Show Me the Money!

Okay, so now you’ve started to get a few modeling gigs under your belt.

And then it happens: you find yourself getting regular bookings. From different schools and groups. Each of which pays a different amount and has you posing for different amounts of time. What to do?

Now, as I’ve told you time and again, modeling isn’t an easy job, even if you do it part time. So you owe it to yourself to make sure you know for certain how much you get paid for each venue (it varies from group to group and school to school), and if you find yourself working a lot, you’ll find that you may be forgetting how much you’re owed, and by whom.

In this post, what I’d like to do is to give you some ideas on how to keep track of all that money you’re owed, as well as to provide you with some advice on how to manage it.

First off, I recommended in a previous post to mark all your upcoming gigs in a calendar of some kind. What you also want to do, as you book your upcoming gigs, is to confirm how much you’ll be paid. Usually, the people you’ll be working for tell you this up front, but it’s possible they might forget. Generally, the going rate is anywhere from $15 to $20 per hour, at least in an urban area. Frankly, I wouldn’t advise working for less than $15 unless it’s a favor to someone you’ve worked with before and know very well.

Think about it. You’re doing a job that 99.99 percent of people out there can’t or won’t do. And yet, there’s a demand for you. You’re the rare, select few that can take their clothes off for complete strangers. And hold some incredibly difficult (and painful) poses. You’re a valuable commodity. You owe it to yourself to get paid handsomely for what you do. After all, if just anyone could deal with the physical and psychological baggage that comes with the territory, you wouldn’t have work!

What I’m getting at is that, once you get established, you’ll come up with an idea of what you feel is the bare minimum per hour that you’ll work for. Occasionally, you’ll find that sometimes you may end up working for less than you think you’re worth just to establish yourself with a new group, and gain some exposure.

It’s all up to you in terms of marketing yourself and making sure that you work for what you’re worth.

Now once these gigs start rolling in, I’d highly advise you to create an Excel worksheet that lists each place you work for, their hourly (or flat) rate, and the days you work for them, per hour. This way, you have an at-a-glance way of knowing who you worked for, when you worked for them, how much they pay per hour, how many hours you worked for them, and the total that you’re owed.

Most art schools pay via check. Some pay you via direct deposit and take out the necessary taxes. Others have you fill out a 1099 but don’t withhold taxes. It’s up to you to set aside the necessary money (if any—generally if you make under a certain amount, somewhere around $600 per year, you don’t have to file) to pay any taxes owed. Since they’re reporting your earnings to the IRS, don’t think that you can dodge paying them! Other places (generally art groups and private artists) pay you under the table, and it’s up to you to determine whether or not you choose to report this to the IRS.

If you get paid up front, you’ll be paid at the end of the session (usually in cash, but sometimes in the form of a personal check). Even if it’s a multi-session gig, you’ll be paid that day’s wages at the end of the day. If you’re working for an art school, you’ll generally be paid via checks that are cut whenever they run payroll (usually bimonthly). If you’re being paid this way, I strongly, strongly advise you to keep tabs on what you’re owed (and this is where the spreadsheet I just talked about becomes invaluable, particularly when you have multiple gigs across multiple venues), because I’ve had several instances where I didn’t get paid and had to gently remind the school that I was owed a check. The model coordinator at one of the places I work for has me send an email to her after every session just to make sure I’m not overlooked when they do the next payroll run.

Eventually, you may find yourself making several hundred dollars per month (I wouldn’t, ahem, bank on this, but this will often be the case during certain months of the year if you’re reputable) and find yourself wondering what to do with it.

To be honest, I’d treat it as mad money. Easy come, easy go. First off, if you have a regular 9-5 job, gigs will be somewhat harder to come by since you’re only available during nights and weekends. It really isn’t that regular of an income to rely on each month. Some months you may have a gig or two each week. And then several months (typically June – August) you won’t have any work.

What I’m getting at is that it generally won’t be a steady or reliable enough source of income to the point where you know you can set aside X dollars on a monthly basis to pay off credit cards, student loans, rent, or set aside for a vacation, a new TV, etc. I honestly think it’s best to spend it on partying, dating, new clothes, and impulse buying (or what I generally like to call “stupid shit”) so that you can use your regular wages to pay for ordinary crap like rent, bills, etc.

Simply put, I treat my modeling wages like someone might treat finding $20 in a pair of jeans they haven’t worn since last Fall. It’s unexpected money that you can use to buy something you normally wouldn’t want to spend money on.

I once read the memoirs of a soldier who fought in the Korean War. He told stories of how he and his buddies used to gamble, but they never got crazy about their winnings. If they won, they’d spend it on booze. If they lost it during a game, no big deal. What he said next really struck me: the money he earned gambling with his buddies wasn’t the same money earned on the battlefield. Gambling money was easy come, easy go. It wasn’t the same money you took a bullet for.

