Learning human anatomy is an important part of the study in classical art. Drawing a nude model not only teaches you skills in patient rendering but also anatomy. In the Academy you work on one single nude drawing for up to 6 weeks with a total of ~50-60 hours ending up super realistic.
See here a 6 week charcoal drawing of a male nude by Dorian Iten done at the Angel Academy of Art. If you scroll down the page he is posting a step-by-step (click here to get right there). Dorians website.
Nude models can be expensive. Where I live they get payed around 13 € per hour.
So for one drawing you would need 50-60 hours x 13€ = 650-780 €.
The low budget “real” nude model
I’ve researched for Mannequins and – wow – there are very good ones! Well suited to your needs, which is learning realistic anatomy rendering. These are one time investments for 100 – 400 € for endless hours of nude modeling for you! How awesome is that?
For ~400 € you can have these awesome Mannequins which equals 30 hours of a living model:
http://www.schneiderpuppen-fachhandel.com/Schaufensterpuppe-Damen/Schaufensterpuppe–Sport/
and these:
http://www.schneiderpuppen-fachhandel.com/Schaufensterpuppe-Herren/Schaufensterpuppe–Sport-113/
But it goes even cheaper – a nude model for under 100 €!
This one for 82 €:
Additional the wig for ~13 €:
http://www.amazon.de/Songmics-Per%C3%BCcke-Glatt-Schwarz-WFF021/dp/B00B5PUKFE/ref=pd_sim_k_1
AND: it is painted and has eye lashes! Ok – the feet are a bit off but the detail in the hands is awesome!
If you are learning at home or you are giving courses these Mannequins can help you either save money or reduce the course fee. You can also find others to share the costs for such a Mannequin.
Yes, these are no living models which can make countless poses and different models have different body types but these Mannequins should be sufficient for more than one drawing. You should Google for prices and availability for your country.
Take a look at Shawn Sullivan’s blog where he shows the steps of his painting with a Mannequin.
Remember when I showed you free photo references as nude model substitutes?
Coming back to the free photo references from an earlier post, this is what I am currently working on basing on one of the free nude model photos of different vendors. See the blog post for further information.
Good work!