Nude Drawing?!?!?

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"I guess, the only time where i would agree to actually study a person in the nude. Is if i was doing a science degree. because, thats justified - because at the end of the day, scientists and doctors are trying to better people in society. While, what art seems to do is nothing… Its really just there for pleasure…?! am i thinking incorrectly on this??! "

I just want to put you at rest. I don’t think studying nudes is wrong. Art is very important. Especially to God. If you look at the Bible, you will see that God felt it was too! There are many places in the Bible where God goes into depth on how art is made. (Chapters and Chapters) For example the Ark of the Covenant. He was very explicit. The Temple is another example. Look for examples. Artists need to learn how to draw. It does not come without study. However, if it so uncomfortable to you, I can understand that it would be embarrasing at first. Try asking the teacher if they could where a swim suit. It would teach you about the human body and make you feel more comfortable. Just try asking- What’s the worse that could happen? It couldn’t hurt.
 
It strikes me that this might be a good opportunity for you to become more comfortable with the human body. Most young people are uncomfortable with it, even those that use it improperly. As people get older, they lose that to some extent in a lot of cases, because they are just exposed to more bodies. People in health care or services that see a lot of bodies; people who are dancers or swim and spend time in changing rooms; anyone that joins the army or other military services; women that have babies.

The CC is quite specific about what modesty means, and you may be surprised to find out it has little to do with clothing. It is about recognizing the innate dignity of the human body and it’s functions, and treating it with the right kind of respect. We can reduce people to sexual objects and so have them wear less clothing - that is disrespectful and a kind of immodesty. But it can go the other way - we see the body as only a tainted sexual thing, and so insist it must be covered. That is equally bad, because it denies what the Church says is the true nature of the human body and still reduces it to sex.

Those who have the right attitude do recognize that the body is sexual, and that has it’s place and proper dignity. But that is not all it is. Seeing the body in other contexts quickly makes one realize that it is not just a sexual thing, but it is a useful thing that is strong and does work, it is a perishable thing that breaks down and becomes diseased, it is an amazing thing that brings life into the world, and it is a beautiful thing that is the work of God’s hand and unfathomable. THhs is a much broader and more accurate view than that which simply regards it as a sexual item, but although many people realize it intellectually, realizing it in a more concrete way usually only comes with time and experience.
 
johngh said:
There have been studies done that show that pornography is becoming increasingly more popular among women. Do not try and say women are not affected by it.
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Do you really think your fiancee fits into that very small percentage of women? If you were to post saying your girlfriend buys magazines with nude men,or gets porn videos of guys ,which do exist mainly for homosexuals, I’d agree that there was a problem. But I do not see a problem with a woman taking a nude drawing class. As one PP said it is work.

There’s an attitude of professionalism which one wants to impart in such a class. It is the same mind set people in the medical profession assume when dealing with patients. Anything less is not acceptable.
 
There’s nothing at all wrong with drawing from a nude model and it’s an unparalleled learning opportunity. Once you get into your first class you’ll also realize that there’s absolutely nothing sexual about it. I took several of these classes in high school and college and they were a huge help. You’ll never be able to get the same perspective or learn more about properly & accurately drawing the human figure any other way. If I had the time I would love to take one again just to brush up on my abilities.

As far as crass comments, at the time I took my classes there were a handful of high school students and a few college students but most were a bit older. I never heard a single lewd or crass comment. The only discussion I ever heard in relation to the models was when we were critiquing others’ work.
 
I had to sketch nudes for art class in college also. It was a sketching class for architecture.

I too was uncomfortable about it. It didn’t go that badly. In fact we sketched them very quickly in thick charcoal. We did not see the models from the frontside - only back and side. The task was to look at the model for 30 seconds and then sketch from memory and to use the charcoal to create the forms of the body quickly.

It ended up being a harmless exercise and quite useful in learning how to sketch quickly with charcoal.

Follow your gut. Good luck.
 
Nudity in itself isn’t wrong. I’m indifferent about nudity, but you should respect peoples’ privacy. Privacy shouldn’t be confused with nudity being unclean. As long as it isn’t erotic or pornogrphic, nudity and the nude body are fine if you can control yourself. Somewhere in Acts, God says to Peter something like “What I have created, you are not to call profane.” just think of that.
 
It’s a good thing that nudity itself isn’t immoral—we wouldn’t have The David or other works of stunning beauty.

I think if it’s done in a way that promotes beauty, than your fine
 
Rascalking said:
It’s a good thing that nudity itself isn’t immoral—we wouldn’t have The David or other works of stunning beauty.

I think if it’s done in a way that promotes beauty, than your fine
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My DH and I just spent some time in Europe for our honeymoon…we saw a copy of the David (outside a building in Florence) along w/ other various nude works of art. My DH and I must not be as culturally advanced as everyone else. We begged off going to the included trip to the museum that houses Donatello’s (sp?) David. We also did not, even a little bit, enjoy the art that was naked. We visited the Vatican, and saw the Sistine Chapel, and were thankful for the artist that added the pants. 😉 For the record though, we do not necessarily think that the nudity itself is sinful. It’s just in the times that we live there is just too much sex everywhere.

