Do you think nudity in art can affect a persons sexuality?

[vineris]

But hey, if looking at nude models while you draw, get's you both the skill you want to obtain, and a mood for a particular kind of
nipple, it's all the better isn't it?

Yeah, I think so.

I'm just surprised that people won't admit to the possibility that everything they do and see may be changing them somehow. It might not be. But how could you tell?

[Maidith]

Yeah, all these male models' boners in life drawing class have been extremely traumatizing and soul-scarring sights from which my brain is never gonna recover.


No seriously, what does the thread title question even mean.

[dierat]

Yeah, all these male models' boners in life drawing class have been extremely traumatizing and soul-scarring sights from which my brain is never gonna recover.

uhhh.. where can I.. sign up.. please..


Seriously, that has never happened to me. I feel gypped.

[Lady Medusa]

I'm just surprised that people won't admit to the possibility that everything they do and see may be changing them somehow. It might not be. But how could you tell?

Maybe change smaller things but not core personal things. Like sexual orientation or sexual activity. I seriously doubt watching nude art will make you a bunny.
I can accept that watching nudes will make you more aware of who you really are though.
I can accept that traumatic events change you deep inside too but painting and watching artistic nudes are hardly traumatic in any way.

[arenhaus]

Though none of them minded the naked Greek statues elsewhere in the Vatican... That place is packed with nudes.

None of them minded? One of them popes is responsible for most of those statues having fig leaves for the genitalia. He went bonkers, and did a round of Vatican with a chisel castrating Greek statues. Or at least so the story goes.

[Maidith]

uhhh.. where can I.. sign up.. please..


Seriously, that has never happened to me. I feel gypped.

I admit that was exaggerated. All I saw was one model's boner, at Angel Academy of Art a few years ago.
It was curious. When it was time to choose easel spots for the next 2 week pose, me and three other teenage girls scrambled to get those few spots from where we had the best view. The male students did the opposite.
I tried to keep it down (no pun intended), and keep my drawing PG-rated. The girls drawing right and left to me didn't.
Since the teachers at Angel Academy can usually tell when an arm or leg is two millimeters off I expected them to say, "That wang is too big, draw it smaller", but they never did. No one ever said a word about the boner. Even the model seemed quite comfortable.

Those were times.

[Kiera]

I once drew a single buttcheek and then I was a gay.

[Chris Bennett]

Maidrith has remined me... It is a strange business.

I run a monthly life drawing class where I teach and hire a nude model.
The point at which the model disrobes is always the awkward bit and I usually find something to do at that precise moment - some natural-seeming thing that makes her and us feel more comfortable, like saying "OK, guys, remember, it's all about connections," or "is the heating OK?". Sometimes its just to deal with the class paperwork for a moment.
I don't know exactly why this should be.

I have to be very 'intimate' with the model at times - placing masking tape near her to mark a pose, sometimes help her up if she's stiff... I was even requested to scratch an itch once!
And all this I'm completely comfortable with. It feels natural and ordinary and usual.
But the tiny moment when they have to take off their dressing gown is always tricky. Always seems like an imposition if one is looking at that particular moment.
Weird isn't it?

[Qitsune]

Chris, I know what you mean. I have seen places where the model comes out from the place where they undress already nude or wrapped loosely in something and it doesn't seem so bad, but sometimes the model will keep their dressing gown tightly on and take it off at the very last possible moment, then scramble on the platform, and stay nude in all kinds of positions for an hour and a half. Those are always the more awkward situations, like the taking of of the clothes is more of a big deal. At Dr.Sketchy since the models undress progressively, it's no more awkward to have them prancing around in undies and pasties during break than if they were wearing a snow suit.

[SmallPoly]

That wang is too big, draw it smaller"

That's not fair... every time I look back at the model it seems bigger than it was before.

[arenhaus]

The point at which the model disrobes is always the awkward bit and I usually find something to do at that precise moment - some natural-seeming thing that makes her and us feel more comfortable, like saying "OK, guys, remember, it's all about connections," or "is the heating OK?".

Have the model disrobe behind a screen or curtain, or in a different room / closet. Watching someone undress is typically more awkward than someone entering the room nude.

[Frida Bergholtz]

I have only been uncomfortable with a model once. We had this fit male model in his fifties who made a habit of making long eye contact with all the young girls while modeling. Then he started hanging around flirting during lunch breaks. He was seriously creepy.

[bcarman]

If this turns into a life drawing story thread I've got a few myself.

[mundanity]

No. If you find yourself having attractions you are not used to, to a gender you never found yourself attracted to before, it's probably just because you haven't explored your sexuality to its full extent. Not because figure drawing is making you gay, or something.

[z01ks]

I guess I have to agree that even if you are drawing really hot babes all the time (not very likely in real life, but just for the sake of argument) the drawing classes are far from a sexual situation, so it shouldn't affect sex drive (in either direction), preferences or anything like that.

Still, can't help but think somehow it's changing some sub-conscious things just like everything else we see in everyday life and ever-changing modern culture (ads, lingerie posters on the street, music videos, whatever we are exposed to).

