Dumbing of Age Book Twelve

Dumbing of Age

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BUFFER WATCH Comics are currently drawn and uploaded through:

May 12, 2026

Gestures

by David M Willis on November 5, 2022 at 12:01 am
  • 01 – Bring Me to Life Drawing
└ Tags: hyde, joe, joyce

Discussion (119) ¬

[ Comments RSS ]
  1. Ana Chronistic
    Ana Chronistic
    November 5, 2022 at 12:02 am | #

    then it turns out Joe’s stuff is even better quality than Malaya’s

    Joyce’s look exactly like her comic

    • Ana Chronistic
      Ana Chronistic
      November 5, 2022 at 12:05 am | #

      the 15-second shots were better for dynamic poses, since the model didn’t have to hold them for as long (have you TRIED standing in an action pose for more than a minute?)

      • thumb
        thumb
        November 5, 2022 at 11:12 am | #

        Once had a guy hold this half-crouch on top of a chair for like 45 minutes. And he was mostly static. He seemed a tad surprised when we asked him afterwards if he was okay.

        • Jackson
          Jackson
          November 5, 2022 at 7:02 pm | #

          L

        • S
          S
          November 7, 2022 at 8:09 am | #

          In my last life drawing class, we had a final project where we were allowed to ask the model to get into any pose we needed for at least 10 minutes. After watching everyone put him in all kinds of exhausting poses, when it was my turn, I told him to just sit down and get comfortable, lol. I still worked it into my project.

  2. The Wellerman
    The Wellerman
    November 5, 2022 at 12:02 am | #

    Do you really have to be THAT fast?!?! 😵

    At that rate I’d be better off tracing a 3D model, ’cause honestly these classes don’t seem really accessible if you prefer to draw at a comfortable pace.

    • AeromechanicalAce
      AeromechanicalAce
      November 5, 2022 at 12:04 am | #

      Seriously. That pace would give me an instant panic attack.

    • Ana Chronistic
      Ana Chronistic
      November 5, 2022 at 12:06 am | #

      1. warm-ups

      2. you don’t have to draw a FULL RENDER, stick figure is fine

      • Ana Chronistic
        Ana Chronistic
        November 5, 2022 at 3:16 am | #

        Here’s a reverse example of what a figure drawing class is like (you normally start with the quickly crap and work your way up to the detailed bits)
        https://youtu.be/x9wn633vl_c

    • StClair
      StClair
      November 5, 2022 at 12:06 am | #

      It’s a warmup exercise. Probably just intended to draw something like stick figures, the strongest lines of the body and pose.

      • Needfuldoer
        Needfuldoer
        November 5, 2022 at 4:02 am | #

        You have to do the oval head with the crossed lines on the face too, right? Otherwise it’s just not drawing class.

        • StClair
          StClair
          November 5, 2022 at 11:46 am | #

          oh, absolutely.

    • Thag Simmons
      Thag Simmons
      November 5, 2022 at 12:06 am | #

      It’s just a warm-up exercise, some quick and shitty drawings to prepare for the assignment proper

    • Madock345
      Madock345
      November 5, 2022 at 12:09 am | #

      They aren’t like that all the time. This is just a warmup. You do real quick outlines of a shape. Then you’ll have much longer sessions of full drawings.

    • Yotomoe
      Yotomoe
      November 5, 2022 at 12:14 am | #

      Haha 15 second drawings are FUN. The hard ones are the longer ones. You make a quick 15 second sketch, who cares if you mess up. Keep it loose and energetic. You draw a figure for 30 minutes and you put way too much effort into it to mess up. So you stress over every line you put down.

    • Sirksome
      Sirksome
      November 5, 2022 at 12:16 am | #

      15 sec gestures are great and fun. The important part is getting the energy of the pose down.

    • Jamie
      Jamie
      November 5, 2022 at 1:00 am | #

      A lot of people have chimed in, but no one’s explained: the point is to create crappy drawings. Joe’s having trouble keeping up, almost certainly, because he’s putting in too much detail. A 15-second sketch isn’t supposed to be good. It’s supposed to capture a feeling, immediately, and then you throw it away.

