Work Text:
Yaguchi knew what he wanted his first after Gedi peace to be, the first thing he would work on after walking across the stage (well, the first intended to be a public thing). Technically, it wasn’t just one piece, but several and it wasn’t just him working on it, but he had the idea so he figured some of the credit could be his.
The day after the graduation ceremony the group met at their shared studio space, something they had looked for and found after second year. It had a large common room and several smaller spaces for the individual artists, it even had a room to pass out in if it was 1 AM and you had stayed up too late working.
The group consisted of Yaguchi, who would be painting and had invited everyone here; Kuwana, who was painting and didn’t really know what was going on as she had agreed before receiving the explanation; Takahashi, who was painting and took strong encouraging to join the project; Yuka, who was painting and despite being the only member of the group not to know everyone else was making fast friends; Hashida, who was going to work to get their art on display somewhere (his major had changed to art history and curating/selling art, now painting with a hobby and he had declined to paint with them, but wanted to see them at work for something something that would help with something something that he didn’t quite understand, but it sounded important); and Ooba, for guidance and a throwback.
Takahashi elbowed him, breaking his train of thought, “so, explain to the crowd why we’re here. Kuwana says she still doesn’t know.”
“It’s not my fault she agreed without hearing the explanation and then wanted it to be a surprise. That’s on her.”
“Well, I suppose it is. Care to tell her now, Yaguchi?” And then he stage whispered, “God. I still can’t believe I agreed to this.”
Yaguchi smiled wryly at his friend, “you didn’t at first.”
“I know. Explain.”
“All right, all right. I’m talking. This is going to be a set of semi-nude self portraits, five, each correlating with a prompt.” He watched Kuwana raise her hand. “If you’re going to ask, yes. If you’re just painting your hand it’s permitted - recommended, even - that you keep your undergarments on. For need or comfort level you can paint elsewhere.”
She nodded, “that’s great, but not what I was going to ask.” He should have known, this was Kuwana after all. She asked him “how do you know Yuka and why is a fashion artist here to paint nude portraits with us?” It was a fair question and even related to the project; Kuwana had developed a habit of asking their professors questions about their personal lives when they were trying to explain technical concepts.
“We went to high school together and have kept mostly in touch since. She’s here in part because she actually agreed to, she’s actually an amazing painter, and is actually the person who introduced me to nude self portraits in the first place. It was right before the second exam.”
“It was a grand adventure,” Yuka added.
“Right,” he agreed.
Ooba interrupted them, attempting to keep them on track, “when are you guys going to get the first prompt?”
They all looked at him, “Well… I made up five prompts, but I was thinking we could get a new one the Monday after we’re finished with the previous prompt. We could get the first one today if that works for everyone.”
Takahashi gave an exasperated sigh at his disorganization, but seemed fine with the idea. Yuka shrugged, which he took as a good sign. Kuwana asked for a pen so she could write the prompt down, “look. I know I am an artist, but does anyone else have a pen?” Yuka handed her one.
Ooba nodded in his direction and he nodded back in confirmation that she could please take over before she loudly clapped her hands to get everyone’s attention, grinning as usual. “Yaguchi has come up with some really good prompts for this project, I hope you’re excited, I’ll tell you the first one now! It’s,” she pulled out a slip of paper with the list of themes from her pocket, “the best part of your body. No further instructions, but in about 15 minutes I’m going to start calling you in to talk some things over one at a time. Don’t paint or sketch, that starts tomorrow, but feel free to talk amongst yourselves.”
Some of the group members immediately started chatting, while others sat in silence as they were called in to talk with Ooba one by one.
——————————
Ooba had been thrilled when Yaguchi asked if she wanted to join in on the project, of course she had agreed. About a month after the initial ask when the whole group finally got together she was happy to see so many of her former students so soon after yesterday‘s graduation. She had given them the first prompt and now got to start her real job, dealing with the artists. To do this she would call them into a back room one at a time for a pre-project talk. Ooba started with Hashida, as he was amenable to things like voicing concerns and even if he wasn’t painting this was new for him too. “How are you feeling about this whole project?”
“Well, I’m pleased to be here and excited to see my friends. I want to get their work somewhere as good as their art will be. I am a bit worried I won’t be able to do my job as well as I want to because I’m still building my network, but confident I can manage something.” Hashida seemed relatively hesitant, but confident in his abilities. Good.
“Are you going to be here for the painting process?”
“I would like to be, but if my presence makes anyone uncomfortable it’s far from necessary. If that is the case I would like, at least, to be able to look at the paintings as they are being made, perhaps if there’s a lunch break? I am happy to be here, but I don't have to be. It depends on how the others answer this question.”
