It's all his fault for being an artist!

Chapter 8: Pre-exam Motivation, Cheng Wang, and Model Homework

"You bunch of kids, you're all so promising! The college entrance exam isn't even over yet, and you're already living the college life."

"Everyone's in such high spirits, getting up early to come over for a stroll, chatting and gossiping, and the days just fly by, forget about the joint entrance exam."

Wang Huiming wore a forced smile, his face subtly revealing a murderous intent.

"Come here, Tan Yuguan, bring me the sketching assignment I gave you last night, I'll give you a grade."

The classroom floor fell silent, trembling with fear.

The boy whose name was suddenly called stammered.

It wasn't until Wang Huiming tapped the table again, signaling not to waste time, that he reluctantly handed the drawing paper to the podium.

This sketch depicts a young man squatting in Asia.

Taking Tan Yuguan's homework, Wang Huiming turned around, stuck it on the blackboard, squinted his eyes, and gave a serious critique.

"Xiao Tan's drawing is good. The figure's movements and expressions are very accurate, but the lines are not very neat. After repeated revisions, it looks a bit dirty."

"If I perform like this on the day of the exam, the teacher estimates I'll get around 120 points. With 120 in all three subjects, that's a total of 360, and I have a very good chance of getting into a top-tier university."

What do you guys think? Anyone want to add their thoughts?

"Teacher Wang, the composition seems a bit off-center. Will this affect the grade?"

"No, Tan Yuguan's strength is sketching; he draws better than us."

"I also think that the lines could be improved a bit more. For some works with difficult dynamics, I always feel that I can't draw them perfectly in one go."

"..."

Tan Yuguan breathed a slight sigh of relief.

Fortunately, Wang Huiming only wanted to give him a warning. His drawing skills were decent enough; although not as good as the principal's class, he was still among the top students in this class.

He also knew his own level.

The student's art skills rank in the middle to upper range in the city, and combined with their academic performance, getting into a top-tier university shouldn't be too difficult.

But then Wang Huiming spoke slowly and deliberately, which made him tense up again after he had finally relaxed.

"However..."

"You have a lot of room for improvement. I've always believed that there are no truly bad students in our class who can't draw. As long as you're willing to work hard, even if there are only 6 days left, you can still create a miracle."

"Come on, let me show you what a test paper with a score of 140 or above looks like. I hope you can continue to work hard to reach that level."

That's all.

Wang Huiming spread out the stack of drawing paper he brought into the classroom, found a sketch among them, and pasted it side by side with Tan Yuguan's homework.

The happy young couple pushed the stroller, chatting and laughing as they walked side by side.

When the two works were presented at the same time, the young man, who was originally considered to be of a good standard in the eyes of others, seemed to lose his vitality and brilliance in an instant.

From the overall visual effect, the young man gives the impression of depicting the scene before his eyes.

The details of the skin and clothing folds were rendered with a rather formulaic brushstroke, which, while lacking in liveliness, is certainly not wrong.

compare to.

The picture of the young couple seems to be telling a story.

With faces radiating happiness, they emerged from the crowd of millions. Even without a reference photo, it's easy to imagine a scene unfolding in motion.

The distant street scene is blurred, with deliberately indistinct lines and some shadows, creating a strong contrast with the main figure in the center of the picture.

No further explanation of the scene is needed; this blank space alone seems sufficient to convey the path they have taken to reach this point.

A newlywed couple, looking forward to the future, revisit the millions of people in a concise and skillful sketch style.

Let's look back at that young man who scored 120 points in Wang Huiming's eyes.

Although no one spoke, descriptions like rigid and lacking in depth quietly surfaced in their minds.

"You can all come closer and see how the details are handled."

Wang Huiming offered a reminder, whether intentionally or unintentionally.

The students instinctively gathered together, moving closer to the podium.

This is roughly the scoring method for the art entrance exam.

All the candidates' works were put together, and based on a general impression, thousands of paintings were ranked.

Then, within each level, through deeper shaping and comparison, corresponding scores are awarded.

As you move from far to near, the distinction between good and bad becomes even more pronounced.

The first person who couldn't help but speak up was even Tan Yuguan himself.

"Teacher Wang, is this a demonstration drawing you made?"

