The funniest commission requests ever

What is it with people and their nude portrait requests? In my first attempted incarnation as a portrait painter, at 20, fresh out of school, I put a classified ad in the Chicago Tribune. All 6 calls were nude requests, one was a couple, and all of them turned out not to really be committed to the idea, but they sure wanted to TALK about it.

I loved figure drawing, and I think one of the reasons we do it is to learn to either love the body, or learn that you DON'T love the body. There were lots of people who were sensitive to the face and downright brutal to the body, and just as many who were just the opposite, could render a breast with utter tenderness but never noticed the general proportions of a skull.

It just seems so right that models come in various shades of weirdness, so we can learn to love it all. My very favorites were the ladies of VOLUME, and the one with the furry breasts. That was the first time I ever saw thorough tattooing, stretch marks, and the effects of aging. Loved it!