A/N: In case you don't know, croquis is a thing where you're drawing nude models. It can be poses that last for anything between 10 seconds to 15 minutes. I think you would call it a longer study after that.
I had been so happy when I first entered the school. Everything was so exciting and new. The people around me were so awesome and uniquely their own. And the art. That was probably the best thing about it all. I got to spend all day in class learning about the different tools and the techniques, how to create a good result using all sorts of different methods. How contrast works, the construction of different objects, perspective (which is basically just math), how you can manipulate the eye to focus on different things in your work depending on tons of different things. It was all so geeky and awesome and I really got into it all.
It was around lunch one day at school when we were beginning a new anatomy course. We had been working with different models and body types the last couple of weeks. Now we were entering the phase where we would be during longer studies. Like drawing the same person a whole day. It was nice, but also very demanding, sitting still sketching people all the time. My shoulder was getting slightly sore from all the moving around and my back was getting stiff from the awkward chairs we had when we weren't standing up.
You're always supposed to be careful when drawing, it's easier than you would imagine to screw up your body permanently and something very common amongst students. And I was really having a hard time learning to sit up straight. That's why I always went out during the breaks to try and stretch and get some fresh air (and maybe a smoke).
I was standing by myself smoking, when I heard the door open and shut behind me, probably some student getting ready to go out for lunch. Not bothering to turn, I heard a fumbling around before the repeating sound of the clicks from a failing lighter.
"Merde…" somebody muttered in French behind me. Too curious and amused to mind my own business, I turned around, only to be greeted by a tall woman with curling short blonde hair, trying and failing at lightening her cigarette. Amused by this almost stereotypical clearly French woman I chuckled to myself.
"Need a light?" I asked, quickly finding my own in my pocket and pulling it out for her to take.
"Hm?" she said, her eyes shooting up. Maybe she hadn't seen me before. "Oh, yeah, thank you." She said, laughing slightly awkwardly, before taking the offered lighter and finally lighting up her cigarette. I can't help thinking that she has a beautiful smile.
"I am sorry," she continued, "I think I might need a new lighter." She smiled at me in amusement. Her accent is clear and I would be lying if I said it wasn't slightly sexy.
"No problem." I said, taking back the lighter. "It's nice to get a smoking break every once in a while."
"I was going to quit, but I guess the temptation was too big." She said with a wink and we both laughed.
"I don't think I've seen you here before." I said, a mixture of curiosity and maybe flirting a tiny bit.
"No, I am new to this place." She smiled, nodding. We grew silent for a small second, me waiting for her maybe to continue and her not knowing what to add.
"Do you like it?" I asked, urging her on.
"Yes!" she said, "It's very… artistic." I laughed at that.
"Well it is an art college." Now she was laughing too.
"I like it. Everything is so colorful and so free. It's like the social boundaries have broken a tiny bit down. Like a small creative bubble filled with all sorts of different people and personality all gathered around something that they burn for. It's very inspiring. Very freeing."
"Totally." I added after a pause, momentarily mesmerized by this perfect stranger. We stood there looking at each other in silent for a small while, smiling. I watched as she inhaled and exhaled the smoke.
"I should probably go." she said with a smile. It wasn't until then that I noticed that she was already finished with her smoke. Looking down in my own hand, I saw that I had completely forgotten my own smoke, which had lost its flame long ago. I wasn't sure whether I should be embarrassed or not.
"Sure." I said. "Hadn't seen the time flying." We both chuckled lightly, slightly awkwardly. "I guess I'll see you around." I added, hoping and wishing this to be true.
"Yes, I would like that." The woman smiled, standing still for a second longer than necessary. "Bye." She said in a low voice.
"Bye." I replied, smiling as well. And then the woman was gone.
I turned back to look over the grass plane in front of me. Lightening my smoke, I kept on smiling like an idiot, enjoying myself way too much. I wasn't completely sure what had just happened. Or well, it's not that uncommon for me to act so awkwardly around pretty women. I usually just brush it off after a week or so and move on with my life until the next pretty girl comes along or until I decide to get out and try to find someone I can actually hook up with instead of just stare at.
