NO Nudes?

[Patt Legg]

I have a question and please know that it isn't that I disagree here about it. I just want to know how to handle my situation.

I see that Cynthia says no nudes here on the site. I see the reason, due to the old adage of "give an inch and they take a mile". There are so many different attitudes of when does it go from nudes artistically to the cheap stuff.

I just finished a "partial nude", I call it. It is a female figure, on a draped chair with all covered except a leg (of the model, of course) out of the folds with toes tipped on the ground.

I am doing a solo show in a couple of weeks locally. I hope to put her in it. What suggestions do you all have? I have absolutely no problem with this nor with artistic nudes but I realize some do. What is a good way to approach it?

Thanks.

(Moderator's Note: Patt is asking about the advisability of including a "partial nude" in her show, not about whether nudes should be allowed on the SOG forum.)

[Chris Saper]

Patt,

Only you can really be the judge as to whether you want to include this piece in your show. It will very much depend on the venue, sponsoring organization, audience, and what it is you want to promote in your own work.

If your body of work for this show is mainly figurative, as opposed to portrait, I think it may make marketing sense. But if your hoped-for audience is commission work, I would doubt it. In the few instances that I have been hired for nude commissions, people first decide whether they like my work in general, then they ask if I do nudes. Showing nudes is not part of my regular portfolio, but I will show (only with permission of the subjects) nude images, when asked.