For those who don't know, there are so many ways drawing a live model can go wrong. There's always that one immature student, or the model decides to make things super awkward. These stories, whether they're from the artist or the model, show exactly everything that can go wrong definitely will go wrong. Content has been edited for clarity.
“Vibrating In Fear”
“So we were all around 16-17, in a UK college, attending what was probably the first life drawing class for all of us. The man modeling was in his forties, obviously did this often, and he was not shy in the slightest. He was chill. The teacher was weird and kept yelling at anyone who spoke out loud while drawing. It definitely made everything feel a lot more tense and awkward. The lad next to me was one of the few males in our class, and one of two that were also straight. He had never seen another guy’s privates before, and he was clearly struggling with the concept. I had a feeling it was something to do with the fact this guy was pretty devoutly religious also. The whole time, he was bright red in the face, and his whole body was shaking like a leaf.
Being a bit of a mother hen, I asked him if he was alright, and he said that he didn’t feel well, and that he couldn’t believe this was happening. Through the first two poses he did okay, although his line control was more off than normal, and there was just a big blurry mark around the genital area. I gave him a bottle of cola from my bag and asked if he wanted to sit down. The teacher freaked out about us talking, but he just nodded and went to sit behind me. He then freaked out, upon realizing that everyone else was drawing the genitalia! He didn’t realize we were supposed to, and for what ever reason, he became terrified. The teacher had marched over by now to see why he was sitting out. She saw his drawing then went on an angry rant about artistic integrity, how childish he was, and about how the model was a precious resource that we had limited time with. She forced this poor lad up and back to his easel, and she held his arm to direct him in drawing the genitalia. This poor boy stood looking like he was vibrating in fear as the woman guided his hand.
Then he just dropped. Like a sack of potatoes. The teacher managed to keep him from hitting the floor too hard. since she was holding his arm, and me and another girl rushed over to help her get him back into the chair. He woke up very quickly after a few seconds, overwhelmingly embarrassed, and he started making excuses. The teacher let him sit it out after that, where the poor guy just sat with his face in his hands, miserable for the next twenty minutes while we finished up and the completely unfazed model left. This poor sixteen-year-old guy didn’t turn up to life drawing classes after that.
This teacher absolutely contributed to this student eventually dropping out. It’s a shame, as he had a ton of promise in his other classes. In my next college, our life drawing class was so much better. The room was warmer, more intimate, and had fewer students. We were allowed to chat amongst ourselves, including with the model, so long as we didn’t make her laugh so much that she moved. The model would even hang out in a robe with a cup of tea, looking at our work during our breaks. It was a totally different experience when everyone involved has a good sense of humor and is chill about the entire process!”
Bizarre Job Source
“I was introduced to artistic modeling by an ex of mine. Ironically, she introduced me to this possibility shortly after we broke up. That was a weird phone call. ‘Hey, I’ve been doing some artistic modeling for a school downtown, and I think you would be really into it! I already gave them your contact info.’ It was definitely not the conversation I expected, but it was a great gig, so I wasn’t going to turn down the job. I showed up to the studio, and the instructor showed me to my changing area. I changed into my comfy bathrobe and had a few minutes to kill while they waited to start the class. I was invited to explore some of the studio space. My ex was apparently their favorite model, as a third of the artwork in the building featured her body. That was a great reminder.
Once they were ready, the assistant instructor took me to the stage. I was suddenly super self-conscious, as it had been quite a while since I did any sort of consistent exercise. I did get hard a few times, but thankfully no one added that into their drawings. I did get several complaints that I didn’t ‘have enough shadows’. Apparently, my body was too flat and not dramatic enough. That was intended to be more a complaint of the drawing process than of me, but it still stung. The assistant instructor did a wonderful drawing of me, in which my torso unfortunately resembled a sad pit bull’s face.
