Chapter 6

There are many common mistakes made by people who lack painting skills. There are many ways to make mistakes, such as neglecting practice or blaming the market.

However, if I had to pick one of the most dangerous mistakes, it was….

‘You’re practicing in the wrong way.’

I looked around.

The works of the students from earlier were scattered here and there.

It’s a study of art at best. But it was also a failed study.

Is there any other way to use it?

It’s obvious that they’re bound to pile up and be thrown away.

In short, those pictures are worthless.

But did the students who drew those pictures neglect their practice?

Well….

I didn’t think so.

‘You’ve taken the wrong direction to practice.’

Any student attending an art academy will focus on painting for at least 4 to 8 hours a day.

They can’t help but to improve their skills.

Nevertheless, the results varied widely.

Is it just a difference in talent?

‘That’s possible.’

However, in fact, at the entrance exam level, that is it.

It’s all the same.

Then, it was highly likely that the direction of the effort they were putting in was wrong.

Those are the consequences.

A lump of wrong effort.

From now on, I was going to use those lumps as a subject.

“Let’s see…”

I picked up four of the students’ works.

There were two paintings with shoe marks stamped on them by Director Jeong Gwang-chae, and two other paintings that received a D.

“I’ll borrow these for a second. Are you okay with that?”

“Oh, yes.”

I took the pictures and went back to my seat.

The students looked at me with unsettling eyes.

On the other hand, Director Jeong Gwang-chae gave me an interested gaze.

‘I’ll show you magic from now on.’

I installed eight easels.

On top of that, each of the 4 students’ works were placed, and 4 white sheets of paper were also placed on it.

The time given to me was the next 2 hours.

I’m thinking of creating something fantastic here.

I picked up a pencil.

And I looked at the piece of work on the leftmost side.

‘It’s a typical entrance exam painting.’

It was a drawing of a glass cup and chopsticks.

It was already shabby because of the shoe marks already on it, but even if I looked at it without them, there were still many traces of fraying on the paper.

It’s messy.

So I liked it more.

‘It must’ve been rubbed with an eraser over and over again in an attempt to fix it.’

It was by no means a rough drawing.

It’s a picture that was worked hard on.

‘What kind of thoughts did you have while drawing it?’

I sat down and thought as I laid a white sheet of drawing paper on the easel.

Just a few seconds to hold a pencil and draw a blueprint in my head.

I started to play with my pencil.

Sassaak.

A black line from the pencil quickly filled the drawing paper.

“It’s very fast.”

Behind my back, the students cried out in admiration.

“I think it’s faster than her.”

“Is this what all Han Yewon’s students are like?”

“I envy you…”

I didn’t feel very impressed.

From the very beginning, I was confident in my speed.

Design is the battle against time in modern business.

It was also common to complete works in seconds to meet a clients’ needs.

I’ve lived that kind of life for over 10 years.

I’m losing face at the speed of an undergraduate.

In terms of pure speed, I wouldn’t be pushed back by the professor.

Do you know that?

In general, a single painting in a practical exam was given 4 hours to be completed.

4 hours.

It was a short time to complete one painting.

Entrance exam instructors across the country have been agonizing over how to use this time.

As a result, the following conclusions were reached:

Half an hour of planning and sketching.

This painting takes 2 hours.

30 minutes to fix it.

Insurance for the last hour.

This was the optimal design for the entrance exam students.

The weak spot here was that it was designed for entrance exam students.

‘It doesn’t mean anything to people like me.’

You don’t need an idea from scratch.

I’m just going to fix an existing picture.

Sketching takes less than 5 minutes.

Honestly, I don’t have to draw. I’m just drawing because the students have to watch and learn.

There is no need for modification.

Drawing without an eraser is not only Seo Ji-won’s specialty.

Rather, I did well.

All we have left is 2 hours to draw.

With my skills, I could cut it down to half an hour or less.

No, I didn’t need to.

Scribble.

It was only 10 minutes after I started painting.

By the time the outlines of the picture I was painting began to emerge, a student murmured.

