The Nude Model
2002
Everyone is surprised when I tell them that I was a nude art model in college. I don't really project that sex kitten persona that most people associate, wrongfully I might add, with nude models. My standard outfit for a Friday night out in college was jeans, a polo shirt, and flip-flops. I had never done any modeling before-I'm pretty short, so it's not really my bag-and I'm not even an artist.
But when I started college at Penn State, I was on the hunt for a really good part-time job. My parents are both solidly middle class and I knew I'd need to pay my own way through a lot of college. The on-campus jobs all paid minimum wage, and the off-campus jobs took more time. I was really into spending my waking hours doing schoolwork and getting As, so that wasn't going to work. I was looking for a job where I'd make the most money in the least amount of time.
One of my new dorm friends was an art student and she was the one who tipped me off to the nude modeling gig. She described it very simply: You sit there naked and people paint or sculpt your form. Once she mentioned that the models were paid fifteen dollars per hour, I was sold. I went over to the art building and filled out the application. It was pretty easy-basically if you are willing to do it you are hired.
My first job was for a sculpting class. I was so nervous that my palms got really sweaty just walking into the building. I kept thinking, "What are they going to think of me? Are they going to think I'm a slut? What kind of girl takes her clothes off for money?" I was really worried about people having that perception of me. The only thing that calmed me down was reminding myself that all of these people were aspiring artists and I was doing something very valuable for them.
Still, that first time was pretty awkward. I went into the bathroom to disrobe but, once I took off all my clothes, I realized that the classroom was across the hall and I'd have to run naked through the hallways to get in. So that wouldn't work. But it also felt weird to just strip down in front of people. Eventually I got a robe that I would wear so that I could change in private and walk over to where I was posing before taking it off.
I'd be asked to pose differently, depending on the class. Sometimes I'd sit on a pedestal, and sometimes the pedestal would spin around and I'd feel like I was on a lazy Susan. Other times it was really active; I'd be asked to hold a position for thirty seconds and then switch. That was meant to be a practice for students who were learning to draw different lines and curves quickly. My favorite position was the odalisque position. It's a very classic pose where the woman is reclining. That was the most comfortable because all I had to do was lie there in a nest of pillows. Sometimes the instructor would put on music and I would just fall asleep.
The students were always in a circle around you with their mounds of clay or their notebooks or easels. You can't really see what the students are drawing or sculpting; the only thing you can see is a room full of people looking at you. I'd often peek at how people drew me and a couple times I thought, "That's not how I look!" But generally people want to draw something beautiful so they focus on your positives, and you end up looking like a better version of yourself.
I was told I was pretty good at it because I was able to keep still. You don't think about how hard it is to stay still but it's actually quite physically demanding. I would leave sore and numb. But I started really looking forward to the time I spent modeling. It evolved into a Zen-like activity. At that time cell phones were just becoming a thing and they made me feel constantly busy and distracted, so it was a nice refuge to just be able to zone out.
I was pretty popular with the professors and so they kept hiring me and I ended up doing it a couple times a week for three years of college. I was only recognized once, at a frat party. I didn't recognize him, but obviously he recognized me. We were both very mature about it, I think, and so there wasn't much else to be said. Otherwise, I didn't really have a lot of friends who were art students, so I was able to keep my modeling pretty separate from my social life.
I'm not an artist, but I learned that drawing the human form is one of the most difficult things to do. It takes a ton of talent and a ton of practice. And behind every great masterpiece or work of art there is someone who got paid to pose for that artist.
-ALYSIA MUELLER, thirty, has worked as a reporter at the Associated Press and as a communications specialist for USAID in Amman, Jordan. She is currently employed as a staff writer for a law firm in New York City, where she lives with her husband and her baby daughter.
Copyright © 2015 by Merritt Watts
