Body Image
Our figure drawing studio has started after a summer layoff. For 3 hours every Tuesday artists gather to draw an undraped model. The sessions combine my love of drawing and my appreciation of the human body.
Having the opportunity to draw real people is essential for developing a wide artistic repertoire. We draw the human figure in various poses and practise portraiture. Our models are people of all ages, sizes, shapes, and gender (including ‘they’).
Ideal Versus Real
How we view our physical bodies is strongly affected by social media and popular culture. Their focus is on youth, athleticism, and glamour. We feel pressure to emulate fashion models, movie-stars and athletes. We are exhorted to be lean, lithe and muscular. Flawless skin, high cheekbones, wavy hair, and big blue eyes are envied.
Faces and figures in magazines, on social media, and television are Photoshopped idealizations. They are unworldly in comparison to the majority of real people. Reality lies with ordinary faces and bodies which seem plain and imperfect by comparison.
https://www.glamourmagazine.co.uk/article/see-what-men-and-women-think-is-the-perfect-body
Exposure
Our models are real people. They offer a wide variety of bodies and faces to observe, explore and draw. Its one thing to look at our nakedness in privacy. Courage and confidence are required for models to pose in all their magnificence while artists gaze intently and intensely.
Imperfection is Perfection
I am not saying this well. I am not judging the models as being imperfect. While some models are young, many are wrinkled and gray. They are perfect for who they are. My artistic mission is to to portray their essence in an expressive and realistic manner. If I do this well, I will find beauty.
Finding beauty
I appreciate that beauty lies in the eye of the beholder. I sometimes find myself judging the model as attractive (from an artistic perspective) or not so desirable. When I focus on drawing what I see, I discover there is beauty to be revealed. It could be in the shapes, the repose, the action or the mood. Its a wonderful transformation and one of the reasons life drawing is so rewarding.
Accepting Myself
I am reassured by our models that bodies at all ages, in all shapes and in all enthnicities are beautiful. Our variations enhance our personality and individuality. It would be a shame if we stopped liking our bodies after middle age.
Drawing real people has helped me in this lifelong quest to love my own face and body. Can I accept my own physical peculiarities- such as my slanted eyes, baldness, and knobby knees? I don’t need to be perfect. I too am beautiful in my own unique way.
Wanting More
Because drawing is fun and endlessly rewarding, I want more. I want to improve and to experiment. In my next post I will examine mark making and how a few lines and strokes can create a beautiful figure.
