Yancha Gal no Anjou-san - Vol. 14 Ch. 173 - Inuyama-kun's Slump

[Crystalball]

Hey what do you mean by this

Hey is for horses.

 

[danvolodar]

I think a lot of y'all have forgotten that Inuyama is totally allowed to take liberties with how he sketches the still life. This was demonstrated last chapter when he moved the ball from behind the bottle. You can also see from the other sketches that there are a variety of different perspectives of the still life.

There are different perspectives because the class sits around the still life they're drawing, so each artist sees their own perspective.

The instructor has noticed that Inuyama isn't putting any effort into being creative with the perspective or any other aspects of the sketch and called him out on it as somewhere he can improve.
Playing with tonal rendering, drawing the still life in abstract shapes, hyper focusing one item and drawing the rest out of focus are all ways he can communicate something with the still life. It's not just about drawing the subjects as accurately as possible.

Sure, that would've been helpful - except that she's said nothing of the kind.

Inuyama should have been able to tell what the instructor was looking for based on the pieces she critiqued in the first session (the best ones)

They weren't shown not to be hyperrealist, either.

Which the tldr is basically that art schools generally try to select for students who are trying to say something with their art & the prep school is trying to drill in the importance conveying that intentionality since it'll be one of the things they're selected on.

Call me a philistine but, not being an artist myself, I have zero idea what the hell you can convey when depicting an apple, a cup and... what's that, a wrapped present?.. depending on the way you apply smudged or strong shading. I can understand the Northern Renaissance where most pieces in a still life are metaphors either for morality tales or qualities of the client; I can understand purely decorative pieces intended to incite appetite. But I don't understand what kind of idea you're supposed to convey with a realistic still life like that. Yeah, you can have the apple highlighted by focus, so what? It's still only an apple, a thing in itself. If any of the pieces were plastically interesting, perhaps it could at least be possible to underscore the interplay of their lines - but these are an effing apple and an effing cup. Trying to imagine some deep meanings into them seems like just inventing nonsense for nonsense's sake.
And regardless, "this is objectively trash because I don't like it" and "you know what nevermind" don't sound like constructive criticism whatever way you look at it.

 

[Kushikime]

Thanks for the chapter

 

[UnvalidUserName]

"...are you even trying to convey any meaning?"
Bitch, WHAT! You put the kids to sketch a still life and you are expecting "meaning" out of it??

 

[ZeroHour17]

Art school is so pretentious "What meaning are you trying to convey in this piece?" Bitch it's a bowl of fruit, who cares? Any meaning you're finding in a sketch of a bowl of fruit is made up in your own damn head.

 

[BestBoy]

Then, as a teacher, you don't say "you know what? Nevermind".
You say "you can play with tonal rendering, draw the still life in abstract shapes etc. Next time, try to do it".

I believe that line from the instructor is foreshadowing for later when the instructor gets to the heart of the issue with Inuyama. The author is building tension.

 

[BestBoy]

There are different perspectives because the class sits around the still life they're drawing, so each artist sees their own perspective.

That doesn't at all refute the idea that Inuyama can move around the room. Nor does it refute the idea that he's allowed to change the items in his sketch because he literally says he's going to do that.

Sure, that would've been helpful - except that she's said nothing of the kind

Stories sometimes rely on the reader inferring (reading between the lines) details about the story. We know this is a college prep course that is pretty popular (since there seems to be quite a few students based on the number of easels we see. So it must be successful. This means the lessons the instructor gives are good lessons.
A college prep course probably isn't going to be going over the objective qualities of the prospective students since that will be a baseline expectation by the schools (be technically good at art). They'll be going over expressing yourself or expressing meaning through the art. Things that the school will be looking for, or will catch their eye.

Call me a philistine but, not being an artist myself, I have zero idea what the hell you can convey when depicting an apple, a cup and... what's that, a wrapped present?.. depending on the way you apply smudged or strong shading.

Here's some examples: Making the apple the focus of the piece could instill a sense of fertility. Or perhaps the artist is trying to convey something Biblical (apple of knowledge of good and evil). Make the wrapped gift the focus with heavy shading to emphasize the mystery of the contents of the box. Make it foreboding. An empty cup is either a vessel waiting to be filled with opportunity or a life drained of it.

Art appreciation and art creation somewhat overlap in "what does this piece mean to you." So ya, sometimes you have to create meaning where others don't see it. Which may be what Inuyama is struggling with.

And regardless, "this is objectively trash because I don't like it" and "you know what nevermind" don't sound like constructive criticism whatever way you look at it.