      The idea is to make you less obsessed with getting it perfect and focused more on actually creating output, because the latter is how you get better. Throw down some lines for 15 seconds, then say, “GOOD ENOUGH” and crumple it into a ball.

      As the artists on The Drawfee Show say, “Delete your art!”

      • Steelbright
        Steelbright
        November 5, 2022 at 5:08 am | #

        Kinda sounds like the prof isn’t doing such a good job of explaining this either. But maybe that was off panel haha

        • JBento
          JBento
          November 5, 2022 at 7:41 am | #

          This isn’t the first drawing class of the semester, though. Presumably he already explained that sort of stuff the first time they did this.

        • Psychie
          Psychie
          November 5, 2022 at 7:44 am | #

          That was my reaction, I feel like this was probably something explained on day 1 or perhaps in a previous course that art majors would be expected to have taken, and it might just not have occurred to him to explain this to Joyce and Joe since from his perspective this is just a quick warm up, the important stuff comes later.

          I get where Dorothy is coming from, suggesting Joyce attend a life drawing class to improve her art, but practical classes (ie, ones that involve actually performing a skill, rather than just talking about things. inb4 people chime in about how practical or unpractical drawing may or may not be as a skill) are generally not something you can just dive into partway through the semester, even if it’s supposed to be introductory, and according to the IU website a life drawing course would probably be around the 300 level, possibly 200 or 400, there isn’t a course that is specifically life drawing, but there are a number of non-specific seminar credits that a professor could feasibly run a life drawing course as, but the 300 level Drawing II is the closest based purely on the descriptions.

          There is a 400 level anatomy for the artist course that focuses specifically on the muscles, bones, and joints for depicting things like hands. I actually modelled for that class by accident because I’m a magician and the professor saw me busking at the Sample Gates on his way to his lecture and decided to just send his students with video cameras to record me doing card tricks (when this was explained to me it sounds like it’s a regular assignment to go get footage of hands in action during class hours, and so when I was there he just made sure to mention that I’d be a good choice given the nature of what I was doing). Those days I always got the best tips since people thought we were filming a tv special and thus drew a bigger crowd, lol

    • MisterJinKC
      MisterJinKC
      November 5, 2022 at 2:32 am | #

      Stick figures ftw.

  3. Doctor_Who
    Doctor_Who
    November 5, 2022 at 12:03 am | #

    It takes some major anxiety to feel like you’re being judged, or indeed paid any attention to at all, when there’s a naked person posing in the middle of the room.

    • Reltzik
      Reltzik
      November 5, 2022 at 12:13 am | #

      Also, EVERYONE ELSE is looking at her just like you unlike you okay maybe there’s something to be embarrassed about.

      • Needfuldoer
        Needfuldoer
        November 5, 2022 at 4:05 am | #

        Nobody else inside the story is paying attention to her, then.

        Except Joe, a little bit.

    • Cerusee
      Cerusee
      November 5, 2022 at 12:24 am | #

      And her name is Joyce!

    • brute
      brute
      November 5, 2022 at 1:05 am | #

      it’s more than anxiety. i’m not even entirely sure what it is, but i have pretty bad body issues and if someone even mentions certain body parts around me i want to crawl in a hole and live in darkness forever. if i had deluded myself into thinking i could handle a life drawing class then i would be reacting a lot like Joyce.

    • Axel
      Axel
      November 5, 2022 at 7:33 am | #

      disagree, although everyone is focused on the model since that’s the class, it is Joyce, making a scene, who they would notice being “off” in some way, if they did notice at all. They’re used to the model (or at least, to models in general), so it would be the newcomer being weird that attracted attention.

      but then I do have anxiety

      • Axel
        Axel
        November 5, 2022 at 9:57 am | #

        To rephrase, I feel like this is like saying in a still-life class “it takes a lot of anxiety to be worried about this when there’s a vase of flowers at the front”

  4. butts
    butts
    November 5, 2022 at 12:04 am | #

    no, no, this is good. she’s working through it

    • Doctor_Who
      Doctor_Who
      November 5, 2022 at 12:05 am | #

      They haven’t even needed to break out the Clockwork Orange eyelid clamps yet.

