of them, showing all the parts of your body they you may not be a hundred percent comfortable with. Warts and all ....... so to speak! So, who would want to do THAT for goodness sake???? Well.......... it appears that some people do, and they actually enjoy doing it. And yes, I know that people pose as life drawing models for various reasons - some of them financial - because a life model can earn a reasonable rate of pay for sitting there in the buff, doing nothing in particular but keeping still (and BOY is THAT hard work!!!). But other people do it for far more involved reasons than basic cash. They do it for the love of it - they adore getting their clothes off for someone else and definitely get a frisson of excitement every time they stand before a room full of clothed strangers, knowing that all the eyes in that room are focused on THEM. They are the Star of the Show!!!

But deeper than that, there's another group of people who enjoy the creative process, and want to be part of it, but just don't know how to. They're not artistic, they're not particularly creative, they can't draw to save their lives, but they really really want to do something arty. So, they decide to aide the artist in another way - they become life models. They are the focus of the artistic process - they are the basis of the end product - their body is frozen in time, portrayed upon a canvas, immortalised in paint to live on in perpetuity for the world to see. And whilst you could say that they are being altruistic in some ways, they are also fully aware of their selfish needs in this. Its fulfilling their desire for being the creative focus of someone else.

And then there's the next group - the happy amateurs, who are doing it for a bit of a laugh, a lark, a bit of fun. They just pick it up and do it on the spur of the moment, something else to add to their "done that, bought the tee shirt" scenario, something they can laugh about down the pub with their mates, and tell their grandchildren about when they're old and grey.

And I suppose taking it to a different direction all together, there are those people who get their sexual kicks from the fantasy of being naked with a load of other people, and imagine the hot and frenzied passionate no-holds barred gang-bang orgy that might.......just......... happen .........if certain things go their way, and who probably go home bitterly frustrated and incredibly disappointed when they realise that actually the artist only really did just want to draw them for a couple of hours, and have a cup of tea and a digestive biscuit and talk about their herbaceous border.

But, to go to to another side altogether, there's the sublime relationship between artist and their muse - not just a model, but a person who truely inspires the artist. They have a deep and lasting love affair, not always of a sexual nature, but certainly one of a deep and significant type, where the artist does their best work because of the relationship and feeds from the artistic flow that comes from it. That's the pinnacle of the artist/model relationship. One that we all aspire to - and is so hard to attain. Its a thing of beauty when it happens. Something to be valued because its just so rare and special.

14 comments:

Vi said...

So is this your muse we see?

Jackie Adshead said...

Vi - No, I don't have one at the moment - I just thought I'd better show a drawing of a man for a change as you must be fed up of looking at women!

Cherrie said...

I like looking at men!

Your effort to step into the minds of those who pose for you is thought-provoking. I suspect your models have some mix of these emotions and motivations--for example, they may need the money, but they wouldn't do it if it weren't a turn-on. What's interesting to me is that you don't seem to have any shortage of models!

Anonymous said...

I'd like to take my clothes off for art, would you be prepared to draw me ?

Willsibob said...

I think for me being drawn, would definitely be 85 percent being immortalized and 15 percent the exhibitionist streak - but not for necessarily being nude in front of the artist, but more thinking that tens, hundreds, possibly thousands of people will study the image in it's complexity, and in that image I will be looking out wondering what it is that they are seeing. Are they seeing the thoughts of the model or the thoughts of the artist, do they see the lines in their intricate details, or do they feel the painting's overall impression?
Both are something I enjoy, I always think that the overall impression gives the thoughts of the model, and the lines and details are that of the artist.
Keep painting we want to see more of your dreams on paper :)

Ronjazz said...

No, not at all, honey. Women are nice to look at...and play with...:)

Jackie Adshead said...

Cherrie - I like looking at men too!

It just seems natural to me to try and step into the minds of my models, so that I can work out how they want me to portray them. I don't have a shortage of models, so they must be getting some turn on out of it!

Jackie Adshead said...

Anonymous - Yes, I would.

Jackie Adshead said...

Willsibob - Mmmm.... you have some interesting thought provoking ideas.

I'll try to continue to paint, so you can see more dreams!

Jackie Adshead said...

Ronjazz - They certainly are!!!!!

Anonymous said...

So would I get paid by the hour or is it a set rate?

Jackie Adshead said...

Anonymous - you do it for the love of it - and pay me if you want to buy the drawing afterwards.

His Ladye said...

More often than not my mind is inspired more by words than anything else. I am not a professional artist, I just dabble, and I happy with that.

My muse for the moment, God forbid, is me. But the me my Vampyr sees through his eyes. And that is the difficult bit. Not seeing me in the negative eyes I so often look through, but in the positive, desiring eyes he uses. Often it is like seeing someone completely separate and different from myself. It has been and continues to be a learning experience.

Thanks for this post.

Ladye

Jackie Adshead said...

His Layde - Glad to be of help - and it is a difficult thing to see through the eyes of someone else's desires. The most difficult thing in the world is to paint oneself - especially for someone else, when we see something different to what they see! Good luck with it.