“Very mature answer,” and it was, “for my peace of mind I would like confirmation that you will be appropriate around your undressed peers.”
“Of course, I promise to be nothing but. If you find I’m not, feel free to take me off the project.”
She nodded, “I doubt I’ll have to, but it’s always better to be safe than sorry. Would you like to help me give feedback?”
He nodded, “I would like to try, if people are willing to take my criticism.”
“Great! Before I call the next person back is there anything you think I should know, Hashida?”
“I don’t think so, can we touch base later to see what exactly I’ll end up doing?”
A polite young man, strange, but so was every art kid she had the pleasure of knowing. “Of course. I think that’s all for now, but if you need anything—”
He cut her off, “I know, don’t be afraid to ask.”
Then left, which was fine. Hashida seems to be doing well, she was glad and yelled for Takahashi to come in next.
When he did and sat down in the chair across from her she spoke, starting with a re-introduction, “I know we’ve met before and spoke briefly earlier today, but let me introduce myself. I’m Ooba, typically either known as an advisor for projects like this or, as you know, for teaching at prep schools. Just to clear the air, I have no grievances, in part because it was years ago and we have all grown past that by now. Here my job is part coordinator, encouragement, and otherwise as a resource for you all. Please take advantage of my offer, Takahashi.”
“Now, do you mind if I ask you a handful of questions?” He gave permission and had looked relieved when she said there were no hard feelings from his short time at prep school. Ooba took the nod as the acceptance it was and started asking. “First, I just want to make sure you’re comfortable doing this and want to do this in any capacity.”
He thought about it for a moment and then replied, “yes. Initially I wasn’t keen on the project, but now I want to. It helps that I consider most of the people, excluding yourself and Yuka, friends already. I want to be here and feel comfortable, even around you or Yuka, particularly as there’s no pressure to get fully undressed.” And that was the longest answer she got, the short answers were all thought out, so she trusted them, but Ooba would have to see if she could get him talking by the end.
Through the questioning she found that he was willing to at least try painting in the main room, fine with seeing others unclothed, and would be plenty respectful. He was most comfortable painting his undergarments, was more comfortable with Hashida being present than her, but was still okay with her presence even in a state of relative undress. He explained it was because he had a stronger connection to the boy already. He wanted to receive feedback, but tended to not accept it initially.
When asked if there was anything else she might need to know he thought she was good. However, when asked if there was anything else that might make the process more comfortable he suggested robes, which was a lovely idea.
She thanked him for the meeting, reminded him not to start sketching until tomorrow and called in Kuwana, who was next on her list.
When the girl sat down she started off with one of the last questions she had asked Takahashi. “Is there anything I should know to help you with the painting process that might be relevant to talk about throughout this conversation?” Worded differently of course. She waited for the answer, which arrived a bit later, strangely hesitant for the normally confident young woman.
“I have self harm scars from when I was younger. I’m better now, doing much better. The intrusive thoughts still exist, but I’ve been managing them for years; the last time I really considered cutting was when I thought I had failed to get into Gedi.” Ooba remembered that, how somebody had messed up the acceptance and Kuwana’s name hadn’t been on the list. It took three days for them to notice the mistake. She winced and Kuwana continued, “yeah. I’m not entirely sure how much any of the boys know. I haven’t told them, but some might have guessed. It's not a big deal, but honesty is the best policy, right?”
“It is. Do you want it to be a bigger deal?”
“I don’t think so.”
“All right, it’s your choice. If anyone asks you questions you don’t have to answer.”
She won a smile out of the girl at that. “I know.”
“Good. Now I want to make sure that you’re comfortable working on this project and want to be here before or if we discuss how you want to get painting.”
“Definitely, despite not knowing what this was about before today I want to do it, or at least try. It’s not something I haven’t done before. Besides, it sounds fun and I get to make art with my friends. I want to be here, Ooba.”
She nodded and continued on with the questions. Kuwana was relatively chatty and as easy to work with as she had been in prep school, just more mature and had finally stopped comparing herself to her sister, which was only a good thing.
Throughout the conversation Kuwana gave straightforward answers about everything: she was perfectly fine with Ooba being present, comfortable getting undressed to work, wanted to be asked before feedback was being given, and liked Takahashi’s idea of robes, but would also like snacks. Ooba said that she would see what she could do about that.
They chatted about more things for a few minutes before she excused the girl and called in the next artist, the one she was least familiar with: Yuka.
As soon as the artist sat down Ooba started talking, “hello Yuka. I know we’ve met before, but I’m Ooba. Right off the bat I want to ask if you have any particular concerns working on this project.”
