A thorough understanding of the anatomy of the human figure in its ideal form (i.e. Leonardo's geometric figure) is fundamental to relating to, and interpreting, our perception of the world. Drawing it drills it into our psyche. And, I just saw the Lansdowne Herakles at the Getty Villa in Malibu the other day...a classic example of quintessential proportion.

Having had some training in classical life drawing I appreciated that opportunity to gain that experience. There are a few critical factors that you need to consider: you need an environment where the model is comfortable, the cost for hiring a model, and time needed to complete a drawing or painting. Some colleges and universities offer classes in life drawing and painting in their art department. Usually is not a problem for anyone who wants to can get permission to take such courses but there will be fees to take these courses. Workshops are another venue. Formal training, in my opinion, is highly recommended but not required. I often draw people I see on my HD television. I just pause the image and start drawing. It's not as good as life drawing but it can be fun and challenging.

Huh? Why the blame on Toulouse Lautrec? That doesn't make any sense to me.

There's no doubt that the human figure is an essential subject in art. I was lucky enough to have a high school art teacher who taught us the basics of drawing the figure (not nude, but short drawing sessions in which we took turns modeling.)
It would be interesting to paint highlighting different societies' ways of regarding the human figure, not just on the subject of clothing or lack of it, but weight, age, gender, makeup/tattoos/piercings, commercialization, etc.
It's hard for me to understand why the naked figure is such a taboo when we've all got bodies, and have seen them naked at some point.
After all, we're all naked under our clothes!

I understand Patricia's confusion around painting the Nude form and the viewer seeing this as Naked. In Art School we learn to draw the nude form as a tool to understand what the mechanics of the body are and therefore paint or draw the clothed form more accurately but as we draw the nude model we stop seeing him or her as a Naked person and as a unique landscape of light and shadow, moving and still at the same time.
When I realized that there were some that had a problem with the Nude painting I adapted my style to be more gestural than literal and left the facial features off or obscured. This is my attempt to help the viewer see the beauty of the human form and not the object.

The "beauty of the human form" is not universal. For many of us clothing covers a multitude of sins. On the other hand, a female friend of ours, on seeing Rubens paintings in Europe said, "Now there's a man who knew what a woman is supposed to look like."

It is a rare patron who will display a nude in their home. The final home for figure painting is limited, unless you are one of those very few whose work resides in a museum. So then you're faced with what to do with all those paintings after you've mastered the human form.
I've noted those nudes that have endured as great paintings are the more classical depictions: women bathing, men warriors, and as gods or virtues. Fine for the 19th century but difficult with our modern day sensibilities.
You could settle for partial nudes with dancers or athletes but then it becomes just another figure or portrait, not a nude. Good luck trying to change peoples' perception of what the human form should be ... culture is too much of a brick wall to break through. It's exhausting and draining of energy, and I'm not up for it anymore.
Other than some life classes in college most of my anatomy lessons came in the ER and labor and delivery. The glare of an overhead light can't substitute for subtle soft lighting but it all sufficed for what I want to do.
I think the greater question is suitability. If you can answer that it might give you guidelines in how to present your nude figure. Other than suggest you keep it classic and keep it classy, I don't know.

For anyone interested in the most complete history and philosophy behind the nude in Art, I suggest reading "The Nude, A Study In Ideal Form" by the British scholar Kenneth Clark.

Thanks for your letter today.
Here is a link to a blog that considers Sir Kenneth Clark's chapter from "The Nude" titled "The Alternative Tradition". It is wonderful to read.

"Perhaps we might, within the anatomy of our imaginations, think once more of the naked body as a vessel of grace, taste and wonder. In the spotted history of art, stranger things have happened."
Robert that is a beautifully written sentence.You handle the pen as beautifully as the brush. Thank you.

A couple of personal observations. I have never seen a painting of a nude in any home I have been in, so I expect it has a limited market. Secondly, and not particularly important I suppose...but it seems to me that women outnumber men in painting female nudes, ten to one.

