The next step

I have worked from the live nude periodically since the early 1970's. This blog started August 9th, 2012 in my second year of working almost exclusively from the figure.

In the fall of 2015 I reintroduced still lifes and an occasional cityscape into my painting repertoire. Rather than abandon this figure blog or start a new one I decided to add them to the conservation.

All drawings and paintings posted on this blog were done entirely from live models or on location.

Sunday, December 6, 2015

Costly Nudes

Working from the live nude has been of immeasurable benefit to my overall drawing and painting skills. At the same time pursuing the nude has had adverse consequences when it comes to the commercial side of my art career. This is not said with any regrets but just as a fact. It's not simply that nudes take time away from other subjects or have a limited collector base. In a much broader sense nudes, male nudes in particular, make many people uncomfortable. I have no way of grasping to what extent this is the case.

Female Nude, oil pastel on toned paper, 9 1/4" X  13", 2012

The vast majority of would be buyers who find their way to my studio are looking for cityscapes or still lifes. I have made a habit of putting away most of the nudes or at least turning them to the wall. I don't do this out of any embarrassment on my part but to spare others possible discomfort.

Perhaps this perception is misguided. Maybe people are more open minded regarding nudity in an artistic setting than I imagine. But somehow it seems a simple art nude still has the power to shock while at the same time impoverish its creator.


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  1. BloggerNovember 6, 2016 at 5:21 PM

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