No one wants to hear an old painter wine about things that annoy him. So here goes... I work frequently in group settings. They are an overwhelmingly positive environment. But in my experience there is no bigger pose kill than democratic selection. Given the opportunity the group will collectively almost always choose an uninteresting pose. Many times I've watched a veteran model take a dynamic pose only to be thwarted by multiple requests. The leg, the arm, the tilt of the head. Gradually the models personal vision succumbs to group think and becomes rigid and lifeless.
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| A little stiff - lots of group input |
New models often need guidance. Not so good models definitely need help posing. But good engaged models need the freedom to find the right pose. If it works for them the odds are good it will work for the artists.
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| Model inspired pose, Nude Study, oil on canvas, 9" X 12", 2010 |
I could extrapolate this phenomena into many collective human endeavors but that would be opening a whole new can of worms. Working from the figure is wormy enough.
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