If you are reading this page, you are interested in trying Life modeling as a job, so let me explain what you need to know. What I explain here is what happens before, during and after your audition and why it is the best possible way to know for us and for yourself if this is the right job for you.

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Before:

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You first need to know what is this job like. Life models who want to work for many years and be contacted again and again, need to be friendly, trust the person who hires them and show it, not ask them why they haven't hired them for so long, not ask for Payment before a job as this does not exist in Life modeling for classes, not ask for payment right after a class as all in person are always paid in cash at the end of a class and Online classes usually need an invoice from the model that might have to wait if donations for the Artists is something happening. Then the next criterias are the most important to not just be succesfull with employers but with the Artists themselves who give their feedbacks to the organizer, asking you back or not.

1. Reliability: about 50% of male models who have never modeled before don't turn up at their first job or audition, about 20% for female models. With the amount of classes nowadays happening everywhere, online or in Person, if organizers take the risk to give a chance to new people, they take a big risk and have to even sleep not so well the night before those people do their session. The organizer not only is worried of the model changing his/her mind but that the model with freak out at the class. about 20% of all models who do life model for the first time ever do physically shake, start asking what to do, even pass out. All those risks are taken away if those models can find a way to try without affecting anyone's business or Art. Life models were in the Dark ages until about 15 years ago when we tripled their wages. They were no auditions before that, only experienced ones would get the jobs paid £3/h. Life models had to obviously make up stories that they had experience and would pose in front of their mirror for many hours. When their wages was tripled our choice of life models went from 25 in London to 2500 a few months later. Some saw there the Business opportunity to send models to be strictly auditioned to Art schools and soon any class organizers who started to pay for that service so that they'd get Free life models for 1/2 the time. This went on for a few years until some went even worse, in fact the same baddies and they decided that they might as well charge Life models to work permanently, every week, month or year and build a tribe of desperate, vey skilled people, who'd do anything to help get read of any competitor. Unfortunately, unluckily we felt into this category... As we are not those baddies who are still thriving and working with people who aren't proud of having done what they've done, we decided to add new models on top of existing models at in person classes for years especially on Saturdays so we gave them their chance without exploiting the situation. Obviously someone had to again jump on the opportunity as nobody would stop them and started charging men to pose in very large groups of models and were also successful. I just can't do that so we now have the shortest possible auditions online, where Artists don't pay either for the class but pay a tiny membership so that we don't spend hours every week working for free. A model that doesn't turn up at the audition he reserved will simply not go to the next stage, unless something out of their control happened and they can provide an evidence.

2. Stillness: For an artist the most difficult to draw is a Face, so this has to be the most important, then models need to know what usually changes throughout a 20 to 30 mins pose and that is the curvature of the back. Then after that the best tip is for Life models to look at all their sharp bits from elbows, nose, toes, chin, etc, and see, feel what they are pointing at. A still Life model is always asked back, no matter who the model is.

3. Learning the best poses that Artists like the most and that fit the best with the duration of the pose, as the shorter the pose is the more dynamic he/she needs to be. You should name those poses to remember them easily like yoga poses or give them people you know names. Always decide of the next pose while doing the actual one. You'll need about 30 short poses to remember and about 20 for long ones. Also you need to know what your body is able to do that the average can't and use that to your advantage. A minimum of anatomy/science is also beneficial when it comes to knowing what gives Numb body parts or pins and needles so googling for those is absolutely essential. In 2004 we introduced the 1/2 time breather, which obviously could not exist before as strict establishments would give themselves extra power by being over strict. This has nearly disappear nowadays :). 

4. Keeping in touch with Organizers: People who organize and run classes are amazing people who deserve so much more than what they get, so please be kind to them and they will return the kindness, email them only, maybe with a new drawing of yourself and say that you are available and when. If you get in touch with them because another model brings to your attention that a photo has been possibly used without your consentment, then please do smell trouble coming from not just that model but anyone that manipulates him or her, like an Other Class organizer or the baddy that supposingly provides Life models in London UK. Please provide any similar cases that are occuring anywhere in the World. If we can help without mentioning names we will.

5. Know how Art organizers pay their models and know when to ask for more or Less. It is much easier now to work as a Life model as travel doesn't exist if you work on Zoom so if you have time to spare and bills to pay, your best bet, is to tell your favorite class organizers that instead of accepting the top wage, we offer in the UK for example of £20/h, instead say, how about if you give me £17/h but give me 5 dates for jobs. Any art organizer would love you for many years to come.

6. Help your Art organizer and he/she will help you. For thousands of years Art institutions had an enormous reputation and power and they would not negociate, not help, not ask for help especially from Life models who were servants or Prostitutes. We are changing this for the last 17 years and getting there in the UK at least by providing Life models with a all list of ways they can help and earn by doing so. They obviously need to be trustworthy and show that they don't actively put down anyone in their Art World to favor others. Also helping someone who has been drawing, Painting most of his/her life should deserve better rather than helping Opportunists who have only an interest for Power and money. I guess whoever suits you the best, please don't become a nasty business competition tool to help one and destroy another or you'll be taking silly, unnecessary long term risks. The most important to know about that is that dozens of thousands of Life models for centuries have given up the job because they did something