A Lot of Free Life Models

[Richard Bingham]

Maybe you should plan on embarrassing yourself the first day . . . what's the worst that can happen? If you get harrassed too much, hand the heckler the charcoal . . . one of two things will happen: either they'll "fold" and concede your skill, or they'll show you something and you'll learn from it. I'm betting on the former.

[Linda Brandon]

Paul, from what I can tell on your site, you are an exceptionally talented artist who is terrific with people - I predict lines going out the door. And I'd like to be drawn by you, too!

[Paul Foxton]

Heh, Richard, that's a good point.

Linda - are you sure you were at the right web site?

You've convinced me. If it goes well I'll come back and report, if it goes badly and I get beaten up, arrested or laughed out of town I'll just go very quiet and pretend I never went in the first place.

[Linda Brandon]

I've been getting a few emails recently about photos vs. life work and so I want to clarify my own feelings about the subject. My best day is when I get to work from life. My second best day is when I get to work from a photo. (I think I am paraphrasing a sports coach here, maybe Vince Lombardi...?) The point is, I'll try to get it done however I can.

All I'm trying to say is that any way you can get good work done is better than no way at all. What ultimately matters is your product, and you must get your work done before your lights go out and your time to make art is over. But working from life will make any work you do from photos much, much stronger.

[Jonathan Hardesty]

This is a great idea. This sounds like something fun I could do with my students as well. Although I might need to wait till it's fall here in Texas...right now it's excruciatingly hot.

It seems like this might be a great way to get models for more involved paintings as well. You hook them with the first one .

[John Reidy]

Thank you, thank you, thank you.

What a wonderful idea!

I'm going to take a gut check and see if I can do this. If I do I'll report back as well.

[Richard Budig]

I have been doing this for more than two years at my local library here in teeny-tiny Skiatook, OK. I go Tuesday and Thursday afternoons and do free sketches of anyone who will be by "victim." Usually kids. I try to spin out simple pencil sketches in five miinutes, or thereabouts.

It's challenging and fun, and definitely helps the old "eye/hand" duo, and it definitely helped my painting.

I invite mothers (especially mothers) to stand behind and watch it all go together. Whether it's good, or not so good, they ooh and aah, of course because they can't do it.

One day, a little girl stood beside my watching me sketch a teen boy. Quietly, she leaned forward and said softly, "That doesn't look like him."

I asked her if I had ever drawn her.

"Yes," she replied.

"Was it any good?" I asked.

"Oh yes," she replied, "you're a very great artist, you know."

I've always wondered how I could be great enough to sketch her flawlessly and not the teen boy.

But it's always fun, and a great source of free models. It also lets me pick the good heads for later development in oil.

[Clayton J. Beck III]

All my friends thought I was crazy when I did this. I would trade anybody a charcoal that they would sit for, for an oil that they would sit for me. I saw it as getting two models for free but most of my friends thought I was giving my work away too cheap. The good thing as I am not my biggest collector. I still do it now only it cost them three settings. Ha! Hey, an artist as to do what he's gotta do.

Clayton

[Chris Saper]

What great idea! ( I am still my biggest collector)

[SB Wang]

A Single Spark Can Start A Prairie Fire
A Single
Spark
Can
Start
A
Prairie Fire
A Single Spark Can Start A Prairie Fire

(Chris, you can read your name here----PSA--C SAP)