It's always about the fine line. Don't crush on the chicks you actually know unless you're sure that they might be into you. You can crush on strangers though, people you know you won't see again on a regular basis. That way you never end up broken hearted by yet another straight girl and now without her friendship as well. So I allowed myself to think back on the blonde, knowing that the chances of us ever being in the same room alone again was small on this school. It was a mixed feeling of disappointment and relief. Maybe I would pass her on the halls occasionally. We would say a slightly awkward hello and be over with it. Maybe she would come out to get a smoke every once in a while. We would talk about our different classes and the teachers we knew and be over with it. I mean, I didn't even get her name.
Finishing my own smoke, I decided to get back inside and make my way back to class. Opening the door, I was met by a dozen eyes upon me and dead silence. Looking up at the clock, I realized that it's 5 minutes past the time.
"Sorry I'm late." I said cautiously, taking my seat next to one of my friends, Felix.
"Be careful you're not making a habit out of it Miss Niehaus." Our teacher, professor Leekie, told me with a stern look and a slightly amused smile.
"Yes sir." I feigned embarrassment, knowing perfectly well that this wasn't the last time I'd be late again.
"Today we are starting out with some croquis before we move on to longer studies. I want you to have focus on line-of-action and trying to get the proportions down as accurately and quickly as possible. We're doing fast studies which means that you won't have time to think about details, so don't. This exercise is not about creating something that looks good, this is not about having a finished product, it's about training the eye to see the different lines in the body. We have a new model we'll be working with today. So cut some paper and get ready and I'll find them."
When Leekie left again, I turned to Felix while getting my hobby knife out of my back bag.
"It'll be nice to get to make some quick sketches. I feel slightly rusty after some of the long studies yesterday." I said.
"I hope the new model is a handsome young man." Felix said to no real surprise.
"What, so you can sit and drool the whole time?" I teased, moving to the back of the room to get a board.
"It beats yawning over old Bertram yesterday." He reached for a board himself before we turned to the giant roll of paper the other student were in the midst of laying in down and rolling out. Our school had this deal with a farm that supplied us with giant rolls of corn paper very cheaply. We had to cut it out ourselves, but it was fine enough quality for croquis sketching and stuff.
"I don't know." I replied, bending down to help hold the paper while it was getting stacked to cut more at the same time. "I kinda liked it. It's cool trying to draw wrinkles and stuff. Seeing the body like that. If it's some young guy, I hope he's like really muscular. That would be cool. Or fat maybe. That way we can get to draw some curves." I smiled, thinking of all the possibilities.
"Uhh, someone muscular. That would be the perfect combination of eye candy and something practical to draw." Felix smiled as well, clearly planning out everything in his head too.
"Dude, seriously?" I turned to him with a grin, handing him some paper.
"What? You know I'm only kidding. I would be happy with any model." He flicked his wrist, dismissing my comment easily.
"Sometimes I wonder why you're even here." I said, teasing him further.
"To create art." He replied with a wicked smile of his own.
We settled our paper on our chairs before going over to cut our pencils. If you cut them instead of sharpening them, you can create these long and precise pieces of lead, which is awesome for shading and creating big lines. Finally settling down again, I was searching for my kneaded eraser when I heard the door opening and Leekie small talking with the model. Opening the casing, I removed my eraser and modelled it in my hand to create a ball with a point. I fumbled with my pencils and the long piece of charcoal I'd found when I stiffened, suddenly recognizing the voice that Leekie was talking to.
"Can I get everybody's attention." He said, and I felt my heart pounding slightly faster as I turned around, my brain not really knowing what the hell to do with itself.
"This is Delphine. She'll be our new model." Leekie said, pointing to the person next him. Smiling and waving shyly was the same woman I talked to outside. My brain having caught up again, I smiled. Well this could turn out interesting.
"Hello." She said to the class, before catching my eye. "Hi." She repeated without surprise, still smiling.
A/N: And let it begin! I tried not to make Cosima's reaction in the end be too dramatic. It's a funny thing with nude models. In the beginning you're really awkward about it, but as soon as you've gotten used to it, it's no longer a problem. I've even experienced having friends and people I know be the model for a class I was in. I'm thinking about modeling myself a few times, even though I know my classmates will be there. It's a good way to earn a bit of money and I think it would be a good exercise/experience. Croquis is probably the only place where the more diverse models, the better.