“…That’s my drawing.”

That’s right.

A remake of ‘The Ruined Picture.’

That was the picture I was going to draw.

“Is it the same picture? I don’t think so.”

“Awesome.”

It’s definitely the same picture, but it also wasn’t the same picture.

The painting was reborn in my hands.

‘Correct the parts drawn incorrectly, and save the parts you want to save.’

The original was definitely a D-class painting.

No one could deny it.

So, I decided to elevate this painting to a Han Yewon-class painting.

‘But simply drawing well is not enough.’

I poured seasoning on it.

The name of the seasoning was Trend.

‘I’ll show you next year’s entrance exam style.’

Design isn’t the only thing that keeps up with trends.

The style of the entrance exam paintings also changed every year.

Professors prefer fresh paintings every time, and the heads of private institutes across the country have been struggling to keep up with the fluctuating trends.

And I’ve had enough of painting the style that would change over the next four years.

I’ve painted at least thousands of copies.

I can even draw with my eyes closed.

‘All four paintings are recreated in different styles.’

The first painting was redrawn in a misty style.

A technique that intentionally scatters the outline and thickens the picture instead.

I tried it, and it worked.

‘It’s easy.’

Even though it’s been over 10 years since I pulled out of the entrance exam, those skills remained vivid in my mind.

Skritch.

The level of the painting continued to rise as did the amount of times I moved my hands.

It seems that I was drawing leisurely, but the quality of the painting has risen extremely quickly.

Why?

Because I only drew as much as I needed.

Drawing to the extreme limits of efficiency.

Because that was the drawing I pursued in my previous life.

‘Students look for finished works in their minds while drawing, and I’m simply releasing the finished work in my mind.’

The experience was different.

With every minute, every second, the glass became more glass-like, and the chopsticks became chopstick-like.

The flat painting regained its three-dimensional feel.

“So that’s how you could’ve drawn it.”

“I can’t believe it’s the same composition.”

The admiration of the students increased.

If you admired Seo Ji-won’s pure skills when you saw her painting, this time it was different.

‘I think I can draw that.’

‘Why didn’t I think of that when I drew it?’

‘Just a slightly different pencil will change the feeling drastically.’

Unexplained emotions began to writhe in the hearts of the students.

They saw the process of a painting being revived, the same painting which they had once thought as destroyed.

It was even kind.

Wouldn’t it be great if you could reproduce that technique as it is, or if you could just follow half of it?

Such thoughts swelled in my heart.

The feeling of injustice was extraordinary, as I felt inferior to the intellectualism of the academy.

I knew that best.

The reason is, ‘because I did.’

I’ve never been at the forefront of painting.

There were many people smarter than I was, and I struggled hard to steal their fine skills.

I’ve never painted a good picture in the first place.

Instead, I knew how to save a ruined picture.

‘Like this.’

Although the painting I finished might be inferior to that of Seo Ji-won’s, the concerns contained within it far outweighed that.

The moment the picture was completed.

The students felt an unfamiliar feeling with the recreated paintings of the entrance exam style that they felt were boring.

“…uh.”

It was fun.

*

‘It didn’t take as long as I thought.’

It took two hours to complete the 4 works from scratch.

It actually took about an hour and a half.

It ended quicker than I thought.

‘They’re bland.’

I didn’t have enough time. Seo Ji-won left early, so I was thinking about asking for more time…

‘Is it because I’m so healthy?’

In my previous life, my wrist, which had been sore all year round, was fine.

Anyway, that’s how my apprenticeship ended.

Drip.

By the time I finished my last work and got up from my seat, the students were looking at my painting, not me.

‘I want to draw like that too.’

Maybe your hands and feet are itching.

Director Jeong Gwang-chae finally opened his mouth.

“I think a lot of students have learned by looking at these drawings. It’s like magic for it to be completed in an instant, right? But these pictures aren’t drawn overnight. Don’t forget about today, and keep working hard so that you can paint a picture like this someday.”

