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I'm not addressing this to anyone in particular, because in fact so many members have raised the question of how to find models.
I had trouble with this, even when I advertised at art stores and such for models, promising a worthwhile hourly rate. The only reason I've ever done a self-portrait is because I couldn't find a model in Minneapolis in mid-February. Imagine that.
Eventually I did, and I promised her $8 an hour and paid her $10 (and I probably would have married her afterwards.) The reality is, if you can't find models, how are you going to find clients?
You have to get out there and hustle. And you write some checks.
Meanwhile, you can do what I did, which is to ask my family members to sit for me -- if a family member won't do this, you might want to find a more supportive family -- and I was never turned down.
An uncle by marriage (I don't blame him for the marriage, and he and I are still friends) was in town for an event and needed a place to stay. I knew that he was a TV addict, so I lined up a couple of worthwhile shows or DVDs (I don't remember which), and asked him to let me sketch while he watched TV. He had a bad back and could only sit still for about 15 minutes, so we did 4 or 5 of those sessions. He left with a matted and framed original drawing, my "payment" to him.
It was too large to scan so this must be a photocopy of a printout of a photograph. I remember that his shirt was a red plaid, and I put in a couple of small areas of sienna Conte in the shirt for a little bit of surprise accent in the charcoal, and he was very pleased, and I had another drawing's worth of experience under my belt. It was an hour's worth of drawing time, maybe a bit more, and it's not going to hang in the Met, but that wasn't the point.
Learn to hustle. It's the least enjoyable part of the whole gig for me, but there isn't an easier way. People aren't going to come to you and say, "I hear you're just starting out in portraiture and I wondered if I could pose for you." It's gotta go down a different way.
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