    • Thag Simmons
      Thag Simmons
      November 5, 2022 at 12:09 am | #

      all things considered she’s doing okay

      • Needfuldoer
        Needfuldoer
        November 5, 2022 at 4:13 am | #

        Even though she’s got a hole the size of Texas deep inside of her heart?

  5. TheKelliestKelly
    TheKelliestKelly
    November 5, 2022 at 12:06 am | #

    I was surprised they’d started class work so little preamble but then I realized we’re past the first day; Joe and Joyce have missed the syllabus day

  6. Yotomoe
    Yotomoe
    November 5, 2022 at 12:11 am | #

    For all my artist pals in here. What’s your favorite length for life drawing?

    I’m a fan of 30-seconds/minute. Enough to get the gesture and if there’s time even capture a bit of the light source to add some dimension to it. It’s probably the ideal length of time for warmups for an animator/comic artist since catching the sillouette is so important when doing them.

    • Sirksome
      Sirksome
      November 5, 2022 at 12:18 am | #

      I’m torn between doing minute studies and slightly longer 3-5 minutes ones. I often find myself wanting to develop minute drawings into something more.

    • Leorale
      Leorale
      November 5, 2022 at 12:28 am | #

      Artist pal who never actually took a class like this. Would love to, though.

      I wonder if there are videos online of models doing various pose lengths. I know it’d be only on a screen, and not 3D, and it’s fine if they’re clothed — I’d just love to try this general process out, of anyone knows of a cheap/free resource like that.

      • Yotomoe
        Yotomoe
        November 5, 2022 at 12:32 am | #

        https://line-of-action.com/practice-tools/figure-drawing
        Check out this site. It has a library of photos of models and you can set timers for how long you wanna look at each pose. You can either set them all to a set time, or do class mode where they get longer and longer over time.

        • Leorale
          Leorale
          November 5, 2022 at 1:33 am | #

          Perfect! Thank you ^^

    • Awaiting Moderation
      Awaiting Moderation
      November 5, 2022 at 2:10 am | #

      Big fan of 15-30 seconds. I’m the sort who agonizes over everything they draw, but I actually focus way better under pressure. So when I’m given a short time frame to work with it lets me cut the useless fluff out of my head and really hone in on the core essentials of the different poses and how best to bring them out.

    • Amós Batista
      Amós Batista
      November 5, 2022 at 2:18 am | #

      I like the variety, it’s challenging.
      15 second drawing, 5 minutes, 25 minutes, inside one session.

    • Holly
      Holly
      November 5, 2022 at 3:18 am | #

      Range of 5 – 15 minutes. Less than that triggers panic attacks unfortunately.

      I’ve always been a slow sketcher, so my 5 minutes result is someone elses’ 60 second result.

    • Needfuldoer
      Needfuldoer
      November 5, 2022 at 4:17 am | #

      Non-artist, hopefully-pal here. I can swap a network switch out like a NASCAR pit crew but any of my drawings that involve more than three lines look like a child made them. I know there’s not a whole hell of a lot I can do besides ‘get good’, but what basics should I be practicing so I don’t just learn how to ape a given art style?

      • Sirksome
        Sirksome
        November 5, 2022 at 8:51 am | #

        First of all you should ape art styles. Most people start learning to draw by flat out copying a style they like from their comic book, cartoon, anime, etc. Many god tier artists learned to draw muscles as a kid by tracing Dragonball Z! So that’s where I’d start. Find art you loke and try to shamelessly rip it off as best you can. Don’t pretend like it’s your work if you trace but doing that teaches your hand the forms.

