I Am...and where I want to go

                                                      Photo by: G&D Studios


I am,as I have said before, a geek girl at heart.  But I am also an artist.... So while being drawn to cosplay and fun nerdy shoots, I am also drawn to deep, dark mysterious, moody and artistic shoots....I am more than happy to stand and show off clothes, or be silly and quirky if that is what you want me to do, but I want to do more too.

What does that mean to me,exactly?  Well that is when it gets hard to explain...how to explain "art" I want things that evoke a response, an emotion.I want to do things that haven't been seen before, I want to push my limits...I want to push the photographers limits.  Sometimes I want black and white and gritty images, but there is nothing wrong with pageantry and color either.

I suppose that I am a creature of contrasts...as truthfully, most people are. I like finding people that I can explore those contrasts with.  And I am very lucky that I have found more than one...and even more lucky that I can call them friends.

So, after being gone from here for the Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years Holidays....1. I am thankful for photographers that will explore those contrasts with me. and I resolve to work more with them in the upcoming year.  ( and also do my best to be better about posting here more often. )

Though that brings up....what kind of content would you want to see here in this next year?  Musings? ( Images are a given) more informational things about the industry as I see it?    Let me know what YOU want to see.

Gifts

By Gaylord Walter

I know, again, I apologise for not posting more often, and my excuse is the same.  I have not been shooting very much, but have been working mostly as an art model for the last couple months or so.  
Art modeling for me is much more consistent with bookings and pay than the print, or even promo modeling is, and I always love seeing how different artists will interpret the same pose, the same person, and in the classes even the same instructions....but they all come up with such different pieces.  And though I have seen all these lovely pieces, I very rarely actually get any.  ( a couple sketches here and there) And none ever finished.

This is a finished piece that a lovely gentleman by the name of Gaylord Walters brought in for me.  He is older, with a wry sense of humor, and he is a regular at a couple different drawing clubs that I model for. He brought this in for me, on a board, wrapped in plastic and very neatly wrapped in paper...When I thanked him sincerely for it, he said "you haven't even seen it yet"  I said I don't have to, because just the thought that he brought it in to give to me, I was floored by.

For me, when someone gifts you with something they have made, a piece of art from them, that is the type of gift that should be honored, and cherished, and trust me, I do.

 

Artists

By Tracey Padron EFT Studios

Since most of my money from modeling that comes in ( and my most consistent gigs) comes from Art modeling, just thought I would talk a little about that.

I have met many amazing artists, and recommend you go check out their work., I will try to supply links.

   The above piece was done by Tracey Padron at the Division Street Drawing Guild ( they meet every Thursday in Elgin)  I always love her use of shadows and high lights  , as well as her classical leanings.She is such a vivid, energetic,passionate person.  Her intensity while working always astounds me.

By JacQueline Zemke  

  JacQueline, seems always to be trying something new, and she tends to gravitate toward a wonderful use of color . I get to see her at the Dole Mansion Drawing group in Crystal Lake as well as The Division Street Drawing Guild. She is colorful in real life, not just in her work...it shines from her.

By Piotr Antonow 

And speaking of color, I met Piotr at one of the painting drawing workshops given by the amazing Evanston  Art Center,   All of his portraits are so very vivid. He has a sly sense of humor, and is really fun to work with.

By Chuck Kulma

Chuck is another I met at the Division Street drawing Guild in Elgin.  He does wonderful ,flowing watercolors. Chuck is great guy , mellow, funny  and I always find his work graceful.  


  There are SO very  many more artists that I have met in the 2 or so years I have been doing this ( but I don't have pictures/ examples of all of their works... which makes me sad, I need to be better about getting shots of things- if anybody ( hint, hint) wants to send me shots of finished pieces, I would love to do another version of this post...or make this type of post more regularly to share your art ) All of the people I have had the honor to work with are great people, and always make my work hours go so quickly. Humor,and kindness abound. Sculptors, painters, those working in pencil, pens, pastels. The teachers of workshops and classes, the students and artists.  I truly enjoy my time modeling for them.  It always fascinates me how many versions there are of the same pose , and the same person.It goes beyond just different angles and into truly different styles and approaches to the art itself.  It is truly beautiful to watch.

