Why do artists work from live, and mostly nude, models?
It has been a long held belief that the best way to learn to draw and render is by studying the human figure. Artists have made it their goal to learn to convincingly draw the figure in every conceivable action. The reasons for this has centered on the artist’s goals, and the best road to achieving those goals. Throughout the last several hundred years, works involving the human figure have been considered the noblest creations. Not only is it because we are interested in ourselves, but the figure has an intrinsic beauty that lies in its expressiveness, action, color and variety. Therefore, the academies and workshops of the 18th and 19th centuries sought to produce artists who were masters at recreating the human form. This was considered excellent training for all, even those who would never make use of the figure in their subsequent work. For to render the figure requires great diligence and accuracy. Errors are easily spotted that might not be noticeable in the drawing of an animal
