[ p l a c i d c h a o s / A M ]

Most classically trained artists know the importance of drawing the nude figure, and how difficult but also rewarding it can be. Unfortunately, in most locales there aren't many opportunities to draw the nude figure outside of academia and since I am just starting to repay the millions of dollars my "higher" education cost me... enrolling in another drawing class isn't in the cards.

Luckily I found this nifty little program, Virtual Figure Drawing Studio, from Cloudstars.

Some elitists may scoff at it but I think it's a pretty sweet little set up. Some of the features include the ability to switch poses automatically on 30/60/90 second intervals, the choice of block, x-ray, and regular viewing mode, as well as a fully maneuverable camera and customizable lighting.

The only real complaint that I have is that there is only one model, so there is no chance to draw a bodybuilder one day and an overly obese person the next day. Oh, and the male and female models are in two separate programs that you have to download and install. Hopefully there will become a big enough demand for this software that they will integrate both the male and female models into the same package, as well as several other models of each sex. If anyone from Cloudstars is reading this, please heed my suggestion, and while you're at it, give me a free copy as a thank you for this lovely plug; I'm tired of the pop-ups on my trial version...