I don't have good luck with models.
 

I've been drawing from life regularly for nearly two years now, since I've started having weekly drawing sessions in my home. But I'm still not getting the kind of experience I need from it. (Actually, I have drawn from life sporadically for 30 years, but consistently for two.)

The weekly sessions quickly turned into social events. Models and artists talk non stop, and no serious work gets done (though I've done some drawings I have been pleased with). After drawing one model recently, I asked if she would be returning. She said "Sure, any excuse to talk my head off!" I think I almost cracked two back teeth.

Well, we have this one model who is not a talker. I've only drawn her a few times, and every time I've been very pleased with her professionalism. I figured if I could have her to myself, with no other artists yacking away, we could work well together. So I offered her a hundred bucks to come to my house today and spend the entire day posing, and not talking. I think her heart really was in it, but her body wasn't. She had been up with her baby all night and didn't get any sleep. She was constantly nodding off, and yawning. I told her that maybe we could to this some other time, and she swore she was okay, but after another hour it was clear she couldn't do it. I paid her for her time and sent her home. (I'm so naive. I thought an audiobook would help her stay interested, so I got "Searching for Bobby Fischer" from the library. Yeah, like a book about chess would hold a 21-year-old's attention :bewildere )

Do the rest of you have problems like this? It seems like it's impossible to have the kind of life-drawing session that can be productive. Granted, I live in a small Southern town, and the models don't understand much about what we need, but this is ridiculous.

I think you need to keep trying different models. Clearly the talkative model that you described won't fit the bill, unless you can help her to understand what is required. The other model, the sleepy one, may have just been having a bad day after being up with her baby all night. A full day of sitting still may not be a good choice for her. Maybe shorter sessions with her would be better.

Also, if you want other artists to share the costs with you, I think you are well within your rights as the host to ask people to keep the chatting to a minimum and that the purpose of the get together is to create an environment where people can concentrate on their painting. Perhaps you could add on a social hour at the end, if people want to do that.

Maybe take a hiatus for a short while and then re-start with the new "rules". Don't give up!

I do have to confess that I engage in conversation myself during these sessions. I've tried keeping out of the conversation, and concentrating on drawing, but if the model is talking, I'm limited.

I used to attend the sessions at the university. There's no talking there, which is great, but they like short poses. they spend a lot of time on five and ten-minute sketches, and only work their way up to a maximum 30-minute pose. My sessions were specifically started so artists could do sustained poses. But I'm willing to go back to the university sessions, and just learn to draw faster.

Don't give up, Jeff. Thing is, since we're all human, (artists and their models) some days are diamonds, others are stones. I can empathize with your having paid the model off, sending her home, but a more fair ending would have been to have paid her for part of an hour for showing up, then dismiss her for not being in form, re-scheduling a new session with the understanding that she has a contractual obligation to "perform" to definite standards to earn the compensation agreed upon.

If you have access to people willing to work as models, you are now an employer. Tough or not, you have to set the rules, for the models as well as other participants, and enforce them.

Modeling is hard, physical labor which requires dedication, performance, and an unimpeachable work ethic. Past that, not just anyone can do it well. There's far more to the proposition than merely holding a pose, and sometimes verbal communication between the artist and the model brings it out . . . if you can't engage in conversation with a model and work at the same time, then a model who works better in silence is the one you use. When other people are involved, a very different dynamic often becomes very obvious in the model's demeanor. The more "players", the more complicated the situation becomes.

I am really in your corner, I too am fed up with "Drawing 101 5-minute poses", realizing that past a certain point, all they accomplish is an opportunity to learn how to begin a drawing.

Hiring a model, you have to be realistic about the models' capabilities and comfort, balancing that against demanding they meet your reasonable requirements. Difficult poses, pressure points on a foot, a leg, a forearm, etc., can require decreasing, shorter times on pose through the session, and more frequent breaks. Beware of the breaks! Most models will tend to stretch them increasingly if the length of the break is left up to them. Always set a timer.

Finally, realize even the best models will "sag" toward the end of a three-hour session, even with frequent breaks. A good plan for difficult or tiring poses is to split the session between two different poses, with the plan for returning to them in subsequent sessions as more working time is indicated.

Life sessions with numerous participants tend to "drift" if specific goals aren't set for each session before it begins. Props, drapes, pose, the purpose, participant positions and the time format should all be in place at the beginning of each session . . .

Lastly, I'd suggest paying incentives for exceptional models. In any case, don't be "cheap", but start at the low end of the scale, then reward experience and good performance with raises!

I think you missed a great opportunity, I had a great time painting a "sleeping beauty". You should have provided her a bed or a couch, sleeping models don't talk, don't take long breaks and don't eat a lot.
I prefer to talk to my models during the sessions, I only don't do it if I have to do speed drawing.
Breaks are important for the models, you have to use a timer to both start and finish a break, when the alarm goes off the model knows he/she must resume the job.
I wish you the best of luck next time.

Ps. Maybe you should do some cast drawings before trying the life sessions.

I've been drawing live models for 30 years (with dry spells that went on for many years, unfortunately). Just haven't had good instruction to go with it. Seems silly to draw casts at this point. Besides, I've searched for good casts, and have found only poorly sculpted junk. I can always go back to drawing myself in the mirror.

As for drawing a sleeping model. I guess that's a possibility, but you never know what she'll look like. She might have her mouth hang open, or might toss and turn. Just like when I've tried drawing sleeping cats. Not worth a hundred bucks to me.

LOL.

Model
 

Hi Jeff,

Maybe you could try to ask the talkative model to pose for you. If you explain what you want she might be more suitable for your purposes and willing to do that than the silent one. That she is talking more might signal that she is more into it than the other one perhaps. Just explain what your problem is.

Isn't $100 a lot of money? At a local artcenter here in the neighbourhood they offer nude models 30 euros (about $40) to pose for 2,5 hours. While that's not much, $100 is too much I think.
The problem with paying models quite a bit of money is that they come posing for you even if they shouldn't while they're too tired or sick. You end up paying too much and having too little in return in appropriate drawing time.