The general belief is that models for figure-drawing classes need to have picture-perfect figures. But across the region, colleges and art schools say they're in desperate need of different bodies to pose, usually naked but not always, for figure-drawing, anatomy, and animation classes.
It's a challenge that's been around since the aerobicized decades of the '80s and '90s, said McKenna, who has been model coordinator for four years. Women in particular feel they don't fit the model images of television (think America's Next Top Model) and magazines. But with the recent inclusion of plus-size models in some mainstream magazines, McKenna hopes our expectations will change.
"Currently, bigger women are seen in magazines looking spectacular," she says. "Attractive bodies come in all sizes, shapes, and colors."
The goal, teachers say, is for students to learn how to draw different bodies, learn a sense of proportion, and get a perspective on reality.You can't get that from drawing the same kind of body all the time.
When he was an art student at Carnegie Mellon University (then Carnegie Tech) back in 1960, Charles Schmidt, now a retired Tyler School of Art teacher, had the opportunity to draw a variety of bodies, including a weightlifter and a pregnant woman who came regularly through the last seven months of her pregnancy. The experience made him a better artist.
"When you have someone who is young and well-defined, it's a great way to learn bones and muscles," he said. But the variety "teaches you to concentrate on the differences but also the similarities - how is the leg formed and what do you see on the surface."
Although Schmidt tried to get that same mix for his own students, most people who applied were college students who were modeling for the money - the going rate is $12 to $15 an hour. And college students tend to be thin and young. Even the thin and young weren't always comfortable at first, Schmidt said.
