Nude models

Models for life drawing classes are often entirely nude, apart from inconspicuous personal items such as small jewelry. In a job advertisement seeking nude models, this may sometimes be referred to as being "undraped". In Western countries, there is generally no prohibition on the sexes posing nude for or drawing members of the opposite sex, although this was not always the case in the past.

In 1886 Thomas Eakins was famously dismissed from the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Art for removing the loincloth from a male model in a mixed classroom. Similarly, Victorian modesty required the female model to pose nude with her face draped. European arts academies did not allow women to study the nude at all until the end of the nineteenth century. Up into the present day some rare art classes prefer male models to wear a jockstrap.

During art school classes or an academic setting, it is commonly prohibited for anyone (including the instructor) to touch or interfere with the model. Very close examination or requests for adjustment are typical—with the permission of the model. A few institutions allow only the instructor to speak directly with the model.

Additionally, nude models are sometimes paid to model as part of a performance or work of art; a fine example is the work of Vanessa Beecroft. Nude modeling can also occur in a private setting as demonstrated in the films As Good as it Gets and Titanic. Finally, a person can be their own model, while solo, with or without mirrors.