Student models secure baring all

Rochelle Norwood has spent many of her childhood summers bathing in the glistening sun and has always been accepting of her body and the attributes given to her. Norwood, among several other students, chose to pose for a life drawing class this semester. "Intermediate Life Drawing," an art course taught by Professor Vernon Patrick, captures the human figure and its models in the nude. The course offers a challenge and opportunity for students who seek a foundation for other arts. "I was raised in an environment of nudity, and I`m pretty comfortable with my body," said Norwood, a Butte College student. Patrick said in the life drawing class students really have to try and depict the exact person. "The human form is very complex so it`s challenging," Patrick said. "There`s a structure there. You not only have to try to represent the model in a very realistic way, but you look at the drawing and it`s either right or it`s wrong." Junior Seth Wallace is just starting his first semester as a life model and has never been shy toward nudity. "I get to stand there naked and get paid and I really don`t care if people see me nude," Wallace said. "I think half of Chico State`s already seen me naked. Before being hired, Wallace went through a professional interview. "In the interview they ask you if have any prior training in acting or modeling," Wallace said. "He asked me a lot about what I was doing exercise-wise." Patrick explained every interview sets out to find each candidates background and motivations for wanting to model. "I look for people with natural ability," Vernon said. "A lot of times having dance or theater experience helps. If the poses are more expressive, they tend to be more interesting to draw." During each class session the model starts by posing in gestures, sometimes called warmup exercises, which last from 25 to 30 minutes in one-minute intervals. "They want to capture the life form -- just the general shape," Wallace said. "And then they have longer poses that the teacher sets you up in." Norwood said she understands why she was interviewed about her background. "It`s kind of an active but non-active thing," Norwood said. "You`re bending your legs and you can hold a pose for like an hour in a sporty-type position. As I go along, I`m getting better at telling the class, `OK, I need a break -- I need a drink of water.`" Life modeling is something junior Katie Hosteny said she could never do. "I would consider it because it is a sexy form of art, so I`m for it," Hosteny said. "But when it comes down to it, I probably wouldn`t do it. It requires a certain person to be completely OK with their body." Sophomore Bryan Abubo agrees that life modeling is not for everyone. "Not everybody feels comfortable with the fact that people are going to be looking at you and drawing you, and you don`t know what`s going on in their heads." Abubo said. "They could be doing their work or they could be checking you out." Senior Melissa De Jong is taking "Intermediate Life Drawing" this semester and said the model is looked at as an object. "The first couple of classes I was a little uncomfortable because I wasn`t used to looking at anyone like that," De Jong said. "The person ends up becoming like a piece of furniture. You see them as something you`re drawing, not a person with their clothes off." De Jong said life modeling is difficult for both the model and the artist. "I have a lot of respect for the models because they get into a lot of difficult positions," De Jong said. "The human form is the most challenging thing to draw and it`s something I have to work at."