model clues

feet and hands
Fabriano artistico R 280gsm 14" x 9". 1 hour.

this is a freehand sketch from a series of shots i did of margaret's hands and feet. among other things, it showed me that the format is too large for the quirky image, and the rough texture is completely wrong for the intimacy.

i was posing her on the studio couch, sunlight streaming over her shoulders, when i noticed she was cracking her toes by flexing them against the carpet. when i pointed it out to her, she reached over with her hands to explain. that made the shot; and i asked her to do variations of hands and feet.

this gave both of us a break from the portrait shots, and created a new motif for me to pursue that was remote from my intentions or past model experience; it somehow came out of margaret's presence and my reaction to it. each model does dozens of quirky, minor things, or mentions something in their conversation, or falls into a pose when resting, that is more compelling that anything i could work out in advance.

my explanation to models is that they have lived in their bodies a long time, and their bodies have their own language, and that language isn't expressed as a pose but as the most comfortable position for them standing, sitting or lying down.