        In general though if you’re trying to draw humans basic anatomy and proportion is where you start. There countless numbers of books on the subject and free tutorials and resources online for that nearly everywhere. Just google anatomy or type it into YouTube. There’s also perspective which I still struggle with. It’s learning to render forms with illusion of 3 dimensions. Lots of artists struggle with that cause it’s basically geometry.

        The most important part though is to just do it. Just try. There is no right way to start drawing. Put something on a page and show it to people. Get critiqued, adjust, improve. Art is a journey as disgustingly cliche as that is to say.

        As far as basics you can practice at any time I would suggest shapes. Everything is just a series of basic shapes. Squares, circles, cylinders, triangles. Drawing shapes is always a good rough practice for any artist of any skill level.

        • Yotomoe
          Yotomoe
          November 5, 2022 at 10:01 am | #

          Absolutely ape styles. Not a lotta people call me on it but my current style is just Dragonball, Scott Pilgrim and a little bit of Steven Universe all mixed together.

      • vulcanodon
        vulcanodon
        November 5, 2022 at 9:23 am | #

        I just retired from IT support and am learning to draw. Watching a lot of instructional videos on YouTube from LoveLifeDrawing and from a variety of comic book artists on anatomy, perspective, action, etc.

        But 2 months in, also recommend just massive amounts of sketching. I have schwag notebooks from tech conferences that have become sketchbooks, plus every piece of paper or used envelope that falls within arm’s reach. Have filled up whole books with faces, poses, working on one with hands right now. My spouse is very supportive so far.

        Have made some progress but also getting the picture of how far I have to go. And also at peace with that fact and not comparing myself to accomplished artists. Really enjoying this. Income has dropped by half but not missing the constant pressure of ticket resolution at all.

      • vulcanodon
        vulcanodon
        November 5, 2022 at 9:32 am | #

        I should add… perfection is not your friend. Be willing to do a bunch of crappy stuff really fast, like 100 faces in a week. You will surprise yourself.

    • thumb
      thumb
      November 5, 2022 at 11:07 am | #

      15 minutes. More than enough time to get the pose, long enough to take your time and lovingly add detail if you feel like it, not long enough to get bored.

    • Max
      Max
      November 5, 2022 at 5:13 pm | #

      I haven’t had a drawing since college 20 years ago. Now I just use Illustrator and the pen tool. Easier to just use the mouse to correct it than trying to use an eraser and tearing a hole in your paper. When i was drawing I liked the long ones because I wanted it to be perfect. It never was.
      Also, as Jack Reacher said “It is a perishable skill.” So I would probably be terrible at it now.

    • Tadpole7
      Tadpole7
      November 5, 2022 at 7:10 pm | #

      I like the 30 second draws followed by 10 to 15 minute poses. The last being long enough to get a nice drawing and short enough to prevent me from overworking the study.

  7. huehuetotl
    huehuetotl
    November 5, 2022 at 12:12 am | #

    he’s biting his tongue 😛

    • huehuetotl
      huehuetotl
      November 5, 2022 at 12:14 am | #

      I liked it better as an emoticon, not an emoji. gonna try again. :P

  8. Sirksome
    Sirksome
    November 5, 2022 at 12:14 am | #

    I still don’t believe in Hyde’s art teaching ability. Not yet.

    • Needfuldoer
      Needfuldoer
      November 5, 2022 at 4:22 am | #

      IIRC Hyde is heavily based on a teacher Willis had in college, and he’s aware of his cartoon counterpart.

      • Needfuldoer
        Needfuldoer
        November 5, 2022 at 4:33 am | #

        I can’t find it now, but he shows up when Marcie’s trying to get Malaya to notice her, and “substitutes” for the model in their life drawing class.

        It might have been a bonus strip two-parter.

        This bit of info was either in the reader comments or the author comments printed under the strip in the book.

        • Thag Simmons
          Thag Simmons
          November 5, 2022 at 6:11 am | #

          His character tag only includes two appearances prior to this arc, so you’re probably thinking of a bonus comic?