I didn’t even have anything to aim for in my paintings…

As I stood embarrassed, Director Jeong Gwang-chae turned to me.

“I have something else to tell you. Would you like to follow me for a moment?”

“Yes.”

He took me to the director’s office from earlier.

As I glanced through the glass wall, I saw that the students were having a passionate conversation about my painting.

Before I knew it, there was a student who took out sheets of drawing paper and pencils and copied my work.

For some reason, a smile came to my face.

Isn’t this what Director Jeong Gwang-chae wanted?

There was something he said a while ago.

‘I told you to draw pictures that students could observe and learn from.’

I attacked that part.

Seo Ji-won’s painting is excellent.

But that was all.

You’ll be amazed because it was so outstanding, but to be honest, it wasn’t a picture that students would follow and draw.

How could Bronze imitate Faker’s movements?

At best, they’ll report it as a troll.

‘Come to think of it, there’s no roll at this time of the year.’

For a moment, I felt down.

Director Jeong Gwang-chae said with a smile as I was immersed in various thoughts.

“I was impressed.”

“…Yes.”

“I can see why you were sent as a student. To be honest, I said I was jealous of you earlier, but now I’m really jealous.”

The director laughed and asked.

“Have you ever worked as a teacher? It wasn’t just a painting of someone who had only ever drawn his own pictures.”

“No, today was my first time.”

I denied it at once.

I’ve had enough of this in my previous life, but I was only a freshman from the countryside who came up to Seoul as of now.

My reaction seemed to have been more special to Director Jeong Gwang-chae.

“I’ve never taught anyone before, so I’m greedy for people who draw like that.”

He crossed his arms for a moment and seemed to be contemplating something.

“I’ll be honest with you. Don’t you want to work at my academy?”

“What?”

This was unexpected.

No matter how talented I am, I can’t believe you’re so greedy for talented people that you’re trying to hire me like this.

“I’m going to work in Professor Lee Jong’s studio.”

“Think about it later, and I’ll give you an hourly wage so you won’t be disappointed. Let’s see. As a full-time instructor it’s 20,000 won per hour and we’ll provide full tuition support. How about it?”

“…!”

This was a bit harsh.

Is there such a generous job at my age?

Besides, I’ve already decided. It was nothing difficult.

I couldn’t accept it.

No matter how hard you work as an academy instructor, you can only become an experienced academy instructor.

My goal was to be a successful designer.

“I’m sorry. I have an appointment with the professor.”

It was the moment when I said so.

Director Jeong Gwang-chae’s eyes gleamed with an unusual light.

“I see. If a student leaves the professor’s studio, can I hire him then?”

“What?”

I was about to panic.

“Huh. I’m just kidding. I’m not such a man without conscience.”

“······.”

It seemed rather serious to be a joke.

“Anyway, you said you’d replace the recruitment exam for the academy today. Can I tell you what I think in advance?”

“Yes.”

Director Jeong Gwang-chae nodded and said, “The girl drew better earlier.”

“…I see.”

It left a bitter taste in my mouth.

I worked hard on it, but I can’t believe I’m hearing this from others.

I was about to sigh, but he smiled.

“But a designer is not a person who only makes his own art. We also need to understand the customer’s needs.”

“…!”

“That’s what your senior used to say.”

“That means…”

He smiled and said, “I’m going to push the students all the way.”

Then a sigh of relief came out and I felt hungry.

“…Ha ha.”

It was already around 8 p.m. outside.

It was time to eat.

Growl.

Director Jeong Gwang-chae, who heard the rumbling, got up from his seat and said,

“Let’s go. I’ll treat you to a nice meal today. Do you have time?”

“Of course.”

I had no intention of refusing a meal.

And a few minutes later, I had to reflect on this judgment.

That day, I had to reject 14 offers to work as a lecturer in exchange for a gourmet Korean meal.

*

Monday the next day.

I went to school with a lighter mind after the recruitment exam had been confirmed in the studio.

I felt a prickly stare somewhere in the classroom.

“…”

Seo Ji-won was glaring at me.