Sean Moon takes his clothes off for money.

Twice a week he walks into a large room, undresses and gets paid $12 an hour so strangers can see him in his birthday suit. He’s not Deuce Bigalow or a Chippendales’ dancer. He’s a nude model.

Nude modeling is one of many ways people can make money solely off of their own body.

The 19-year-old University of Northern Colorado student poses for life-drawing classes at UNC because it’s easy work and a decent paycheck. Although the department also has fully or partially clothed modeling options, Moon gets down to the bare bottom.

“I was all for doing the nude modeling because it’s more money and I am comfortable with it,” he said.

Nudity in public is nothing new for Moon.

“I am notorious for streaking,” he said.

In high school in Colorado Springs, Moon mooned cars for a laugh. It progressed to running through parks and downtown streets naked.

“A great thing to do would be streak at the Super Bowl,” Moon said. “I think that would be pretty amazing, but I don’t think that would actually happen.”

Modeling doesn’t have the adrenaline rush of streaking, but it also won’t land him in the slammer.

“It is not quite as much of a thrill,” he said. “These people are expecting to see you naked.”

He first heard about the job last summer during freshman orientation. Then, a couple of months ago, a friend who works in the art department office said they were looking for nude models.

Not surprisingly, the department has trouble finding willing subjects.
But not Moon, although he admitted to a little nervousness during the days leading up to his first time.

“I was thinking it would be mostly females in the class, but it turned out to be half and half, which was a surprise,” he said.

After being introduced to the professor, he changed into a robe and was told to pick a pose. He removed the pastel yellow robe and positioned himself leaning forward in a chair, both feet on the floor, elbows resting on his knees and hands clasped together.

“The key is finding a good position because the position I chose that day hurt my back,” Moon said. “For the first 20 minutes, it was hard to keep from laughing. I kept thinking, what would my parents think. After that, it was hard to stay awake.”
He said his parents have since taken his new endeavor in stride.

“People who know me are like, ‘Yeah, that’s Sean, it was going to happen eventually,’ ” he said.

The hardest part about his job is sitting or standing still for so long — about two hours — he said.

Moon, a journalism student, is not studying art but said he is semi-artistic.
His usual attire is a white T-shirt with a drawing he does himself. Think a homemade vintage T-shirt with a faded The Who design.

As if being a nude model isn’t unusual enough, Moon is also accredited as an ordained minister. One day, last month, he was watching the “Friends” episode where Chandler and Monica decide to let Joey perform their wedding ceremony after he gets ordained over the Internet. Moon found a Web site where he could get ordained for free and filled out the application.

“I thought, wow, I could see myself doing this,” he said. “It was a spur of the moment kind of thing. I haven’t done anything with it and don’t know if I ever will do anything with it. I think I did it more so I could be like, ‘Yeah, I’m an ordained minister.’ I’m not a religious person. There is no real reason behind it. Of course, a lot of things I do have no real reason behind them.”

Moon intends to continue modeling throughout college. He said the money helps him pay for food.

Occasionally, he will walk around the room after class to see the work the students have done.

“Initially, it was kind of weird,” he said. “It’s like, ‘Wow, that’s me on canvas or paper.’ ”