Drawing/painting nudes

[JeSuisAmericaine]

Hi VT, I'm facing a major dilemma: I am an artist trying to understand how to accurately portray the human body, but don't have any unclothed models at my disposal (or any models for that matter), and I guess people don't think it's appropriate for 13-year-olds to see naked people. It would be the easiest way to learn. Problem is, as far as I know it may be the only way to learn. I can't just search "naked people" or whatever on the web because the only computer I have belongs to my school, and I don't have any pictures in books...
please help!

[Nolf]

hm. thats a hard dilemma. my say would be to possibly get books from the library, the ones that i know have naked pics are these sex ed ones called "whats happening to my body" or if your card being monitored by like, parents, be discreet and creative by just getting books on greek myths/ statues/ arcitexture. Greeks put up probably thouands of art pieces of naked bodies so i can garentee you will find some stuff there. if those dont work, then draw from what you know. when no model presents itself then ue yuor own body. it may sound weird by bodies are anonymous enough people wont know the difference. i know arists that do that, so good luck

[spartanrob]

Ask a friend. Maybe a fellow artist would be willing and then you could return the favor.

[Giles]

As Nolf suggested, Greek statues are your best bet. That can look like a completely innocent internet search if needs be.

[Ambrosia]

Since you're so young, maybe you should wait a while before you start looking at naked people. Try painting someone naked without actually seeing someone naked. Then, once you're able to see a naked person, you can compare and contrast. You may be more accurate than you think. Plus, it's more artistic to paint what you believe the human body is than what the human eye believes it to be.

[Kitten]

at the age of 13, it does look rather odd to be sketching a nude. As LoveLikeWinter suggested, maybe it's better to wait until your at least 16. Practice every range of the human body before you put it all together into one nude sketch.
Otherwise, if you feel you are ready, go for the greek statues, as suggested above.

[Weeping]

Would it be possible to get an anatomy book?

[starbrite5]

There are sites where you can find realistic visuals of the human body without the skin. It's hard to find anything sexual or inappropriate about a lump of random tissue and bones.

[darkwoon]

Some sources you can use:

Anatomy books for the artist: They often don't contain photographies of models, but they show a lot of realistic drawings of the human anatomy as a whole. I don't think anybody would ever see such books as pornographic or offensive ;)

Stock pictures on the web: an extensive source for those is DeviantArt's Resource & Stock Images>Stock Images>Model. Again, few nudes there (though you can probably find some of), but you can find tons of photographies of real people. This is definitely something to check out. Another famous (free) online model reference: characterdesigns.com (this one does have nude models, but the content is *clearly* art-focused).

Common clothes advertisements: Although they usually don't contain nude people, the paper ads filling your mailbox on a regular basis often contain pictures of men and women lightly dressed - you cannot really show briefs, swimming suits or bikinis with tons of clothes to hide them ;).

Yourself: Often overlooked, yet obvious - it is quite hard to prevent you to see your own body... So if you want to draw a pose but can't find a reference picture for it, simply use a mirror or a camera with yourself as the model.

Classical statues can be a good source of inspiration, but remember that they are necessarily limited, as they are often glorified representations of what the real human body is; moreover, they also present simplifications due to the nature of the material they're made of.

[Dorsum Oppel]

Since you're so young, maybe you should wait a while before you start looking at naked people. Try painting someone naked without actually seeing someone naked. Then, once you're able to see a naked person, you can compare and contrast. You may be more accurate than you think. Plus, it's more artistic to paint what you believe the human body is than what the human eye believes it to be.

at the age of 13, it does look rather odd to be sketching a nude. As LoveLikeWinter suggested, maybe it's better to wait until your at least 16. Practice every range of the human body before you put it all together into one nude sketch.
Otherwise, if you feel you are ready, go for the greek statues, as suggested above.

You guys are silly. If a thirteen year old sees a naked body, they're not going to turn into a raving libido starved sociopath. There's no reason what so ever that a child shouldn't be able to see the natural human form.

[Ambrosia]

You guys are silly. If a thirteen year old sees a naked body, they're not going to turn into a raving libido starved sociopath. There's no reason what so ever that a child shouldn't be able to see the natural human form.

Actually, they probably would. 13 year olds are starting puberty. It would make sense. But there is no reason why they should, and it's honestly not a bad idea for the OP to try and draw a naked person without seeing one before hand.

[Giles]

Actually, they probably would. 13 year olds are starting puberty. It would make sense. But there is no reason why they should, and it's honestly not a bad idea for the OP to try and draw a naked person without seeing one before hand.

You're joking, right? Seeing a naked person isn't going to affect a 13 year old in the way that you think. I see people in my school younger than that, 11/12, watching porn on their phones and it's not had any overt negative impact on them.

[Rayquaza]

Seems like you're a little young. Maybe wait a little bit when you're older when attempting to draw nude.

[starbrite5]

I mean, I think there's a clear distinction between nude models and porn. The naked human form isn't necessarily sexual in nature, but it takes some maturity to realize that. At my school, you can't take figure drawing classes until your junior year, and that's with the permission of a parent or guardian. I do think you should probably wait a little while to draw actual nudes from observation, but that doesn't mean you can't learn a lot about drawing people in the mean time. Clothed figures are just fine when you're starting out.

[Stryker125]

I can see your dilemma, and I totally understand how frustrating that can be. I'm in art school, and here are the links to some of the books I'm using to learn to draw:

Anatomy Drawing School: Human Anatomy: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/3833157313/ref=oh_o01_s01_i04_details

How To Draw Comics The Marvel Way [Paperback]: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0671530771/ref=oh_o01_s01_i01_details

The Human Figure In Motion: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/3833157313/ref=oh_o01_s01_i04_details

Dynamic Figure Drawing: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0823015777/ref=oh_o01_s00_i01_details

Good luck learning man!