A discreet boudoir photography/portrait gift session from her to him?  
   “Ah...that’s a gift that keeps on giving!” says Mr. Cubic Zirconia
      “You wish,” says Mrs. Cubic Zirconia

Beauty can be fleeting.   
   But art is timeless. 

The naked Venus de Milo, a testament to eternal female beauty, basks immortal in the marble chambers of The Louvre. Now, you, too, can bask immortal and in living color before the loving gaze of your favorite fella. 

So, you've agreed to give your man a naked painting or boudoir photography session-- or at least you’ve come here to this post considering the idea-- but how exactly does a gal go about creating such a gift both tastefully and discreetly? 

After all, we probably can't all be as lucky as Rose, played by Kate Winslet, in the movie Titanic -- when Rose says to her heart’s desire Jack, played by heart-throb Leonardo Dicaprio: 

“I want you to draw me wearing only this”  
   (talking about her blue diamond heart of the ocean necklace). 

Though men have been known to work for free for flesh, there probably isn’t a willing and talented artist who'll illustrate your best side for the mere pleasure of the sight and one thin dime ($0.10 USD) like the customer pays the artist in the movie. 

Fair warning...the guy writing this has ZERO artistic skills, so this kind of erotic drawing session was never likely to happen for me without help (nothing sexy about a stick-figure without clothes)...and in today’s article we’ll assume that any other man in our cubic crew who’d like a gift such as this one also can’t just grab a pencil and start sketching a museum-quality representation of his wife or girlfriend. 

We’ll discuss the HOW in a minute, but first I want to share a little of the WHY.

For what it’s worth, my wife is a much more private person than I am. 

   As Rose herself might say “A woman's heart is a deep ocean of secrets". 

      She has not agreed to what I’m going to lay out for you today, dear reader. 

         I’ve had to get her permission just to write about this stuff. 

            She’s never been keen on the idea of naked paintings or pictures of herself. 

               I’m hopeful but I honestly don’t know if she’ll agree to do this.
 
                   And doubtful that even if she does, anyone but me will ever know for sure.

Here in the age of snapchat screenshotting tricks, cloud hacking, revenge porn,  and AI graphics tools that can put your head on the body of a hippo..

.I can see many reasons for reluctance. So I understand that the gift of boudoir photos / a portrait from her to him isn’t a gift to make lightly. And I want to be clear that this probably shouldn’t be something a woman should consider in a non-committed relationship unless she’s okay with the idea that what was created for one man’s eyes only could be seen by others (whether by mistake or malice).

Hell, Rose looked into Jack’s eyes and-- as the two came close to freezing to death-- she said “I'll never let go"...and yet, she eventually did. People are in serious relationships and quit every day. And the internet does not let go of anything that gets published, EVER.

The risk is real.

But once twice in a lifetime sounds good enough to me!

The way she looks to his eyes will change over the years of a relationship.

I see nothing wrong with helping a good man more easily remember her face and form during a time when seeing her without clothes might make him feel like yelling “I’m the king of the world.”

"I don't even have a picture of him.” said 80 year old Rose about young Jack in Titanic.   
    “He exists now... only in my memory." 

Shoulda gotten those photos, Rose. 

Commission an Artist or Photographer

In all seriousness, how does one find a talented portrait artist or photographer who specializes in nudes and is willing to partner with you to create an aesthetic that your husband or boyfriend will treasure the way Rose treasures her blue jewel? 

There are a few ways to go about hiring a professional portrait artist or photographer to help you create your gift of nude art. First, you may want to begin with a LOCAL search. There's a strong possibility that there are artists in a city near you who paint nudes even if they don't advertise that they do. Begin searching online to find working artists in your area who you admire for their work. Contact them by phone or email and ask if they paint, illustrate, or photograph nude subjects. In most cases, artists will be unfazed by the question as they're professionals and nudes are a common genre. If they don't, they'll say so. You can ask if they can recommend an artist in the area who does paint or photograph nude subjects.

Online, there are people you can find via Instagram and Etsy, but for purposes of discretion, and control of the environment-- and any resulting imagery-- it makes sense in my mind to stick to potential artistic helpers from an online platform who are also LOCAL and can do the work in person. 

She’s already trusting her man to treat her precious images as treasures worth protecting-- no sense giving her the extra worry about whether a video chat session was being recorded or distributed in an unauthorized manner. And besides, you know the quality of the end product will be far better with an in-person camera or paintbrush.

Choose 1: Portrait Artist or Photographer

Want to take his breath away by commissioning a professional nude portrait or photo set for his eyes only? Portrait artist or photographer is pretty much the decision numero uno.

Which will make you feel most comfortable? A single oil portrait that will be displayed in a special place just for his eyes only? Or a series of photographs that might be printed, saved in digital form or put into a private book just for your gift recipient?

Which kind of session would you enjoy more? A series of poses over a couple hours all snapped in an organized fashion by a professional photographer with input from you and your guy? Or a single pose held for a couple hours while an oil portrait painter captures just the perfect look of your face, hair and curves?