A couple of years ago, when I was monitoring a workshop for Robert Liberace, his young daughters came into the studio on a break. One asked me "why does Daddy always paint people with no clothes on?" Yikes, what a question, right from the babe's mouth! But it was my good fortune to have been in the middle of reading Kenneth Clark's book, The Nude, so I had some kind of answer, part of which was "did you know that the first Olympics were played in the nude?" I sensed a silent sigh of relief from their very lovely mother. I can't recommend Clark's book highly enough!

Holly- This all has to do with a puritanical society we all live in. Even with a (brilliant) painter Dad, his daughter is subject to her environment with school, television - which is getting racier every day not only in content but language and peer pressure. With the Internet and much of its objectionable content, the world hasn't gotten better as regards nudes or nudes in art. Also, if you look back in Greek and Roman history, men where the ones with no clothes, very few women. The ideal body was personified in the male form, not the female form. Today, all that has reversed itself. But here too, things are changing since women have come into their own, they want to see more male skin than ever before. Looking far into the future there may come a time when nudity will be the norm. But, alas, I dream.

A painter worked from a nude female model who came to his home/studio every day. One day, as the painter's wife was just leaving for work, the model arrived. The painter announced he was not feeling well and would not need the model's services. The model asked if she could make him a cup of tea so he might feel better, and the painter agreed. Just as the model brought the tea to him a car was heard in the driveway. "Quick," said the painter, "My wife's come home. Take off your clothes!"

At a time when people are bombing and blowing themselves up and distorting beauty the return of human qualities that transcend and ennoble need to remind us of who we are. Artists like Renoir and so many others showed the simplicity of life in its grandeur and interpreted the figure so we can be good and do good.

I've been conducting open figure drawing workshops for local artists for nearly 5 years, and I can say that the artists at all skill levels work very hard at mastering the nude. It's complex and challenging, a 'landscape' where there can be no deviations, the viewer's eye will always detect them. If you can master the nude, you can master any subject because you've fine tuned your hand eye coordination, your perception of line and volume, your observation of color and transluscence.
It doesn't matter what your style is or how you interpret what you see. There's no substitute for working from a live nude model to aid in furthering your artistic skills.
Also, let me put in a word for the hard working models. A good professional model understands they are an integral part of the creative process and works, sometimes painfully, to facilitate that process. A good professional artist understands and appreciates that a model like that is golden!

Being a painter of nude figures, I find that venues to exhibit the paintings are few and far between. However, tonight celebrates the opening of the "6th Annual Naked in New Hope" exhibit in New Hope, PA. Over three hundred paintings by ninety-two artists are on display for a month and a half. The attendance is so great that the street will be closed to traffic this year. This annual affair almost makes up for the increasing reluctance other galleries express when it comes to committing their wall space to nudity.

Reading your letter on the nude model in art brought to mind an incident in which I was asked by a male friend whether the excitement of seeing a woman unclothed was the main reason for taking the class. I can't recall what I told him exactly but it was a variation of "you don't understand." Many life drawing classes later I polished my answer down to ' The model is the challenge to my self -image as an artist and there is no time to waste'. Can I produce an evocative image? Time is flying. Every mark counts. The concentration required blocks all other thoughts. Aspen, CO

I make sculptures of people to capture what I call their "message" which is often more than they themselves know about themselves. It is the most challenging and rewarding thing I've ever done and will continue to work at it as long as I can still draw a breath. It is simply most worth while to me.

As soon as we begin to clothe ourselves we start covering our actual inner message with things we think represent us or what we would like to be our self image. I like better what people really are naturally than what they would have us believe they are so that is what I strive to represent. To do this, I feel I need to get as directly as I can right to the heart of the matter so to speak. It is in the mind of man an off shoot of honesty where I think even the worst of us are better than we represent ourselves with our designer jeans and props like cool cars and the finest golf clubs or even tattoos. I have yet to sculpt a tattoo as part of the person. I have however sculpted many a bone and a muscle as though it had no skin covering it where it showed a fragment of body language.

If you care to check my web site RGBreur.com you will see several examples of this.

