To know the model.

 

A stranger enters the studio, undressing, talking small talk, some politics,

What does he do besides modeling, for whom did he model.

You find - or you don’t - mutual acquaintances.

 

The body’s nakedness bears but itself and her or his face reflects what’s there. Nothing foreign casts its shadow.

 

There is no pose, only a position. And when it is a comfortable one, when there is no effort involved and the model withdraws into her or himself

the face acquires a genuine expression reflecting feelings,

at times the personality too.

 

Eyes looking at the model. One hand strokes the paper checking its dimensions, its texture, pausing where the other would start drawing:

the center of the body? a certain wrinkle? the hands or toes...

or his face expression, which is especially interesting when the body is naked.

 

And you begin drawing your own impression, his relaxation, his embarrassment, the boredom and the concentration.

Suddenly her or his eyes move, examining you back, fighting back.

Assuming a mask, resisting the arrest.

 

A living body and a still one. The magic of drawing and the void of disappointment for traying to interpret on paper the moment of apprehension.

 

E.D.

November 1995