I used to wonder why, in every art class I attended, life sessions were always dull to me. In retrospect, I now see that walking into a classroom full of students and sitting in front of a nude never really worked because it is the artist, not the art teacher, who should choose his model--someone who resonates with him because of everyone the model reminds him of, whether in reality or in fantasy. It is even possible that the nude is a form of self-portraiture, no matter what the model's gender is.