The person on the other side of the table snorted, “Yeah. I’m not an oil painter.”
“Well, would you like to use another medium? I know you’re a traditional Japanese artist and now you do fashion design, correct?”
Yuka smiled briefly at the mention of her preferred medium. “I do.” Then frowned, “I don’t want to do Japanese art. I wasn’t doing it for me by the end. I’m very willing to try oil paints, it’s just not something I have ever worked with before.”
“Got it. I’m going to go through my list of questions now, but before I start, you go by Yuka now. I was wondering what your pronouns were?”
“Ah, that. I use she/her pronouns predominantly, but occasionally they/them. Most days I don’t mind either, or being referred to as a girl.”
Ooba made a note of this, “got it, thank you for letting me know. I didn’t want to assume anything.”
The girl waved it off, “what’s the first question?”
Over the course of their conversation Ooba found that Yuka was willing to try the main space, but wasn’t sure if she would want to stay there. She didn’t like feedback, but recognized that it would probably be needed. Yuka was comfortable and practiced with nude self portraits, apparently doing them monthly and she wasn’t super comfortable with the idea of Ooba or Hashida seeing her undressed, but thought she would be fine if she was in a robe. Lastly, she requested a few screens dragged from various other rooms for a sense of privacy.
When asked if there was anything else she should know Yuka said, “ I guess the fact that I’m genderfluid and depending on the day that might get in the way of my work.“
This was something the two of them discussed in a bit more depth before Yuka was off and she called in Yaguchi.
“Hi Ooba! I’m happy to be working with you again.”
Well, he beat her to starting the conversation. “Me too Yaguchi, I’m glad you asked me to join in the project,” by now he was sitting, “I’m going to ask some questions. Some might catch you by surprise because you’re the one who started this thing. Humour me an answer anyways. Before I ask the first question off my list, is there anything I should know in specific relation to this project?” She watched the young man blink in surprise before telling her no. Ooba decided to accept the answer, but asked how he even tried out nude self portraits in the first place.
“I did my first one all the way back at the Gedi exams, Yuka and I took a trip down to the beach and ended up painting ourselves inside rather than any of the beautiful scenery. I don’t go often enough.” She then asked where he got the idea for this project from.
“Well, ever since then that idea has stuck with me. Something about it feels more vulnerable than other things, like clothes. But painting yourself in the nude isn’t really a thing at Gedi, for good reason, and I feel like I’ve never been able to explore the idea fully… I wanted to and I wanted to bring everyone else along for the ride. I just- It’s something special and I wanted to explore it with the people I care about, that’s how I got the idea and I've always wanted to continue with the concept. Eventually after lots of thinking and scrapped plans this one was born.”
“That sounds lovely Yaguchi, my next question is just to make sure: is this something that you feel both comfortable and want to do?”
“Yes. Otherwise why would I have done this whole thing?”
“Good point, where would you like to work?”
Was swiftly answered with, “the main room works for me.”
“And how undressed would you get?”
“Probably boxers or all the way, that would depend on what I decide to do for some of the prompts and what the others are fine with.”
“Of course. Are you comfortable with others being undressed around you?”
“Almost definitely not everybody, but them? Yeah. And don’t worry, I will be nothing but respectful the whole time.” He said that last bit with his hands over his heart.
She smiled, “that was my next question, you beat me to it. Are you comfortable with Hashida or I being in the room while you work?”
Ooba made him go with something other than a gut response for this question. A mandatory minute of thinking before giving her an answer. “Yeah, I wouldn’t mind it most of the time, but maybe not if I was all the way undressed.” He looked confident with his answer, but unsure if it was what she wanted to hear, he hadn’t changed at all, had he.
“There is no correct answer, the correct one is something honest. As long as you’re comfortable and it’s accurate, it’s correct. Takahashi suggested having robes and I like that idea. If I give everyone a moment to get decent before coming in would that work for you?”
“I think so.”
“All right. Sounds like a plan. Next: how do you want to receive criticism or any other sort of feedback, even in these conversations, if at all?“
A minute later the answer came, “I think… I’d be happy for help, but I haven’t changed that much since prep school. Leading questions always work better than direct criticism. These conversations worked well at prep school and when I was able to implement them at Gedi.”
“If that’s what works for you we can definitely figure out a way to make it happen. One last question, well two really. Is there anything you think I should know and is there anything that we could get that might make you feel more comfortable physically? As an example Takahashi asked for robes and Yuka wanted a few screens — which are going to be moved from other rooms.”
