KongArt Week Stories

Love In a Pencil and a Brush - Part Two

Arthit huffed as he adamantly kept his eyes on his blank drawing paper he had just clipped on. It had absolutely nothing to do with the man in his peripheral vision who was now drinking water. Nope, absolutely nothing.

"Arthittt he keeps looking this way!" Tootah squealed, furiously smacking his thigh. Arthit made little 'ow' noises, trying to prevent the other man from causing permanent damage on his leg. He still very much wanted to walk, thank you very much.

"Stop overthinking, you. His chair is facing this direction. Where would you want him to face if not here?" Honestly, it was more a statement to convince himself rather than his best friend. He could still feel the other's eyes boring into him and it was unnerving.

Break was coming to an end and that meant he had to go back to looking unapologetically at that beautifully chiselled man, who loved staring right back at him and sending tingles down his spine. Arthit prayed he could somehow concentrate now that time was not on his side. 30 minutes was not a lot of time but 30 minutes of staring at that man? He wasn't sure he was going to survive it without a timer going off ever so now and then.

"Alright everyone, let's get back to drawing."

A united groan echoed through the class and everyone got back to position, Arthit included. The robe came off and the man on the platform, of course, simply had to face him as he draped himself leisurely across the chair in the pose he would have to hold for the next half an hour.

Arthit closed his eyes and counted to five before picking up his charcoal pencil and dove right into sketching. His eyes ran across the man's beautiful muscle lines, translating them into his drawing. He'd never had a model who was this easy to draw. Every crevice, every dip, every curvature, the way the light hits and bounces off him. It almost felt that the strokes he was using didn't do the model justice at all.

There was so much to take in.

He hated that he was using a charcoal medium today. It had never been his forte. Had he been using paint, he was sure he would be able to paint a masterpiece. But that would take a lot more than half an hour and live drawing sessions simply didn't allow them that kind of luxury. If only he had a model like that on normal days. He'd probably not have to worry about his final project anymore. It was easy to feel inspired - almost too easy. He had never felt like that before. Engrossed in his drawing, he didn't even realise that the art teacher had arrived at his side while going around giving advice to the students.

"Those are beautiful details Arthit, but why have you left out drawing his eyes? At your level I would expect more than just anatomy, motion, light and shadow. I want to see you capture his expressions too Arthit, I know you're capable of it."

After a few more pointers, Dom left Arthit to his own devices. Grumbling under his breath as the final ten minutes was announced, Arthit finally looked up to look at the model. He had avoided eye contact the entire time, only focusing on one part of his body at each point in time. It wasn't that he didn't want to draw his face or that he wasn't capable of depicting the expressions that were now on the model's face.

He just felt weird that the stranger on the platform was seemingly looking into his soul. Who was the subject here really?

Arthit shook his head, turning his attention back to the gaping hole on his drawing's face. It was now or never. Mustering up all the courage he had, he faced the model head on. He was sure he saw a ghost of a smirk that disappeared as quickly as it appeared.

Focus Arthit.

By the next time Arthit surfaced from his preoccupation, the beeper had rang for the final time for the day and a collective sigh of relief could be heard through the classroom. Looking at his final product, Arthit was horrified by what he saw. He was sure, a hundred percent sure, that he had pulled himself from his panic stricken state and focused on drawing like a true artist would. Then why?