Dead bodies make good models

Thursday, Sept. 14, 2006 | 7:26 a.m.

Spencer Tan sits five feet in front of a woman who is perpetually posed in a tennis serve. He sketches her. Her racket extends upward, her left arm is in the air and her eyes are focused. She is skinned. Except for what remains of leathery genitalia, her muscles, bones, organs and tendons are exposed.

Known only as "specimen," she is one of several cadavers on display at "Bodies: The Exhibition" at the Tropicana, where students from the Art Institute of Las Vegas were invited to sketch the bodies Wednesday.

"This is a little bit easier since they're not moving," Tan says. "Even with a live model, they tend to sag."

He shades a biceps in his sketchbook and adds, "With this you can actually see the form."

Instructor Randolf Dimalanta has been encouraging his life-drawing students to attend the exhibit, something he refers to as a "once-in-a-lifetime chance to see all the muscles in real life."

When representatives of the museum called to see whether students would be interested, he couldn't pass it up. After all, Michelangelo and da Vinci supposedly studied cadavers and drew from them.

"The classes I teach have mostly animation majors," Dimalanta says. "They're required to know basic anatomy and basic bone structure. It's important to see how they come alive and how the muscles and joints dictate movement."

The students study anatomy books, but, Dimalanta says, it's not the same: "If you're an artist studying the Sistine Chapel, it's one thing to study it in textbooks. It's another to go there."

Instructor Kevin Anderson, who says his anatomy knowledge is "pretty strong," didn't realize until now how little he knew about body parts influencing other body parts.

Also, he says, the students get a better understanding of where the center of the body is and have more time to sketch: "The maximum I'd ever ask a model to do this would be three minutes."

A couple dozen students refused to participate, he says, because of the ick factor, but he's not aware of any students refusing for moral reasons.

The touring exhibit outraged some critics who argue that it is morally wrong. Some speculate that the bodies, provided by the Chinese government, may have been prisoners. But the exhibit has had sold-out shows in every city it has traveled.

Grace Brown, a first-year graphic design student, says she has been looking forward to this: "It's not an opportunity that a lot of people get, and it definitely gives you a different appreciation."

Billy George, a second-year student, says the cadavers provide more opportunity to study texture, detail, function and muscles in context: "When drawing people and portraits, proportions are it."

The one-time event drew roughly 30 students who spread out among the exhibit. Some of the work will be displayed at the exhibit's entrance. The school offers bachelor of science degrees in various fields, including media arts and animation, digital media production and graphic design.

Paul Johnson, a sophomore studying media arts and animation, was beside himself Wednesday: "I'm always asking, 'Where's the soleus?' I had the hardest time trying to find out where it was. Now I can see it.

"As an animator, you have to know weight and proportion. If you have the leg bent and you don't have the weight right, it's just not going to work. It's something you just can't ignore."