I adore the nude figure as a subject (clothed as well) because I see something beautiful and sacred in every original person. I paint the landscape and I love floral exercises but always a passion for the figure. I am shocked by the numbers of people who do not want to confront nude images depicting older age or ones with large bodies. The pressure to be young and perfect is what I see that contributes to the viewing enjoyment and of course the purchase of nude images. I have friends who very much admire my art but have said please don't share the images of people who are overweight. These critics are people of educated taste and in some cases buy art....but not a nude. Well maybe a back view of a young beauty. I do of course live in Los Angeles California.This is not a reflection of other artists I draw/paint with...only the people who can actually buy and hang a purchased painting in their living room. Of course I shall continue my beloved interest.

The nude figure is my most preferred subject since it is always new; and yet ... each is a marvelous work of engineering. Believing as I do in our Creator, and knowing this is the closest image to God himself, how could I consider myself accomplished in the arts if I did not continue to explore the human figure. Aside from these personal comments, I will not try to add to your already erudite description of the human figure, and the benefits of studying it by students and advanced artists. Drawing from the nude model always humbles me ... and yet, following my exploration, if I have done justice to my subject, I breathe a sigh of one who has achieved something of worth.

I once took a life drawing class with male and female models, old and young, and came to the conclusion that “every” “body” is beautiful.

It has always been my firm belief and experience, that no matter what kind of work I might be drawn to – landscape, whatever – the practice of drawing the nude human form has always been the most inspiring and enlightening of all practices. It improves my work, no matter the subject. Depending on proximity to an art center, university, or museum with a suitable classroom, it can be difficult to find available opportunities. Even if the chance to practice is only occasional, it’s worth the effort and a little travel to make it happen.

I took a nude drawing class once. The thing I learned is the human body is one of the most difficult subjects to draw. The reason is you can tell right away if something is off kilter! The person does not look like himself/herself. It was really difficult to capture the person’s essence. A few people in the class got it right and it was beautiful. All of us others just stood in awe. Very humbling.

I went to an evening workshop, they served wine, there were mostly men over 50 drooling over two nude female models under 25 who shaved their pubes into designs and posed in manners that could easily be seen as dominatrix or S&M. I was so uncomfortable. I went back home sure that I have crossed over into the realm of flower painting forever, an old, old woman. I'm currently in a clothed model workshop and it works better for me. I know they aren't all like this, but...too much for my 60 plus sensibility.

When I was practicing drawing as a younger person, the nude drawing sessions organized by an artist friend would draw 20 to 30 people a week and were one of the only ways I met other artists. At the time, my ambition was to paint a glorious nude which I would sell to to hang above the liquor in my favorite bar. I would imagine going there ever so often to have a drink and meditate upon it.

I found this discussion to be very interesting on two accounts. No. 1, I have noticed the same thing, that there seems to be a decline in interest in drawing/painting/showing the nude. I have found few galleries and/or museums willing to have a show of nudes. Enlightening; are we really more enlightened, or as enlightened in this day and age as we assume we are as a developed civilization? With nudity abounding in every direction in our society, a sense of freedom to disrobe and disclose our bodies in public, why does there seem to be a reluctance to have a show with nudes? Or does this reluctance come from knowledgeable experience on the gallery owners’ part knowing that the market isn’t there as it used to be? And if so, why not? Too much nakedness everywhere in our everyday lives? And not all attractive.

No.2, interesting that there seems to be no profound discussion based on the nude figure. I have found that women (not excluding men) are willing to pose nude for a portrait that will speak of who they are and how they feel about their bodies, their accomplishments, their spirituality as maturing people with maturing bodies. I am in the midst of a project that is specifically targeted to this subject matter. I have 12 paintings completed with more women knocking on my computer door asking to be a part of this project. It is called The Declining Nude, not for negative purposes, but for both humor and a connection to art history’s titles, The Reclining Nude. I am hoping for just such a thing, an opportunity to exhibit the series and hold discussion concerning nudity, aging, our times versus history, etc. I will soon have the project posted on my website.

I am not an art teacher...merely a passionate casual artist but I have become involved with teaching or I should say playing with kids and art in a small town in Mexico where I winter. While researching how to do this I have come across the names of a couple of amazing young artists who are just starting out. Babies really. Cameron Sky Villa and Aelita Andre were toddlers when their parents gave them pots of paint and let them go. There is obviously no silly comments like “you’re using too much paint” or “your not done yet” like I remember. What is remarkable is their concentration. You can tell that they are truly connected to what they are doing and loving it! We may not all have the bread in the bone talent of these youngsters but we artists all share the joy. Still learning...sometimes from babes!