[Elwell]

I guess the long history of artists sleeping with their models is just coincidence, then...

[OmenSpirits]

I never had any reaction to the model in life drawing classes. I always could separate personal from work. The model was there for my benefit so I used my time wisely.

[QueenGwenevere]

I'm just surprised that people won't admit to the possibility that everything they do and see may be changing them somehow. It might not be. But how could you tell?

Well OF COURSE everything in life affects who you are. That's called, y'know, life. Who the hell's denying that?

I just kinda doubt that life drawing classes have much more of a universally profound impact than anything else. And any impact they have is going to vary wildly from individual to individual due to the fact that everyone has already experienced billions of other influences in their lives…

I don't know how you would even test any unversal "impact of life drawing" on anything other than, well, drawing skills. There's way too many other factors you'd have to rule out.

I guess the long history of artists sleeping with their models is just coincidence, then...

Yeah, but that works both ways - some started with the model just being a model and eventually had an affair, some started with a mate and then used them as a model, because, hey, why not. And some people do, of course, try to get other people to model for them as an excuse to try getting into their pants…

So I'm not sure there's a direct causality there in all cases...

Personally, I don't think I've ever been attracted to a model in any way beyond really really wanting to draw them. My favorite models never make me think "I want to get in bed with that person!" Instead they make me think "oh damn, I want to draw that!" It is possible to get obsessed with someone just because they inspire you to draw. Which, to a non-artist, probably looks like a crush...

I wonder how many artist-model "affairs" were actually that kind of obsession. Might be at least a few.

[Arshes Nei]

I remember the tale of one guy who became a life drawing model just so he could get in bed with some of the young college students in class. The funny part is when the model got a bit "excited" when he saw a cute lady in class.

[vineris]

Well OF COURSE everything in life affects who you are. That's called, y'know, life. Who the hell's denying that?

All the people saying "NO it can't affect your sexuality". Definitive answers like that give the scientist in me the heebie jeebies. They suggest that people are either seeing more in the question than is there, or reacting to a perceived attack.

[JFierce]

lol I'm laughing hard at the boner in life drawing class side of this conversation. Lord that would be awkward.

[Arshes Nei]

lol I'm laughing hard at the boner in life drawing class side of this conversation. Lord that would be awkward.

Was like a puppy wagging his tail...

[Bowlin]

lol I'm laughing hard at the boner in life drawing class side of this conversation. Lord that would be awkward.

What's worse is the model is "flipping" around. And a week later to see the guy walking around campus as a regular student!

[Bowlin]

Was like a puppy wagging his tail...

We must have had the same model.

[Arshes Nei]

We must have had the same model.

Talk about a guy who "Gets around"

[JFierce]

Funny how a simple innocent sentence can be so graphic.

[QueenGwenevere]

A model trying to pose with a tampon in is possibly even more awkward... Especially when the tampon becomes suddenly necessary mid-session... o_O

(Let's just say there were a lot of semi-draped poses for the rest of the session.)

[Velocity Kendall]

I guess the long history of artists sleeping with their models is just coincidence, then...

can i get some coincidence over here please?

[Kjesta]

I've always been bi, so sexuality? Nope, definitely not. But I think it does wonders for body image and self-acceptance because it tends to confront you with real people with real bodies, not just the naked bodies you tend to see in magazines etc. For chubby teenage me drawing an obese woman (and to this day she's still one of the best models I've ever had the fortune to draw) was a bit of a revelation, she was beautiful and graceful and a joy to draw, and all the other people I drew were so different in shape, it helped me a lot with my insecurities.

Fast forward half a decade and now I'm a croquis model myself Again, self-esteem and positive body image ahoi. It's a surprisingly challenging job, but I love coming up with interesting new poses and acting ideas. It pays quite well, too, and as a starving art student that's always a plus. My storyboarding teacher insisted that every artist (but animators especially) should have modelled at some point, nude or clothed, because it really makes you very aware of posing and the weight distribution of the body. Very eye-opening.

So glad I haven't experienced any horror stories yet! The worst we once had was a model that was very self-conscious, he pretty much stayed straight upright while sitting or standing, and kept his arms really close to his body. I felt kind of sorry for him. Haven't had any awkward moments myself yet, except for when a high school teacher explained about lines of action etc and kept gesturing just a little too close to my body to be comfortable. Art teachers, it's cool if you explain stuff, but please keep a distance of at least 10cm between your hands and my boobs.

[Psychotime]

Ooh, I got a weird model story.

I remember one of the earliest models I ever drew being this portly balding man. I remember him looking so bored an indifferent in a really dull pose that I referred to him as "Mr. Paycheck" from then on. Yeah, I try to make a nickname for each model I draw, but it's usually really difficult. I only have two names that stuck.

Anyway, about a year later Mr. Paycheck eventually started to look like he got a real masochistic kick out of modelling. No idea when he started doing this, but he went out of his way to get into really difficult poses, apparently just to test himself (I guess he wasn't bored anymore). Good lord, the grimaces he would make. And yeah, he'd scream sometimes. It was...different.

I'm 100% sure he doesn't get hired to model anymore.