My Short, Eventful Modeling Career
I’ve always thought of myself as a modest person, almost to the point of denial. It would come as a huge surprise to many of my friends and acquaintances that for a week during my senior year of college I worked as a nude model. It took a lot of convincing from my roommate, who had earned some extra money over the years by posing for studio art classes. I was in such dire financial straits at the time that I finally agreed to do it.
Much to my surprise, the teacher and her students made the experience as comfortable and laid-back as possible. I was exceedingly nervous for the first few minutes, but everyone in the room was used to sketching nude models. By the end of the class I had almost forgotten about my initial discomfort entirely. Then I heard the squeak of an adjustable easel and it brought me back to reality. It’s not an experience I would ever try again, but it was a liberating one nonetheless.
A Brief History of the Easel
Easels are known to have been in use since at least the time of the Egyptians. The excavation of King Tutankhamen’s tomb has records of small, hand-held easels. It is believed that they were used during speeches and orations as we now use flip charts.
By the early middle ages, the easels became more commonplace. These were very large vertically slanted wooden structures filling an entire room with its uprights and crossbars.
A Hero to Young Painters Everywhere
When I was still in elementary school, I always looked forward to art class. It gave me the chance to show off the skills I had accumulated over the weekend. You see, most of what I knew about art as a kid came from the beloved PBS show “The Joy of Painting” and its benign yet encouraging host, Bob Ross. Those with fuzzy memories might recall Ross as the guy with the Afro who always painted variations of mountain landscapes.
It got to the point where I would wake up extra early on Sunday mornings – the time slot allotted to the show in my area – and set up a kids easel in the living room. I lined up all of my supplies: some watercolors, a few pastels and colored pencils and of course plenty of paper. It always amazed me how Ross could turn a few seemingly random blobs of color on his canvas into a work of art by the end of the show.
Montmartre: Art from Above
Paris is widely recognized as a city of romance and endless visual appeal. It seems that every building was designed to be seen and every vista to be enjoyed. Given its reputation, it’s no surprise that the City of Lights would be a haven for bohemian types – thinkers, academics and artists. For centuries, painters have attempted to capture the essence of Parisian life from a scenic perch north of the city: Montmartre.
Over the years, such artistic talents as Claude Monet, Salvador Dali and Pablo Picasso pointed set up their easels near the Sacre Coeur Basilica and painted the nearby sites. Sometimes they would home in on the street level, paying close attention to the burlesque show performers and panhandlers who frequented the area. Other times they would paint lush landscapes featuring what seemed like miles and miles of rooftops.