Here are some links for figure drawing. There are still plenty of us.

http://figuredrawing.home.mindspring.com/

http://figuredrawing.home.mindspring.com/id5.html

http://www.artmodelbook.com/figure-drawing-directory.htm

I have always believed that if you cannot paint/ draw the body correctly then you cannot drape It correctly. Certainly it is those people who either have their mind on the gutter or are overly religious that object to nude studies.

Please don't think that I am objecting to religious beliefs...I am not...only to those who take it to extremes.

Figurative art is one sure way to measure our eye's accuracy. When an observer comments and names the person you've drawn you experience the magic of out talent, to speak without language. Marks on paper become something else" those are my eyes, but, that is not my nose". In fact they are our marks on paper. Without use of the figure, structure may be more difficult. Artists are always looking to find a simple formula that will allow them to produce original and inspirational works. The figure is, I believe, a good place to revisit whenever I need inspirational energy.

I don't agree that "whole cultures" are trying to get us to cover up. I think there is only one culture that's going in that direction.

My only comment is that if all you said about the nude is true.... then theoretically 50% of the nudes sketched, painted, or used as models would be males. Any argument to the contrary would have to notice that if 80% of the nude models/subjects are female, it corresponds curiously with the fact that 80% of the artists are male. ????? A strange situation indeed

There is a monthly website/contest, barebrush.com, that was started by a fellow Salmagundian which you might find of interest! I was the guest curator in June. Also, regarding nudity in animals, I thought I'd heard most everything until earlier this summer, when I brought a watercolor of mine to a gallery that carries some of my work. Upon seeing the egret in flight, the gallery owner remarked " Oh, no way. We can't have a painting with a "tuckus"." So much for an unusual composition!

The nude was center to my learning curve when I became serious about studying painting and drawing. It became clear to me over time, that some artists thought this to be too risky to paint nudes. I was told NUDES don’t sell in Canada, people may like them but afraid to hang them in their homes cause someone might report them as pornographic. My son grew up with NUDE paintings all over the house and each time he brought a new friend over, there was the initial shock but they got over it and found art not pornographic images.

Educating people to open their minds to art making, takes patience. Artists may need to explain that it’s historically important to draw from the nude, mastering the craft of observation, learning anatomy while capturing the personality of each model.

I joined many 'life drawing' groups to eventually hiring some of those nude models to come to my loft, to pose for just a few of us. Such fond memories of those times and enjoyed getting to know the models while respecting their knowledge of what poses look good for artists while sitting long poses without falling asleep with boredom. Just try to sit still for 35 minutes without moving, and then do it nude while people are staring at every inch of your body. Many models take up yoga to help them focus on being still and to keep themselves limber to hold many types of poses. I honor those nude models and thank them and their nude bodies to giving LIFE to my art.

Regarding the clothing of animals: it seems they have a natural clothing, fur, feathers, etc …. nature provided them the protection they need … lobsters have shells, etc. We are the only ones who go around naked … if some folks want to "revere" the naked form, so be it. But I think that those who don't necessarily agree that it is the ONLY way to learn to paint, should be respected for their views as well. It takes diversity to make the world go round as they say and especially in the art world, we should recognize that fact. Respect is key here.

Drawing the body is such a challenging exercise, artistically and emotionally. We are allowed the privilege of seeing a person without their protection, their daily armour. We do honour to the human being by depicting their perfections and flaws, the articulation of bone and muscle, the gesture. We had a model here for many of our classes. He was very shy, only spoke a few words, but what an amazingly expressive model he was. He left this world too young, but the many drawings of him that exist now are his message to us.

I must admit the nude figure is my most lacking area of art subject matter. Upon doing some of my first nude drawings, and having them framed, they were resting against the counter in my kitchen. A five year old friend of mine came strolling into my kitchen and was promptly was scandalized. "Miss Annie! I can't believe you have that kind of pictures in your house!" was his comment. I tried to be very serious and pulled out all my art books. I patiently explained that, as an artist, the body is the hardest thing to paint or draw. Each artist, trying to do it well, does it in their own style. We covered Matisse, Klimt, Michelangelo, and many others. I told him, there was a big difference between these pictures and "naughty" pictures. He went over each book carefully, the last book being Picasso.