Ooba made him think about this for a minute too, but ultimately Yaguchi didn’t think of anything. “I think I’m good, but robes do sound great.“
She then waved him out of the room and back to the main one, gathering all the artists several minutes later. “All right everyone. Thank you for taking the time to talk with me before we get started. Hashida, I can email you or you can stay later. I think that’s it for today, but feel free to get sketching now.”
——————————
The next day the group gathered again to start working, perhaps even painting. Of course, all of them had worked out an idea or two last night, Yaguchi thought he had his. The best part of your body was entirely subjective and in the depths of late last night (he is well aware of how terrible his sleep schedule is) Yaguchi figured out that it could go more than skin deep. Literally.
The best part of your body didn’t have to be a feature, all it had to be with a part. He was pretty sure his brain was the way to go and excited to see what everybody else has come up with. Yaguchi had also decided having vague sun imagery might be the way to go, he would see.
Surprisingly everyone made it on time for their second day and it was spent sketching and trading ideas or thoughts with each other. It turned out that everyone else had decided on an actual part of their body, and Yaguchi was sure their works would all look lovely, but still happy with his idea.
Kuwana was the only one who was yet to really decide what they were doing as everyone stayed mostly clothes to work on things like a composition, so they would hopefully know what they were doing when the paint came out tomorrow.
Today they also set up all their stations in the main rooms with easels, preferred supplies, reference boards, sketchbooks, mirrors, robes, and whatever else they might need. A few of the group had moved some screens at Yuka’s request so she could drag them around as needed tomorrow.
When they were finished at the studio Yaguchi went home, did a few less serious drawings, did another sketch for the project, did some casual reading on art history, had dinner at a semi-reasonable time and ended up in bed at a surprisingly reasonable time.
The next morning most of the group once again managed to be on time, only Hashida was late because of public transport, and they broke out the paints. Really, only their backgrounds would get done this morning, but they all got into some state of undress anyways.
Yaguchi worked on actually drawing parts of his body and spent quite a while on color choice before deciding skin tones for the skin, light purple for the brain and pale blue for the rays. The background was dark blue with the end of a dark green stage, the viewer's perspective was going to be one of a viewer, but as if you were also walking onto the stage.
He wasn’t sure if it was too far out there or if it made too much sense, however, in his experience things and art rarely did. He wasn’t sure exactly how far he would go, but he luckily remained pleased with the idea and art for now, very much enjoying that feeling.
Over the afternoon and next few days Yaguchi hammered out most of the painting. The wood on the stage took a while, but painting himself was by far the part that took the longest. Part of it was the background he was painting against and part of it was how painting yourself was different.
The headspace was hollow and a black cavity with a light purple, but otherwise photo realistic brain sitting inside of it with a dark purple brainstem connecting it to the neck. Radiating from the outside of the head cavity was a gradient of white to light blue rays that were seemingly behind the body. The painting process had gone surprisingly smooth, something that was only further improved with feedback and several conversations with Ooba and the other painters, although most of them were focussed on their own works.
He spent three more days on various detail work and minor adjustments before he was done, and so was everyone else within a few days. Painting (mostly) naked hadn’t been so strange and after a while you got used to the state of undress. It was similar to nude models, where bodies were bodies and not sexual.
They then did the thing that had always been done at prep school and only sometimes at university, they lined up all the paintings to look at and talk about them and wow was everyone else’s art incredible. Yaguchi had watched them paint their pieces, but wow. It hit differently seeing the final art in a lineup.
Takahashi had found his hands the best part of his body for a simplistic reason: they were what helped him make art. He had rendered them clasped, resting on his legs beautifully. Each of the nails contained a singular dark brown dot as he had decided all of his pieces were going to contain the circular shape.
On the second day Kuwana had taken off most of her clothes, told the room that she liked her collar bones today and with that decided to paint them, a bit above and a bit below making it into the painting too. It was an amazing piece of art, incredibly detailed and yet with an incredibly narrow focal point.
Yuka had rather quickly settled on her hair as the best part of her body, as it was always something she had been able to do with as she wished. It was a relatively simple piece, it was a back view that went from mid thigh to crown of her head, with her blonde locks covering most of the possibly visible skin.
He wasn’t sure how he’s compared to the others, but hoped it was good enough despite all the compliments (and critiques that every single painting had received) Yaguchi would probably never be quite sure. He had just a handful of days before the next prompt was given out and spent the time drawing still lives, just for fun. Messing around with both sets of his friends and a cheap set of watercolors because why would he not?
