No shoes? No shirt? No problem in some Brandon University arts classes.
BU associate professor Lisa Wood is on the lookout for four people willing to pose nude for drawing classes after multiple models on her roster moved to different cities and took different jobs during the pandemic.
The practice is common in universities across the country and helps students gain foundational skills and understand structure and anatomy more accurately, Wood said. It can also help new artists play with proportion and distortion.
Brandon University Art professor Lisa Wood says nude models provide valuable experience for students to learn the structure and anatomy of the human body. (Abiola Odutola/The Brandon Sun)
“I like to make sure that there are a variety of models so that the students get to draw from a variety of people of different genders, of different ages, of different sizes, different races so that they get to see different people,” Wood said Thursday.
Alyssa Wowchuk, who’s modelled for many years and helps recruit models in the Brandon area, said diversity is huge for the learning artist.
“You don’t just want to draw the same figure over and over — it gets boring,” Wowchuk said. “There’s so many interesting body types out there to draw. Not everyone is the same and it’s good to have a range and knowledge of different body types.”
Often, people come out of modelling sessions with a different view of themselves because of the way artists view them, Wowchuk said. She said that can be liberating and eye-opening.
She noted one model who was going through chemotherapy treatments and surgery came out of the class with a more positive outlook on their body.
“It’s not (sexualized). There’s context and artists benefit from being able to work with these different body types,” Wowchuk said. “It’s not just nudity either — it’s really important to learn how different clothing is draped over the body and how different poses look.”
Wood, who expects up to 17 students in her figure drawing class this fall, said she meets with prospective models prior to their first session to make sure they are comfortable.
“What I find is that it’s normalized so quickly because the atmosphere is really professional,” Wood said. “The students are so busy with the task of figure drawing and trying to figure out what they’re looking at and how to put it onto the page that it’s really not abnormal. It feels very natural.”
The University of Manitoba uses a mix of nude and clothed models depending on the comfort level of the subject, David Foster, associate director of undergraduate programs at the School of Art, said.
The U of M doesn’t often advertise for models, but are open to applications from anyone.
“We look for as diverse a range of models as possible,” Foster said. “We’re very attentive to making sure that our models feel comfortable, that they feel safe, that our students feel comfortable and they feel safe with our models.”
Winnipeg visual artist Laura Lewis has painted nude figures since she was about 12 and the courses she took at the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design University were formative for her work.
“I love intimacy. I love rendering flesh. I love mixing different skin tones and I’m really all about body positivity,” Lewis said. “Everyone has a body. The human figure is such a beautiful, beautiful thing.”
Lewis works with nude models all the time, often from photographs to capture movement that isn’t possible in real time.
Her upcoming exhibition, the In-Between, focuses solely on nude paintings. It opens Sept. 12 at the University of Winnipeg.
People are generally fine with her works, but she’s had some negative and surprised reactions from some.
“A body’s a body,” Lewis said. “I don’t think that nudity should be something that offends people.”
The BU figure drawing classes run Thursday afternoons between 2 and 5 p.m. Models can earn $25 an hour. Applicants can contact Wood at 204-727-7332 for more information.
jura.mcilraith@freepress.mb.ca