Putting his hand up to his face in an aside. He said in a stage whisper, "These are all very good, but that guy, Picasso, doesn't do very good does he?" I almost fell down laughing and replied, "I guess not sweetie; I guess not."

The lack of the nudes male or female is, I think, due to a renewal of prudery in culture. At least, here, in the US. Do not even think about having an image of a male nude in most galleries! Very sad.

Nude human form is my favorite subject. I use my gesture sketches to create monotypes exploring a emotional quality through abstraction and uses of different colors for the same form. Although I enjoy both male and female forms in my work, it seems males are less inclined to bare it all for that close an examination. Most of my study and practice over the past 40 years has been the human form.

The biggest challenge is finding a place to show my work. During an open studio event at my home, I had a small gallery displaying my monotypes along with a movie showing how I create them. One neighbor returned the second week to tell me my work was "pornographic". Evidently, she felt uncomfortable living so close a depraved artist. In displaying nudes, nipples and penises seem to particularly objectionable. I have been encouraged to market this work to wineries and warned away from galleries or other venues where children might be exposed to them (pun intended). I have no problem finding venues for landscapes or animal art.

Along with the nude as subject, it appears non-abstract portraiture has fallen out of favor. I have moved from the skills of capturing emotional essence through human facial expression to small watercolor portraits of people's pets. Those are popular. I have had more commissions from that work than from any other.

Here is a direct link to a sampling of monotypes on my website.
http://ellenmccord.com/monotypes.html

Imagine my surprise as a seventeen year old freshmen in college, my first nude model in painting class was a male, playing a violin no less. I just wanted him to stand still, drawing a moving figure was just too difficult.

I am in the midst of my seasonal phone campaign to book models both female and male for our well-attended drop-in Life-Drawing classes at the art centre where I work. I like the word 'Life' because it says so much about the inner and outer process of this kind of work.

There should be an energy between the model and the artist similar to an actor and audience. I have learned a great appreciation for what the models give in terms of how they present, ,and often torture, their bodies to give us exciting, challenging views to draw.

An excellent book on the subject is Peter Steinhart's "The Undressed Art - Why We Draw".

Perhaps the few nudes in art galleries is because the female body has been so cheapened by trashy and slutty clothes on young girls' (and old?) bodies - flaunting for popularity. It's simply not that attractive at times with diabesity running rampant. Hence, growing lack of interest in WELL DONE nude art - we've been trained to look away - it's less painful most of the time.

As a mother of 2 teenage girls with beautiful bodies and still so innocent, I worry that they will not treasure their bodies and pureness for as long as they can -- rather will succumb to the current young society's pressures to "put out or get out".

My challenge is to teach them otherwise -- which involves some covering up because "it's not just not right" to walk around with your butt cheeks hanging out, showing your belly and revealing cleavage.

I am studying a Diploma of Visual Art and due to cutbacks there will be no life drawing classes. Ridiculous. Some of the best nude male drawings I’ve seen were done by Paul Cadmus who specialized.

As one who does her share of sacred art and enjoyed a not-too-repressive Catholic education, I must still say that study of the nude is even done for sacred art - they still need to know how to draw a body. Also, not so long ago, the nude studies were required, as you say, but also study of cadavers in degrees of autopsy to understand the bones and ligaments.

I shy off for the sake of comfy social life myself, often enough, and finally found a path through it.....

Benjamin Franklin took his daily swim, often skinny-dipping, and/or air bath anyway, determined to be a bit more sensible and desirous of long life from healthy habits.

Michelangelo's words are so true but he could take his study and experience of the nude, including children WAY too far as young man, though it was not considered the obscenity and illegal act it is today. It was often still said to be a sin, and his last poems are appeals for redemption and forgiveness on the subject. His figures are still among the most powerful and non-evasive expressions in creation and worthy of honor and respect. But The pope called his nudes on Sistine Chapel wayyyyy too obscene "like a brothel or a bar", and since he would not paint clothes on them, the pope hired someone else to do it.

