Skip to main content

Drawing from Life

I was only awkward until the robe came down; once it was down I was bare and felt liberated. In my head, it all sounded poetic, like there were gongs of freedom chiming in the background. But when I took a quick look at the faces around me, it brought me back to think how normal it actually is to pose nude for drawing. All artists in their own rights, going about drawing me like they would draw any other model, learning and practicing how the light played on the contours of my body. Not to say that the sense of liberation I felt was not legitimate. 

It all boils down to the aspect of where I come from. If and when my parents or the extended family back in India comes to know that I pose nude, I wouldn't know how they would react. They maybe okay with it or taken aback by the very act. It wouldn't change my view or decision in any way, but still I just indulged in these thoughts, like trying to interview myself in my head.

I recently came across this article from a few months ago that states a hike in daily wages of live models for government run art schools in India. But the plight for these models are far from over. The following article and video clearly portrays the dogma that exists in our society regarding live nude models for art.



Luckily for me, the art teacher, Mr. Cyrus Wadia, I had back in Pune (India) opened our minds to see things with much clarity. Having chosen art as our field we were already victims of passive rebuke from our peers, but the major unlocking of our minds came from our art teacher nonetheless. During our search for inspiration in art, he'd say, "Let's talk! No matter how perverse your idea is, let's talk; and we'll make something good out of it!"

With the seed of liberation planted in us, we ventured out; I ventured out. Now, eight years after I did my bachelors in Civil Engineering and four years after quitting my job, I'm pursuing my Master of Fine Arts in Painting from Indiana State University.

My teachers here are as amazing as I had hoped for. I attended my first live-model drawing session here and understood why it is so important in an art course; why it is so important to break the dogma and unnecessary societal bonds in art that exists in India.

The drawings below are all made from life, using charcoal and graphite majorly.






















I'm up for modeling nude soon again, and I only have two thoughts: "It's my body and I'm proud of it." And also 'It's just a human body!'


~ RN

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Art, a business?

This was the question that made its way into my head when a friend of mine brought it up. Being a student of an unconventional art school, FAD International , people (or rather artists) around me are quite open-minded, and listening to their thought processes making way to ceaseless discussions is a delight for someone like me. It was in one of those discussions when my friend said that Art is business after all. Before saying anything, for that one moment, it did cross my mind - Is it a business? I wish I could agree with him, but I don't. If making money was my sole purpose of getting into art, I would rather have stayed and slogged as an engineer, eating dusty wada-pavs and sugary tea on site. In fact, as far as I can see, not one artist is into art because it will bring him money. I believe the moment you start measuring your art as business, it loses its meaning and your creativity becomes a horse with reins; the purity of art is corrupted and all you have in yo...

Art Hop and the people in it

The weather in Bombay (I still prefer calling it 'Bombay') was as searing as a frying pan this Sunday (Oct 27th, 2013), but somehow it only mattered for a small stretch of time as I settled myself around my paintings to display at  Art Hop  in Bandra in that late October morning. The excitement was building up inside me minute after minute. Technically it was the third time I was displaying my artwork to public. But, for me, it was first such display where people came only to take a look at artwork and nothing else. I wouldn't want to talk about the first two times now. You and I are going to have a long journey together, and that is when I'll slowly tell you the side-stories. For now, lets talk about what I felt at Art Hop. It was only a day before the actual event that I realized how big a deal it was. People from various parts of the city hopped from one venue to another to witness and revel in the sea of artworks that consisted of paintings, photographs, inst...

Van Gogh's lust for life

I had the pleasure of watching the movie, Lust for Life , recently. Vincent Van Gogh's life rolls in front of our eyes with crisp colours and sharp chiaroscuro  all around. I was just amazed that the filmmakers actually managed to bring out the characteristics of Van Gogh's painting into the movie itself, and this was back in 1956. The entire movie is weighed on the dialogues that flow quite poetically, and Kirk Douglas's Vincent Van Gogh, Anthony Quinn's Paul Gauguin, and James Donald's Theo Van Gogh are apt and convincing in their roles. The warmth and love between the brothers, Vincent Van Gogh and Theo Van Gogh, the conversations and conflicts between Vincent Van Gogh and all other real-life  characters (Paul Gauguin in particular), the narration of the letters from Vincent to Theo in the background, the representation of Van Gogh's real paintings and more, everything adds to a delightful experience.  ...