Working with a Model

Working with a Model is a special treat for an artist. Above is an image of a painting that I started this past Saturday morning.  Josianne is one of my favorite models. For the last 2 years, I have had a model come to Tyler Studio once a month.  I have dubbed it the “Open Model Session” and opened it to all artists interested in working from a live model.  There’s never a large crowd (3-7) and a couple of times it has been just me. Which is just fine with me. After all, the reason for the Model Session is selfish, I want to work from a live model. Spending 3 hours with a model is invaluable.  It keeps that muscle between the eye -brain & hand supple.

When I was a art student at Sam Houston all those many years ago, I was first introduced to working with a live model. Back then, we didn’t work from our photographs. We didn’t even have photographs,  and the idea of working from a photograph rather than from real life never entered our minds.  We were taught to work from the real thing… Life. Working from a live model forces you to make some really important decisions about your painting. It really forces you to use your creative spirit/mind rather than the imagine decisions made by a camera.

There are many benefits from working “Plein Air”, once you get over being intimidated! Almost every artist is daunted in the beginning when working with a model. But like anything new in painting you have to start creating those neural-pathways in that muscle–your brain.  Whether you are working out of doors from a scene or from a live model in the studio, you have to become comfortable with the environment. The only way to do this is to “just do it”. Before long you will realize that not only are you becoming comfortable in the environment, but that there is a special spark to your work that your can’t get from working from your photographs. Susan