So it still goes back to "it's not what you do, but how you do it" and WHY you do it.

Patricia Godvin wrote; "As an artist who works with the nude figure, I find so little quality dialogue or artists' exchange of ideas concerning this subject. I would love you to stimulate some discussion on working with the unclothed figure."

Seems rather vague about what Patricia is looking for, what is quality dialogue?

I will offer this..

I believe when one looks at another closely, they will always see something beautiful.

I'm not trying to create narrative symbolic content or trite pretentious allegorical pictures, I just enjoy painting from the model in the studio each week.

Just the same during the Victorian Era we don't lack for great painters. Rodin also spent hours drawing circles. Perfect form and beauty I think were synonymous for him. Modern pessimism denies the intrinsic beauty and replaces it with a subjective vision that cares little for the objective truth. In this thought the figure whether nude or clothed loses its form by putting more value on its symbolism than its actual form. That's when you need a Rembrandt to step in a remind us of the value of content in its relation to form and beauty!

Twenty-five years ago when I was in art school it was all about the female nude.

Prague is an European city thus by definition has a lot of outdoor sculpture, much of it Baroque. A friend of mine had AMERICAN visitors who after two days commented that Czechs should do something to cover up all of the nude art, it was disgusting.

I am basically a landscape artist, but every now and then I do love to paint the human figure. I find it the deepest challenge for me. I agree with both the Michelangelo and Rodin quotes. I have always been amazed at the beauty of the human body.

I've only been attempting figurative work (specifically pinup style) for about a year now. Other than complete abstracts with liquid paint and no brushes, I haven't really done any painting before. I have high aspirations of getting good at this genre and then expanding into more serious paintings that will include some nudity, some suggestive eroticism but not anything explicit or pornographic. I get some sideways looks and lots of 'no comment' type reactions from people who see my paintings.

What's the big deal?

The nude and eroticism such a compelling and intriguing subjects. I've wondered if The Painters Keys has a policy of avoiding them?

I wonder what Patricia would think of my "nudes". I put the word in quotation marks is that nudity is really for most of my paintings. Explicit sexuality is in the foreground, which very often involves nudity. I'd love to have dialogue about all that too!!

Nudes are not appreciated because they tend to appeal to the sensitivities of our puritan interests. The human body, in and of itself, is beautiful, God’s work, and should not be dismissed as a wonder of nature. What many tend to dismiss or, rather, assume is that artists are looking at the body as a sexual object. Quite to the contrary, the artist looks at it as an object of beauty and majesty. It is, without a doubt, the most perfect form in our universe.

The human form is my first love - Michelangelo's work in sculpture, painting and drawing are what inspired me as a student. When I discovered life drawing, I discovered myself - my humanness and the beauty of the human body in every condition. It was a revelation; and has given me an appreciation of life, and freedom in my work that unfortunately most people don't share - even artist people. I think it should be part of every artist's training to at least learn how to relate human anatomy, after all, it's us.

This link takes you to the prospectus of one of my favorite annual shows; 'Au Naturel' at Clatsop Community College in Astoria, OR. Figure drawing/painting is still alive and well appreciated in Astoria (by a select few thousand) and evidently around the globe.

For 40 years with a short break here and there, I have gone to life drawing groups, and now attend two separate ones week about.

I love the silence, the concentration, the scratchings on paper, the praise given to the model, and then wandering around to ponder on the achievements of each artist.

It takes practice to get the proportions correct, and it is surprising how few can these days. I am now drawing part time on my touchscreen computer, and then cross to paper when the battery runs low. Maybe I'm addicted, but I don't care!

Loved that you addressed this subject. I currently attend a weekly life drawing group and do some of my best work there. But nowhere to exhibit. We have wonderful female models but I wish we had more males.

I wonder if the mystic of the human body is a bit lost with the easy access to seeing EVERYWHERE... magazines, commercials, TV shows, movies, billboards.... just a thought.

I took a life drawing course at Red Deer College a few years ago. It was interesting and fun, most of our models were men, some enthused, some not!"

