Art imitating life

The circumference  of  the  classroom  speckled  with  paint- stained,  high-front-stools,  col- ored  the  mosaic  of  students,  instructor  and  subject  preparing  for  class.  Tablets  of  paper  and  charcoal  instruments  were  un- packed  and  positioned  as  the  ife  model  disrobed.  Stepping  onto  the  carpeted  latform,  the  young man  sat  completely  naked  on   stool, his arms behind his back. A group of young  men and women surrounding him quietly gazed on,  endering  life on paper. The very beginning of art- stry is conceived in the introductory courses of life  rawing.

Marciano Martinez is one of three the instructors  or the life drawing courses. He views nude drawing  s an essential element of art instruction. “All the el- ments of art are here in this particular class, a love  f drawing and the love of the human fgure, to see  ow similar we are, and that we come from the same  uman source,” Martinez said.  Martinez’s approach  to  the class  is  to frst  teach  he  techniques of doing a gesture, where you draw  ery quickly the form by moving your hand in con- what he describes  as  a  “defused ghostlike  image”.  As  students  begin  to  understand  the  fgure,  the  muscles  and  skeleton, Martinez has  them  incorpo- rate all the elements into a single rendering. “In my  project,  I do a  line drawing, a shaded drawing and  a  foreshortening drawing  (looking at  the fgure  ly- ing down,  straight on, using a perspective element  that  is  towards you). Everything  that you do  from  now on will  require you  to understand  these  tech- niques, whether it’s storyboarding for the flm indus- try  or  cartooning.  It’s  the  basics  of  human  form,”    Martinez said.

The  students  frst  start with  basic  structure  and  movement of the body for the frst set of fve-minute  sessions, referred to as warm-ups. They return to the  subject  to  add  further detail during  the  ten-minute  sessions. As  Chalise  Gadson,  a  frst-year  graphic  design  major  describes,  the  instructor  circles  the  room observing his students pausing to demonstrate  proper  technique  and  application of  line-work  and  shading. “If we do not understanding the structure,  he will draw over the paper and correct it,” Gadson  adds, “It’s diffcult at frst and it takes a little while  to get it down.” 

"I ask  them  if  I  can  work  on  their  paper,  you  think  you  can  see  it  until  you  start  drawing.  I  have  to  draw  from  their  position;  it  takes  a  long  time  for  a  person  to  really  see  that  form,” Martinez said.  

The  life  drawing  class  is  free  of  requirements  and open  to  all with  the desire  to  learn  the  art of  the  human  form.  “Hopefully,  they  would  have  taken  a  basic  drawing  class  frst,  but  at  this  point  it  is  not  required.    Instead  they go  through  the gestalt method  of dropping yourself into the total emersion of drawing  and  becoming  a  professional  artist,”  Martinez  said.  Antoinette Sun had never taken an art class before this  semester.  She describes the course and individual class  progression. During the onset of the course the instructor  “…briefy discuses the basics, the outline, the structure,  the fundamentals,” Sun said. “You have  to do a quick  ‘scratch’ (the gesture drawing) before you would do a  full fgure. For  the  rendering, you  just have  to  squint  your eyes and focus on the muscles. Eventually it forms  into a complete picture.”  

All  three  of  the  levels  of  classes,  beginning,  inter- mediate and advanced, are taught simultaneously. “We  observe the other, more advanced, students to see if we  can catch something that they are doing so that we can  add or improve our work,” Gadson said. Like any class  found in the spring and fall schedule, the course work  follows its benefactor’s home. The homework comes in  the form of handouts featuring  the musculature of  the  body utilized for the purposes of replication and study.   

The separation between the echelons of classes is, in  many ways, dependent on  the  focus of  the  instructor.  One instructor may emphasize the greater detail of the  anatomy; muscles, bone, and fngers. For the advanced  classes, Martinez encourages his students to be expres- sive in their work; to see themselves in the art they con- struct to achieve an emotional connection.   

“With the more advanced students, they will begin to  have a special  interest,  they become self-motivating,”  Martinez said.  “I or an advanced student  like Amdre  Martenez,  who  is  now  separated  from  the  course  by  two  semesters,  life  drawing  remains  a  valuable  experience.  “The  class  is  much  more  interesting  then  just painting,  drawing or  still-life,”  said Martenez, “because people  are  just  so  different. 

