The MAC's Portrait Painters Group or My Farewell Before Running Away to Paris to Model

Ten days ago that title would have been a pretty funny gotcha. Today it's just okay.

Yesterday afternoon Lauren, our Director of Programming and Outreach told me the Portrait Painting group that meets every Wednesday in the lobby from 7-9pm needed a model. Their scheduled model had to cancel at the last minute.

A few hours before coming into the MAC, my evening plans had been cancelled. I've meant to visit the Portrait Painting group for a few weeks now, but something always comes up. Some might call it coincidence, others fate, whatever you call it, I was in.

The group is open to everyone. You bring your own materials and some money to pay the model. The more people that show up, the less money you have to pay. You can paint with oils, draw with pastels, pencils, charcoal. The point is to give you a space to practice your craft.

I didn't get a chance to interview Michael, the man who currently organizes/runs the group, so more extensive knowledge about the group will come in a later post. I thought I'd just share with you my brief experience as a model, what a few of the pieces look like.

Don't be surprised if you see my profile on the side of a coin someday.

Also, I'm not sure if they're still there, but many of the Portrait Painter regulars have some of their work on display at the Rivage Atlantique at 652 N. High Street. If you're interested in having a portrait of yourself or someone else, it's a good place to go see the range of artistic styles these artists exhibit, if you can't make it out on a Wednesday.

As a model I just had to sit, without moving very much, for about twenty minutes at a time (And was paid to do it!). Doesn't sound hard right? Well, except for the first session, it wasn't too difficult. The first twenty minutes, I felt very tense. I didn't want to slouch and was afraid my chin would dip while I was reading my book.

My eyes kind of hurt from the strain of trying to read while the book was at chest level and I couldn't tilt my head, so then I would stare straight ahead and just practice breathing and meditation techniques I learned last year for anxiety. Trying to be comfortable and relaxed and not move very much made the first twenty minutes feel long.

I promise I was more excited to be there than this picture would have you believe.

But I told Michael I'd try 25 minutes and see how that felt. The second session felt a lot better. I figured a way of reading my book, so I wouldn't have to worry about blocking any artists view of me (cue hair toss) while also not straining my eyes. I also decided to spend more time meditating, since I haven't been practicing as much as I told myself I would, December 31st. The rest of the sessions felt about the same.

I wish I would have taken more pictures of their art. Everyone seemed to be using different materials and truly their styles were unique. I plan on coming out and doing some sketching of my own in the future. And who knows maybe I'll get another shot at modeling.