The nude does not simply represent the body, but relates it, by analogy, to all structures that have become part of our imaginative experience. (Kenneth Clark) Painting figures is the hardest, certainly the most taxing genre, and you have to be the most on your game. If you have significant drawing problems, the figure will fall apart and it will read wrong emotionally. (Jacob Collins) Beautiful nudes made it possible for us to contemplate our sexuality in safety. (Martha Mayer Erlebacher) Nudity is a problem for Americans. It disrupts our social exchange. (Eric Fischl) There is nothing in all the world more beautiful or significant of the laws of the universe than the nude human body. (Robert Henri) -The Guardian...
Art is about showing and seeing: to show that which is concealed, to see what was veiled, is fundamentally gripping. (Jonathan Jones) The living model, the naked body of a woman, is the privileged seat of feeling, but also of questioning... The model must mark you, awaken in you an emotion which you seek in turn to express. (Henri Matisse) And who is so barbarous as not to understand that the foot of a man is nobler than his shoe, and his skin nobler than that of the sheep with which he is clothed. (Michelangelo) I look at a nude. There are myriads of tiny tints. I must find the ones that will make the flesh on my canvas live and quiver. (Pierre-Auguste Renoir) -on drawing the nude...
It's the most important study there is and the most challenging and the most difficult. (Wayne Thiebaud) The best thing is to draw men and women from the nude and thus fix in the memory by constant exercise the muscles of the torso, back, legs, arms and knees, with bones underneath. (Giorgio Vasari)

Wonderful quotes, Gavin! I believe you picked them up from the Resource of Art Quotations. There's a whole category about Nudes. Good quotes great site, Robert!

From my own perspective, I was taught by John Stewart Osborne who was adamant that drawing from the human body was about understanding form. That's virtually all he said in 6 years of studentship with him. Eventually, I understood what he meant. Form - not as 'body', but as pure form. It's difficult to express what it is as few people see it, let alone express it. Sorry, it's not describable. Most of what I see in life drawing or painting is reproduction (though useful of course).

Robert, why is this topic 'strange'?

In the past, artists were primarily all male and the models were primarily female. Why? Because of HOMOPHOBIA. So male artists who also did male nudes were not heterosexual even if they lied and presented themselves as such.

So ALL male nudity was homo-erotic even if the work wasn't particularly erotic. Why? Because we silly stupid humans remain unable to think of eroticism (obscene pornography) as anything but bad.

Sex is one of the most natural human expressions there is.

I'm an abstract artist, but because I'm gay everybody thinks I'm going to be producing GAY ART- read- homoerotic. Oh well.

I did recently expose my one and only 30 years old (literally) life-size, full-frontal anatomically-correct male nude padded relief, at my recent lecture.

I was never able to sell it. Nobody wanted it.

In the present the art-group was less shocked than they would have been 30 years ago when I first produced it. I would have gotten banned from the group- then.

It's stained. A dog pissed on it. Kinda gives it character! It's lived in both a storage space and a garage, and right now stands just behind my refrigerator. I can't toss it as it's become way too valuable... just for existing!

On male verses female nudes, it is more likely because historically, there have been more male artists. One assumes the majority prefered painting women. Trying to remove sexuality in painting nudes is almost impossible; we are sexual beings. Some artists present erotic figures while others, the asexual classical figure. Many object to the former but are perfectly at ease with the latter. It is a fine line and is as much in the mind of the viewer as the intent of the artist.
I don't know why I have nothing but admiration for Old Masters' nudes, Thomas Eakins, or even Vargas, but yet bristle at others. Go figure ... excuse the pun.
I'd like to hear from some models.

The most puritan societies presently are Islamic countries, followed by the North America. Nowhere else is nakedness judged strongly by the society.

Some years ago I conducted life-drawing classes in Melbourne. After one of these sessions I entered a rather crowded elevator in a busy department store and was greeted by someone at the back who said, " Don't you say hello to your friends Jim ". When I saw who it was I absent-mindedly responded with, " Oh, I didn't recognize you with your clothes on ". Some of the passengers were highly amused whilst others appeared horrified. I thought about explaining but only briefly.

I forgot to add the link to Kenneth Clark's chapter (The Alternative Tradition) in his book on the Nude. it is http://idliketocallyourattentionto.blogspot.com/2007/04/kenneth-clarks-study-in-ideal-form.html

At one time I was taking a figure sculpting class and a drawing class. In sculpting it seemed we took a zillion measurements. In spite of that my clay figures never seemed very "human". My teacher made the wise comment: "Art occurs between the measurements."

