I sighed in frustration, looking down at the empty canvas in front of me. This was supposed to be my final project for one of my classes, and I was supposed to turn it in in less than a week. I had been staring at it for almost two hours that morning, but I couldn't find the inspiration to actually come up with something to paint.
I leaned back on my chair and let my head fall, staring up to the ceiling that was as blank as my mind and my painting. Closing my eyes, I breathed in deeply, only to exhale loudly afterwards.
- What's up? – Sam startled me, making me turn to face him. He was leaning on my doorway, his hair up in a bun and sipping from a steaming mug of coffee in a pair of sweatpants. Very shirtless, I might add.
- I'm supposed to at least start today with this project if I want to finish it on time, but I can't really find something I want to paint – I explained.
- What's the instruction?
- I can do whatever I want as long as it's something I haven't done for this assignment before. It shouldn't be this hard - I slightly groaned, lifting my head up to go back to staring at the empty canvas.
- Mhm, have you tried something abstract? Like the one you did last time, the one that we hanged in the living room.
- It's Realism class, I can't – I sighed as he took a couple steps in, sipping from his cup.
- Some dead fruit? Like still life or whatever that shit is called – he then suggested, stopping right beside me.
- It's boring. And I've already done that – I replied.
- Paint Brooke.
- I already did.
- Then paint me – he shrugged, placing his mug on my desk.
- What? – I chuckled.
- You heard me, draw me – he went on, leaning back against the wooden table to face me, crossing his arms over his chest – Like one of you French girls – he added teasingly, quoting Rose's words in Titanic.
- I'm not painting you naked in a necklace, thank you – I spat back, slightly blushing at the mere thought of Sam's naked body in front of me.
- What a shame – he chuckled – But for real, Gwen, you could paint me.
I looked at him, still processing what he had suggested.
- I don't know – I sighed after some seconds.
He was indeed very paintable. I remembered the first time I had seen him, in which the first thing I had thought was how perfect his bone structure and features were, and how good of a model for my drawings he could turn out to be.
- It's the first and only time you'll hear me offering to voluntarily stay still for more than five minutes – he joked, grabbing his mug again and taking another sip of his coffee – I don't promise anything about being quiet. But you should consider it. You've got nothing better, anyways.
Some seconds went by before I finally agreed.
- Okay – I nodded, more to convince myself than to let him know it was alright – It will take a couple of sessions though, I won't be able to finish it today.
In spite of knowing every single detail on his face and not really needing him as a live model, if I wanted my final project to stand out, I needed it to be as perfect as possible. So, having him there would let me focus on whatever I could miss if I painted him by heart, providing a particular lighting and being more authentic.
