I've been looking around on ebay at art.  Kind of the interesting thing to me is that it seems like maybe landscape art does way better than nudes.  Although a lot of the nudes were bad.  I don't think I saw any bids on the nudes actually.  Also saw quite a few gay oriented pieces, actually most of the male nudes did have "gay interest" as a descripter.  Nothing wrong with the gay part, but they should really do a better job on the art.  Someone should introduce them to Mapplethorpe and composition.         Figure drawing is such a maligned thing.  As professor Joel told us humans are at once attracted and repelled by the human body.  I love it though.  I have gotten some nasty reactions.  One guy imagined a porno shoot.  I also know a female artist whose husband will not allow her to work off of male models.  For me that would be the end of the relationship.  I don't think most people realize that female artists in the past were not permitted to work off of live models.  That is for sure on male models, but I also seem to recall hearing they couldn't even work off other women.  Actually even viewing female nudes.  The cliche of the artist drawing back the curtains on their work has it's origins in curtains that would be placed on nudes to hide them from the women and children.  Goya's paintings of the nude maja and clothed maja sort of ran along those lines.  Originally the nude maja hung behind the painting of the clothed maja.  The clothed maja painting was attached to a pulley system that with the flip of a switch would move that painting away to reveal the nude.  That situation had more to do with hiding the nude from the Spanish Inquisition.  Unfortunately the Inquisition did find it, and Goya had to go before them for it.                                            Due to work I have not been able to go to figure drawing sessions like I used to.  What strikes me when I have is how predominatly male the artists are.  One time the guy who organizes it was stoked because there were two female artists who showed up to draw.