I need a model in order to make progress with a picture I have been planning. This ought to be a relatively straightforward matter, but I am in a blind alley at the moment.
What I need is a female model, probably aged between 25 and 45, but this is not an essential requirement. Age is not really relevant to my needs. The make-or-break criterion is that she must have long, dark hair. She must be willing to sit semi-nude, and I anticipate that the session might last for two hours. I am willing to pay the normal rate for life-drawing, plus expenses. Now, I would have thought that it should not be too difficult to find somebody able and willing to take on this task for me, but so far my lines of enquiry have led nowhere.
My wife has vetoed emphatically my suggestion that I should put a notice in the window of the local post office. (I suppose I can see why.) Everywhere I look I see women who would do admirably well, but I fight shy of asking them. Today at the Harrogate climbing wall there were three young women each of whom would have done a great job. The newsreader on Look North tonight would be absolutely right. This is so very frustrating. I don’t want to go to a modelling agency because I’m sure they would be very expensive …. taking the agency fee as well as payment for the model.
I do know a well-established local artist who works regularly with the human figure, and what is starting to look like my last resort will probably be to ring him up and see if any of his regular models might be available to meet my needs. Any concrete suggestions as to how I might find a solution to this problem will be very welcome indeed.