I can’t remember when Tracey & I decided to try life modelling – but last year we found an advertisement on a local notice board advertising a life drawing class. We called and spoke to the teacher who was indeed looking for new models for her class, just a couple of miles away from where we live.
Tracey’s first session was booked and I went along as driver and minder… it seemed right that I was there to be supportive.
We arrived quite early and waited for the teacher, Kat, who turned up about 15 minutes before the scheduled start time. We had done a little research on what to expect and that made things easier. The room was cold and my immediate thought was that it would be very unpleasant to be naked for more than a few minutes. Kat turned on a space heater and the room leapt to around 20 degrees in just a couple of minutes.
As the artists started to arrive, Tracey & I introduced ourselves and started our usual banter. This may have put them at ease with us newbies, it definitely put us at ease with them. They were eight in number, all at or beyond retirement age, and an equal balance of men and women. As the time to start the lesson approached Tracey went to the back room, undressed and came back in. I wasn’t required for the first part so sat and watched as Tracey was asked to do a series of five-minute poses to get the artists into the flow of things.
A QUICK BREAK IN A LONG POSE
After a twenty-minute pose, Kat asked if I would join Tracey so I too undressed and we worked on two further medium length poses.
As a naturist I was more than used to being in mixed company without clothes, but it did feel a little different having a group of fully-clothed relative strangers analysing my body. Note, different, not awkward or unpleasant. In fact the third pose we did, which was to last for an hour with a short break at 30 minutes, was a wonderful opportunity to drift into a meditative mindset, whilst all the time gazing at my soul mate. Bliss.
Since that first session we have modelled both as individuals and as a couple, for a number of art teachers around the region. It can be a wonderfully relaxing way to spend a few hours and can also be a massive boost for body confidence. We gained some very valuable tips on what to expect and how to be a life model from the splendid website ArtModelTips.
THREE FIVE-MINUTE POSES
There is also nothing quite like experience… we discovered in one notable joint session that it’s quite easy to get into a pose which is extremely hard to maintain for a long time. My wrist still hasn’t forgiven me for the torture I inflicted on it during two three-hour sessions of the same pose! Oh, the picture at the top of this article – that was the pose; I was leaning quite heavily on my right hand which was bent at 90 degrees to my arm. I think the results were pretty good though.
Finally, if you’re an artist or teacher and you want to book either of us or both together just hop onto my contact page and drop me a line.
Simon West