The second prompt was given in a similar manner to the first. After Ooba talked to them all, she produced a paper from somewhere and read it off, despite having probably memorized the prompt list by now. “Statement piece is your next prompt. If anyone would like to speak with me about the prompt I’m available, but other than that I think we’re good to go. Feel free to talk amongst yourselves and start sketching, you will get your canvases tomorrow.” He could immediately see some of his friends' eyes spark with excitement.
Kuwana almost instantly turned to Yuka and asked if she could do hair for this one. Yuka laughed and replied, “if that’s your statement, go ahead, you don’t have to ask.”
Kuwana shrugged, “you literally just painted yours. Rather safe than sorry.”
“Sure.”
Then Kuwana reached over and poked Takahashi In the leg, startling him out of idea land. “What was that for, I was thinking!”
“I know, that’s why I had to poke you. We’re having a conversation, join in.”
“What is this conversation about?”
“It’s not much of one yet. You should do your beauty marks. They are memorable, they draw the eye and fit your theme. Kuwana thinks she’s doing her hair.”
“That does make sense, I suppose. Thank you for the input Yuka. And we’ve been dismissed so I’m leaving. Bug Yaguchi Instead.”
“I’m pretty sure this isn’t school, you don’t actually have to wait to be dismissed.”
“Goodbye,” he said disdainfully.
And then Takahashi was gone. Ooba and Hashida were in the middle of some conversation about the finished artworks. Kuwana, Yuka, and Yaguchi trickled out and back to their homes, chatting on their way out the door. “I’m curious, what are you thinking of doing Yaguchi?” Yuka asked.
“My earrings, actually, what about you?”
She waved him off, “probably red lipstick, on my lips. My statement piece is never myself. If you want we can argue about it tomorrow. Have you read any interesting articles recently?”
He had literally just admitted he was thinking of doing his earrings, her lipstick wouldn’t be an issue with him, but he let it go and launched into explaining some of the papers he had been reading and the discussion moved along until they all had to part ways.
He spent the night out with his non-artist friends getting ramen and catching up as a group since they had all graduated now, he had been the last, and hearing about everyone else’s current jobs had been a blast. He had got home late enough that around an hour after getting back he passed out and almost overslept, managing to make it to the studio only 15 minutes late. Unfortunately for him everyone else made it on time. Thankfully, nobody made a big deal about it besides mild teasing, something that was definitely fair considering he was late to his own project.
Everybody had entered with an idea of what their statement piece was and so only spent the morning sketching, figuring out composition and arguing over whether his and Yuka’s statement pieces were allowed. In the end his earrings and her red lipstick won, Kuwana was sticking with her hair, and Takahashi took the suggestion of his beauty marks.
In the afternoon they started painting, plus as everyone’s works were neck up they all kept their pants on this time. The way people painted, or more so the order they painted things interested Yaguchi.
He didn’t even really get to painting the earrings until day four, despite it supposedly being the eye-catching thing about him and the painting. He had to do everything else right before he added in the carefully mixed shades of blue, with some trepidation, and breathed a sigh of relief when the first layer went down well. He used a darker blue for the stud, but not necessarily a light blue for the thicker band that still lived in his inner ear.
Yuka had gone right in and after some prep work painted the lips first and kept having to repaint them. By the end of the work part of what drew the eye was how thick paint was in that spot.
Kuwana worked on everything at the same time, but was hyper focussed on things like texture and getting the color just right. Near the end of her painting she remarked, “I know my face far better than I’ve ever known in the back of my hand now.” And Yaguchi was sure she did.
Takashi added on his dots last, but throughout the process used a shade darker than his skin tone so he would always be able to tell and keep in mind where they were supposed to be.
Hashida mostly hovered, talked with all of them, and gave almost as useful critique as Ooba. Although he did so less frequently. One time accidentally giving feedback to a concentrating Yuka who did not want any, getting a splattering of red paint on his face at the suggestion.
When all the paintings were done once again they were lined up and once again the finished products stunned him. Takahashi’s beauty marks drew your eyes and the two sides of his face looked almost perfectly symmetrical. Kuwana’s hair almost immediately caught your attention, in part because she had painted over the face with a neutral tone to dull down its vibrancy. It worked. Even with that, Yaguchi privately wondered how she had done it, particularly on such a small color palette. Yuka had drawn herself from the waist up, but the red two thirds of the way up the painting was what really made it something special, just as intended.
Yaguchi, as always, was never quite sure how his painting compared next to his friend's genius and hard work, but by some miracle liked this painting well enough. Normally by the time he was finished something he had been looking at it for too long and could only see the faults, but that hadn’t happened with this one and he was glad because just like everyone else's it was genuinely a good piece.