Just Inspiration

I am just going to post this link because these images are amazing lovely, and they inspire me.  Inspire me to get messy, to work even further on my flexibility and strength and inspire me to push even further. ( caution...they are nudes, though no bits are shown) By Ludovic Florent  the "Star Dust" series

Click here to see

Poses

Photo by Michael Barton Art

People always have questions about posing.... how should I do it?  What should I do? What in the world do I do with my HANDS?

It stands to reason that different types of modeling require different poses....though there is one consistent across all types " Suck it in, push it out"  Yup, just what it sounds like... suck in your tummy,push out your chest ( ladies, you may also arch your lower back a bit to accentuate your backside )  We won't get into facial expressions,that is a whole other post.

Because I like to do "arty" and think about lines and angles ( Fine Art Minor, you know), poses tend to be vaguely uncomfortable at the least, and sometimes actually hurt and can only be held for a few moments before a body part cramps up,or gives out.

You may think that is rather brutal...  I do it to myself, my goal is to have interesting, and on a good day , beautiful poses...though a photographer may urge me to push it, and strain more than I am all ready doing, I very, very rarely have one dictate a pose to me.  It helps that I do research for poses, depending on the type or theme of the shoot.  Anyone who says that modeling is just about standing there and looking pretty, isn't working hard enough.

Working out and being in shape and strong ( and yes,there are some bigger girls who are AMAZINGLY strong,so that is NOT a dig about size)   is crucial to the more strenuous poses, and being able to hold them...( and not let it show on your face)

Many poses, that look great as an image...don't even LOOK like they are that strenuous, until you try to do them yourself.....go ahead,put on a pair of heels and then try to copy some poses from magazines ( and not the just standing there ones that are showing off clothes and such) do the more art type ones...the ones where they are draped, folded, twisted or even bending.  See? Not as easy as you thought, huh?

On the subject of hands... to me they should match your body tension....if you are in a very graceful ,soft pose, your hands should match....if  there is tension in your body, your hands should be spread, or up on fingers or in some other way dynamic.Watch a dancer,of any kind, watch the kind of things they do with their hands.... work on emulating that.  

And on that note, I am going to work out .      

Experiments

All photos by Michael Barton Art

Yesterday's photo shoot was experimental  for me and Michael, the photographer, in many ways.

Experiments with light and wind and motion and capturing it all.

The shot with the leaves, we had to figure out how to light it, so there would be shadows....we didn't want to use photoshop, we wanted real time. ( nothing wrong with using photoshop,but that wasn't our goal)  Playing with positioning , figuring out how to get the leaves to fall "right' ( thus the fan) It was a puzzle that took almost 2 hours of back and forth experiment and test to get "right"  The image above is just a quick one... no real editing.... I am anxious to see more .

Then Michael wanted to experiment with multiple light bulbs ( he likes a single one and uses it quite a bit in shoots) he scrounges all over the area for parts to make 13..... and then had to figure out how to hang them.  I think the lights themselves were good....hanging needs to be worked on.  Then playing with settings to deal with ALL that light.  Again that was at least an hour in just set up.

Then I threw another loop,and brought out 3 strings of mini lights, which necessitated more testing and playing and experimenting.

It is a wonderful thing to have someone who is willing to do there own experiments, as well as more than willing to explore someone else s ideas and experiments. I am truly glad that I have found that kind of person in Michael Barton.  We push each other ( though I truly think he pushes me further...but he has been a photographer for far longer than I have been a model.  ) Finding a photographer that turns not only into  a friend, but someone that pushes you creatively...it's rare, and something to be truly grateful for.  

   

Noir

Photo by: Mike Liberacki ( SnackKing) 

Comfort

Photo by:Michael Barton Art

I am comfortable in my own skin ( no,I was not always) And most of my income from modeling comes from Art Modeling, that is to say ,modeling for painters, sculptors,those that work in graphite, charcoal,pastel and ink.  Most of the time fully nude. ( occasionally in costume) I work at art schools, clubs and for individual artists. I very, very , very rarely do nudes for photographers.

