Episode 4: Is This an Entrance Exam or a Masterpiece?
Lee Hyunseong couldn’t take his eyes off Kang Lim’s drawing.
He had watched the entire drawing process from the side… It didn’t make sense.
Why did the drawing of this kid remind him of the great masters of the Baroque era?
A few years ago, during a family trip to Europe, he remembered listening to the docent’s explanation of the paintings.
[“While composition and pose are important in expressing dramatic motion, what’s more essential is the ‘play of light.’ This technique, which makes the contrast of light and shadow very strong, is called chiaroscuro. Most works from the Baroque period were drawn this way. Rembrandt’s paintings, in particular, were drawn in this manner. If you look at his self-portrait, you’ll feel a very unique and mysterious atmosphere, as if the subject is alive, due to the subtle lighting in the darkness.”]
This kid’s drawing was exactly like that.
As the pencil snapped—snap—the paper was covered in a deep darkness, so dark it seemed it would not even reflect light.
After that, like an explorer delving into the abyss, Kang Lim began to erase the darkness bit by bit, drawing as he went.
‘It wasn’t an eraser; it was a white pencil…’
Following the focused light that fell precisely from above, Julien’s nose, eyes, and lips began to gradually emerge.
A shallow light fell over the bent neck muscles, creating a color that looked like real human skin. By not revealing all of the characteristic crisp edges of the plaster, the drawing felt alive.
It was as if the person had just turned their head to catch the light from the darkness.
“How did you draw this? It’s hard to create such deep darkness with pencils because they get shiny if you keep rubbing them.”
The director, like Lee Hyunseong, had an astonished look on his face.
“I don’t just carry 4B pencils. I carry a variety of pencils including 8B and 6B. If you break an 8B pencil and rub it, it gives a very fluffy feel. Shallow darkness that shines is usually due to repeatedly overlaying the pencil with the same speed and pressure, but if you rub an 8B pencil, which has low reflectance and high graphite content, very hard, you get this kind of effect. It feels like it was drawn with conte.”
As soon as Kang Lim finished speaking, exclamations erupted from all around.
“Wow, maybe we’ve been too limited with our materials. I didn’t know you could draw like that. There are so many types of pencils.”
“Right. Why did we stick to using only 4B pencils? We buy them by the dozen and use them until they’re worn out.”
Although changing materials alone wouldn’t enable them to draw like that, the students were astonished by the entirely different approach to drawing plaster.
The director, calming his surprised mind, asked again.
“How did you achieve that smooth surface characteristic of plaster? Did you rub it with tissue?”
“No. After laying down the darkness, I erased and drew it.”
The director furrowed his brow deeply.
He intuitively felt that, although this was an external student, this was a student the academy must retain.
Although entrance exam art has its own methods, this level of skill transcended all those rules. Was this even something that could be considered for an entrance exam? This was a masterpiece.
‘If we keep him and have him apply to multiple schools, he’ll get accepted everywhere.’
Producing a student who gets accepted to all three major art universities from our academy?
The rest is predictable. The students will line up!
A sly smile spread across the director’s face.
“Very good. Excellent. Now let’s start the critique session, where we go around and point out what’s wrong.”
Critique is a time when students evaluate each other’s works themselves.
“Since we’re already talking, let’s start with Kang Lim and have him point out what’s wrong. You need a discerning eye to draw well. I bet you’re good at critique too.”
“Okay.”
Kang Lim stepped forward and scanned the drawings.
The names would be written on the back, so he wouldn’t know who drew them… He just needed to criticize sharply. That would help with the entrance exams.
“First off, looking at all the drawings, the one that stands out the most is the one who drew Agrippa.”
As soon as he spoke, the student conspicuously sitting at the front row flinched.
“You might think Agrippa is easy to draw because of his plain hairstyle and simple expression, but it’s actually harder to capture his expression because it’s so simple. It’s not a pitiful expression but a dignified and cool-headed one. Don’t draw him pathetically; think of him as a powerful general of the Roman Empire and draw him with more weight and density.”
As soon as he finished speaking, the students chuckled, and murmurs of “Yeah, it really does look pitiful” could be heard.
“The rest are similarly not worth laughing at. Especially the third one from the top, and the first and second from the bottom. None of them captured Julien’s expression. I don’t know who drew them, but they probably drew their own face. People tend to reflect their most familiar forms. So, stop adding exaggerated hooked noses and crowded eyes, nose, and mouth.”
The faces of the laughing students quickly turned dark, and they quietly glanced at the director, falling silent. Lee Hyunseong was laughing the hardest, finding the situation amusing.
“Everyone, try turning your necks like Julien. When you turn your neck to the side like this, the sternocleidomastoid muscle on the left is tense, while the right side is plump. It’s important to capture this subtly and accurately.”
“…?”
“Also, remember that Julien’s orbicularis oculi and zygomaticus muscles are developed. Observe how delicately the parts connecting the zygomatic bone, masseter muscle, and uvula are made, centering around the sternocleidomastoid muscle. The last student’s work is incomplete, so there’s not much to say… That’s all.”
When he finished his critique and turned around, the students had bewildered expressions on their faces.
“Hey, does anyone know what he just said?”
“No, I thought he would talk about creating a sense of space, depicting hair, and texture, but this is the first time I’ve heard such a detailed critique.”
“Isn’t he more professional than the director?”
