Streaking

It's all about location. Gold Beach has one, Port Orford has one, but in Coos Bay and North Bend there isn't a single one to be had. That's a shame and so unlikely. Coos Bay and North Bend are much bigger than Port Orford or Gold Beach. Why do artists from here have to drive to Port Orford for a figure drawing session?

Yes, I know one of the basic principals of figure drawing is having a figure to draw. Yes, that usually means a naked figure. Okay, for artistic purposes nude, but it still requires and naked person.

Is the climate in CB and NB so conservative we have no cultural space for figure drawing? This is a time-honored artistic discipline and for ages it has been the basic building block of art students so why don't we have a class?

Now I am sure most Oregon drivers aren't allergic to the roads like I am, but even with patience to deal with two-lane roads and slow traffic Port Orford is a long way away. Are they more, (shudder) liberal? Could they be more artistic? Could they be poorer?

Sadly it is true, most nude models come from the disadvantage segments of society. Toulouse Lautrec did not paint the brothels and ladies of negotiable virtue because they were his favorites, okay, I suppose you have me there, they were his favorites, but the fact remains, most people not named Kardashian or working in the film business do not take their clothes off in public. So could times be so good that no one is willing to pose nude?

Not if all the empty buildings in the neighborhood are any measure. So there must be folks who could use a modeling fee. What's that? Yes, you would probably attract the less fortunate and beautiful, but figure drawing is not about capturing the human body in all of its glory, its about capturing the human body. You gotta do that before you do glory and all the other things which separate drawing from magazine covers.

What about one of the traditional sources of models, students? Neither Port Orford nor Gold Beach have a college and yet they have models. Tch, tch, college students are old enough to make up their own minds and not be corrupted by sitting naked while a bunch of artists draw. You can't claim modern college students are so delicate they can be ruined by the sight of a nude body. They do watch television and go to movies and just in case you haven't there are a lot nude folks in the flicks. Some of'em are even nekkid.

So we have a source of potential models in an area where incomes have not kept pace with expenses and still no figure drawing class.

Would artists not benefit or attend? The Plien Air guys drive all the way to Port Orford and they pay a model most of the time so there is interest. No benefit? That's up to you. If you are steadfastly against people in paintings, then you should have stopped reading a long time ago.

I have heard that most people don't want paintings of people in their homes and offices. That's just sad. People have been the subject of artists since the first shaggy, stooped-shouldered, knuckle-dragger notice a reflection in a lake. It's still the subject many artists begin with, themselves. So if it is the one thing people have been using since that ole knuckle-dragger, why don't we have a figure drawing class?

The artists of the South Coast are the most important, active and compelling influence on the cultural and intellectual lives of the whole community, but they have to travel to the next county to learn to draw.