The weirdest moment with all this happened two years after the class. In that time, I had enlisted, cut my hair, lost twenty-five pounds, and got fit. I don’t think I looked much the same. I was visiting my cousin and staying over at his house. I was catching up with him when a couple walked in. The girl looked familiar, but I had never met her boyfriend in my life. They both stopped and stared at me, then asked if they knew me from somewhere. Then the man exclaimed how it was the drawing model! He recognized me from the drawing this girl she made of me two years earlier. Apparently, the couple had hung it above their fireplace. I was her best work, apparently.
Obnoxious Wrestler Enters The Arena
“I’m not a model, but I went to art school. This one guy took the cake. This was during an open model session. Typically, the model would walk in wearing a robe, get on the platform, remove the robe, and pose. Pose changes were just, y’know, movements. This guy decided it would be a great idea to walk in like a WWE wrestler. You could tell there was theme music playing in his head. He had on a satin robe that dragged the ground, and he leapt up on the platform like a rock star. He paused a moment, then whipped the robe off with a flourish and an audible cheer. The first thing that I noticed was that this man was completely hairless. IN addition, his privates were pierced. For the rest of the session, they kept bobbing up and down. I don’t know if this guy was doing that intentionally or what. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the most obnoxious thing. Now when a normal model would pose, they would select a more natural position, hold it for a few minutes, and then smoothly switch over. This guy had something else in mind. Every time this man posed, he chose something dramatic, which resembled a body builder. Every time he changed position, he would do so with a quick dramatic flourish, and he would emit a loud noise to signify the change. I had no idea if this guy was a regular model for Tuesday nights or what, but I never went to drawing sessions on that night ever again. I don’t think my brain could have taken any more from this man.”
Nature Calls At The Worst Time
I’ve been a professional artists’ model for many years. I did faint off the stand once. I had a very emotional argument the night before, had barely slept because I was upset, and also had had no appetite and hadn’t eaten. So of course, attempting to stand for an extended time meant I would soon be falling over. The class was really kind and sympathetic. They helped me out by getting me a glass of water and all that. They switched to working on a still life of some objects in the classroom while I rested for the rest of the time. I was so embarrassed, but people were very understanding. I once came RIDICULOUSLY close to pooping myself while posing. I had slugged a lot of coffee right before showing up, much more than I am accustomed to, and it was a couple minutes into posing seated on a stool with a white cloth draped over it. Suddenly, my guts signaled that I was going to poop, whether I wanted to or not. I tried to fight it, and then pretty soon just broke the pose and excused myself. Close call. Again, the group was understanding when I said the coffee was hitting me.]
I have been sculpted by a guy who did some model making for Star Wars movies. I’ve been on the Lucasarts mo-cap stage and had to sign an NDA about what I saw there. I wasn’t doing mo-cap stuff, they just host regular figure drawing sessions for their employees and use that space for it. I’m sure a bunch of other weird stuff has happened, but I’ve been doing this for a long time. and can’t remember everything. Love it!”
Nowhere To Escape From The Cringe
“I was one of the artists, not the model, but I’ve witnessed two majorly awkward events during life drawing classes. Once I was drawing a female model who was facing me in a standing pose, on a small platform maybe a foot off the ground. IN the middle of drawing, I notice this blank expression spread over her face. Her face suddenly screamed, ‘Lights out, nobody’s home!’. A second later, she crumpled, heading face-first into the floor. She fainted, and it as pretty surreal to see someone faint like that in real time. The whole thing happened pretty quickly, but it felt like everything happened in slow motion. The woman woke up right away, and we all took a break while she got some water and an ice pack. I think she was pretty mortified.
The other time was more awkward, because it was just me, one other student, and the teacher in class that day with the model. It was final exam time for numerous other classes, and apparently everyone else just decided not to show up for life drawing class. So this male model decided to get a little creative. He took a few drawing benches and stacked them on top of each other. Then, he decided to climb on top of the entire thing. For a second, he attempted this heroic pose, but then he unfortunately and somewhat comically lost his balance. He came crashing down onto the hard linoleum floor. He was okay, except for his dignity. I think everyone in the room felt embarrassed and awkward after that one, and because there were so few of us in the room, it really felt like there was nowhere to hide from the awkwardness.”
Gas Leak!
