A Closer Study

‘Miss Howells?’ One of the students, Phoebe, raised her hand.

‘Yes? Miss Howells walked over to Phoebe’s easel in the middle of the group of artists. ‘What do you need?’

‘Well,’ said Phoebe, ‘Olive is quite different to draw than Gladys was. Her body is much more smooth and toned, and she doesn’t have the wrinkles and saggy bits.’

‘Yes,’ agreed the tutor, ‘she’s really very beautiful, isn’t she?’

Phoebe nodded. ‘I notice that her breasts are quite large, and her nipples look quite hard, which never happened with Gladys. Would it be okay to go up to study them more closely? I want to get the details right.’

The teacher moved to the podium to quietly discuss the request with the model. ‘Olive, would you be comfortable with the students coming up to study you more closely?’

Olive nodded, and cleared her throat. ‘Of course,’ she said. ‘Anything to help.’

‘And if we need to adjust your pose a little? Do you mind being touched, just so the artists can move you a little and get a better view?’

Another nod. ‘Absolutely,’ Olive replied. ‘They can do whatever they find helpful.’

Miss Howells addressed the class. ‘Olive has agreed that if any of you would find it helpful to study her more closely, you may come up to the front. Also, as long as everybody agrees, we can adjust her pose in order to take the maximum benefit from this opportunity.’

Instantly the artists gathered around the podium. ‘One at a time, please,’ called Miss Howells, ‘one at a time everybody. Phoebe, you asked first, would you like to step forward?’