The paintings had taken a similar amount of time to the first group, this time he used the break in between to visit his parents. It was nice to see them, even if he hemmed and hawed when they asked what he was working on and ended up showing them his statement piece painting. Yaguchi saw them maybe three weeks prior at his graduation and it was nice to see them again. He tried to visit them in person at least once a month.
He traveled back to his home on Saturday and made it on time to hear the prompt Monday morning.
This time Yuka was about 20 minutes late and when the sound of her entering made them all stop talking and look up she frowned at all of them and said, “late night.” Then gestured for all of them to keep talking, which they did for several minutes before Ooba stood noisily to get all of their attention.
“I’ve talked with all of you at length about this project and your artworks in various discussions, group or individual ones, but we’re far enough along in the process that after I share the prompt I’m going to call you all back for another conversation. Sounds good?” The group mumbled agreement.
“Great. Now your third prompt is: scar stories.”
Oh, so that was why they were talking with her again, both to see how the painting process was going and to see how they all felt about this one. Yaguchi had written the prompts, but didn’t know what order they would be given in and this was the one he was most hesitant as he knew (thankfully not from personal experience) that scars could go more than skin deep.
Everybody kept to themselves and in thought, presumably about the prompt, until Ooba called them in. Yaguchi was last this time too, which was worse than last time as unlike before everyone left once their conversation was over. When his name was called he walked into the room and sat down.
“Hello again Yaguchi. Since we’re at around halfway I wanted to do a check in with everybody, particularly as this prompt could be harder on some than others. How are you doing?“
“I’m doing well, for me I’ve been really happy with the way my paintings and the painting of them is going. I got used to it a lot faster than I thought I would,” he thought for a moment, “my sleep schedule is messed up, but that’s typical and I’ve been able to catch up with friends and family recently. I’m doing fit as a fiddle, really.”
She smiled, “I’m happy to hear that. Do you have any ideas for this prompt?”
“Maybe? Do you remember how I got those really bad hives during- for quite a bit of prep school?”
“The ones you didn’t tell me about until the second exam, yes. Why?”
“Well, I scratched up the hives a few too many times and the area has since scarred. I was thinking about doing one arm how it looks now and one arm how it did then.”
“That sounds pretty solid but what about…” Ooba suggested a few things. They talked over other things and then he was done for the day, but spent quite a bit of what remained in his room at the studio painting, because what else should he do with his time if not create?
Eventually, he took late night public transport home, read a bit from the masters thesis he was working through reading and went to sleep. Thankfully still waking up with more than enough time the following morning
Everything with this painting took a bit longer, like it was more complicated, and in many ways it was. Scars could be tricky things. It wasn’t until the morning of day three when the paints really came out. He had arrived early, but Yuka was there earlier playing some pop music and staring at her canvas.
“Hey.”
“Hello Yaguchi.”
“What are you doing here this early Yuka?” He had to ask.
“Painting, or getting ready to.” She got up, “show me what you worked on Monday, don’t lie.”
“All right then, you can look, but be nice.”
“When am I ever not?” She shot him a look.
He shot her one right back, “you can’t mean that seriously.”
She rolled her eyes, “I don’t.” They continued bickering and going through various things in his studio room until everyone else had arrived and they all got to painting. Yaguchi worked diligently and about nine days later he was done, by virtue of being used to painting together and against deadlines so was everyone else, almost. They did the lineup in the afternoon so everyone who needed it could add finishing touches.
After lunch they had the lineup and he was stunned by a few things: the way they had all done the prompt so differently, the way each piece just worked differently, and the art itself. The artistry that his friends had put out was stunning.
Takahashi painted a pencil protruding from his leg, surrounded by a variety of dots that all clearly come from the same accidental injury. It made Yaguchi give his friend a wan smile, it was the most foolish injury he had ever given himself and he kept doing it out of frustration during sketching no less.
Yaguchi silently cursed himself for not noticing and worried how he had missed it, but Kuwana had depicted what could only be self harm scars that he immediately recognized straight off her arm with her body angled 3/4 of the way to center an almost photorealistic heart sat pumping, continuing to pump blood through her veins. He couldn’t tell what was more eye-catching, the scars or the heart.
Yuka’s piece was the only one in the collection that currently had a title, “Scars that Mostly Fade”. Painted was exactly that, she had depicted herself sitting cross legged in a chair and there were two clearly defined slap marks in two different colors with a wicked black eye over her right. Her midsection had the intent of a fist. The background was textured like a brain.
