“A Different Point of View,” photograph by Lewis Eliacopoulos, Festibrate.com

A Different Point of View…on being an artist’s model.

“One thing that I love about being an artist’s model, is the stillness, the quiet. It is a solitary thing that I experience all my own because for those several minutes that I am in a particular pose, I become that moment in time, that form, that being. I hold onto it and embrace it, the beauty of it, the intensity of it, and I never experience the same thing again.  It’s like taking on a new identity with every pose, something that I’ve created that is my own that can only be interpreted by others…beyond reality, an extension of life itself.” Felecia R. Weber, OntheWingofaDove.com

I’ve always been amazed at how differently the artist’s eye views its subject.  For me, it all starts with a preconceived vision of the image I would like to end up seeing on the paper.  Of course, if I am drawing a flower, I want it to look like a flower, or a dancer, to look like a dancer…but there is more.  I am not always trying to capture an exact likeness of the subject, but I am also trying to convey what I am feeling while drawing it.  To put a part of myself into it, to make it uniquely mine.

When I think about it, I suppose I do the same thing when I am the subject.  Posing for a painting or a sketch, whether it is a two-minute gesture or a 30-minute seated pose, can be as creative as when I am on the other side of the canvas or sketchpad.  Art modeling is not as easy as it may seem, you’d be surprised how much stamina it takes to hold what appears to be even the simplest of poses.  My mind quickly fills with all sorts of thoughts, while I am in a pose…counting out the minutes for shorter poses; wondering if I’ve set my timer properly as I get toward the end of longer ones.  I envision the series of poses that I’ve practiced over and over before hand, making sure that I can move into the next gesture with grace and ease.  Will the next pose be too much like this one?  Is it interesting enough to challenge the artists’ skills?  Hmmm, I wish I’d knelt down on my pillow instead of on the hard wooden floor for this pose!  These are all the sorts of things that whirl through my mind while I am on the platform…but there is another dimension that filters through me that makes art modeling such a unique experience for me.

A figure study, painting by Martin Watson

As when I am seated in front of my own drawing board, I also have a vision of what I’d like the pose to look like when the artist interprets it using his chosen medium.  With each pose, I try to exude a certain feeling or mood…the fluidity of an adagio as a brush  strokes the bold, angular lines of an arabesque.  Or the quiet hashes that fill in the dark shades that land on my face in a pencil-sketched portrait.  What I see staring back at me as I peruse the studio during a break, is always fascinating.  You see, not only is there a part of me woven into the works of art before me, but each artist has poured out their own color, their own vibrancy, their own passion into each piece as well.  In essence, what has been created is a new translation of me…a different point of view.

Peace,

Felecia