A Pocket Full of Poses

I bought a Cosmopolitan magazine this past weekend. I contemplated on the difficult decision of what might be better, possibly a Vogue, or Seventeen, or Playboy even. And I can honestly say I wasn't looking at these magazines for the articles. I was definitely looking for some pictures. Now while some of you pulling your minds from the gutter and bringing out the 'shame on you's; let me explain.

I was looking specifically for poses, or posers, rather because the average artist can't afford the 50 dollar an hour models to come pose for them. There's precious little opportunity to ask someone to pose like they are examining the far away mysteries of the universe, in the buff. And how many of you would be able to lightly trip down to the local gymnasium or Weightlifting center and ask the most built man there for a few snapshots of his body for your personal drawing pleasure, without feeling perverted.

As it turns out, there is a cheaper route than spending money and time on a professional model, and a safer route than asking strangers who have the right body build to pose naked for you. Fashion Magazines, Body Building Magazines, Martial Arts magazines, and, yes, even Adult magazines offer at a much cheaper rate access to models in various poses and of various body tones and builds which never move, lose the position, and never complain of a muscle ache just when you are finally on a good sketching or painting streak. A single magazine is cheaper than a model, cheaper than many of the 'Anatomy for Artists' books on the market, and will probably provide ample amount of different skin tones and lighting to keep you busy.

First of all, the fashion magazine are probably the safest ones to touch from this idea. Guys, ask your girlfriends or wives, or if it doesn't bother you pick one up yourselves. Not only can you learn the 34 secrets to better sex for the 10th time but you can find models in excellent poses in both the advertisements and within the magazine itself. There are a variety of fashion magazines available and even magazine for different hairstyles depending upon what you want to sketch and work towards as a finished product.

The martial arts magazines and body building magazines offer a great variety of images of men an woman in poses that are more or less directed towards a specific muscle group. Depending also on the magazine you will find various body builds in different stages of development, from lightly muscles (rare) to nothing but muscle (common). This can be helpful when trying to draw a specific muscle group and with a little imagination you can tone done the amount of muscle in a sketch to reflect more of what you desire in an image.

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