DEAR ABBY: I am a 13-year-old girl and I really enjoy drawing. There's a 17-year-old boy in my school, "Christopher," who I am dying to draw. He has a wonderful profile, a fascinating smile, challenging hair that hangs over his eyes in an interesting way, great posture, grace and beautiful hands. Shall I go on?
Every time I see Christopher I want to grab a camera and get some good snapshots to use as a reference for sketching him later. I especially want to capture him in action -- running, jumping, fencing or something like that. I also want to do a portrait of him.
How can I get some photos of him without being embarrassed or getting teased? There's one teacher who would definitely tease me if I'm too obvious. -- FUTURE FAMOUS ARTIST IN GEORGIA
DEAR ARTIST: Why not try the direct approach? Tell Christopher that you're working on an art project, and ask him if he would mind if you used him as a model. Tell him it wouldn't take up much of his time -- but you'd like to snap some reference shots of him running, jumping, a three-quarter picture of his head and shoulders and his profile. He might be flattered at the idea. And if you get teased about it, say, "Dear Abby says, 'Art without passion is mechanical drawing.'"