As an art dealer I could care less what an artists credentials are. Its all about the work and how professional they are.

Some professions need those titles added to their names like medicine, dentistry and other professions with the corresponding diplomas or certificates stating that they are indeed qualified for the service they render. I am not sure for artists if titles will speak for the pictures they produce. The finished pictures speak for themselves and the viewers choose what appeals to them. Some artists never went to art school or have earned certificates to show except for their work. Artistic ability is instinctive and a God given talent. They have the ability to see beyond what is obvious and interpreting what they see in their own on paper, canvas or what ever media available to them. Perhaps those letters give a sense of prestige and belonging that give a distinction of importance. But who bothers to check those letters?

Drawing from the nude is such an essential part of developing as an artist. The nude figure is the ultimate yardstick if you like, for attempting to capture reality in 2D. We all know just how a human being looks, how a person moves, what the feeling of weight is like ect and can judge in an instant if an artist has captured all the elements of humaness in a drawing. It should never be alowed to "go out of fashion" or be considered outmoded. It would be like a mechanic not needing to learn how the engine works!

Incompetent painters need letters and can get them. Competent painters don't need letters but are given them.

I think Shane Conant's quote is wonderful "Modern pessimism denies the intrinsic beauty and replaces it with a subjective vision that cares little for the objective truth. In this thought the figure whether nude or clothed loses its form by putting more value on its symbolism than its actual form. That's when you need a Rembrandt to step in a remind us of the value of content in its relation to form and beauty!" So true! It is about the beauty of the human figure. I've just given up on doing evening class life drawing classes primarily because in the sale we're allowed to hold at the end of the year, they just don't sell. However the surprising positivity of all these comments is making me think twice. For me, the human face and figure is a million times more interesting than landscape to draw or paint (maybe because I live in a country where the sun doesn't shine much!). There is just something about it...

I'm just running off to teach an Intro to (nude) Figure Drawing Class aka 'learning to draw the most complex grouping of forms - so if we can do this, we can draw anything" … I am very interested in this discussion …

When I was in art school I looked forward to drawing nudes. Male or Female it didn't matter. What I remember is the attention to contour lines and the flow of my pencil moving as I focused on the form. I loved to draw this way. I didn't like that this practice would stop there in the drawing room. In studio I would go back to my figure drawings and add my own flare or additional touches. I still have many of my favorite nude portraits with me hidden away in storage. Isn't that a shame. Some I like so much I would like to exhibit them but not sure how they will be received. Living in Winnipeg I haven't seen exhibits with nudes. Although people I know still go to life figure drawing classes. What happens to all the beautiful nude drawings that people produce.

Artists producing images of the male nude may be more common than a lot of people think. See the web-site www.theartofman.net for a quarterly publication featuring people who work with the male image. Also check out their publication "100 Artists of the Male Figure." (Everything is also available on Amazon.)

When I went to college I graduated with a BFA in figure drawing...it was special major I was allowed to create for myself. Gradually my drawings became more and more abstract until the figure was virtually unrecognizable. That was 1970. I mostly didn't paint or draw after that. Seventeen years ago I became a massage therapist and "connected" to the human body again. Four years ago I started to paint again. Now my images are more realistic and I can't really do an abstract figure. I've tried to go back to the way I worked, and it doesn't work for me at all now.

It was weird to be in massage school learning all the muscles and going back to art school in my mind when I had virtually the same lessons! They stopped teaching anatomy a year or two after that in art school. That was the wild '60's for you! New directions, different emphasis.

I sell some of my paintings and do reasonably well with getting portrait commissions. I've tried doing landscapes that are salable, but they just come out terribly.

I guess this post is all over the place. But wow, I just discovered this site and it looks like a gem!

Oh, yes, I recently was one of five or six artists who participated in a "live draw" session in Rochester, NY. We had four models posing simultaneously—three male and one female—and the public was invited to come and watch us. The models' poses varied from one minute to twenty. A great experience.

My artwork is here: www.artworkbypaul.com