Shock hits me first, then the inevitable embarrassment. Standing before my very eyes is the girl who fixes my coffee — and she is completely nude.Figure drawing can lead to a pretty uncomfortable three hours.Fumbling with my charcoal, I try to maintain a certain level of professionalism. Unfortunately, the only thing that is running through my mind is, I know her, and her breasts are way bigger than I would have expected.  Then I blush even harder, hoping I did not say any of that out loud.There is more to visual art then merely seeing an object and replicating its likeness. One must really understand and study the subject in order to create the most successful piece. In order to do this, I felt like I would be in some way violating this girl’s privacy. It feels wrong, especially because I see her almost daily.Eventually, I made myself overcome this uncomfortable mindset by telling myself over and over again that I am an artist, and this is part of the job. I start to wonder how she feels. I observe the way she holds herself, head held high and not a hint of shame. She must have a high self-esteem to publicly display her body like this. My hand glides from one side of the paper to the next, and I seem to lose myself. I forget about everything and focus only on her. Every curve on her body suddenly has more depth, and the lighting turns her into something surreal. I follow each muscle on her body, studying the way it works like a machine. Everything is connected and helps the function of something else. It is incredible how complex human beings are.The human body truly is one of the most beautiful subjects one can possibly draw. This may be because we are all humans, and generally speaking, consider ourselves the highest form of creation. So why not celebrate that ideal?The vanity behind the artwork itself is what makes it so beautiful. It is this self-loving aspect of our culture that we seem to thrive upon, because the glorification of the human body is the highest form of flattery we can award to ourselves.I snap back to the moment, and I realize that I have been staring at her bare body for the past hour or so. I probably know more details about her figure then her boyfriend does. In any other circumstance, that statement would come off as rather disturbing. Why is that? Shouldn’t it be completely normal for one human being to study another, in order to grasp what we truly are? Why has the initial idea of nudity become so controversial? After all, this is how humans came into the world, naked.My eyes trail up to her face. A few strands of hair have fallen over her eyes, creating long vertical shadows on her face. Shadows are always really tricky to work with, it can easily turn disastrous. One moment I have control, the next it looks like I drew a dark line for no reason. Luckily, my blending techniques prevail, and her face is perfect.Before I realize it, time is up. I see the coffee shop girl pulling the fig-leafed robe over her exposed body. Her head is no longer held high, and a faint pinkish tint spreads over her cheeks. Like Eve, she finally realizes that everyone in the class has thoroughly examined her voluptuous figure. I look back at my paper, and it is beautiful. I firmly believe that the success of my drawing is due to my removal of the awkward ideas of nudity. ____Contact the Opinion Staff at [email protected]