A/N: I recommend listening to Allah-Las while reading this chapter to get the vibe I was going for.

Before I knew it, Delphine was standing by the small square podium undressing, while Leekie was putting on some music in the background. He had surprised us by having a weak spot for more 60s like psychedelic rock and garage rock. The Growlers, Allah-Las, Lou Reed, Velvet Underground. I can just imagine him in his high waisted cowboy jeans, a white t-shirt and wild hair. Smoking pot and talking about the newest disc with his friends. Going to Andy Warhol exhibitions. For some reason I imagine him having a crazy youth. I just can't figure out how he got that stick up his ass. Maybe too many compliments and too many dreams of grandeur. I think that's what gives him such an off-putting feel from time to time.

I thought about all this while doodling circles and squares in the corner of my paper. Anything not to look up. It's really strange. I'm very used to seeing people naked in front of me and drawing them without feeling awkward, but for some reason, watching the models undress seems extremely intimate, like I would be crossing their comfort zone by watching them get naked, even though I'm going to be staring at their naked bodies in a second anyway.

"Let's start off with some 10 seconds sketches, shall we?" Leekie nodded to Delphine. For the first time since she began undressing I looked up from my paper and watched her.

I swallowed. She was absolutely stunning. Her pale body was lean and slim; her legs were long and elegant. Her body was splattered with a few random birthmarks. I wanted to look more, but she was stretching her arms up in a big circle while crossing her legs.

I quickly took my pencil in my hand and began drawing a quick curved line indicating her line-of-action, before quickly adding a circle for a head, two squares to indicate a chest and hips with pelvis and draw her arms and legs as single lines. Then she was bending her body backwards, spreading her legs more out and I found a new spot on my paper to restart my previous process.

"I want you to look at the line in her body, see how it bends. Capture that. Work on the important lines. Which of her legs carry her weight? Try to emphasize it. See the line going from the top of her head or arm and go all the way down to the tips of her toes. This is about capturing the change in her body, capture the lines. Exaggerate the line as much as you see fit to make her pose more exenterated. This is about capturing her dynamic. The more exaggerated your lines are, the more dynamic your result will get."

While Leekie explained, Delphine moved about in all sorts of dynamic poses, impressing me with her flexibility. I concentrate on the line from her hand and to her foot, adding her other arm and foot after. Everything is fast and I don't bother changing my paper more than once, drawing everything more or less on top of each other. I know these drawings will be useless in a portfolio so I put all my focus into trying to capture her line-of-action as precisely as possible.

"The clearer and stronger your line-of-action is, the more readable and dynamic your character will be. A clear silhouette and a strong line-of-action makes for the strongest character and is always desired. Let's switch to 30 seconds."

The room filled with the sound of shifting paper, as we all got ready. I moved my pencil as fast as possible to take advantage of the extra time and get more down on the paper. I split her torso in two parts as well as with her legs and her arms, splitting at the joints. When I had more time I would go back over to emphasize the curve of her waist, the curve of her upper arm, her feet. I drew in her breasts and placed her bellybutton with a small dot. Looked for overlapping forms that I can put in.

As I was sitting there, I felt like my mind had separated from my body and had escaped into a world of its own. All that existed were the paper with my franticly moving pencil, the music careering me away on pleasant waves and her in front of me. I was completely mesmerized by her body, her movement, her curves, her face. In this space, nothing existed but the two of us, my eyes and her body. I could look her over as shamelessly as I wanted to, all the time concentrating on capturing her beauty as best as possible, to do her some honor. Multiple times, I found myself longing for her to stand still longer so I could capture it all instead of only quick sketches. Her poses were so elegant and beautiful I just wanted time to stop so I could really get to see, really get to study all her perfection. Take my sweet time.

"Let's move on to 2 minutes." Leekie said and Delphine nodded, laying down for a new pose. "Remember, just because you have more time doesn't mean you should slow down. Try to capture the whole body and quickly as possible. If you want to focus on shading, try to put your focus on bigger areas. Choose your light source to quickly determine where the shading should land. Don't bother with the different nuances in the shading, but try to capture the area as a whole."