To the OP, if you are not comfortable with it, you should speak with your professor and find out if you can do something else for credit. I, too, would be more bothered with other peoples’ comments than the actual drawing.
 
Jea9 said:
My DH and I just spent some time in Europe for our honeymoon…we saw a copy of the David (outside a building in Florence) along w/ other various nude works of art. My DH and I must not be as culturally advanced as everyone else. We begged off going to the included trip to the museum that houses Donatello’s (sp?) David. We also did not, even a little bit, enjoy the art that was naked. We visited the Vatican, and saw the Sistine Chapel, and were thankful for the artist that added the pants. 😉 For the record though, we do not necessarily think that the nudity itself is sinful. It’s just in the times that we live there is just too much sex everywhere.

To the OP, if you are not comfortable with it, you should speak with your professor and find out if you can do something else for credit. I, too, would be more bothered with other peoples’ comments than the actual drawing.
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I agree that the oversexualization of the culture is scary and repulsive to me.As someone who is obsessed with painting and sculpting, the modern art movement is 99% rubbish. The ideals of truth and beauty have been destroyed, and now it’s just who can offened the most people.

Charles, a charecter in Brideshead Revisted, said it best when he says, “Modern Art is all bosh”

It is.
 
Rascalking said:
I agree that the oversexualization of the culture is scary and repulsive to me.As someone who is obsessed with painting and sculpting, the modern art movement is 99% rubbish. The ideals of truth and beauty have been destroyed, and now it’s just who can offened the most people.

Charles, a charecter in Brideshead Revisted, said it best when he says, “Modern Art is all bosh”

It is.
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Ah yes, modern “art”. We went to the Roman Forum and all over is this amazing architecture, beautiful statues, just wonderful stuff (I’m not really artistic so forgive my totally inept description)…and in the center, in a grassy area is some modern “art” that allows them to charge 5 more euros for admission. This stuff was hideous, and did not fit in at all! Sorry to go off topic there!
 
I went to an art college and did many nude drawings. It’s art not pornography. The women were fully nude but not much to look at and the few men we had always had a jock strap on and were covered, and again, just normal looking men. There was nothing sexual about it at all. As others have said, you get lost in your drawing and wanting to get the proportions and everything correct that the rest means nothing. During the breaks, they would put on their robes and go out for a cigarrette. Some students would go and chat with them. It was strictly professional all the way. I wouldn’t worry about it.
 
Cat said:
I’m thinking that you are going to have a hard time of it in this career.

Almost every artistic field will involve working with people who are “crass,” as you put it.

I suppose there are Catholic or non-Catholic Christian places where you will be able to work without coming into contact with these people.

But I think that if you can’t learn to tolerate some of the more far-out arty types, and if you are judgmental of things that they say and do, you will have a very hard time finding work.

Christians called to an artistic career generally seem to have an amazing God-given ability to hold onto their faith, keep a strong testimony, and yet get along and be friends with other people who are not Christians in their beliefs or behavior.

I hope it all works out for you. Like I said, I respect your right to follow your conscience when it comes to drawing nudes. But I’m not so sure that you have chosen a good career for yourself.
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I agree with this.

To the OP:
Check out these articles by Barbara Nicolosi. She writes and speaks on the topic of art and the role of Christians in the arts.

Hollywood Needs People Not Projects
The New Renaissance Won’t Begin in the Classroom
Beauty and the Church
 
I’m an artist and while I never took a life drawing class, many of my friends did. The Catholic ones (who are very good Catholics!) had no problem with it. Like someone said, it is all very clinical and businesslike like it would be in medical school. If it’s anything like the drawing classes I took, you will be very very busy.

And if your friends are crass about it, find better friends. I remember one of my friends telling me she had sketched nudes in class that week and she said giggling “shocking, isn’t it?” and we laughed about it once and that was that. 😃
 
I doubt I’m going to say anything that hasn’t already been said either way, but here’s my two cents. Nudity for the purpose of art is not sinful, as all of these posts that have talked about it in the Vatican Museums prove.

That being said, if you still personally feel uncomfortable with it to the point of obsessing over it, you shouldn’t do it.

I took several drawing classes in college and grad school (as an architecture and art history major). For the record, if you’re worried about fantasizing about the subjects after seeing them, I can tell you that the typical nude model - forgive me if I’m being unkind - is nothing to get excited about. Every body is beautiful in its own way because God made it, but the only ones we ever sketched were older, wrinklier, and looking at them was by no means an occasion of sin.

In fact, here’s a little bit of true humor: ten years later, when I start to have impure thoughts about a beautiful young woman I see somewhere in passing, I deliberately try to think about those models, and the impure thoughts vanish. There’s a case where nudity is actually used as a means of grace!😃
 
I have an art degree and was a nude model. I say if it bothers you, talk to your teacher ahead of time and tell them you have religious objections. Don’t be pressured into doing something you aren’t comfortable with. This is your comfort level, see? Pass on it. This is your life. Practice living it without peer pressure. Steady on!
 