Why?
Well, for me, there has to be a REASON for nude. For example an artist working on how the body moves and works,needs to see the body actually doing it...so, that makes sense, does it not?
People ask "HOW do you DO that?" One key thing is that the artists typically are breaking you down...into proportion, line, shape,shadow.... you really are not being looked at as a body, hardly at all.  Go ahead, watch an artists face while working ,there is a focus, and intent there,that is wonderful to see,and you can see in their eyes, that you could be an apple, or fruit basket sitting there. And that is exactly as it should be.

For photography, There is a different vibe between the photographer and model. There is more interaction,typically. Though photographers also break things down to composition,shadow and light, in my experience there is still an awareness of you as a body.

What have been compelling reasons for doing nudes in the past?

One was for Gracie Hagen's Illusions of the Body series.  For me ,it made a real statement,that I agreed with.  That the way a person holds themselves can make them beautiful, and the perception of beauty perhaps plays too much upon that. So I was happy to contribute images for her upcoming book.

I will be doing a Yoga based shoot soon as well.  One,because Yoga poses are inherently beautiful,and with the addition of shadows  , will be playing off the lines and angles that the body makes. The human body is a beautiful thing It is art,it is beauty, and making it move though yoga or dance is beautiful to capture.

I do, obviously have to trust the photographer as well.  The first time I shoot with someone, probably is not the time to bring it up to me.  It is certainly not the time to bring it up if I am not getting paid for the shoot. If you just want me to stand there,and be naked....that is not a compelling reason for me.  It's just not.  And won't happen.   I am not looking to do Playboy type shoots ( nothing wrong with them,just not me) I am not looking to bare it all,just to do it....I am not looking to prove that I am comfortable,I am not looking to prove that I am desirable. I am just looking to make beautiful images.  Images in different genres, images that call up different emotions.   I am looking to make art.... and if that seems a lofty goal , maybe it is.  Sometimes I will hit the mark, sometimes I won't , but the striving to the goal, is just as important as getting there.
     

Publication and Making it

                          Photo by: Michael Jones Sootie's Doll Photography

Many models have a goal... to "make it" but what does that mean?  Undoubtedly for many, Publication.  In a book, in a magazine, ads, bill boards. I am no exception, though my version of "making it" might be slightly different than some models.

I will never be a runway model ( with the slight possibility of being a"gimmick" in some show....you know the ones that use older people in mohawks, or people that are real sized.  Every year, some designer mixes these types  into the mix of the more typical runway fare. But then, the "gimmicks" are really never seen again)
I am too short, not thin enough , not young enough, and I am fine with that.

But my goal is still publication.
And I have been, over 13 times, in the last year- year and a half.  All of them small, web based magazines ( which means you can get them as a solely digital copy or order a printed copy, which is printed up and  bound per order...one at a time.  Usually though portals such as MagCloud)
I am also in an online catalog for a   clothing rental and sales business targeted to models  called The Clothed Image      and I will soon be online for a company called ECONICA ( so far just on Etsy, but she will be launching a stand alone website soon)  BUT..

But does that mean I have "made it" ? Not in my own eyes.  Not one of the publications paid, or the catalog work. ( aside from barter...which is awesome too, I have zero complaints) So what does "making it" mean to me?

Paid work,weather it be being paid by the photographer, or by the business that pictures are being taken for.  Publication in a magazine that one could get at a newsstand.  Work for more catalogs . So what am I saying? More steady paid work.  So goals for this year:
1. Publication in print ( I have done sort of...more on that later-though I will work on a magazine as soon as my tattoo is done)
2. Representation of more clothing and accessory lines .
3. Continuing to be in web based magazines, and web based sites for exposure.
4. Continuing entering contests, not necessarily to win ( though that would be nice) but for the exposure.

 I DO have agency representation ( which for some people, never happens...not with a real life, brick and mortar agency) But as wonderful and nice as they are , over at Kingdom Model Talent Agency I do not leave my working solely in their hands.  I submit sets to magazines, web sites, I check the sites for gigs, almost every day. Lots and lots of e-mails....and network, network, network.