I have drawn hundreds of nudes and also been a lecturer at Art School, teaching a wide variety of drawing courses, including life drawing. My favorite memory was when an older woman modeled for an observational drawing class when I was in undergrad. She had a cane and her hair was dyed a shade of purple, as though she had dipped it in the juice of ripe blueberries and let it fade in the sun. She was a super accommodating model, very talented and patient. She even posed with her cane at one stage, which a student requested to create directional lines in the picture plane. I recall we were doing a slightly longer pose, where she was lying like a Renaissance painting figure, featuring glorious builds of folds, softness, and age. Her buttocks were pointing right towards me when suddenly she let forth a rapturous fart. Her body’s loose skin seemed to slap together in some kind of applause at its own achievement. The class was already quiet, but any scratching of charcoal or slopping of ink was silenced by her flatulence. It was an unspoken collective feeling that we didn’t want to embarrass her by drawing attention to what was an impressive clap of cheeks. Without missing a beat, she simply chuckled and said, ‘Seems like I sprung a gas leak!'”
Worst Time For A College Tour
“I’m a former art model. One time, I took my robe off and a student sighed loudly, stating, ‘Oh great!’ in a huffy and petulant tone. I totally fainted once, due to a mixture of low blood pressure, stiff limbs, and hot lights. It took everyone a moment to realize what had happened, because I slowly folded forward. They all assumed that I was just moving into a new pose! Only after everyone had gotten a new sheet of paper set up on their easels did they realize how unconscious I was.
But that wasn’t the most embarrassing. The worst encounter happened while I was modeling for one class. All of a sudden, a huge group of high school students and their parents touring the building walking in on me. Apparently the tour guide had totally space out on what route to use to avoid this drawing class. There were a few quickly hidden grins of surprise, but everyone seemed to roll with it. I don’t think anyone wanted to appear uncultured. The poor tour guide jumped like a startled cat and forgot her words when she led the group in on my drawing session.
A few years later, I was working in this white-collar tech job. I ended up working with someone who had drawn me every Saturday for two years in that art program. It took both of us a full year to realize why we both thought we recognized each other from somewhere.”
Disgusting Eyes On Her
“While living overseas, my teacher colleague convinced me to be a model in one of her art classes at the local bar near our school. It took awhile for me to work up the courage, but in the end I said why not? One of my fellow male teachers and her boyfriend from another school decided it was now too awkward to come to the class. They weren’t able to see me and still look me in the eye in future conversations. They couldn’t continue to work with me in the same department, so they decided not to go.
Then, at the actual class, it was an open air bar. The only thing separating me from the entrance was a white screen that certainly did not shield me from passersby (although it wasn’t a busy street). It also did not shield me from the regular bar patrons who were not part of the art class, so three random dudes who just showed up for drinks that night decided to casually watch me from the bar.
Then, because I have low blood pressure, I didn’t realize that locking my knees in a position for ten minutes was a bad idea, and I nearly passed out from the second pose. I was caught by the art teacher, who noticed me swaying. They took a quick break, fed me some sugary pop, and then I decided to continue. All in all, it was actually really fun, and I did it several more times back home. Also, there was no lingering awkwardness between my colleague and I back at school after she saw me with nothing on. Bonus.”
Who Would He Least Like To Discover?
“One time, I saw this ad posted online about needing drawing models for the local college. I figured that I would look pretty good up on that little platform, and I wasn’t really that shy about my body, so I thought why the heck not? I showed up and modeled for a couple sessions, and I really enjoyed it. Unfortunately, the third modeling session I showed up for was beyond uncomfortable. The class began, and I was taking off my robe in order to get into position. That was when I saw my cousin, sitting at a drawing easel, getting ready to draw this random dude in all his glory. I walked out, gave her a little wave, and I shrugged. This was completely bizarre. All I could do was let it all hang out. Let’s just say that family gatherings have always been a little awkward since that day. But I mean the drawings all turned out pretty well, so that worked out at least!
What Do We Do?!