          • Needfuldoer
            Needfuldoer
            November 5, 2022 at 5:19 pm | #

            Yup! I found them. Book 7, page 209, the bonus strips for April 2017.

  9. darkoneko
    darkoneko
    November 5, 2022 at 12:16 am | #

    the hell can you even do in just 15 seconds ?

    • Leorale
      Leorale
      November 5, 2022 at 12:21 am | #

      Warm up your hands, draw the direction of the movement, and possibly get your verbal worry-brain to ease up a lil bit. Swoosh!

    • Cerusee
      Cerusee
      November 5, 2022 at 12:23 am | #

      Not much! The point is to try to capture a very loose sense of the pose, instead of getting hung up on detail. You’re trying to get a feel of the subject, basically? A living body has a million different angles and motions. You’re trying to use quick, broad strokes to represent the pose or of the movement of the model.

  10. Suet
    Suet
    November 5, 2022 at 12:18 am | #

    Either I would A] draw the most prominent body parts in every pose change or B] sketch like a seasoned cartoonist

    Note to self: Joe’s a lefty lug.

  11. Sirksome
    Sirksome
    November 5, 2022 at 12:28 am | #

    This actually makes me miss the life drawing experience. It’s actually kinda hard to get access to those kinds of life drawing opportunities with live models and analog materials outside of a university. There are many resources online for models and reference but it’s just not the same as a live environment.

    • Yotomoe
      Yotomoe
      November 5, 2022 at 12:33 am | #

      There was a place I used to go to in Atlanta after a cursory google search. Granted this was Prior to 2020. I actually did some pretty decent stuff there, found one of my old newsprint notebooks the other day and I was kinda impressed with past me <3

      • Sirksome
        Sirksome
        November 5, 2022 at 12:38 am | #

        Nice. I used to be able to sit in at a community college on California but Covid put a stop the classes and it’s been a few years and I haven’t heard of them starting back up.

        • AKP
          AKP
          November 5, 2022 at 1:55 am | #

          Yeah I’ve been really hoping that life drawing classes near me will start back up, and so far I’ve been very disappointed. But maybe that’s responsible anyway. I don’t know. I just miss it a lot.

  12. Cerusee
    Cerusee
    November 5, 2022 at 12:29 am | #

    I kind of really want to see Joe’s sketches! I genuinely don’t care if they’re stick figures representing the spirit of the 15-second poses exercise, or if he’s trying to put tits on each drawing and he’s struggling to keep up. I am legit curious what Joe’s art brain produces.

    • Jamie
      Jamie
      November 5, 2022 at 1:02 am | #

      Same.

  13. Tan
    Tan
    November 5, 2022 at 12:34 am | #

    Speaking as a non-artist, I feel like I would need some sort of remedial tutorial of HOW to do this class before I could actually take this class.

    • RassilonTDavros
      RassilonTDavros
      November 5, 2022 at 12:37 am | #

      Same. Though maybe I’d feel less like that if I started on the first day of class.

    • vulcanodon
      vulcanodon
      November 5, 2022 at 9:36 am | #

      It kinda feels like that’s what we’re getting here!

    • Lone Duck
      Lone Duck
      November 5, 2022 at 2:11 pm | #

      Joyce IS sitting in on a class, and not starting in a 101 class.

  14. BBCC
    BBCC
    November 5, 2022 at 12:43 am | #

    Dude, at 15 seconds, I’d be drawing stick figures.

    • alongcameaspider
      alongcameaspider
      November 5, 2022 at 12:47 am | #

      I mean he said it’s a warm up exercise in panel 1, I dont think he’s expecting much beyond stick figures here

    • Joyfulldreams
      Joyfulldreams
      November 5, 2022 at 12:51 am | #

      Yeah, that’s the idea. Warm-ups. Gesture sketches. Doing a gesture quickly means you’re more likely to actually get something expressive–if you spend too much time, you’re more likely to make it stiff.

