"We begin each session with ten 10-second poses, then ten 30-second poses, two 1-minute poses, then four 5-minute poses. From then on we switch it up. We do either one 30-minute pose, then a 1-hour pose. Or we do a pose that lasts all day. A good model knows their body, how to use it, how to move it. It is an amazing privilege and luxury to have someone pose nude for you for countless hours, just to be studied.

We all think we know what a nose, hand, or leg looks like. But when it moves away from you or towards you there are all these deformations of what we think we know that start taking place. I teach [the students] to slow down and actually see what they are looking at. I point out what is misplaced or exaggerated, how to blend better to create a sense of volume, how to observe the negative spaces as well as the human form."

—Ana Fernandez, professor

"It hurts all the time. Something does. You want to make poses that are interesting or challenging to the students. But I'm much better now at picking poses that work on strengthening and healing my body rather than hurting it.

When I'm thinking about a pose I set up a picture, a scene, of who this character is and what they are doing. Sometimes people say, “Oh, it's a baby conducting an orchestra,” and I think “Yeah, that's exactly what I was thinking.” So, it's a projection, which is what good acting is about: projecting a concept, an image, or a scenario so that it's believable to the people.

Even in what appears to be a dormant pose, there's still some energy or action there. It's the difference between drawing a rock and a living creature. During stillness, you're still sending out massive amounts of energy. And I can also feel the energy being sent to me from the attention that the students are giving me.

It's an energy thing. Yeah, energy—and action, action, action."

—G. Randall Wright, model

"Before, I used to try to get my drawing as close to real life as possible. Now when I draw, I think about the fluidity, grace, and lines of the body. I want to be able to capture the energy of a living being in front of me."

—Agnes Lee, Practice of Art major '09

"I think about what the model could be thinking about, what kind of motion the gesture or pose implies.

For drawing, my favorite medium is charcoal or chalk pastels. I like the speed with which I can make shading and texture and I like the dark, matte quality of the lines. Plus, charcoal requires no sharpening. I don't like interruptions."

—Emily Zuckerman, Practice of Art major '10

"Honestly, if I'm thinking about anything in particular, I can't draw at all. I'm just immersed in the act of drawing on paper—the feeling of my pencil in my hand moving across the page and my eyes following the contours of my subject."
—June Lin, Sociology and Practice of Art major '09

"I like my work better on short poses because it is more fluid. When I concentrate on the long poses I sometimes lose my drawing rhythm and get distracted by trying to make it perfect."

—Iris Mallgren, Interdisciplinary Studies Field '09