The famous nude drawing Vitruvian Man did not spring from the baby Leonardo DaVinci. Neither did Matisse just dial up Blue Nude, nor did Botticelli start his career with Birth of Venus.

Let's face it, everyone knows how to look at naked people and at the paintings of beautiful, intriguing or shocking nudes, especially when they're in museums and galleries and big-deal shows, such as Nude 2009, the 23rd year of the Nude International, starting this week in Lexington.

But who teaches these artists to paint the nude human figure?

To paint the nude form, you have to really look at it. You first have to get beyond the whole giggly thing, sure, but there is so much more to know about light, proportion and color before you're able to work your vision, make your statement, impose your innovative post-Spencer Tunick concept on it.

Or is there?

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