Your gentleman might have an idea of which he’d prefer, but personally I think this ought to be a decision of the gift giver. She’s already giving up some control over her body-- and that is not an easy thing for a woman in today’s world to do-- and this choice establishes a degree of control.

Of course, maybe in a lifetime together she wants to do  both kinds.
  Hey, a guy can dream right?

Once you find an artist you like who is experienced with nude subjects in his/her painting or photography, you'll need to negotiate a price. I’d say it makes sense to have a budget in mind. 

Depending on the artist, you might expect to pay a few hundred dollars for high-quality work to USD $1000 or more. From what I’ve seen, the expected price range may vary considerably. FWIW, an artist working with oil paints is likely to charge more than a photographer. 

Saving money tip: it helps to find 2-3 artists so that you can consider multiple offers before you finalize your commissioned artwork.

Discuss the Aesthetic

Honey, you know your man better than anyone.
  Don't be shy about explaining your ideas for your commission.
      What aesthetic does your husband or boyfriend love? 

Do you want to commission an ultra-modern scene or something vintage inspired? Some clothes or none at all? An everyday feel or a costumed fantasy unfolding in his mind’s eye?

Maybe your guy is rustic and would love to have a forever memory of your flame-flickered body sprawled across a bearskin rug in front of a roaring fireplace. 

Maybe he’s a freak who once asked you to put on a Wonder Woman costume for some bedroom fun taking it all off (and seemed to be way more into it than you were the one time you agreed to such silliness). 

Maybe you want something more conventional like a bed scene complete with a touch of silk and a demure smile.

Shower and hot tub scenes are popular (so we’ve been told under the strictest confidence by artists who specialize in these kinds of commissions). 

Maybe you love Rose's illustration from Titanic? You wouldn’t be the first or the thousandth couple to try to recreate that! As Rose herself might say “It's quite proper, I assure you." We at CubicZirconia.com could even help you recreate the same ambience wearing a dazzling 5A cubic zirconia pendant around your neck-- and nothing else. 

The point is, let your imagination run wild here. Working with your professional artist or photographer, you can set the scene so that you create a memorable gift.

Mark Your Calendar

In addition to hammering out the price expectation, you want to find out how long your commission will take to complete when you negotiate with an artist. 

For example, you might want to have this gift ready for Valentine's Day or your man's birthday. A nude painting or boudoir photo album would also make for an unforgettable anniversary gift too. Give your artist plenty of time so that there's no rush to complete this art in time for your special date. 

While a lot of the work might be done in person during the session when you’re being sketched or photographed, demanding that it ALL be done there in front of you might be a bit unreasonable for painting. Most portrait artists will sketch first and then paint later from their private studio. I’d say expect at least 10-30 days for delivery, but that’s a number you should get before even beginning to work together with the painter (for dated gift planning purposes).

Of course, a photographer could just walk away and hand you rolls of film or digital images on a USB drive-- taking nothing of the “evidence” with him or her.  For most people reading this, those photos can be developed with instant photo printing in a pharmacy like CVS, Walgreens or Rite-Aid (without a human ever seeing them, and with no record of the images being saved if the Terms of Service I’ve read are to be believed). More adventurous ladies might feel comfortable sending photos off to a book-maker service like those you can find on Etsy under a search of “little black book” or “boudoir photo book”. 

Once Twice in a Lifetime Gift 

Pictures of Mrs. Cubic Zirconia without clothes may or may not have existed at one time in the past over a decade ago and earlier in our relationship as man and woman. 

As her husband, I cannot confirm or deny. 

But if any alleged naked pictures did exist-- perhaps in a special, carefully-controlled and password-protected, digital format protected by a lock-and-key smartphone application -- such naughty nostalgia nudes, if these photos ever indeed existed, would have been lost in the great fully-clothed New Year’s Eve Merida Mexico midnight swimming pool dive of 2015. 

But today’s story and article hasn’t been about one man’s hypothetical dumb, drunken decision not to put a waterproof case on his smartphone. 

It’s about one man’s somewhat selfish belief that a private “boudoir” portrait painting or photography session might just be a very special once-or-twice-in-a-lifetime gift one spouse can give to another. 

And that man shamelessly trying to convince 10s of thousands of women, if need be, to do the same thing...to convince just one woman to do that one thing.

What do you say, honey?
  You’re irreplaceable.

A tasteful work of art featuring your nude figure is a gift that your man will cherish forever. 

"Step up on the railing. Hold on, hold on.
Keep your eyes closed.
Do you trust me?" - Jack

Time to close today’s risque article with those three little words we men all want to hear:

Let’s
  get
    naked,

Mr. Cubic Zirconia

P.S. Yes, you can skip the professional and snap free photos from your smartphone. You might already have done so, eh? So have most couples, research says. 

Just start swiping through a friend’s photo camera roll after they handed you their phone to look at one specific image-- and see if the free access makes them uncomfortable. 

Today’s article is not about that. It’s about doing something in a discreet way and taking the time and trouble to make what’s private also friggin’ awesome.