The Snags of Being a Nude Art Model

Three

Cause we’re the masters of our own fate

We’re the captains of our own souls

There’s no way for us to come away

Cause boy we’re gold, boy we’re gold

And I was like

Take off, take off

Take off all your clothes

~”Lust for Life” by Lana Del Rey

Steam leaked into the small room once Cal opened the door, parading around in nothing but a hip-hugging towel.

"You could've put on some clothes, you know," his friend and old roommate, Lee, groaned. "Just because I haven't seen all that in a while doesn't mean I want to now."

Cal rolled his eyes, running his fingers through his wet hair. "I bet if it meant having me live here again, you'd ask to see me shirtless every day."

Lee plopped down onto his bed, pulling a pillow over his face. "Not sure I'd go that far, man. You're great and all, but I prefer you fully clothed."

The younger of the two chuckled, pulling out his change of clothes for the evening. There was an hour break between his construction job and this art class, so Cal asked his former roommate if he could eat and shower at his place beforehand. He didn't have enough time to go all the way home and back, so he was thankful that Lee agreed.

"What does one wear to be an art model anyway?" Lee asked, removing the pillow and stretching up one of his legs. The dance major was constantly doing one of two things: moving some body part or stretching.

Cal eyed his black pants and oversized shirt. "Your guess is as good as mine. The professor mentioned something about my tattoos being a challenge to draw, so I decided on short sleeves. But he didn't give me much direction outside of that."

He went back into the bathroom and dressed himself, afterwards arranging his hair into place. The black strands fell onto his forehead messily, the dampness making everything a little uncooperative. Hopefully it'd air dry well enough.

"Let me know if you want anymore food before you leave," the elder said once Cal returned to the main room. "I have some snacks."

"I'm good," Cal answered as he gathered his belongings. "You've given me enough already. Don't want to look bloated when they capture my good side."

Lee studied his friend for a moment before snickering to himself. "Under those baggy clothes, I'd doubt they could find your good side let alone draw it. Those poor art students don't know what they're in for."

The younger's nose scrunched up. "You're lucky I'm all put together and presentable, otherwise I'd kick your ass for that. Those students should be grateful I'm showing up and pushing their artistic boundaries."

"More like you should be grateful. Clearly, the professor has the hots for you and offered to pay so much to win over your heart," Lee teased as he stretched his other leg, a series of pops sounding as he moved it back and forth.

Cal went to the door. "He does not have the hots for me.

"He just recognizes a good commodity when he sees one."

"Boy thinks he's gold," Lee muttered under his breath, ignoring the middle finger sticking up on Cal's hand. He rose his voice and asked, "If you save up enough money, does that mean you'll re-enroll?"

The younger shoved his hands in his pockets. Lee didn't know what he needed the money for; he never opened up about that part of his life. So he shook his head.

"Not anytime soon, man. But hey. Thanks again for letting me get ready here."

Cal headed towards the Art Department after Lee waved him off, finding the building easily. Once upon a time, he took photography courses in the established hall. It was one of the best programs in the country and he had been selected out of thousands. He'd only left the university a year or so ago, but it felt like a different lifetime.

As he was instructed, Cal arrived to the room fifteen minutes early. It was already half filled with students, all of whom were setting up their supplies at workstations around a small stage. Bright lights shone overhead, washing the space with an unforgiving and fluorescent glow.

"Cal, over here," a voice called out.

"Professor," he nodded in greeting, seeing the man sitting at a desk. Finished drawings and half completed sketches littered every square inch, and Cal couldn't help but study some of them.

Professor Brown caught his gaze. "Not too bad, right?"

Cal c****d his head to the side and his eyebrows scrunched together. "These people in the drawings... they're all naked."

The man laughed in surprise. "Well, yes. This is Embodiment of the Human Form. The students are here to do exactly that...draw the human form."

Dread pooled in Cal's stomach. Was that the type of modeling he was expected to do tonight?

"You did check out the class online, right?" Professor Brown questioned, eyebrows raised as he waited.

"Not exactly." The younger shifted back and forth on his feet while his eyes remained glued to all the naked illustrations.

"So it's safe to say you don't know what you're required to do here?"

