Episode 5: A Rare Talent
The director tilted his head quizzically. Today, both the principal and the instructors seemed to be in a daze.
“Did the kids do poorly on the joint exam?”
Curious about why everyone seemed so out of it, he picked up the students’ exam papers.
“Wow, how lovely. They worked really hard.”
The director smiled contentedly as he viewed the children’s drawings.
The stacks of drawings represented years of the students’ hard work.
But as he flipped through a few pages, his hand stopped.
A short sigh escaped his lips.
“Wow.”
“Isn’t that amazing?”
The instructor finally looked at the director and gave a bitter smile, feeling a sense of futility over an unattainable talent.
“Yes. Really well-drawn. It looks like the plaster statue is alive.”
“Try finding the watercolor he painted. Whatever medium he uses, whatever he draws, he excels.”
The instructor recalled the time when Kang Lim was painting.
In entrance exams, students are usually advised not to use the ‘one-touch’ technique for watercolors.
When students asked why they shouldn’t do it that way, the instructor would say, “A painting done in one touch isn’t diligent and doesn’t look like a student’s work.”
But in reality, it was because it’s too difficult for the students to represent an object’s inherent color in one go.
Applying pure color directly was too risky. If the color didn’t turn out right, it would be a disaster.
This isn’t a sketch where you can use an eraser, and trying to wipe off paint would damage the paper and make the colors muddy.
Therefore, when painting with watercolors, it’s preferred to lay down a base of neutral colors lightly and gradually build up the object’s inherent colors.
‘So, applying the color in one touch means that only someone who can mix the exact color of the object on sight can use this method.’
But this kid did it.
‘By applying the thick paint in one go, even the spots and bruises on the apple were cleanly depicted. It was a real apple, different from the conceptual apples drawn by other students. It was incredibly realistic…’
The apples drawn by other students all looked pretty much the same.
But the apples drawn by Kang Lim were diverse.
They shone brightly, were dented, bruised, and even had gouges…
He could still see the vivid images of the various apples in front of him.
It was so realistic that he could almost smell them, making it unforgettable.
“Wow, really… The watercolor is amazing too!”
When the director discovered another one of Kang Lim’s drawings, he exclaimed in admiration. This time, the principal spoke up.
“Right? That’s why we offered him free tuition while he prepares for the entrance exams. We just asked that, if he gets accepted somewhere, he lets us use his name on our banner.”
“Wow. You’re really not charging him any tuition?”
“Yes. I even told him to use the acrylic materials in the hobby class freely, and to use any space he wants.”
“Wow… You made a big decision, Principal. Our entrance exam tuition is really expensive, so waiving that alone is huge.”
“No, it’s an opportunity for us. All the academies in this area do that. Look at the cram schools next door. They offer scholarships to students who score well on the college entrance exams.”
“Haha… True. How do you think the professors will grade him in this joint exam?”
“He’s definitely going to score above 90, in the A range. Let’s hope for the highest score.”
“Wow. We’ve hit the jackpot today!”
The principal imagined the banner fluttering proudly once the entrance exam results were announced and smacked his lips in anticipation.
Three days after the joint exam.
The floor of the Jamsil Gymnasium was occupied by countless drawings instead of athletes.
Three men walked among the tightly arranged drawings, appreciating the students’ works. It appeared that only one of them was actually evaluating the works.
Park Pyungsik, wearing rectangular glasses, tapped at the drawings with a long stick and spoke with a dissatisfied expression.
“There are too many drawings this time.”
The two men beside him responded obsequiously.
“Well, of course. Aren’t they all high school seniors wanting to get into H University? With you personally evaluating the works, it’s a great opportunity! Naturally, they all flocked in to take the mock exam.”
“Exactly. And considering that it’s the notoriously strict Professor Park Pyungsik, wouldn’t they be curious about their scores?”
Park Pyungsik coldly regarded the two sycophants. He was surrounded by too many people like them.
“The ones I raise up are A, the ones I don’t are B, and the ones I lower are C. Let someone else handle further classification. I’ll only pick out the excellent works and leave.”
“Oh, of course. Even that alone will boost the subscription rate of our ‘Tomorrow’s Art College’ magazine this year.”
“Yes, absolutely. Our national art academy association is also grateful.”
It took just three seconds to evaluate a drawing that students had spent four hours on.