Sometimes things fall into place, sometimes they do not.
I submitted images from the set above to a very arty magazine, I just got word that they like the look, but they are not of the quality that they are looking for.  Such is life....do I resubmit them somewhere else?  Possibly. Or I post them on my FaceBook fan page, and then that is as far as they go.... these are decisions to be made.
I responded to a casting call on ModelMayhem from a wonderful photographer I had worked with a year, maybe a year and a half ago, Gracie Hagen.  She is bubbly and funny and very talented with an unusual eye( and has a great smooshy faced /exotic shorthair cat)  
She is doing a series called Illusions of the Body that has been written up in the Daily Mail  and  Huffington Post  as well as a host of other blogs and websites.  ( note, if you visit the links....they may not be suitable for work viewing, they are nude portraits)
Her concept is this. Create double images with the same model, lighting, post process, background.  One image is in a more conventional "pretty" or model like pose. One that shows off and is meant to be gorgeous.  The next image is sloughed, pulled in, hunched over.... very definitely not pretty.  What I took from it ( and I will not put words in her mouth, this is simply my take on it.  ) It speaks to how we present ourselves, and others perceptions.  If I stand or walk or look "thus"  I am pretty, If I stand or walk or look "this" then I am awkward, and not attractive.  But I am the same regardless.
She has used models, non models, male , female and ALL different body types.  She needed a redhead... and there we go.  I will be published , along with the 49 or so other people in her 8x10 book "Illusions of the Body" around May 1.
SO...Into one publication yesterday, and refused by another....that is this business.  Some you make,some you don't .  

Just a peek

                            Photo by: Michael Barton Art

Back

  Photo by: Michael Barton Art

Organza

                             from the ORGANZA series by Blue Note Images  

Second, and the real beginning.

                            Photo by: MYK Productions HMUA: Nicole Lanute


This is from my second Photoshoot on   8-27-12.
Taken by My dear, old friend Mike Jones ( he is my age,but I have known him for well over 20 years)

He had come back to the Chicago area to go to school , and get a degree in digital photography, and he wanted to work on his portfolio.  He,knowing I had recently lost much weight, wanted me to model for him.  I had enjoyed my session with Aza Azunia so much that I agreed.  I figured I would get a couple shots, and get to spend the day with some of my best friends...win, win right?

So he came over,helped me pick out some wardrobe from my closet, and we set a date the next week.

Nicole, the MakeUp and hair artist, I had known from a former job where she had been the receptionist, I a  designer, and I had put Mike and she in contact.

Mike picked up Nicole and they came over to my house ( these were all shot in the forest preserve behind my house...it has been used several times by me for shoots...as well as by other photographers in the area)
Having someone else do my makeup was a rather novel experience for me ( still is, since 99%of the time I still do my own makeup and hair)  So we got dressed and done and trooped out to the woods.

Mike still is a very mellow guy,but becomes very focused when shooting, he gives tips if he feels it is needed, but for the most part lets you do your thing ( though he will get flashes where he is like " we have to do THIS" )  As the day went on...he kept saying things like " you are good at this" " you should do this" " you SERIOUSLY need to do this"  I laughed at him. I told him " I am 40 years old, short and tattooed, how is THAT going to work?" Only knowing at that time runway and high fashion type modeling where yes...young and tall and very thin are indeed the rule.

Thank goodness for Mike and his stubborn insistence that this was a path I should look into!

Finally after about a month of him bugging me about it, I did some research....lo and behold,there is a market for alternative types such as myself.  Is it huge? No. Will I EVER make the kind of money as the women working fashion week or in the pages of Vogue make. No. But you know what, that is ok.  I partly do this, because as an artist, ( I paint and am a designer) I enjoy  using myself , to help others to make a different type of art. Because I believe that yes, photography is just as much an art form as Painting ( or it can be...it isn't always)   I enjoy pushing myself to learn to be better...working on poses...to make them interesting, better, finding better angles, expressions, positions.  Working on hair and makeup for different looks ,and different eras.  Finding interesting outfits and concepts to push not only myself,but the photographer.
Learning and pushing myself, and showing people that one doesn't have to be 19 ,and rail thin to be published,or even signed ( yes,I am agency signed...it is a small local one, but they are good people, and they are working hard. Kingdom Model Talent Agency, go check them out if you are casting or looking to model yourself )
All in all, I enjoy what I do,and am excited to see where this path will lead.

     

Dramatic Shadows

                                                             Photo By Michael Barton Art

Shadowed

                            Photo by: Michael Barton Art

I have been thinking of offering this as a poster for sale.... any thoughts?