Written by Smriti Reddy Pannala. Graphic by Miha Palancha.
Imagine walking into your 8 a.m. class, sleepy and tired from the all-nighter you pulled, to find a skeleton hit you in the face as you step into the classroom. The skeleton was not there as a piece of decor—but as a reality check. You go into your first class completely unaware of what lies ahead, but as the quarter moves ahead, you have accepted the truth: drawing nude models is what you have to do for the next few (many) weeks.
Although your respect for those posing for you is unwavering, you can’t help but wonder how it must feel like to be in their place. Would you do this if given the chance? Would you look at drawings 18-something-year-olds made of you and question your appearance and your self-perception?
Those are just some of the many, many thoughts that draw your attention away from your professor’s demonstration in class.
Being as inexperienced as you are in drawing the human figure, you try your best to treat what you can see fairly. What are you even doing here? Maybe—just maybe—you weren’t made for this.
But then again, just because you aren’t good at it in the beginning does not mean you will never get better. And hey, look at that! Your initial discomfort about drawing nude models has died down, too.
If the beginning, the middle and the end lie on the same tangent, none of this really matters. And just like that, it hits you: you do know what you’re doing in this class. You’re learning from your professor and those illustration majors around you who are somehow effortlessly good at this.
No matter what you’ve heard about this class from people who might or might not have taken it (And honestly, you’ll never find out), it really isn’t that bad. In fact, it’s great.
You’re learning so much more than you ever imagined you would—not only about the human form but also just how much effort it takes to draw it, observe it and most of all, do justice to it.
At the end of the day, even if it just looks like a scribble on a piece of paper to your friends, you know the effort it took to get yourself to draw something you’ve never even attempted before and be okay with the fact that it might not be perfect.
It’s a learning curve.
(Oh, and by the way, staying off your phone for the entire class takes a lot of strength, too. So be proud of yourself for—not just that, but for everything.)
