Self reference for figure drawing

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DeoGratias07

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Hi everyone!
I want to learn how to figure draw but I want to avoid using nude models or photos of nude models so I’ve been taking pictures of myself in the nude (with window blinds shut and photos hidden in secret) in order to use them for my drawings.
Just wondering whether there would be anything immodest about this.

Thanx so much! (Kinda embarrassing…)
 
I understand you want to learn to figure draw, but if you are questioning about immodesty and it’s bothered you enough to post on the internet maybe it’s time to draw something else. Focus on hair and full clothed figures. God bless.
 
My experience with figure drawing is that I’m concentrating so hard on rendering line and shape that I forget that I’m drawing a human being. I actually feel bad that I’m objectifying people like that.

The small community art organization I teach for offers open studio sessions with a clothed model, maybe your community has something like that.

Also, you could always copy the drawings from art books or from the masters, never a bad practice. Then there’s always the wonderful tradition of the self-portrait.

The figure is a challenging but rewarding subject. Once you learn to draw the figure you can draw anything. I think it’s good that your interested in it.
 
My reason for using myself as a reference is that it is less of a potential occasion of sin for me, since I am less likely to objectify myself. That being said, if I do continue in figure drawing i would need other references too.
 
Thanks for the advice. It’s not a serious doubt that I have about figure drawing, but I just want to leave no stone overturned, if you know what I mean.
 
First of all, how old are you? (Don’t answer that; it’s a rhetorical question.)

Obviously you should be careful about any nude photos of yourself, but if you’re a minor, you can make significant legal trouble for yourself by having nude photos of yourself around. Be careful.

Second, I know a fair number of artists. Photos are okay for reference, but the only way to learn to draw is from life – from a 3D thing or figure sitting in front of you. Otherwise, you will fall into bad habits, like drawing a flat photo image instead of an object. You can look at some art and just tell they draw from photos. It’s especially obvious with portraits. (Ugh.)

Mirrors are much the same as photos, albeit reversed and with a little more depth and liveliness. That’s why self-portraits are such an artistic challenge; artists are trying to defeat the 2D mirror picture.

If you are really interested in drawing the human figure, you can’t learn from drawing exclusively from a photo or a mirror. That’s why they have such a thing as drawing classes with nude models.

OTOH, if you don’t feel comfortable with nude figure classes, why not draw athletes? Heck, why not hang out at the swimming pool this summer? You can do plenty of anatomy studies at the swimming pool, even if some of the bits are covered. Just learn to draw quickly.

(And don’t draw minors at the swimming pool, because yup, that can cause legal troubles and misunderstandings. Nobody worries if you draw old people.)
 
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Ooh, yes! Good answer! Drawing Greco-Roman statues is actually one of the traditional ways for young artists to learn how to draw! It used to be a thing to have little figurines so you could draw at home, too.

But yup, you still have to do live anatomy studies, because statues don’t have bones and muscles; they just look like they do.
 
Raphael, Michaelangelo, Botticelli, Donatello, and Caravaggio all used nude artists. The nude individual is not inherently sexual, in fact, the nude individual is beautiful. Studying art reveals this detail about the aim of art, the final goal of art. The “end” of art is the representation of human beauty expressed in the human form.

You aren’t doing anything sinful, if this is the purpose of which you take pictures. Make sure your pictures aren’t in the cloud. Use a Polaroid if you must. It isn’t sinful, nor is it wrong. History has your side.
 
Classical drawing classes tend to feature models that are not sexy. This is a feature, not a bug, and it makes students draw what they see, instead of an ideal in their heads. So yup, a lot of models who have interesting rolls of fat, or skinny old geezers.

I don’t think objectification is going to be a problem for you.

But that said, obviously it’s more important to continue learning drawing now, in a way that won’t embarrass you.
 
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From talking to friends who were art students–when they were drawing from live models (nude included) it was strictly business. There was nothing sexual about it.
 
This is true. Most nude models are in their natural form. Men and women each, all natural.
 
Just curious, what legal trouble could a minor get himself into by having nude pictures of himself?
 
This has clarified a lot of things for me. Thanx to all of you.
 
Mintaka said:
So yup, a lot of models who have interesting rolls of fat, or skinny old geezers.
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on_the_hill said:
From talking to friends who were art students–when they were drawing from live models (nude included) it was strictly business. There was nothing sexual about it.
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I took figure drawing classes in college, and both these quotes are accurate. It’s the best way to learn, and is not sexual at all. I wished the models would wear underwear, but you ignore the nudity and I wouldn’t even notice it…too busy drawing. I definitely recommend against taking nude photos of yourself. That is only going to get you into trouble in this day and age, and if you’re a minor it’s illegal. Get a full-length mirror ($20 at Wal-mart), use statues, museums, swimming pools, the beach, even friends wearing tight-fitting clothes. And if you’re still loving drawing, eventually you might be up for a class.

*I also used some figure drawing books featuring step-by-steps and photos of nude models and they were extremely helpful. Check out amazon and art stores, maybe even the library.
 
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DeoGratias07 said:
taking pictures of myself in the nude (with window blinds shut and photos hidden in secret) in order to use them for my drawings.
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If one really wants to learn figure drawing there are plenty of resources without the need whatsoever for you to have somebody’s privates exposed, or using pornography for reference, or for you to be prancing around naked. Be careful. If you dig to uncover and bring to light what you are really doing it may have nothing to do with learning how to draw and much more to do with the seed of a growing fetish with nudity and porno under the guise and excuse of art. Another question is what do you intend to do with your drawings. One has to be careful with this, as the spirits of the dark have time-tested ways of slowly pulling someone into a world of slavery, to pornography and impurity by suggesting, and very innocently rationalizing you down a road you already know you shouldn’t go. Just the fact that you are doing things in secret is a sign of the wicked spirits singing and leading the way.

If you really need to learn figure drawing for the glory of God, then there is an amazing app called ArtPose which allows artists to pose a figure and add lighting to any pose; the figure’s muscles and skeletal structure all correctly move and hold depending on the pose.
If you have a good holy priest to go to, take this exact issue to him and confess it and you will see what he will tell you. Archbishop Sheen taught that one of the traits of the demonic is love of nudity…
 
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