A strip of art

by Lorraine Lee

Many people have seen drawings of women in the nude from different artists, but seldom do people appreciate the models who shed their all for such artistic purposes.

Miss Lisa Pick, 27, has been a part-time nude model for a year and a half.

She went into the profession when she moonlighted once for a model friend who could not make an appointment.

Said Miss Pick: "There is no particular reason for me to work as a nude model; it is a case of why not _ I need a job, so why not?

"So, it is mainly for economic reasons. Besides, it is for convenience. I don't want a 9-to-5 job. Nude modelling is quite a good job considering the pay and the hours."

Another nude model, Miss Sharon Horan, 25, who has been a part-time nude model for three and a half years, also entered the scene by chance.

"When I first came to Hong Kong, I had no money. I tried nude modelling after seeing an advertisement on a notice board of the hostel I was living in."

Miss Horan still remembers her nude modelling debut _ an experience which actually eased some of her fears.

"I worked for a Chinese artist during my first job. The way he acted made me feel comfortable. He would never look at me in any uncomfortable way," Miss Horan recalled.

"I didn't know how a nude model should behave and act then. He taught me and gave me a lot of ideas that made me look good."

Learning by experience is the way both Miss Pick and Miss Horan overcame the embarrassment of nudity _ and for the artists who paint the pictures, it is more or less the same.

Mr. Chan Yuk Keung, lecturer in Fine Arts at The Chinese University of Hong Kong, said, "Students have taken some basic courses about drawing and anatomy before drawing nude bodies, so they should know how to react properly.

"Instead of reducing embarrassment among the students, I tell the students not to make the models feel embarrassed. For example, I tell them not to laugh or stare at the models during breaks."

According to Miss Pick, most students are quite respectful towards her.

"They are surprisingly mature. When they are drawing, they do not look at my body in a sexual way," said she.

"They are very positive. Only on one very bad occasion did I find the students' attitudes a bit immature _ and that was a class with mainly young male university students."

However, Miss Horan said she had two unpleasant experiences _ both in sessions outside classes.

"Once, a Chinese man treated me like a prostitute. He locked the door when I came into his flat. He asked me whether I would like to take a shower or not. Eventually he sat next to me on the bed and then touched me.

"He understood only after I explained to him that I was only a model and what he wanted was not my job.