    • Yotomoe
      Yotomoe
      November 5, 2022 at 12:53 am | #

      That’s kinda the idea. Loose lines in the vague shape of a person. Hell you’re on the right track if you just capture the flow and don’t even bother trying to make it look like someone.

    • Amós Batista
      Amós Batista
      November 5, 2022 at 2:34 am | #

      I used to drawing sticks too, I was very limited. But I’ve take drawing classes where I learned about paying attention to the composition of the image, like: shape, volume, light, empty spaces…

    • Mark
      Mark
      November 5, 2022 at 8:36 am | #

      A stick figure can be very expressive, depending on what you’re trying to communicate.

    • Oz
      Oz
      November 5, 2022 at 5:06 pm | #

      Stick figures actually take too long, with 15 secs I just sketch the general outline os the body, or maybe just of one part of the body. No time to draw each limb separatedly

  15. Opus the Poet
    Opus the Poet
    November 5, 2022 at 1:03 am | #

    I did this back in the aughties, memories. People kept wanting me to stay late so they could do my scars that were much more colorful back then. I have a couple of good pictures of the huge scar on my leg on my blog, link on the name on the comment, the best picture was in the art contest post.

  16. Grayfinity
    Grayfinity
    November 5, 2022 at 1:24 am | #

    And there’s the scene.

  17. Caro
    Caro
    November 5, 2022 at 1:28 am | #

    love to see joe participating

  18. Amós Batista
    Amós Batista
    November 5, 2022 at 2:23 am | #

    I now Joyce is Joycing, but I used to get some exercises in life drawing, that consists in drawing looking to the model and NOT to the paper.

    Did you have this variety in life drawing, beyond the gesture length?

  19. Holly
    Holly
    November 5, 2022 at 3:13 am | #

    I always hated the fastest warm up exercises and found they had no use except to make me freeze up and stop participating, as it’d trigger panics (I see you Joyce… and yes I might also be autistic).

    Good teachers accommodate and let you sit it out, bad teachers double down with trying to force it as The One Way To Learn. It’s perfectly possible to be a good artist without speed sketching.

    The other thing that helped was to start at 15 minutes and get faster from there, rather than the other way round.

  20. Reltzik
    Reltzik
    November 5, 2022 at 3:54 am | #

    Joyce, I’ve heard the best way to manage your anxiety here is to imagine her in her underwear.

  21. Nenja
    Nenja
    November 5, 2022 at 4:13 am | #

    This brings back memories. I really liked the fast switches between poses.

  22. Needfuldoer
    Needfuldoer
    November 5, 2022 at 4:20 am | #

    I love how into it Joe’s getting. Old Joe would have been too distracted by the presence of a nude woman to get any drawing done.

  23. v.gay.person
    v.gay.person
    November 5, 2022 at 4:36 am | #

    As an AuDHD with massive anxiety issues I can confirm that yelling “DONT LOOK AT ME” is an excellent way to get people to not look at you.

    Probably out of embarrassment, but hey.

    • v.gay.person
      v.gay.person
      November 5, 2022 at 4:37 am | #

      Last time I yelled “Dont look at me” was 2 weeks ago mid-panic attack/meltdown at the shops when a security guy tried to tell me I couldn’t be bare foot. Worked wonders. /s

      • Taffy
        Taffy
        November 5, 2022 at 6:13 am | #

        You were shopping barefoot? 🤨

        • Needfuldoer
          Needfuldoer
          November 5, 2022 at 7:07 am | #

          Nobody would bat an eye if it weren’t for folklore rooted in anti-hippie policies.

          • Taffy
            Taffy
            November 5, 2022 at 11:17 am | #

            I dunno about none of that hippie stuff, but I would absolutely not trust any store’s floor not to be absolutely horrendous to walk on, without at least sandals. Even if the people keep it pretty clean, a lot of stores have concrete or wood floors, and just the texture alone would drive me up the fuckin’ wall within seconds. Maybe that’s a fringe thing though.