“My husband was not the model, but he saw something happen while in an art class in college. The female model/student was sitting in the sun and had apparently not eaten. She got dizzy and fell on the floor in a dead faint. She was sitting on a window ledge trying to hold a pose with the sun beating down on her. She also hadn’t eaten much that day. Eventually she slumped over, slid down the wall and hit the floor. The first instinct of the other students was to rush forward to help her, but then they froze. ‘Uh, what can we do? We can’t touch her, she has nothing on!’
Just then, the professor ran back in with a blanket he had gotten from the other room and covered her up. She recovered pretty quickly from the fainting, but she was really embarrassed. There were men and women in the room and no one knew what to do, but it was literally only a matter of seconds before the professor covered her with a blanket. It wasn’t like they stood there for five minutes staring at her body trying to decide what to do. People can tend to momentarily freeze in unexpected situations. A reason they didn’t touch her is because they weren’t sure where to safely place their hands. They didn’t want to touch her in a way that would make her feel uncomfortable or violate her bodily autonomy. It wasn’t worrying about being sued. It was a genuine concern for her comfort and safety, and taking a second to try to figure out the best way to handle that!”
Awkward Lunch Break
“I went to art school and dated one of the girls that came in to model quite frequently. But she was just one of maybe a dozen regular models we had, and I only ended up sketching her in a class once. Nobody in the class knew we were seeing each other, so it never really got weird. It was actually kind of hot. That was a fun night.
But the most awkward experience was when this one regular dude we had un-froze his pose, walked over to his bag, and pulled out a tupperware container of pasta salad. He started eating it. He was supposed to be stuck in a twenty minute pose, and this was like minute three. The teacher asked him to get back in position, but he kept going back to the pasta salad every couple minutes. Just standing there, eating. With his private parts hanging there. It was so weird. Pretty tame, I guess. But it’s always stuck with me. And you better believe that pasta salad smelled really awful. I didn’t have this model too often thankfully. He stuck around for a few more years. Maybe he was simply having one of those days.”
One Sentence Changes Her Life
“To some people, this might seem like a really small detail, but it is a detail that has stayed with me for over twenty years since it happened. I once volunteered to be a figure model for the art students during my freshman year of college. I was super self-conscious about my body, but I thought this would be a good way to push myself. I was sitting in a specific pose while the students sketched away. I was able to hear one student whisper to another, ‘Look at the light falling on her ankle. Isn’t it beautiful?’
Nowadays I am much older and more self-confident than I ever used to be. But that moment still ranks as one of the best compliments that I have every received. I hope you can find some joy in my personal story. Was it possible that those students were only talking about the light itself, and not me? That’s quite possible, which would be fine. But it is also quite possible that without my ankle being positioned where it was, the light would not have been worth discussing! All it took was a single sentence, whispered twenty years ago, to fill me with joy. It was one of many highlights of my college experience.”
Painting Gets Bloody
I did some modeling for a figure-painting class for exactly three days when I was going to college. I did it to earn a little extra money on the side. Three times a week, I received fifty bucks for each session. The first two days were fine. I was quite nervous, but I quickly realized that these people were just focused on the artwork, and it wasn’t so bad. On the third day, I got my period a day early. The strict instructor told me not to move, or I wouldn’t even be paid. I’ve always had a very heavy and fast flow, so I was up on the podium with dark red blood pouring down my legs. There was a drop cloth beneath me, which the instructor had to throw away after the drawing session. Because the class only had about fifteen minutes left, the instructor didn’t see the point in stopping.
Being an art model meant getting paid cash for only a couple hour’s worth of work. I had been a nanny before this job, but balancing childcare with classes was quite difficult. I had to quit. But still, I had to eat, and I didn’t have a meal plan. I was from a low-income family, and I had to do everything I could to afford college. Honestly, if the above hadn’t happened, I would have continued doing it, and I would have tried to fit more sessions in a day. I ended up getting a different job after that.
A few weeks after that, I had gotten a new haircut and a new pair of glasses, partially to obscure my appearance from anyone who might recognize me from that class. Someone still recognized me, and they showed me the drawing of me that they did. They had even painted the blood on my legs with what I hoped was simply expertly matched paint. My college graduation couldn’t come fast enough.”