Things  that  I  learned  in  life  drawing, I continue to apply in my paintings now.”  The  nude  models  for  Fullerton  College  are  contracted  by  professional modeling  agencies, whose  participation  is  arranged  through  the  arts department.  The participation of these nude models, of course, adds  an element of sex that attracts controversy.  

“You go to a bar and you get aroused. This is totally  different,” Martinez said, adding, “There is no possible  way to get information looking at a mannequin that you  can get from looking at a real live model. It has nothing  o do with nudity; it’s a form, a life form.” Though Martinez  explains  that  in  his  40  years  of  teaching,  he  has  never  encountered  an  instance  of  student immaturity, according to some of his protégés,  initially, it’s diffcult not to be aware of the gravity of  the situation.

“At  frst,  it was  a  little weird  because  you’re  like,  gosh, there’s a naked person in front of me,” 22-year- old  art  student April Eriksson  said,  “But  then  you’re  like ‘Oh crap, I’ve got to draw’...then after that it’s no  big deal.”  Student Candice George said of her frst experience  drawing a live model, “It was different. It takes a couple  of minutes to get past the fact that this person is nude.”

For  Jennifer  Fabos  Patton,  age  40,  organizer  and  producer  of  the  modeling  collective  known  as  Gallery Girls,  and herself  a nude model, developing  the courage  to pose  in front of a class was a process  years in the making. According to the crimson-haired  beauty with  the penetrating blue eyes, she started by  modeling  privately  for    the  Bohemian  artist  Jirayr  Zorthian before moving on to art school. But even with some  experience  under  her  belt,  she  said  it  was  an  initially intimidating experience. 

“The  frst  time was  a  little  shocking.   There were  at  least 25 students  in a classroom,” Patton said.   She  explained  that  because  of  the  class  size,  two models  were  used,  with  each  placed  at  opposite  ends  of    the room.  “That made it a little more comfortable because I had  somebody else to actually look at and see what she was  doing  and  see  that  she was  comfortable,” Patton  said  adding, “Once you start, you’re not looking at yourself  and you kind of forget you’re naked.” Though  he  views  the  usage  of  nudity  and  art  instruction with a matter-of-fact perspective, instructor  Martinez  said  his mother, who was  deeply  religious,  initially resisted allowing him  and  his  brother  to  draw nude models when  they were in high school.  “(She  said)  ‘they’re  going  to go  look at sexy  fgures.’  Then,  fnally,  our priest went to talk to  her  so  she would  let me  go,” Martinez said. 

Though  Patton  said  her husband of six years  has  never  expressed  disapproval  or  jealousy  as  the  result  of  her  chosen  profession,  she  said she has encountered  romantic  advances  from  students,  as  well  as  instructors,  in  the  past.  She  explains,  however,  that  it’s  not  entirely  unexpected  and  doesn’t necessarily  progress  to  a  physical  stage.  “There’s  defnitely  an  intimacy  because  you’re  somehow  bonding with  each other  and  creating  this  art. You’re  creating something out of this relationship between you  and them.”  

The  process  of  learning  through  the  life  drawing  class may begin with the instructor but, it carries over  into  the world  of  professional  artists  as well. Once  a  year, for four to six days, students can observe an artist  in residence in order to advance their technique. Guest  artists have been given limited retainers by FC since the  1970s;  beginning with Wayne Thiebaud,  a  renowned American painter.

The  Guest  Artist  Program,  which  is  traditionally  a  feature  of  large  endowment  colleges,  has  become  successful  enough  to  encourage  emulation  by  other  community  colleges  such  as  Pasadena  City.    A  stipulation  of  the  contract  with  FC  requires  that  the  ‘artist in residence’ donate the art they produce in class  to the school. A simple charcoal or sketch rendering by  a guest artist often increases beyond the value of their  fee. Pastel drawings by Raul Aguiano that were donated  to the college were estimated to be worth $25,000. The  Guest Artist Program suffered for a time as California  budget matters  began  to  deteriorate.  Funding  for  the  program  was  lost  only  to  be  rescued  by  community  members through donations.