Charcoal Pornography?

Three drawings, charcoal and conte crayon, 18 x 24 inches, 2009

[Warning: Mature Subject Matter]

As I've mentioned previously, this summer I took a six-week figure drawing course at San Francisco City College. The class was intended for beginners and covered the basics of gesture, value, and proportion. This was my first attempt at drawing living people, and even though the results are a little shaky, I feel obligated to share (and also because I currently don't have anything else to write about on the blog). 

So here are a few of my better drawings taken from the last two classes. As you can tell, I'm not very good at faces. These were also short drawings - each one was done in twenty minutes. 

 

I was a little bit worried if posting this violates internet laws against pornography. I wasn't even sure if this was pornography. To address my concerns, I did some Google searches for "pornography" and came up with some pretty confusing results. I learned that pornography is subjective, as Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart notably put it in a 1964 obscenity case: "I know it when I see it".

I invite you to apply that same test: If these drawings make you feel funny on the inside, then IT IS pornography. If they make you feel the same as being at a museum or listening to NPR, then it IS NOT pornography (unless you get aroused by NPR and museums, in which case IT IS pornography). 

And as far as the legality of putting this on the internet? I'm pretty confident after my research that I have nothing to worry about.

UPDATE: Here are all the naked people hanging out together. I still don't think this qualifies as pornography, but it might be getting closer. 

Comments

[Carl W]

It is pornography.

[Ryan A]

I agree, it is pornography. I also think you should spend more than 20 minutes drawing next time. These were lacking in detail in areas where I was interested.