With a shake of his head, Cal finally met the man's stare.

Professor Brown sighed. "This is a nude drawing class, which teaches students how to properly depict the human body."

The professor then went on and on about the session lengths and different types of poses. Apparently, each pose lasted for a specific amount of time, ranging from thirty seconds to thirty minutes. Any pose was allowed, as long as it could be held for the entire time period. Descriptions of some successful stances were given, as well as suggestions on how to keep one's muscles from locking up.

The amount of information made Cal's head swim. This was not what he thought he signed up for. Yeah, the class sounded pretty cool, though it wasn't something he'd ever knowingly volunteer for. He was cool being naked around himself, but in front of a room full of strangers?

"You look lost," the professor commented idly. "Or maybe nervous. Are you still up for this?"

Cal didn't know if he was. He looked back to the stage and to the couple dozen of people surrounding it. All his bits would be hanging out - literally.

"How do the models do it?" He questioned while observing the art students. "How can they be comfortable taking off their clothes like this?"

"It's clinical," Professor Brown clarified as he tidied up his desk. "The students are here to learn and improve upon their art skills, not to ogle you for two hours. Like I mentioned, your body type would be something new for them. Muscles can be difficult to capture, and I'm sure they'd have a fun time depicting your tattoos."

A fun time for them sure, but for him?

Anxiety began to weigh heavily on his limbs and it would be all too easy to walk away right now. Though he had to remember why he agreed to model in the first place. This was no time to think about himself and his needs - he focused on the reward instead.

"So do I just strip down here, or...?"

The professor angled his head towards a sectioned off corner. "You can undress there and use the robe hanging up. Don't worry, we wash it after each class."

With that, Cal found himself naked behind a curtain, pulling the soft robe over his body. It was relatively short, falling just above his knees. And while he had a few moments left with his phone, he searched up some nude modeling poses for inspiration.

He immediately cleared his browser history after seeing the images that particular search returned.

Cal walked back out to the professor's desk, unsure of what to do next. All he could think of was dropping the robe and standing bare in front of all these people.

Thank god he'd recently gotten into manscaping.

"Music or no music?" Professor Brown pointed to a stereo system behind him. "It's up to you."

"Music," the younger affirmed quickly. He'd need something to focus on besides the eyes of the students looking at every square inch of his body. The professor handed him a phone, indicating that he could pull up a playlist. He found an R&B station he liked and soon enough, the rich and soothing tones of a popular artist filled the room.

"Alright, get on up there, Cal." the man directed.

"Will you tell me what to do?" The younger asked - pleaded almost - as he was ushered forward by the professor.

Professor Brown nodded his head. "Yup. Both the students and I will direct you. Now up you go."

He slowly made his way to the compact stage, stepping up on the cool wood. The stage wasn't too large, but it could easily fit a few people if needed. The lights were trained on the stage like spotlights, but the angles made it so they wouldn't blind him.

Some students looked at him as he scanned the faces of those immediately in front of him. Others were still setting up their materials, too concentrated on their tasks to bother observing their model. He made eye contact with one girl and instantly looked away, yeah, he wouldn't be looking at any other faces today.

"Alright class, please welcome Cal to today's session. We'll start with the normal set of thirty second poses," Professor Brown instructed, his students grabbing their pencils in preparation."Cal, if you would...?"

This was it. This was his moment.

Cal clumsily untied the sash around his waist. He planned to take as much time to disrobe as possible delaying the inevitable - but would that seem like he was trying to taunt his audience? He didn't want to be known as the model who performed a striptease in an art class, a bad one at that. As he considered his undressing skills more, he realized he was putting way too much thought into this. He let the robe fall off his shoulders and deftly tossed it to the side.

Cal swallowed audibly as he stood there naked for everyone to see. Goosebumps erupted across his skin from the cool air, a funny contradiction to the heat in his face. The deep, calming breaths he took didn't do much to calm his racing heart.

And, to top it off, the more he tried to avoid everyone's gazes, the more tempted he was to look. His eyes kept flitting up and down, awkwardly assessing the students' reactions.

"First pose, please," Professor Brown called out. "Thirty seconds begin now."

With a forced smile, Cal struck his first pose.

niyakima.