            • Sirksome
              Sirksome
              November 5, 2022 at 11:52 am | #

              Feet are actually surprisingly hardy or they used to be anyway. Lots of thick skin down there which is why Serra can go barefoot so often in the comic. Shoes kind of nerfed our foot toughness a bit though. We used to easily tolerate walking and running barefoot on rock and gravel. Wood or tile floors would be luxury.

              • Jason
                Jason
                November 5, 2022 at 12:28 pm | #

                For a while I couldn’t wear shoes. Like, I could handle brief stints with completely flat shoes but not long enough to walk where I needed to go. Can confirm tile tends to be quite pleasant. Don’t recall walking on wood floors specifically but it would probably be the same, except with more potential variation on the joins.

                I was very embarrassed about it though, so I had open shoes (called flip flops here) I could tolerate for very short distances for when I had to go into town, and I’d generally walk to and from town (or anywhere else) barefoot. Eventually I got it into my head I could actually see the doctor about it and got some exercises, thankfully when winter truly hit I could manage to wear shoes again.

                Anyway it was a whole thing and it actually wasn’t too unpleasant. Embarrassing as hell and sometimes awkward but manageable. Heightened my awareness of my surroundings in a way I could manage with my autism which is an interesting side note.

                (Another side note- for anyone wanting to toughen their feet up, apparently short periods being barefoot on gravel is the way to do it.)

              • Taffy
                Taffy
                November 5, 2022 at 2:03 pm | #

                Toughness is all well and good, and probably pretty useful when the ground is uncomfortable. I’m thinking almost entirely in terms of texture though. I can barely tolerate most forms of carpet, stone, or even hard wood without at least thin socks on, so more power to anyone who can go barefoot for longer than it takes to find the nearest
                pair of knee-highs.

                • Needfuldoer
                  Needfuldoer
                  November 5, 2022 at 6:39 pm | #

                  I’m the opposite. Just socks is just… wrong somehow.

                • thejeff
                  thejeff
                  November 5, 2022 at 10:43 pm | #

                  Agreed there. In most cases, just socks feels weird. Maybe really cold days – if I’ve got a cold.

                  But then I go barefoot fairly regularly, though not as much as I did in my college days.

    • anon
      anon
      November 5, 2022 at 6:18 pm | #

      could be worse, i feel like book 1 joyce would’ve covered up the model

      i assume they’re fairly ‘standard’ looking too , i wonder if joyce would make another shocked face if they had nipple or genital piercings lol

      seems inconvenient if it happened at random too, idk if she was ND but one friend i had was in the middle of telling a story and got self conscious halfway through like “Why are you staring at me?” “becausey ou’re talking to us?”

      • Miri
        Miri
        November 7, 2022 at 5:26 am | #

        Try having a nice chat with friends that happens to be on a train and then getting startled by somebody else joining in laughing with you guys, then a little kid asking their parent for elaboration on something you’ve just said and realise you’re the friggin’ in carriage entertainment and everybody’s still staring even though you’ve gone quiet with embarrassment now…

  24. AGV
    AGV
    November 5, 2022 at 4:44 am | #

    “As a matter of fact, I won’t look either “

  25. Taffy
    Taffy
    November 5, 2022 at 6:15 am | #

    I like how Joe is getting into it. Not only that, he’s even checking on Joyce. Fella’s doin’ great.

    • anonymsly
      anonymsly
      November 5, 2022 at 2:58 pm | #

      Right? He’s being a good friend here.

  26. bagge
    bagge
    November 5, 2022 at 6:42 am | #

    Honestly, she’s doing better than I imagined.

  27. Jason
    Jason
    November 5, 2022 at 7:11 am | #

    This is going almost exactly as I expected.

    I’m curious how Joe’s sketches are coming out, I’m expecting Joyce to expect them to be focused on the nudity and I’m guessing they won’t be whatsoever. Like when they do the longer sketches I’m guessing they’ll be focused on the shape of the arms or hands on the curve of the neck. I hope we get to find out!

