Ellen Allen is the owner of the Art of Modeling, a Boulder-based booking agency for fine art models. And she doesn鈥檛 mince words when talking about what going virtual has meant for her business.
鈥淎s far as being an artist, it鈥檚 not the same, at all. I mean, it鈥檚 not three-dimensional and that鈥檚 what we want to learn how to draw,鈥� Allen said. 鈥淪o it鈥檚 a pretty bunk offering, overall.鈥�
Allen started the business almost two years ago out of her apartment and was just beginning to see some success. She had a solid roster of models and clients. Then the pandemic hit in March. During the first few weeks of the shutdown she lost more than 100 scheduled bookings.
鈥淢id-April I finally came to terms with the fact that, as much as I hate technology, I needed to probably do something to try to keep my models working,鈥� she said.
Over the spring and summer Allen has done some in-person, 鈥減lein air鈥� (i.e. outdoor) events. But with fall fast approaching her work is going more and more the way everything else has in 2020: onto Zoom.
Going virtual means a recent model training class was able to cast a wider net. Allen now has a model who does Zoom sessions from Turkey, and one of her newest clients is the University of Texas at Austin.
Still, Allen said only about half of her models have signed on to do virtual sessions 鈥� largely due to technical difficulties. Either they don鈥檛 have a camera in their computer or the one they have offers up too grainy of an image for artists to sketch from. Others are not tech savvy enough to navigate virtual modeling.
Most artists haven鈥檛 been too keen on it either. About 90 percent of 鈥檚 jobs pre-COVID were for nude models, Allen said. Because artists want to draw the human form.
But Zoom doesn鈥檛 allow nudity, so models are 鈥渓ightly clothed.鈥� It also means the models 鈥� and not the artists 鈥� are in charge of things like setting the subject angles.
鈥淵ou become the lighting director, and the backdrop director a lot more than when you just go to the studio and they have it set up,鈥� said model Katy Nielsen, adding that like many new to working from home, she鈥檚 also discovered some unexpected perks.
鈥淚t was a little more work, but it was also awesome because on the breaks I could go throw my laundry in,鈥� Nielsen said.
And just like many office virtual meetings, pets have a habit of Zoom bombing sessions.
鈥淢y cat came into the screen a few times during the University of Austin and they were really amused,鈥� Nielsen said. 鈥淭he teachers (joked), 'oh look, an extra bonus figure! Everybody if you want to draw the cat.'鈥�
Nielsen says the one place where Zoom sessions might actually surpass in-person events is in the portrait world. The camera allows artists to get up-close images they wouldn鈥檛 otherwise be able to easily access.
鈥淚鈥檝e definitely been in studios before where people will bring binoculars,鈥� she said. 鈥淚鈥檝e seen people looking at me with binoculars from the floor to get details.鈥�
For models, there is a performance aspect that virtual will never be able to replicate, she added. Like when Nielsen, who also works as an actress, posed for a recent live pop-up session in which the models wore costumes.
鈥淚t was great and I got to be David Bowie,鈥� she said. 鈥淚t was the closest thing I鈥檝e had to a performance in months!鈥�
And while there鈥檚 no more setting out a physical tip jar at events, models now list their Venmo and PayPal accounts to accept tips.
But for some models, the Zoom boom has been less than ideal.
Daniel Peters is 59, and has been with Art of Modeling almost since it began, but his only virtual session so far was a rough one
鈥淚 did one back in April, which was a test, and it kind of failed miserably because of technology,鈥� Peters said. 鈥淲e did Skype. I ended up only getting one artist on the Skype session. So that鈥檚 basically my extent of modeling online and virtual. It鈥檚 been pretty much non-existent.鈥�
Peters wants to get back to in-person modeling as soon as possible, but he and his wife are both immunocompromised. Although fine art modeling, he says, is probably one of the safest jobs out there at the moment.
鈥淚t鈥檚 not a worry to me if we鈥檙e in a closed space and people are wearing masks and they鈥檙e social distancing because it鈥檚 kind of been social distancing all along,鈥� he said.
And a 鈥渘ude鈥� model donning only a mask during a session might make for an interesting subject for artists to document, Peters said.
鈥淚f they wanted to include it in the drawing that鈥檇 be great because obviously this is a time that none of us has ever experienced, so it might be interesting to have a model posing with a mask on,鈥� he said.
Peters found modeling later in life after becoming unemployed from his job as a sports photographer. He says it鈥檚 a good paying, flexible job that he can easily do and still take care of his wife, who is disabled. While jobs are in a lull, he鈥檚 considering taking on other gig work 鈥� like driving for Uber or a food delivery service 鈥� but hopes to get back to his favorite job soon.
鈥淚t feels more rewarding,鈥� he said. 鈥淓verything I鈥檝e done in my life 鈥� even the media stuff, that was rewarding but 鈥� I see the reward right away when you see the artwork that they do. So it鈥檚 something that I鈥檒l always do until I can鈥檛 move anymore.鈥�
While he believes younger artists will adapt to digital options, Peters believes that older, traditional artists will likely be slower to make the shift. He hopes that when this is all over, the in-person jobs will be back, and so will he.
鈥淚 think this whole year has been like a slap in the face to most people,鈥� he said.
Art of Modeling owner Ellen Allen agrees, adding that the pandemic has forced everyone to step out of their comfort zone in order to keep going. In addition to creating a campaign to support the models, Allen is working to host regular virtual and outdoor events as possible.
鈥淎lthough it鈥檚 just a tiny fraction of the normal amount of jobs, at least we鈥檝e been able to provide about two dozen virtual and plein air bookings to our models to kind of string them through these hard times,鈥� she said.