The more I got to draw her, the more intoxicated I felt. I could sit for hours just watching her and drawing her, studying all her curves and details. She had a small flower tattooed on her hip that I kept staring at from time to time. Or the birthmark on her lower rips, not too far from her belly. The birthmark on her right breast. It was all so intoxicated to be allowed to draw and study what felt like such perfection. It felt like a dream come true. Like I was just a small kid in a candy shop.

I felt so jealous of Leekie who would get close to Delphine every once in a while, tracing her curves without ever touching her, to show us a good angle and what to look for. I wanted so bad to be the one standing so close to her that I could practically feel the warmth coming from her skin.

2 minutes became 5, and 5 minutes became 10 and suddenly she was just there, lying down, arms spread out, one leg raised and bending by the knee, her hair surrounding her head like a halo of golden curls. It felt magical. I let myself be dragged into a trance where my paper and her body was all that were there. And with each and every shadow of charcoal on my paper, I felt closer and closer to recreating her beauty. I became obsessed with every small stroke I made.

It was a strange thing, a strange middle ground. A place where I could stand and become addicted, without her every noticing. A place where I was supposed to stare and admire to see how I could best describe her personality so she wouldn't falter and become one with all the other standard body types that you draw. But at the same time, it was all bullshit. As soon as she would put back on her clothes, she would become Delphine again, the girl that I leant a lighter, the French woman I didn't know. All ties would be cut again. Her body would be out of reach and sight again, without question. Social rules taking over again. I just wanted to stay in this bubble, where she was lying so beautifully in front of me.

I was quickly pulled back to reality by hands clapping all around me. It was then I registered that Leekie had said thank you to Delphine, who was getting back up with a smile and had begun reaching for her clothes once more.

"Well, not exactly what I hoped for, but I do need to work on my female anatomy." Felix said. The magic was gone again as quickly as it had come.

I was split between joining Felix in his conversation and watching Delphine. I could feel my heart beat faster, painfully aware that our time together was slowly coming to an end. A part of me didn't want to leave, didn't want her to leave. But now fully clothes again, Leekie had come to her, engaging her in conversation.

"Was that my cue to make some sort of joke about how gay you are?" I chose to answer Felix with a smirk, beginning to pack my things again. Everything else would look strange or suspicious. Delphine was just a model after all. I rarely talked to any models, especially just after that had been stripping. It was strange, going from having objectified a person so completely to personalizing them again right after. It was like a part of that objectification stuck, especially if you didn't know the person beforehand. Like you saw them, and all you could think about was how they looked naked and silence, moving around for you to draw. That was your starting point, your perspective, your first impression.

"Oh please honey, don't think I didn't notice you eyeing blondie." Felix said with his own wicked smile. Picking up our bags, we slowly made our way back out again.

"Nah, I was just in a really awesome flow." I tried to excuse, knowing full and well that I was totally and shamelessly checking her out.

"If you say so." Felix raised his eyebrow but didn't press on. "Have you heard Sarah's throwing a party next Friday?"

Sarah was Felix's sister. They had come together from England, Sarah working on a photography line at the same college. She loved taking pictures of the underground scene. Drunken and spinning pictures with low-key and saturated colors. She was really a party animal. Sometimes I worried how she would ever survive getting through an education when she was always skipping classes and never working on her homework. I think the school was in love with her style and how artistic and fluid her pictures was. I was pretty sure that was the only thing saving her.

"Yeah, planning on coming around at 9 pm or something."

And like that the conversation just continued like nothing had ever happened, Delphine tucked away in my mind like a chapter that was over before it had ever begun.

A/N: This is basically me when drawing someone who's really beautiful. I know the ending sort of looks like an ending, but we're still only in the beginning ;) To see what croquis looks like, you can follow the messed up link to my portfolio where I have a page with life drawing:

isabellethulstrup.

wordpress.

com/life-drawing/