Life Drawing as Performance and Entertainment

As those who have read my novel ADVENTURES OF A NUDE ART MODEL will be aware, I'm super fanatical about life drawing. I'd love it to become a mainstream activity that anyone even vaguely artistic has a go at, and just as importantly, I'd love life modelling to become something that adults of all ages with a desire to challenge themselves embrace out of sheer devotion to it. If ADVENTURES OF A NUDE MODEL could persuade just one person to bare all for art, then your Cassie would be an extremely proud author!

That said, even just a few short years ago when I was a student, life drawing studios could sometimes be quite stuffy and restrictive, their church-like atmosphere and stilted protocols stopping the artist and model from engaging with each other as full-bloodedly as they otherwise might. But thankfully, things are starting to change, with more and more art classes offering sessions that blend traditional life drawing with something akin to performance art to create memorable events centred around the nude figure.

A good example of this new breed is London Drawing. I haven't been lucky enough to attend any of their sessions as I live in the wrong neck of the woods, but they look great fun and so inventive. Here, for instance, are a few pics from an event they recently staged in which two hapless, unclothed ladies fall foul of a demonic figure called the Lairy Godmother (played by noted young artist Susannah Pal):

The whole thing looks like an absolute delight, with the models striking deliciously abandoned poses and Susannah Pal hilarious in her demonic role. Events like these are a confirmation of something I strongly believe in - that, in the right context, the nude figure can be enjoyed and celebrated as a really lovely source of entertainment and relaxation. If you're feeling down and you want to cheer yourself up, don't pop a pill or have a drink - book yourself into a life class and enjoy the beauty of the naked human form. Or, better yet, take off your clothes and be that beauty.

Glissements progressifs du plaisir (1974) - a CFNF film!

As you know, I'm crazy about CFNM, but I'm also equally into CFNF (Clothed Female Nude Female), especially when it involves some kind of twist, such as the CF being younger and the NF older, or the CF pretty and the NF plain.

That's why I was delighted to come across this French film from the 1970s, Glissements progressifs due Plaisir (trans, Successive Slidings of Pleasure). Plotwise, it's a fragmented and almost bafflingly arty story about a bewitching and witch-like girl (Anicée Alvina) who is taken into custody and interrogated after apparently stabbing to death an older woman (Olga Georges-Picot) whom she has been holding in thrall. I'm no film critic, so I can't really comment on its virtues or otherwise as a movie, but what's exciting about it from my point of view is that the director clearly seems to share one of my favourite fetishes.

I say this because the film includes several striking CFNF scenes, with Alvina as the CF and Georges-Picot as the NF. In one, Alvina, paints Georges-Picot's breasts; in another, she removes various layers of drapery until Georges-Picot in naked; in yet another, she dresses the nude woman in a PVC coat and high heels. And in the lengthiest and most striking of all, she breaks raw eggs over George-Picot's naked body and follows up by pouring wine all over her.

The cinematography is unabashedly full-frontal, and there's a powerful atmosphere as the girl totally dominates the older woman, who is essentially a human doll in her hands. CFNF at its best!

Admittedly, Alvina has a couple of nude scenes of her own elsewhere in the movie (speaking as a CFNF kinkster, I would have preferred it if she hadn't), but she remains clothed in all of her scenes with Georges-Picot, while Georges-Picot is repeatedly required to bare all in front of her.

When they shot the movie, Alvina was 21 and relatively new to film, while Georges-Picot was 34 and had already been a working actress for almost fifteen years (her credits include a Woody Allen picture and The Day of the Jackal). You can't help but wonder what went through this mature redhead's mind as she shot scene after scene completely in the nude in front of this beautiful young girl 13 years her junior? Why did she take a part that was so submissive and revealing? Was it for money? Was it for art? Or was it because it appealed to some masochistic fantasy deep inside of her? My hope is that she really got off on exposing herself so thoroughly, and it certainly seems that way to judge by her constantly erect nipples. As for Alvina, she seems thoroughly into her domineering, voyeuristic role, and who can blame her? Watching it makes me itch to crack a few raw eggs on a submissive nude myself.

As there aren't many movies out there which embody the more unusual kinks, I just wanted to share my enthusiasm with you. Now, if only the director had made a CFNM sequel!