There is less work in the modeling field in the summer than at any time during the year. Yet I was busy until things stopped on the first of July. So I went back to work today for a final two-week push giving me August off before the new school year begins.
There will be a lot of new students beginning in September and, I suppose, a lot of new models. Hopefully, many of the current models will get the steady work they need and, for those of us who return to the modeling field, some new opportunities will open up.
It seems to take several years to get to know enough people to get hired at some of the various schools but, with perseverance, it is possible to find new places to work while occasionally loosing one that you've been counting on. Like a jazz musician sitting down at the keyboard for the last time, knowing that the lights will be turned off permanently in the future, some doors are padlocked while others are opening like the Redline Studios opening soon near 20
th and Broadway.
People I have talked to who like labels seem to think that a person has to be an exhibitionist to be a model. Not true. That's like saying an art student has to be a voyeur. Sure, it helps a model to be uninhibited but, due to the ever changing paradigm of art, the rules continue to change until it seems to have gotten to the point where there are no rules. There are no specific people to see, tests to take, or procedures to follow that will turn you into an model.
I started practicing art with a newsprint pad and charcoal. Now the options have grown with a lot of the students I've talked to interested in children's book illustrations. When Phil Steele began working in downtown Denver, he worked at Daniels & Fishers doing artful ads of men's suits that today are photographed. Many of the graduating students today have their eye fixed on Pixar and other companies applying 3-D animation to cartoons.
The world of work seems to be getting more creative. Experts are now advising that when looking for a new job, think outside the box. What box?