This summer an artist friend and I enrolled in a class. It was clear realistic elements would be involved; however, without seeing a syllabus, it was hard to know the direction of the class. As my artistic bent is the opposite of realism, I felt somewhat leery. The first session was introductory and, as such, relatively benign. The 2nd one was a different story as there were 2 live models, one of which we were supposed to paint. Not only is a live model situation a specialty in itself but painting is in a league requiring expertise way beyond even sketching or drawing. I definitely felt utterly confused, constricted, frustrated and fearful of putting paint to canvas. With the teacher’s tips/help, this is what I ended up with on an 11 x 24 inch canvas. There is no question that I gave the male model a whole different face. I named it “The Dude.”