His piece was two forearms, facing upwards from elbow to fingertip. One clearly showing the injury, the other its lasting effects. Yaguchi tried not to hate it, he really did, but he had just looked at it and his arms and photos of his hives way too much over the past few weeks. It was fine, however it was just that. At least he still liked the shade of baby blue he had chosen for the background. Give it a month and hopefully he would like it more?
The group only really had a day off until their next prompt, Yaguchi spent it sleeping or drawing random things from around his room as still lives.
He woke up on time Monday morning, about an hour before he had to show up at the studio. He got ready and walked over feeling refreshed and ready to make art as always. When they were all settled Ooba got their attention, this time with the sound of a spoon against her mug and then addressed them, “I know that last prompt was tricky and harder on all of you, some some more than others. This one should be easy enough for all of you artists: make art.“
Several confused gazes must be meeting hers, Yaguchi’s would have to, but he came up with the prompt. “Yeah guys, that’s the real prompt. Make art, just try to stay mostly on theme?”
This was the one prompt that, despite writing the prompts, he had no idea what to paint. Yaguchi figured that as much as it bothered him, he would figure out what he was doing tomorrow when the painting began. He went to go work on something unrelated while the others spent the day figuring out how they were going to “make art.”
The next day Kuwana immediately began painting on herself, which was curious. Takahashi looked like he was going to build up layers, which was interesting and typical. Yuka looked like she was painting her whole body, which wasn’t unsurprising.
After twisting and turning around in front of the mirror Yaguchi decided what he wanted to do. A side view self portrait with blue swirling around the body, a reference that just he and maybe Yuka would get, a reference to the first time he had done this. This prompt took a full nine days for everyone to complete, in part as they were all doing such different things.
Yaguchi spent the first day sketching and figuring out what he wanted to do, days 2 to 7 he spent painting himself, day eight he finished up the body and added his shadow, day nine he finally got around to the blue swirls that roughly curled around his painted body to the edges of the canvas. The canvas itself had been turned sideways to create even more negative space, Yaguchi thought he rather liked the effect. As they were slowly approaching the end of this series he had begun thinking about titles for his pieces, but wasn’t sure on any of them yet. Perhaps this one could be called “Artists Posture” as it did put his horrible posture on display.
On day ten's morning they all met up, clothed, to look at and discuss each other’s art.
Takahashi had painted his torso from hip bones to the very bottom of his chin, which crept into the painting. It felt almost impersonal, something that was helped by the cool color palette, but interestingly enough suited his friend and it was, as always, a splendid work of technical art. It would be near photorealistic if not for the singular dark brown dot over where his belly button would have been.
Kuwana had painted a Japanese landscape over her abdomen every day before she worked on the canvas, making art on her body before making art on the paper. Once again she had painted only her torso, chest and arms, the focus being on the twice painted landscape. This time it was facing the viewer straight on. It was captivating as always and he quietly wondered if it counted as one or two art pieces.
Yuka had painted herself six times in a variety of poses and then spent most of her time with a calligraphy brush. Which to Yaguchi was strange because as far as he knew she didn’t do calligraphy. Over the painted poses she had outlined six different outfits, in a wide variety of styles. The only reason she wasn’t breaking the prompt was because the lines didn’t cover anything, just gave the figures the illusion of clothes.
He had turned his canvas landscape and painted himself in approximately the middle of it, in the same pose his original nude piece had been in all those years ago. The rest of the canvas was covered in a gradient of swirling blue tendrils, they were supposed to look as if they were inviting the audience in, but he didn’t think he had succeeded.
As expected, telling the four artists to “make art” produced four wildly different ideas, even under the same theme.
They had quite a bit of time before the next Monday and Yaguchi spent most of it alone. He had spent his last few breaks with people, family or friends, but this time took time for himself. To be honest he spent most of it in and out of the studio, but it was there he had space to do what he loved: make art, just as the prompt had been. By the time Monday rolled around he was mostly refreshed and mostly caught up on sleep, something that was an always losing battle for him.
This time it was Hashida who called for their attention, “I have news,” there was a dramatic pause and then, “I got the set sold. It’s going to be an exhibit for a month at the Mori Art Museum.” The room exploded and Yaguchi sat, absolutely stunned, before joining in.
He could hardly believe the set had already been sold, it wasn’t even done yet and he probably wouldn’t really believe it until their art, his art, sat on display in the museum and he got to see it. And Hashida said he was still building his network, if that was the case he would be unstoppable when it was done if he was this good now.
Wow! The Mori Art Museum in Tokyo. He would have to see Tokyo Tower again if it was in the same area, it never got old.