Such reactions were expected since hardly any students at that age had studied anatomy properly.
The flustered director had nothing to say, so he just repeated the last part of Kang Lim’s critique.
“Lee Hyunseong! Is that yours? Why is it incomplete? Are you crazy?”
“No, Director. How could I not watch a circus happening next to me…”
“Would you waste time if you met a good artist at the test site? You fool. We’ll regroup in 20 minutes after lunch for the watercolor test, so get ready! There’s no more to add to the critique, so review it on your own.”
The director left the classroom looking a bit dizzy, and the students whispered among themselves about Kang Lim as they filed out one by one.
Snap snap snap.
In the empty classroom, only the sound of a cutter knife sharpening a pencil could be heard. Lee Hyunseong, left alone, was sharpening the worn pencil to a fine point and pointed the sharp pencil tip at Kang Lim.
“Hey, don’t sit next to me. You’re distracting.”
“You came here.”
“Huh? Right.”
Kang Lim returned after grabbing a quick meal at the convenience store. It was only 20 minutes, not enough time to go somewhere and order food.
When he entered the classroom, instead of the director, a man with short curly hair was sitting on the still life platform. He was the academy’s instructor.
“Ah- why are you guys coming in so late!”
The man complained in an annoyed voice as he saw the students coming in late, but his eyes were filled with affection.
“Ah- when are we supposed to eat then.”
“Right. You’re late too, Mr. Kim.”
“Haha- that’s true. We’ll start exactly in 10 minutes then.”
“Wow, as expected… Mr. Kim is flexible, unlike the director.”
“Of course. I’ve been teaching entrance exams in front of Hongdae for over 10 years, so I know you guys best.”
“Hoo- I wish I could get into university as the top student like you, sir.”
“Haha- right. Then you can at least become an instructor to make a living.”
There’s a joke that after graduating from an art university, you either become a bus driver for an art academy or an instructor.
It sounds like a joke, but unless you’re a genius, it’s quite likely in this field.
Lee Hyunseong sat with his back to Kang Lim from the opposite side.
There would be no chance of seeing Kang Lim’s drawing here, so he intended to focus properly this time.
“Ahhh! What are you doing!”
“You said you understood us… Traitor!”
Following the sudden shouting of the students, Kang Lim looked in their direction. The instructor was seen gulping down from a Samdasoo water bottle.
“Ah- they say you’ll fail the entrance exam if you consume the still life items!”
“Come on- you believe that superstition? Don’t use still life as an excuse. And I drank it, so I’m the only one failing. Though there’s no more for me to fail, haha-“
“Tch.”
“Wow- but I don’t know how many years this Samdasoo has been a staple in the entrance exam. It’s a regular guest.”
The instructor indifferently closed the bottle cap, leaving the students with sulky faces behind.
“The test is a plaster still life watercolor. You know? You can choose any one from the still life items on the platform, just like in the morning. The still life items are a roll of toilet paper, Samdasoo, and an apple. The unique thing is, the problem says you can draw as many still life items as you want.”
“Sometimes that happens. It’s okay to draw just one, right?”
“Well, yeah.”
“Ugh- I wouldn’t draw even if they gave it to me.”
“Haha- you mean you can’t draw? Anyway, start now!”
As soon as the instructor finished speaking, the sound of pencils drawing horizontal and vertical lines filled the air.
The exercise of capturing the proportions of objects began once again.
Kang Lim sighed as he watched them.
‘Unlike the sketching test where you draw a single plaster object, having multiple still life items means you have to compose the scene. How can they start sketching without any thought?’
Sure enough.
After a while, he looked around and saw that the students’ sketches were almost identical.
The placement of the plaster was slightly different—left half view or right half view—but everything else was the same.
Three-quarters of the drawing. The main subject.
Julien, whom they drew earlier, was placed prominently in the center.
In the corners of the screen, where the eyes are less drawn, the secondary subjects.
Everyone had placed the Samdasoo bottle and apple in the same spot.
In the background, the roll of toilet paper was buried as if they had all agreed.
Maybe they wanted to avoid drawing the difficult white object by pushing it into the background.
This time, it would be much easier to create a drawing that stands out compared to the sketch.
‘The kids will start with an underpainting in neutral colors by mixing Van Dyke Brown and Ultramarine soon. I need to approach this differently from the start.’
An hour later.
The instructor went around checking the students’ progress. He did this to correct anyone who was going astray.
But something was off about the composition of the external student’s drawing.
Clearly, the main subject was supposed to be the plaster…
But the plaster was pushed to the back, and in the center, he had piled a heap of toilet paper and apples. The Samdasoo bottle was messily toppled over.
‘How is he planning to draw all that… And why is the plaster shoved in with only its back showing? Is it too difficult to draw? It’s awkward to interfere since he’s an external student…’
Curious, the instructor took a closer look at Kang Lim’s sketch. On closer inspection, he felt a chill and his hair stood on end.
‘Wow, it’s incredibly detailed. He’s even drawn the missing cap of the Samdasoo bottle I drank from earlier. And he’s capturing the refraction angles where light scatters on the plastic. With such observational skills, there’s no way he can’t grasp the plaster form, so why…’
Driven by curiosity, he peeked over Kang Lim’s shoulder at his palette.
He found another odd thing there.
The brush he was using to mix the paint was almost as thick and tightly packed as if he were using fresh paint.
‘No way…’
