In a sunny classroom at Howard County Center for the Arts on Tuesday morning, nine different images of 61-year-old Tom Lesko were emerging on drawing pads and canvases propped on desks and secured on easels around the room.

Some artists were using broad pencil strokes to outline the shape of Lesko's arms and legs. Others were choosing the correct oil paint for the blue stripes in his shirt and the white strands in his hair. One was adding small strokes of watercolor to highlight the contours of his face.

All the artists knew they had plenty of time to create their visions: For three hours each week, Lesko, of Ellicott City, is getting paid to hold still.

Portrait artists can work from photos, but "you don't get a real sense of three dimensions," said Frank Russell, 72, a retired sales representative who lives in Baltimore. "Here you can look at the face and pick out the bone structure. ... I like to paint somebody interesting. A man like [Lesko], he has a lot of character."

Live models in sustained poses are featured at two drop-in sessions at the art center on Tuesdays. From 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., a clothed model sits for artists interested in portraiture, and from 7:30 p.m. to 10 p.m., a nude model poses for those who want to draw and paint the human figure.

The models receive $40 for each daytime session and $48 at night and are available in the same pose for five or six weeks in a row before a different model is brought in.

The arrangement is cost-effective and flexible for artists who want to draw from life. Each artist does his or her own work. There is friendly conversation, but no instruction.

James Adkins is a resident artist at the center and is the monitor for the evening sessions, which began in 1990. He said drawing and painting human figures from life is a classic approach to art because "it presents us with the toughest challenge there is, to get the proportions right, to get everything to fit together."

He added: "The most appealing thing there is as human beings is the human figure."

The evening sessions draw a range of artists that includes professionals wanting to keep their skills sharp, hobbyists looking for practice and students seeking to complete class assignments or develop their portfolios.

"There are not many groups [in the Baltimore area] that do the same pose for an extended period of time," Adkins said.

Daniel Heifetz of Dayton started attending the evening sessions more than a year ago. He said multiple weeks with the same model offer "enough time to study each part of the person, the hands or the face, and then you can begin to integrate them into a whole thing at the end."

Heifetz, 61, an engineering researcher, said he took his first life-drawing class in 1967 and is spending more time on his art now that his children are grown. He said the model sessions are also satisfying because "I know once a week I have a certain amount of time devoted to this."

Katie Jurney, 17, of Sykesville said that as a high school senior who intends to attend art school next year, she tries to get to as many live-model sessions as she can. She usually attends sessions at local colleges. Tuesday was her first time drawing at the art center.

"I'm trying to get the technical aspects down," she said. "I'm starting to get that balance between being observational versus altering what you see to make a point."

She said she has enjoyed figure drawing for a while. "It is a powerful subject," she said. "It is something everyone can kind of relate to."

The morning sessions tend to draw more retirees because of the daytime hours, but they, too, have a range of experience levels, according to the current monitor, painter Cheryl Lucente of Columbia.

Paintings of strangers are not as easy to sell as other subjects, Lucente said, but "portrait people just like painting people."

Nathaniel K. Gibbs of Baltimore said that when he is hired to paint a portrait, he has to focus on getting the likeness exactly right and pleasing the customer. The model sessions are more freeing because "I don't have to be too serious about things. I can concentrate on the technical things and just paint a portrait."

Gibbs, 59, who has made a career as an artist, said some people like to get to know their subject, but in the art center sessions he can think of the portrait like other paintings and focus on color, light and shape.

While the artists are serious about their work time, many said they also enjoy the social aspects of working around other people, particularly during the regular breaks that allow the models to stretch.

"Sometimes we're chatting and telling jokes," Lucente said about the morning sessions. "Sometimes it's risque, sometimes it's hilariously funny, sometimes it's deadly serious. By and large, it's a lot of fun. It's a very nice group."

Maeve Yeager, 23, of Baltimore said she finds being one of the nude models for the evening session rewarding as well.

She started modeling for several artist groups after a friend told her about it. "It is my way of making art. I can't draw and I can't paint," said Yeager.

She said the first time she posed helped her get over any shyness, and the seriousness of the artists makes her feel comfortable modeling nude. She also said she can get "pretty zen" staring at a spot on the wall for 20 minutes at a time as long as her extremities don't fall asleep.

Adkins, who monitors the evening sessions, has a pool of models but is always looking to hire new people.

Lucente is also on the lookout to find people to model clothed for the morning sessions. Not many individuals have the time available and the willingness to be the center of attention, she said. She has recruited people at her health club, asked the artists to sign up their friends and family members and occasionally accosts near-strangers.

Lesko, who is also a massage therapist, heard about the opportunity from a client who is an artist and volunteered to be a model. He said sitting still is pretty easy work, "like meditation."

He said he has been interested to see the drawings and paintings as they progress: "Part of the fun of it is to see how other people see you in so many ways."

Drop-in live-model sessions are held at Howard County Center for the Arts, 8510 High Ridge Road, Ellicott City. Portrait sessions cost $10 a session or $42 for six sessions purchased in advance. Life-drawing sessions cost $12 a session or $60 in advance for six sessions. Artists younger than 18 require parental consent to participate in life-drawing sessions. Information: 410-313-2787.