Miss Lisa Pick, 27, has been a part-time nude model for a year and a half.
She went into the profession when she moonlighted once for a model friend who could not make an appointment.
Said Miss Pick: "There is no particular reason for me to work as a nude model; it is a case of why not _ I need a job, so why not?
"So, it is mainly for economic reasons. Besides, it is for convenience. I don't want a 9-to-5 job. Nude modelling is quite a good job considering the pay and the hours."
Another nude model, Miss Sharon Horan, 25, who has been a part-time nude model for three and a half years, also entered the scene by chance.
"When I first came to Hong Kong, I had no money. I tried nude modelling after seeing an advertisement on a notice board of the hostel I was living in."
Miss Horan still remembers her nude modelling debut _ an experience which actually eased some of her fears.
"I worked for a Chinese artist during my first job. The way he acted made me feel comfortable. He would never look at me in any uncomfortable way," Miss Horan recalled.
"I didn't know how a nude model should behave and act then. He taught me and gave me a lot of ideas that made me look good."
Learning by experience is the way both Miss Pick and Miss Horan overcame the embarrassment of nudity _ and for the artists who paint the pictures, it is more or less the same.
Mr. Chan Yuk Keung, lecturer in Fine Arts at The Chinese University of Hong Kong, said, "Students have taken some basic courses about drawing and anatomy before drawing nude bodies, so they should know how to react properly.
"Instead of reducing embarrassment among the students, I tell the students not to make the models feel embarrassed. For example, I tell them not to laugh or stare at the models during breaks."
According to Miss Pick, most students are quite respectful towards her.
"They are surprisingly mature. When they are drawing, they do not look at my body in a sexual way," said she.
"They are very positive. Only on one very bad occasion did I find the students' attitudes a bit immature _ and that was a class with mainly young male university students."
However, Miss Horan said she had two unpleasant experiences _ both in sessions outside classes.
"Once, a Chinese man treated me like a prostitute. He locked the door when I came into his flat. He asked me whether I would like to take a shower or not. Eventually he sat next to me on the bed and then touched me.
"He understood only after I explained to him that I was only a model and what he wanted was not my job.
"The second experience is similar. I went to the flat of two brothers. They asked me how much I charged for providing 'extra service'. I said I was a model only. But they kept asking if I can refer any friend to them who will provide this 'extra service'."
In any case, neither one ashamed of her work.
"I don't mind other people knowing that I'm a nude model. Actually, most of my friends know about it _ even my Chinese friends do," said Miss Pick.
Being a wife and a mother, the main dissidentins voice came from her husband.
"At first, he didn't like my job very much. He did not understand why I chose a job in which many people can see me with my clothes off," she said.
"I told him that it was all for the sake of the students' learning experience. After explaining to him about my work, he felt much happier."
Miss Horan's initial problems lay with her family.
"When I first told my mother about this, she was a bit upset. After some explaining, she eventually understood," Miss Horan recalled.
Both of them treat nude modelling as only part-time jobs. Miss Pick is a fortune-teller while Miss Horan is a private English tutor.
According to them, wage for nude models is about $150 per hour.
Said Miss Horan: "There is no chance for me to improve the salary in nude modelling. It is unstable and people want new models after a few months. So it is difficult to treat nude modelling as a full-time job. Actually, I don't mind to have it as full-time job. It's quite nice.
"It is also interesting to see drawings of me at exhibitions and I have developed an interest in art since I landed this job."
Said Miss Pick: "I have a baby now so I'm not doing as much modelling as before. But I can certainly see myself doing it again because, for modelling, it doesn't matter how old you are and what you look like.
"Indeed, I did carry on the work of nude modelling when I was pregnant. Many people were happy to have me as a nude model because they could see my body change and develop.
"And the students in the class were happy because they knew that there was a life inside my body," said Miss Pick.