After a full 15 minutes of celebration Ooba made them settle down with a smile and stage whispered, “kids these days,” before actually addressing them, grinning. “Why yes, it is very exciting your art is going to be a museum. First, I think you need to finish making the art for it. Here is your last, rather interesting, prompt: without seeing. I’m sure it doesn’t just have to be literally, please take it however you like. I’m excited to see what you all come up with. Feel free to come chat with me, chat amongst yourselves and by all means draw. Otherwise I’ll see you all tomorrow.”
Huh, he had almost forgotten about this one.
After Ooba stopped talking, Yaguchi reached for his sketchbook and tried to write a list of all the ideas flooding his brain. He could just paint with something over his eyes, but that was basic. He could do grayscale, but how would that work in real life? He could paint an element without sight, but what element could that be? He mostly succeeded in getting all the ideas down and mapping them out on a few different pages until he was done.
It was only then that Yaguchi realized he probably hadn’t moved in several hours. To combat this he stretched his arms upward, a joint in his elbow popped satisfyingly. Yaguchi yawned and leafed through all of his ideas. One in particular catching his attention. It was different and he liked it. The background would be painted with his eyes covered, one layer of blue and one layer of red for contrast, then over top of it all he would ask if he could please borrow Yuka’s mystery calligraphy brush and try to paint himself in one connected line with it.
Now that he was out of idea land and had an idea Yaguchi poked Takahashi and then handed him the sketchbook, asking for his opinion. He was given a stamp of approval and several things to work out, so he did.
This painting took the least amount of time for him, but longer for some of the others. He spent day one with a sleep mask on, painting the blue background and the next day doing the same with the red. Two whole days were spent practicing with the calligraphy brush and on day five he spent the morning procrastinating, going for it first thing in the afternoon. He didn’t hate the end result, but most of what he saw when he looked at the painting was ways to improve it.
It took another five days for everyone else to be done, while they finished up he worked on a variety of things. Whatever caught his fancy, really. The group lined up 11 days after getting the prompt. Somehow these paintings had turned out more different than the “make art” one.
Takahashi had divided the canvas into portions and put a part of his body in each of them, unaligned, with the top of his head in the top left corner and his feet in the bottom right. The section that his eyes would have been was completely blacked out. If the painting were to come to life it would be as the prompt — without sight.
Yuka had painted herself temporarily without sight as well, but just in the painting. She had never put on a cloth covering outside of reference photos taken at home. She had painted herself looking into a mirror, unable to see her reflection, but the reflection stared at the viewer. Simple and effective he would put more thought into what it meant later.
Kuwana had painted something that looked semi-similar to her “scar stories” piece, she was facing the other direction, but the real difference was the things that made the piece the first time were covered. The heart just had a bit of its glow peeking through. The arm, the scars were bound by black cloth, by covering up the re-creation of her previous painting it had created something new and striking.
His piece had an extremely textured blue and red background, with the occasional purple spot. This time his canvas had a portrait view, with the calligraphy brush he had inked on his legs from mid thigh down, one line per leg. He wanted to do something that was a bit more specific than his other paintings.
Yaguchi thought his art looked mediocre next to his friends, but they disagreed so what could he do?
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About a month after the last painting had been finished they were put on display for a month at the Mori Art Museum and Yaguchi could still hardly believe it. The day it was put out the museum had requested everyone who worked on the project present for an interview. When he walked into the room it all looked so professional he could hardly believe that either, but confronted with his art on the walls he finally did.
The interviewer was the last to arrive, but Yaguchi thought it had gone pretty well. The group stayed in their room for most of the museum's hours. Occasionally someone would go look at other exhibits or for food and drink, however if that was about it.
On the second day they were present at their exhibit too, this time as a surprise for anyone who realized who they were, which became a competition that nobody really won, as they were the subjects of the paintings they were all easily identifiable. He also dragged everyone to Tokyo Tower for two reasons: it was fun and Takahashi hadn’t been before, something that he needed rectified.
Day three was their last scheduled day at the exhibit, but they would all probably be back later. Today there were high school and prep school art programs coming to ask questions about their art and probably university. By the end of the day, like all the others, he was incredibly tired and incredibly satisfied. It had been a wonderful and rewarding experience, just long.
When the set came down three and a half weeks later Yaguchi wondered if the pieces would ever come back out again. The answer didn’t really matter, it wasn’t his art anymore after all. It still had its name on it, but on paper it belonged to the museum and in reality it belonged to every person who had come and saw it; art was in the eye of the beholder and not only the artist after it was made available to the public.
A part of Yaguchi wondered when it would or if it would ever get more viewers, there was no answer he could give beside a maybe. For now most of him wondered what was next for him, his friends, his teachers. He wondered when they would make art like this, together, again.