Which of these images is more pornographic? Let's explore the question.
The best way to learn to draw is by drawing the human figure. I live in Texas. Texans like to say that Texas is not part of "The South". So, I was shocked when a friend rebuked me for life drawing. She called it a sin. To many people, particularly in the South, the human body is inherently pornographic. Our culture has so hyper-sexualized the human body, some people cannot see it any other way.
I believe we are hardwired to pay close attention to other human beings. We notice their faces, their body language: is this one friendly, is this one threatening? Therefore, for the artist, the human figure provides a compelling subject. Truly, the best way to learn how to draw is by drawing the human figure. The atmosphere in a life drawing session is one of quiet concentration. The lurid imaginings of non-artists do not exist in the real studio.
I am the studio monitor for a life drawing group that meets twice a week. I book the model. Drop-in fee is $5.00. There is no commitment. An artist could come once or a hundred times. We have all skill levels. The person drawing for the first time is as welcome as the artist who has drawn for fifty years. No instruction, no group critiques. How freeing it is to simply draw, with others who find it both challenging and fulfilling. No grades. No customer to please. Just the model, the artist, and the sheet of paper.
So, I will ask you, the reader....which of the images above might qualify as pornography?
YOU ARE CORRECT... AS MANY ARE HARDWIRED TO LOOK AT THE HUMAN FIGURE WITH AN UNHEALTHY OR IMMORAL ATTITUDE..IT REMINDS ME OF THE INCIDENT THAT RECEIVED NATIONAL COVERAGE WHERE SOME WERE OUTRAGED BY THE KISS OF KINDERKIDS. INNOCENCE IS OFTENTIMES TAINTED BY ADULT PERSPECTIVES. BEAUTY IS PURE.
ReplyDeleteWell I know your drawing is strictly fine art! Nice work. & I like your blog.
ReplyDeleteI don't think either is really pornographic. The Victoria Secret ad is definitely more sexualized. Though I think both the art and the ad are beautiful for different reasons. One is a beautiful, eye catching piece of the marketing world, and the other is a beautiful, eye catching piece of the art world. The human body is a beautiful thing.
ReplyDeleteSo after a few days of pondering how to answer the question I have come to this. There is a split view. One side, usually religious, feels that the nude body is only something that should be seen in the privacy of your own home, they believe that sitting in a room and staring at a nude model for hours on end has to have a sexual nature to it in some degree and therefore has to be a sin. Now the flip side, usually artists, the human body is a beautiful creation that should be adored, studied, and creatively expressed. As a Christian and an artist I am stuck somewhere in the middle of these two extremes. I don't believe that studying the human figure is a sin, I don't believe that drawing the human figure can hurt my spiritual life with Christ. After all don't doctors, nurses, massage therapist, etc. also have an occupation that involves seeing the human figure. They have to look at it and study in more depth that many artists could ever imagine, so are we calling them sinners for helping people? I believe that my passion for drawing the human figure is to learn, to understand, to create beauty. Not to get off on the image. With a controlled environment, high ethical standards, respect and courtesy there is a tasteful line drawn. A line that should be kept for the sake of art. After all God did create Adam and Eve naked, it wasn't until we, as in man, chose to eat the fruit of the forbidden tree did we allow Satan to blind us into it being sinful.
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