  28. Rabisch
    Rabisch
    November 5, 2022 at 8:02 am | #

    I could understand getting up and leaving. I could understand bending over, hiding the head behind the counter, nervously doodling things that have nothing to do with the model waiting for the class to be over. I might also understand fainting from the tension. But wrap your head like this no. I can’t t understand this. It’s just absurd. They need to find a way to calm Joyce or is better than Joe walk her out of the classroom.

    • Cerusee
      Cerusee
      November 5, 2022 at 10:26 am | #

      Well, that would be the comedic exaggeration, no?

      • Rabisch
        Rabisch
        November 5, 2022 at 4:55 pm | #

        Honestly, it seem an esagerate exaggeration to me. I’ve done life drawing for almost 10 years, seeing someone reaching like Joyce would have been extremely sad and painful to watch.

        • Cerusee
          Cerusee
          November 5, 2022 at 7:43 pm | #

          A lot of the comedy punchlines in comic strips DO push into the realm of absurdity, it’s true. It’s a real blow to the cinema verite approach I think Willis is going for i suppose

  29. Plaaaa
    Plaaaa
    November 5, 2022 at 8:08 am | #

    Stick figure with boobs, stick figure with boobs and stick figure with boobs, bent over

  30. Jimmy
    Jimmy
    November 5, 2022 at 8:54 am | #

    If there’s one thing I’ve learned when trying to paint one time as an adult, it’s that no matter what I do I hate what I did. Lol

  31. vulcanodon
    vulcanodon
    November 5, 2022 at 9:30 am | #

    Just now I searched up some life drawing poses and did a half-dozen fifteen-second drawings. Sort of stick-figure-y but they came out surprisingly OK! Gonna do a bunch more.

    Loving this story line because I’m hoping to take a life drawing class soon.

  32. Grimey
    Grimey
    November 5, 2022 at 9:51 am | #

    I’m getting wonderful flashbacks to all those art studio classes. Many of us who were Art Majors started out like Joe. Good times.

    • Plain Marie
      Plain Marie
      November 5, 2022 at 10:27 am | #

      I am also getting flashbacks to my art studio classes. Big studios, lots of light, lots of graphite! #artmajorlife. Good times.

  33. Dr. T
    Dr. T
    November 5, 2022 at 10:20 am | #

    Way to make it awkward, Joyce.

    This must be Joe’s dream date; looking at a naked woman while Joyce slowly dies of embarrassment.

  34. thumb
    thumb
    November 5, 2022 at 11:03 am | #

    the 30 minute pose is gonna kill her.

  35. Doom Shepherd
    Doom Shepherd
    November 5, 2022 at 2:13 pm | #

    Envious of artists. I can draw a few things, I’m ok with stuff like spaceships (if I use drafting tools) but all my attempts to draw living things end up looking something between Lovecraftian and Cronenbergian.

    • Amós Batista
      Amós Batista
      November 5, 2022 at 4:11 pm | #

      If I can share some experience with you, I only started to draw little better when I became adult, and after I took one semester in drawing class. And I’ve said little better, because I got only the foundation concepts, like composition, lighting…
      Drawing is a challenging skill, and it take time.

      • Yotomoe
        Yotomoe
        November 5, 2022 at 5:43 pm | #

        If drawing were easy, nobody would get paid to do it 😛

  36. Cerusee
    Cerusee
    November 5, 2022 at 7:45 pm | #

    I’m not sure it’s been properly recognized yet, by the way, so please consider this a Joe’s Lil Blep Appreciation comment.

  37. anon
    anon
    November 5, 2022 at 9:30 pm | #

    is that hood from her actual mini vest? it’s bigger than i thought lol

  38. JA
    JA
    November 7, 2022 at 12:57 am | #

    Those 15 second gestures are probably the hardest part of a drawing class. Just when you get done drawing the outline of a head or arm, you have to switch already. But on the other hand, it gets you just drawing and not worrying about doing it perfectly. They’re good for clearing your mind once you’ve done it a few times.

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