NEIGHBORS SHORT TAKES : No Drawbacks : A sketching class is offered for those who think they have no artistic ability.

You say you have so little artistic inclination that you can’t even draw your own conclusions?

You say your work with a palette is barely palatable?

Well, the Ventura Department of Parks and Recreation has the class for you: “Basic Drawing for Klutzes.”

The course, which begins a week from today, will be taught by Ventura artist Ron Walker, the guy who also brought us “A Humorous Approach to Modern Art.”

The klutz class, said Walker, is for people “who have never felt like they could draw, who just felt it was beyond their capability.”

Walker said his students should leave the class with somewhat more artistic ability than they had coming in.

But first they need to redefine art.

“Say you’re drawing a face,” he said. “Instead of thinking, ‘I’m drawing the eye now, I’m drawing the nose, I’m drawing the mouth,’ it’s a matter of breaking it down into basic elements--shapes, size relationships, value, different angles.”

Walker said it’s necessary to forget some of the things learned in childhood.

He used the popular “smiley face,” with a round head, circles for the eyes and a curved line for the mouth, as an example.

“We (draw) that even though we know a face doesn’t really look like that,” he said. “You have to look at something from an abstract point of view to be able to draw it realistically.”

Call 658-4726 if you consider yourself inept enough to sign up.

Here’s a note for folks who haven’t yet picked up their May issue of TEEN Magazine: Fourteen-year-old Heather Hundley of Camarillo is featured in it. She is among 480 regional semifinalists in the 1992 Great Model Search.

About 24,000 girls entered the competition.

Magazine spokeswoman Lori Moore said the girls sent in photos of themselves for the initial judging.

“We are looking for someone with a teen look--a TEEN Magazine look--a young, fresh, wholesome look,” she said.

At age 14, Hundley is over the hill when it comes to the “America’s Favorite Pre-Teen” competition.

But fear not. Westlake Village’s Marnie Hirata has picked up the slack.

The 12-year-old was named Southern California’s “Favorite Pre-Teen” in that competition and will represent California in the national finals in December.

Judging is based on academic achievement, community involvement and poise.

Vitamin C, anyone?

A tradition dating back to the 1960s continues today with Friend’s Ranch in Ojai supplying the orange juice for the Ojai Valley Tennis Tournament.

This is the 93rd anniversary of the four-day amateur competition.

Last year, of course, oranges were hard to come by due to the winter frost.

As a result, ranch owner Tony Thatcher was forced to mix the fresh stuff with concentrate to meet the demand.

“There were a few comments, but there wasn’t much I could do,” he said. “It tasted pretty good, but it didn’t taste like fresh juice.”

This year, however, it’s back to the real thing.

“There’s lots of fruit this year,” said Thatcher. “Perfect fruit for juicing.”

Thatcher expects to supply enough liquid for about 20,000 cups of juice. That means he needs about 31,000 oranges, or 200 cartons. This time last year, cartons were selling for $30 each. Now, said Thatcher, they’re going for $6 per carton. “The orange market is terrible right now from the orange grower’s point of view,” he said. “But it’s great for the tennis tournament.”

Local artist Cindy Hanson has hit the big time. She has been asked to sell a couple of her pieces to a museum in Long Island, New York.

Which museum? The New York Chess Museum, run by the International Chess Society.

Well, it makes sense. Hanson, president of the Oxnard Art Assn., has spent more than 10 years making three-foot-square porcelain chess sets. Her work will join about 400 other sets the society has on display at the museum.

“I didn’t even know they had a museum,” she said.

Hanson creates 4- to 5-inch tall chess pieces based on different themes for each set. “They are from outer space, ‘Alice in Wonderland,’ cowboys and Indians,” she said. “I’ve got one called ‘The Battle of the Bulge on the Beach.’ It’s a bunch of fat people.”

She said her sets sell for a couple of thousand dollars each, and apparently can be used as legal tender. After the birth of one of her children, she was presented with a $1,500 medical bill. She and her doctor worked out a deal to exchange a maternity-related chess set for the services.

“There were storks and expectant fathers,” she said. “And the pregnant women were the pawns.”