"No, what are your thoughts?"

"That's an amazing drawing."

Tan Yuguan's words were concise and to the point, expressing his true feelings directly.

"If this score is over 140 points, I would absolutely give it my full support. The gap between me and him is much larger than 20 points."

"A perfect score of 150 is the minimum for this sketch; 125 is our maximum!"

"Indeed, no hair."

Wang Huiming asked, "Then can you guess who painted this?"

"If it's not Teacher Wang... the Principal's Class?"

"That can't be right. I don't remember their class being at this level."

"It might be Mu Ziling. In the last mock exam, her total score was more than 10 points higher than the second-highest score in the studio, which is a whole level higher."

"No way, no way! Even if I practiced for another year, I still couldn't achieve this effect. That brushstroke technique, wow, amazing!"

"..."

"This was painted by Cheng Wang."

Wang Huiming sighed on the surface, then took the initiative to reveal the correct answer.

However, he was quite satisfied with the students' discussions.

Kids, are you feeling the pressure?

Do you still dare to let your guard down?

You'll be shocked when I tell you its name!

After Cheng Wang's name was uttered, the whole class reacted exactly as Wang Huiming had hoped.

"Cheng... Chengwang?"

"Didn't he only get 340 points in his most recent mock exam?"

"I remember Lao Wang saying that it was because he didn't perform well, but Cheng Wang often does... You scored 320, so it's not appropriate for him to say he only scored 340, is it?"

"..."

Shocking, unbelievable.

Or perhaps they suspect that Wang Huiming picked up an excellent assignment from the principal's class to deliberately provoke them.

The lively discussion reflected a variety of different opinions.

The only undisputed point is that Cheng Wang's sketches are of such high quality that no other student in the class can compare.

Tan Yuguan was not involved.

He was closest to Cheng Wang's sketch.

While his classmates expressed their surprise, one person silently stared at his own and Cheng Wang's assignments, constantly turning his head to compare them back and forth.

A moment later.

He looked up at Wang Huiming: "Cheng Wang has improved so quickly. Was this the homework you handed in before coming to the classroom?"

"That's right."

"So he wasn't lying after all; there was a reason he took leave," Tan Yuguan muttered to himself, seemingly lost in thought.

"I suddenly understand why my sketching grades have never improved. Even when I used the principal's class's work as an example, I still couldn't quite understand it."

"Cheng Wang's photo made me understand where the difference lies."

Wang Huiming gestured for the other students to be quiet so that he could finish speaking.

Encouraged by the affirmation, Tan Yuguan pondered, "Before, I always thought that I would enlarge the reference photos proportionally and replicate the details. As long as the reproduction was accurate enough, I could create a high-scoring work."

"But I never thought that drawing doesn't have to be like a printer. For example, the folds in clothes don't need to be exactly the same. As long as they match the figure's movements and look natural, the effect will be very good."

"Is there anything else?"

"The figures in the sketches are also overly focused on realism, so they look lifeless, like dead people on paper."

"Cheng Wang's sketches exaggerate the expressions of the figures a bit, but it doesn't feel out of place at all, and therefore makes them much more vivid."

"No problem, you explained everything very well." Wang Huiming nodded in satisfaction, then turned his gaze to the others:

"See? Cheng Wang's example is right here, as are sketches and colors. You can look at them one by one."

"If these assignments were taken to the principal's class, they would still be considered far ahead."

"I can accept you messing around, no problem. As long as you can all draw like this, even if you want to turn the studio upside down, the principal and I will be laughing our heads off."

Seeing that no one objected, the students quieted down, each seemingly carrying their own thoughts on their faces.

He then began to speak.

"You all know what Cheng Wang is like normally. Art is not like mathematics, where you can use formulas to do calculations. It requires strictness and meticulousness. Once you accumulate enough knowledge, it is really possible to suddenly have an epiphany."

"So, in the last few days before the exam, don't think about what will happen after the exam. First, overcome the difficulties. You might have a chance to make great progress in those 6 days."

"Just like Cheng Wang."

A brief silence fell over the classroom.

Wang Huiming waited a moment before the morning sketching class officially began.

The Shanghai Art Joint Entrance Examination is approaching.

6 days left.