I do not think it is is in any way possible to do animation in any medium (claymation, Flash, cel, Maya, you name it) without knowing how to draw. And that means you need to learn to draw the human figure. The only way to really do that is to draw the nude figure. Everything about the way people move, and how the muscles interact, and most importantly, the way weight is borne as the body moves and balances, is covered up by clothing. Trust me, your animation will be so much better if you learn to draw, and learn anatomy. The shifting of weight to the different bones and muscles is what will set your animation apart - just think of how much a person’s walk says about how they’re feeling. Probably 70% of the meaning of the stories you’re animating will be shown through body language alone. Once you start really animating a lot, you will love the way the body moves - it’s beautiful, and trying to make your animation do justice to it is a joy and a challenge.

That being said, maybe you could try and get a spot in the classroom where the model will face away from you or something, although they do tend to turn different directions so all the students get to draw a variety of poses. You can also learn a lot from books and from the sketches of masters like Michaelangelo.

I took several semesters of figure drawing, and it was a little awkward the first week of class, but the models are very professional, and the poses are usually modest. If you mention your concerns to the teacher, they will most likely be able to seat you somewhere where you feel more comfortable. Don’t do anything you believe is wrong, but it is harder to learn from books. One thing i actually found very helpful is to practice drawing clothed people - take a sketchbook with you to coffee shops, outside, or wherever there are a lot of people who will hold still for a while, and draw the way fabric moves and lays on the body. It’s actually much much harder, but it’s great practice.

I wish more animation programs made their students take drawing. Look at the preliminary work for all the Pixar movies and video games - those guys can draw! Many are accomplished artists in their own right who now use their skills for animation. I think you could find a way around drawing nudes if you want to, but I just don’t see how you can do animation with out learning to draw something at least - how will you do storyboards?

Good luck - animation is definitely worth the effort, but, as someone above pointed out, you can’t avoid crass people in the arts and entertainment world. Stay true to yourself, and God bless.
 
Rascalking said:
I agree that the oversexualization of the culture is scary and repulsive to me.As someone who is obsessed with painting and sculpting, the modern art movement is 99% rubbish. The ideals of truth and beauty have been destroyed, and now it’s just who can offened the most people.

Charles, a charecter in Brideshead Revisted, said it best when he says, “Modern Art is all bosh”

It is.
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I just finished reading Brideshead Revisited and watching the 13-part BBC miniseries. I hardly think the David is Modern Art.

As a student of art, I hope you weren’t referring to David and the like. I only assumed since you quoted the pp.
 
hey

thanks for all the responses! well…
i think i shall proceed with the class and just find the better position in the class where I cant see everything.
but if i can… i will prolong this subject toward the end of my degree so that hopefully, if i get good enough marks for this semester, I will do this subject on exchange. (yes… so hopefully UCLA!) so… hopefully, i dont have the nude model problem. but seriously, we’ll have to see… if i get the marks. I’l prolong it. otherwise… il just do the subject next sem! ><
 
armywife said:
I just finished reading Brideshead Revisited and watching the 13-part BBC miniseries. I hardly think the David is Modern Art.

As a student of art, I hope you weren’t referring to David and the like. I only assumed since you quoted the pp.
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No. David is not modern art by any way shape or means. David is, perhaps, one of the greatest sculptures in history.

Did my OP really look that way?
And Bridehead Revisted is the last great British Novel. I could go on for awhile about that.
 
Claire_C said:
I do not think it is is in any way possible to do animation in any medium (claymation, Flash, cel, Maya, you name it) without knowing how to draw. And that means you need to learn to draw the human figure. The only way to really do that is to draw the nude figure. Everything about the way people move, and how the muscles interact, and most importantly, the way weight is borne as the body moves and balances, is covered up by clothing. Trust me, your animation will be so much better if you learn to draw, and learn anatomy.
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As a Computer Science graduate who has touched on computer animation while studying and TAing graphics, I know this is very true. You could tell which students doing animation had studied the human body in depth and which ones hadn’t. I personally would jump at the chance to take a nude art class just because I’d like to illustrate stories for my own children, and realize that my greatest weakness is that I don’t really understand the way the human body works under all those “layers”.

A more in-depth exercise along the lines of drawing nudes that some artists do is to draw the actual “layers” of the human body - skeleton, muscles, and finally skin (nudes, in other words) - in different poses.

My advice to you would be to put the class off until you have a richer understanding of human sexuality and feel prepared to deal with any crassness you encounter, or try to avoid it. If you are early in your college career, you will probably mature a lot over the next couple of years (most college students do, I did) and if you are studying art in any form, you are likely to find the human body to be much, much more than merely sexual in its wonderful design. Also consider studying the Theology of the Body (from Pope John Paul II) to better understand the purpose and beauty in the human body. Christopher West has a simpler (although not as beautiful) set of writings and lectures on the Pope’s work, if you find the Pope’s writing itself too dense or too hard to get a hold of it.

Personally, I think real art is much more than just “fun”. Real art is not creative so much as revealing. It uncovers aspects of God’s creation, makes visible the beauty He has placed in the world, and shows fundamental truths about our world and our humanity in vivid, visceral ways.
 
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