Would you ever pose nude for a sculpture, painting, etc

[TheOrangeOne]

Am I comfortable with myself? Yes.
Am I okay with being naked in front of people? Depends on if the people are pricks or not, but I'd think not. Just a wee bit shy.
Do I enjoy the thought of standing for a long time without being able to pace around? Fuck no.
Am I afraid that the thought of a crowd of people starring at my crotch will get me horny? You better fucking believe it.

I can tell you, from four years of art school, that people tend to make a bigger deal out of nude modeling than it actually is. We had four or five models (men and women) that would rotate between classes, so you'd be drawing/painting/sculpting any model in any given week. The very first class freshman year was a bit awkward for everyone, but after that it just became a part of the routine. By senior year we were on a first-name basis with most of the models. So sometimes, when people found out I was going to art school, I would get a lot of "so you draw naked people all day?" And I would just have to shake my head and laugh, because it became so routine that I didn't think twice about it anymore.

I hope that helps give the artists' side of things

See, now this is a side that 9/10 people don't think about when they know someone posses nude for artists. They're actual people that are just simply getting paid to be naked, be comfortable with themselves, and to stand/pose dead still for extended periods of time.

What medium did you portray them in? Or were you experimenting with all of them?

Well I'm glad my little first-hand account could shed some light on some things.

I had to draw them (graphite, charcoal, etc), paint (mostly acrylic), and I took a sculpture course too (clay).

 

[Dorian]

I had to draw them (graphite, charcoal, etc), paint (mostly acrylic), and I took a sculpture course too (clay).

Huh, I had no idea charcoal was used for anything other than makeup and barbecues.

Now when you said sculpture, I immediately thought of hammer & chisel. Is that style of art even offered as a class anymore?

 

[Queen Michael]

If anybody actually wanted me to, I'd be so flattered that I'd agree to it in an instant.

 

[TheOrangeOne]

I had to draw them (graphite, charcoal, etc), paint (mostly acrylic), and I took a sculpture course too (clay).

Huh, I had no idea charcoal was used for anything other than makeup and barbecues.

Now when you said sculpture, I immediately thought of hammer & chisel. Is that style of art even offered as a class anymore?

If schools had the funding for marble and the four years it would take to sculpt it with a chisel, I'm sure it would be . But seriously, clay is easier to sculpt, it's more forgiving than anything you could chisel away, and it's reusable. After you finish a sculpture, you grab the clay and throw it back in the bin. I sculpted more in one semester with clay than I could've in three years with marble and a chisel. So the short answer is no, not that I know of

 

[Dorian]

But seriously, clay is easier to sculpt, it's more forgiving than anything you could chisel away, and it's reusable. After you finish a sculpture, you grab the clay and throw it back in the bin.

While that may be true, can you really say that a clay sculpture of Zeus would be equally as awe-inspiring and beautiful as the marble counterpart? It's just......... so permanent looking that you get a sense of feeling that the sculptee is a revered and powerful person......

I sculpted more in one semester with clay than I could've in three years with marble and a chisel. So the short answer is no, not that I know of

An excellent point, I must say. Would you have liked (or would like, as the case may be) to work on a month long mini-sculpture project with a 6"x6"x6" block of marble, just so you could get a feel for it?

 

[TheOrangeOne]

But seriously, clay is easier to sculpt, it's more forgiving than anything you could chisel away, and it's reusable. After you finish a sculpture, you grab the clay and throw it back in the bin.

While that may be true, can you really say that a clay sculpture of Zeus would be equally as awe-inspiring and beautiful as the marble counterpart? It's just......... so permanent looking that you get a sense of feeling that the sculptee is a revered and powerful person......

I sculpted more in one semester with clay than I could've in three years with marble and a chisel. So the short answer is no, not that I know of

An excellent point, I must say. Would you have liked (or would like, as the case may be) to work on a month long mini-sculpture project with a 6"x6"x6" block of marble, just so you could get a feel for it?

Well to answer your first point, I'll just say this: The medium doesn't make the art, the art makes the medium. Each has its own strengths and weakness, both aesthetically and physically. So I can't say I'd prefer one over the other.

Secondly, it definitely would've been interesting to chisel away at a block of marble. But I can definitely say I probably would've had a panic attack knowing that once I started chiseling away, there was no "undo." With clay, if you screw up and chop off a nose, you can tack more clay back on and re-sculpt it. If you do that with marble, you're going to have yourself a nose-less sculpture.