The editor-in-chief of Tomorrow’s Art College, who was observing this in amazement, cautiously asked,
“Professor, you usually never participate in these things. What made you accept the evaluation invitation this year?”
“What else? Just look at the state of the examination hall.”
“…Pardon? What do you mean?”
An unexpected answer! The editor-in-chief and the association president looked at Park Pyungsik in confusion.
“Look at this. If this isn’t a factory, what is it? From composition to drawing style, everything is so similar. If there’s a slight difference, it’s only because, of course, a group of such drawings appears in bulk. The students draw in their academy’s style. Now I can tell which academy a drawing is from just by looking at it.”
Park Pyungsik swung his stick from the entrance to the exit of the hall. The drawings on the floor really did look as if they were drawn following an agreement.
“Starting next year, our school will change its admission system. Announcing it here will spread the word faster than at an entrance briefing, so that’s why I’m saying it now.”
It was a scoop. The editor-in-chief’s eyes sparkled as he took out his notebook.
“So, you’re going to change the method of the practical exam?”
“That’s right. Starting next year, the painting department will include both photographs and still-life objects in the exam. We’ll evaluate how creatively they can arrange still-life objects in the background of the photograph. Giving only still-life objects resulted in everyone drawing the same composition.”
At that moment, the association president was already organizing in his mind how to effectively teach students to create good compositions with the new photograph + still-life exam format.
He always tried to make the exam questions like soft food that students could swallow without chewing. Weak gums from not chewing? He didn’t care about that.
“Of course, if this factory-like situation repeats…”
“Repeats?”
“We might eliminate the practical exam altogether.”
“Eliminate the practical exam?”
The association president looked stunned, as if he had been hit by a hammer. It was like hearing the sound of his stocks plummeting. Without entrance exams, the academies would struggle to survive. Only the editor-in-chief, thrilled by the scoop, looked excited.
“Come on, you must be joking. How can an art college not have a practical exam?”
“I’m not joking. We want to admit artists, not machines. The skill of drawing well is not the most important thing. So, what does it matter if we select students this way? It’s obvious. Currently, graduates can’t do their own work properly and end up becoming academy instructors. Do you think this is a joke? Anyway, we’ll change all the exam questions starting next year. The design department will also…”
While the editor-in-chief was busily jotting down notes, Park Pyungsik suddenly clammed up. The editor-in-chief’s gaze slowly moved to where Park Pyungsik was looking.
He had stopped in front of one drawing.
“Wow… Truly outstanding.”
A professor who doesn’t give out pluses to any student even at the university. The same professor whose sharp critiques in renowned art competitions made everyone tremble. Hearing such words from him, the editor-in-chief looked at Park Pyungsik in surprise. There was a sparkle in his eyes, like a prospector who had just discovered a new gold mine.
“What’s this student’s name?”
“Oh, we can’t reveal the names during the evaluation. That’s why the papers are stamped on the back.”
The association president recited the empty ritualistic explanation, but the editor-in-chief couldn’t contain his curiosity and immediately checked the name.
“Oh, come on! When the magazine comes out, the excellent works will have their drawings, school names, and student names published anyway. It’s not like any rules were broken. I’ll tell you.”
“Huh, this is the first time I’ve been curious about a student’s name before admission. Is this student from an arts high school?”
Park Pyungsik chuckled, as if he found his own curiosity amusing.
“Oh, no. This student is from a regular high school. It says Kang Lim from Saecheon High School.”
Hearing the response, one side of Park Pyungsik’s mouth lifted into a subtle smile.
The still-life objects in the editor-in-chief’s hands looked as if they would spill out of the paper any moment. The precariously arranged apples and tissues reminded him of the masterpieces of Paul Cézanne, who had revolutionized still-life painting.
‘A drawing that breaks the characteristic calmness of still-life paintings composed in horizontal and vertical lines and conveys a sense of dynamic motion…’
Park Pyungsik realized. This was the kind of drawing he had been searching for. Perhaps he had tolerated the repetitive and dull exams set by previous professors just for this moment.
“The other side of the hall was for sketch exams, right?”
“Yes, you can look around after lunch.”
“No, bring me this student’s sketch right now.”
“What? There are over a thousand… How would we find it? Why don’t you take your time later?”
“No. Just pick the one drawing that stands out the most. It should be easy to find.”
“…?”
“Hurry.”
Though bewildered, the editor-in-chief reluctantly started walking at Park Pyungsik’s urging.
