There are two kinds of “artists’ models”: those who pose for commercial artists for drawings for advertising, and those who pose for “Fine Art”. The former are also called “illustration models,” since the result of the artist’s work is an illustration of a designer’s clothes for a catalog or print ad. This type of modeling is less common now than in the past, but is still done to some extent. Illustration models need not be fully qualified as fashion models, but they normally resemble them. Fine Art is usually for drawing, but can be for painting, sculpture or photography as well. All body types are used, and there is no height requirement. There is more demand for female art models than male, although nearly as many men as women work in the field. The majority of art modeling is nude work.
Pay for artists models tends to be quite low: $10-12 per hour is typical of rates for schools or established artists; art photographers or artists shooting “reference pictures” generally pay more in the $25 per hour range. Pay does not change with experience, but more experienced models are more likely to get booked. In addition to attractive physical traits, artist models must be able to find a variety of attractive poses and hold them for an extended period. Flexibility is desirable.
Since there is little money in it, it’s rare to find a model agency who supplies models to artists. Models pursuing that specialty will have to self-market. Some illustration modeling is supported by agencies, since there is a client with enough money to make it worth their while.
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