in which derry goes to his first life drawing class ever
(hands up everyone who remembers derry belmont, my highly fictionalized homeless artist boy who bears a striking resemblance to one mr billy lush. ie, have some fic. :D )
Derry's friend Petula, because she loves him and because he puts up with her roommate who doesn't like him, buys him a session of life drawing at the art school. Ten bucks for four hours, which sounds like a long time to him, but he's never taken a life drawing class or gone to an open studio for it, so he doesn't know, maybe this is normal.
He feels a little self-conscious when he gets there and kind of wishes she hadn't done this for him. He just has a sketchbook he stole from the big art supply store and a bunch of pencils, and here are all these people with big pads of newsprint and sticks of charcoal and one guy has a drawing board over his knees and the more people filter in, the more Derry feels incredibly out of place. There are more people than easels, at least, so he won't be the only one sitting in a chair and he doesn't have to worry about looking really ridiculous.
It's one thing to be flat broke in a studio waiting to draw naked people, but it's a whole other thing to look it. Hopefully when the model comes out and everyone starts working, it won't matter any more.
And then the model comes in wearing a robe, stands on the platform in the middle of the room, drops the robe, and strikes a pose. Derry can hear charcoal and pencils scratching across paper. It's a comforting sound. He was right, too - now that they have something to focus on, no one is going to notice or care that Derry looks like the most amateur of amateur artists, and too poor to afford this himself, to boot.
The model changes poses every five minutes, which takes some getting used to, but Derry's been drawing people in public for years, and the thing about drawing people in public spaces is that they tend to move. Sometimes he'll draw actual people, with lives and loves and jobs and friends and families and worries and things they like. He tries to draw their personalities. But sometimes, like now, he draws shapes - circles and squares and curves and planes of shadow. When your model is naked and expressionless and moves every five minutes, it's hard to get a grip on her personality.
She holds a fifteen-minute pose, which he likes, and then a half hour, and then she's replaced by a male model. When he found out Derry was going to be drawing naked people for four hours, Will joked about him getting hard drawing the guys. Derry said he'd never gotten hard drawing Will, and Will was actually available. Will pretended to pout, Derry offered to draw him, Will said no, he'd rather Derry just get it up for him instead, and the conversation ended with Will on his knees, sucking Derry off. Later, after they had sex and Will fell asleep, Derry drew him as a cherub with little wings and a halo, which Will thought was really funny the next morning.
And now Derry is sitting not three feet away from a pretty hot, very naked guy, and all he can see is musculature and joints and the way circles fit together to form a body on a page. Will would be so disappointed, he thinks. No hard-on.
After two hours the artists and model get a short break to stretch and pee, and then the male model does some ten-minute poses, and the session ends with an hour of the first model stretched out on a couch. Derry tries really hard to just draw her as she is and not add background details or accessories or a bored-looking devil on her shoulder or anything. She looks very relaxed on the couch and he wonders if she fell asleep.
Afterwards some people thank her on their way out, so he does too. He doesn't add that it was his first life drawing class ever and while he can appreciate the practice, it seems too artificial for him and he thinks he likes drawing people in action in the real world better. He tells Petula he liked it, but maybe the next time she wants to spend money on him, she can just feed him instead.
Derry's friend Petula, because she loves him and because he puts up with her roommate who doesn't like him, buys him a session of life drawing at the art school. Ten bucks for four hours, which sounds like a long time to him, but he's never taken a life drawing class or gone to an open studio for it, so he doesn't know, maybe this is normal.
He feels a little self-conscious when he gets there and kind of wishes she hadn't done this for him. He just has a sketchbook he stole from the big art supply store and a bunch of pencils, and here are all these people with big pads of newsprint and sticks of charcoal and one guy has a drawing board over his knees and the more people filter in, the more Derry feels incredibly out of place. There are more people than easels, at least, so he won't be the only one sitting in a chair and he doesn't have to worry about looking really ridiculous.
It's one thing to be flat broke in a studio waiting to draw naked people, but it's a whole other thing to look it. Hopefully when the model comes out and everyone starts working, it won't matter any more.
And then the model comes in wearing a robe, stands on the platform in the middle of the room, drops the robe, and strikes a pose. Derry can hear charcoal and pencils scratching across paper. It's a comforting sound. He was right, too - now that they have something to focus on, no one is going to notice or care that Derry looks like the most amateur of amateur artists, and too poor to afford this himself, to boot.
The model changes poses every five minutes, which takes some getting used to, but Derry's been drawing people in public for years, and the thing about drawing people in public spaces is that they tend to move. Sometimes he'll draw actual people, with lives and loves and jobs and friends and families and worries and things they like. He tries to draw their personalities. But sometimes, like now, he draws shapes - circles and squares and curves and planes of shadow. When your model is naked and expressionless and moves every five minutes, it's hard to get a grip on her personality.
She holds a fifteen-minute pose, which he likes, and then a half hour, and then she's replaced by a male model. When he found out Derry was going to be drawing naked people for four hours, Will joked about him getting hard drawing the guys. Derry said he'd never gotten hard drawing Will, and Will was actually available. Will pretended to pout, Derry offered to draw him, Will said no, he'd rather Derry just get it up for him instead, and the conversation ended with Will on his knees, sucking Derry off. Later, after they had sex and Will fell asleep, Derry drew him as a cherub with little wings and a halo, which Will thought was really funny the next morning.
And now Derry is sitting not three feet away from a pretty hot, very naked guy, and all he can see is musculature and joints and the way circles fit together to form a body on a page. Will would be so disappointed, he thinks. No hard-on.
After two hours the artists and model get a short break to stretch and pee, and then the male model does some ten-minute poses, and the session ends with an hour of the first model stretched out on a couch. Derry tries really hard to just draw her as she is and not add background details or accessories or a bored-looking devil on her shoulder or anything. She looks very relaxed on the couch and he wonders if she fell asleep.
Afterwards some people thank her on their way out, so he does too. He doesn't add that it was his first life drawing class ever and while he can appreciate the practice, it seems too artificial for him and he thinks he likes drawing people in action in the real world better. He tells Petula he liked it, but maybe the next time she wants to spend money on him, she can just feed him instead.