Think of your modeling wages in a similar light. Perhaps one of the greatest joys I get is getting a last-minute (in some cases, literally last minute. As in, they sent me an email at 4:45 pm as I was shutting off my computer asking me to fill in for another model at 6 pm later that night) booking, and then realizing I can use it to buy a pair of jeans or a video game I’ve had my eye on!

Unexpected Opportunities

4:45 pm: Wait, that can’t be right! An art studio I solicited several times since 2008 replied back to an email I sent out a year ago wanting to know if I can—tonight—fill in for another model who can’t make it. Well, if they need me that bad…

4:55 pm: Hi! I just got your email. Sure, I’d be more than happy to fill in tonight. Uh, but just so you know, I may not be able to get to my apartment and back in time to get my modeling bag, so I might have to be nude the entire time, so I just wanted to make sure that was okay with you first.

5:00 pm: Okay, it was fine with them. But the studio’s not that far from my apartment, so I should be able to make it back in time to change into something a little more comfortable (like shorts and a t-shirt) and grab my robe.

5:30 pm: Great! I can get changed, pack my gym bag with my robe, and head out the door!

5:40 pm: Hi, I’m Jason! P. told me I needed to check in. Oh great, you’ve got an envelope in cash all ready for me! So where do I go from here? Down the stairs and to the front? Great!

5:45 pm: Are you A.? I’m Jason. Okay, I can get changed in the next room?

5:50 pm: A reclining pose? On a chaise? Fantastic! I’d love to tell you how impossible it’s been for me to be offered a reclining pose for the entire class. My ship’s finally come in!

6:10 pm: Time to start! Yeah, I can hold pose for five minutes while people do quick sketches from different vantage points across the room to see what location works best for them.

6:15 pm: Yeah, I can hold my neck in this position for 20 minutes a pop. I’ve done plenty of portrait gigs, so I’m definitely set. I can't possibly convey how good this feels to recline back, completely nude, for the next few hours and totally get paid for it! I feel amazingly relaxed and at peace.

6:35 pm: Wow, I’m getting compliments already! And I’m literally sitting on my ass!

6:45 pm: Okay, you think my leg was moved more towards my right? Over? Over? Over? Over? Ov… okay, right here? Cool. My shoulder was over here? Here? He… right here? Great, let’s get started!

6:50 pm: Before we break next, would you be able to mark me? Oh no, don’t worry. I should have said something before I broke pose before the break. Yeah, that’s definitely enough tape. Okay, one more mark by my shoulders, just in case.

7:15 pm: Yeah, I can time my breaks. Uh, didn’t realize you weren’t keeping time. Didn’t really think it was my call as to returning to pose without your go-ahead. It’s really not my place to get back into pose and basically tell you when you should be teaching your class, but if you want me to do so, it doesn’t really affect my pay.

7:55 pm: Yeah, I can hold this pose for 30 minutes straight, no problems!

8:25 pm: Thanks for having me everyone! I really had a great time!

8:30 pm: *opens envelope handed to me prior to class* Whoooo! $40 in cash for 2.5 hours of reclining in the nude. I can definitely get used to this!

8:40 pm: Walk out into the cool evening sky. Swear I’ll use it to pay for that copy of Alan Wake for the Xbox 360. End up using it to pay for food and beer for the weekend. Eh, who cares? It’s emergency modeling money. It’s easy come, easy go. It’s not like the money I sweat for nine to five.

Yeah, it was total luck. A studio I solicited several times since, wait for it... 2008(!) got back in touch with me right before I left work for the day. As luck would have it, I checked my hotmail right before I powered down, and found the golden ticket from the place that, until today, never got back in touch with me. Being a graceful, grateful (and greedy) type, I promptly called them in response to an email they responded to that was originally sent by me a year ago and kindly offered my services. No hard feelings. When opportunity calls collect, you gotta accept the charges! It was a super chill environment, with really supportive and friendly students, and I got to recline on a chaise the entire time. Aaaaand, after sending them a thank-you email, they said they'd contact me in October to formally put me on their schedule.

What I want you to take away from this is that, even though some doors may be closed to you initially, they may very well open to you later on, when you least expect it. It's happened to me several times, and it may very well happen to you too. How you choose to handle it, either gracefully (wow, in their time of need, they remembered me) or with spite (oh, those fuckers, coming to me now, when they can't find anyone!), is your call to make.

Just don't get discouraged if your initial efforts in establishing yourself as an art model get rebuffed. Don't take it personally. Those doors have a funny tendency to get reopened when you least expect it.