I have been very fortunate with the models who have worked for me. Bad ones I do not hire back, so maybe it's more of a case of finding a model who can put up with me. Jordan put up with a few hundred bug bites just so I could find the right background for a painting I had in mind. Most of the time, working outdoors, we do not have trouble with bugs. Snakes were a problem on a few occasions. Brianna, a model who loved the outdoors, gave the snakes a bit of a hassle. She loves holding them when all they wanted to do was to find a meal. Linda packed up her things at first sight of a garden snake. She also didn't care for ducks, of all things. She did not like their mating habits.
Most give posing outdoors a valiant effort. Some models just like being nude outdoors. I like to see what outdoor lighting does to skin. Blues will appear on some models. I love the dappled lighting and movement of it as the wind blows. Wind keeps the bugs away and cools the girls on warm days.
Models critique poses and concepts I have in mind. One said she never read books laying on her back so I had her roll over on to her stomach, saving the laying on the back for another model. If they are not comfortable it will come through in the painting.
Other benefits of models are learning things, getting other viewpoints, from religion and politics to where to get the best pizza. I gravitate toward young models so I learn new ways of thinking and seeing. There is a constant exchange of ideas flowing around my studio.
When models are brought into the creative process they come alive and become excited about posing and the progress of the work. Some photograph the progress of their painting, a couple invite boyfriends or husbands to see what I am doing. No two models are alike. No two sessions are alike. It's why I love working with living models.