I mentioned elsewhere, but I think the "you know what, nevermind" line is probably foreshadowing for the instructor actually getting to the heart of whatever creative block Inuyama has hit and the author is just building tension by seeding it early.

 

[story645]

If any of the pieces were plastically interesting, perhaps it could at least be possible to underscore the interplay of their lines - but these are an effing apple and an effing cup.

Quick Google search shows a bunch of pieces that contrast texture (which requires a ton of skill to draw well), which like that exploration of visual language is a lot of what the abstract/contemporary/minimalists were on about. Which like all your examples focus on meaning (semantics) - symbolism, metaphore, etc - but intentionally playing with visual language (syntax) can be just as much "meaning".

So I study visualization rather than art, which mostly means very stripped down visual language, and like at the study it for years level you've gotta be really intentional about your choices and able to articulate why you made those choices. Mostly cause like that's more or less what you're studying for 4 years - what choices can people make, why they made those choices, how they executed those choices, what should you apply/integrate into your work, and how. So like a portfolio really does need to show you care about those things & the feedback Inuyama is getting is that his currently isn't. Though I agree it's very badly given & like a more constructive version would have been better, especially given that the audience may not be that familiar with academic art.

 

[Coldlight]

You can be a shredder gyaru-oh if you dye your hair, get a tan, some gold accessories and work out

Bro got called out for allegedly drawing a hyperrealistic but soulless picture like AI...

There we go. Toyoda is delivering what I thought she needed to do. I forgot Tomitomi-sensei can also help, and I think both of them are telling him what he needed to hear. Although it remains to be seen if Inuyama can get out of his slump in time.

 

[danvolodar]

That doesn't at all refute the idea that Inuyama can move around the room. Nor does it refute the idea that he's allowed to change the items in his sketch because he literally says he's going to do that.

It serves as evidence against the idea that he can take liberties with his work, such as perhaps pick any style other than realist.

Stories sometimes rely on the reader inferring (reading between the lines) details about the story. We know this is a college prep course that is pretty popular (since there seems to be quite a few students based on the number of easels we see. So it must be successful. This means the lessons the instructor gives are good lessons.

Popularity does not equal quality: ponzi schemes are popular, totalitarian cults are popular, your most hated politician is popular. So I feel we must take the characters in manga as depicted, not as we presuppose they should be like.
Then again, it's also wholly possible that the prep course is successful in getting the aspirants into the college, by preparing them for the particular kind of bullshit requirements they have at the entrance. Which is, of course, simply systematic corruption from the college: "pay for our prep course, and we will tell you not how to do things right, but how to do things in the only way we've arbitrarily decided that gets you in".

Here's some examples: Making the apple the focus of the piece could instill a sense of fertility. Or perhaps the artist is trying to convey something Biblical (apple of knowledge of good and evil). Make the wrapped gift the focus with heavy shading to emphasize the mystery of the contents of the box. Make it foreboding. An empty cup is either a vessel waiting to be filled with opportunity or a life drained of it.

You will have to forgive me, but I cast doubt on the possibility of expressing any of these meanings with a realist still life sketch, done in a classroom as one of dozens more. Unless, of course, a booklet of half a hundred pages is attached to the piece talking about "intradimensionalial modalities" or whatever's in vogue in the season, like they do in modern art.

Art appreciation and art creation somewhat overlap in "what does this piece mean to you." So ya, sometimes you have to create meaning where others don't see it.

Who is going to do that? The audience will not, because - I assure you, - the absolute majority of people see an apple for an apple. Is the course then teaching to create "art" for art critics? Or, to quote the ever so eloquently put:

Bitch it's a bowl of fruit, who cares? Any meaning you're finding in a sketch of a bowl of fruit is made up in your own damn head.

 

[Plum34]

There were a lot of good points made in the comments already, but I'd like to add some ideas of my own.

A successful business doesn't mean that it's good. The new art prep school that we see now seems to be really popular for art students to attend before entrance exams. However, I'm sure there are indie art prep schools that offer much more insightful advice rather than subjective opinions labeled as "helpful critics."

The art prep school Inuyama has been going to at the start of his art journey seems to have really paved his way as an artist. Even now, he's still getting "objective advice" from the teacher with the glasses rather than "subjective advice" like we see with the lady teacher (forgot their names).

I'm no art student, but I did take Drawing I twice in my 3rd year of college (Fall '22 to Spring '23), so I would say that I know helpful art advice. We did primarily still-life drawings in mostly charcoal, and the professor would usually walk around the class looking at everyone's drawings. For each session, the prof would always give us students a 10 to 15 minute break. They wanted us to take a break from our artwork and regroup afterward. I'm not sure if this is said or done in the manga, but taking a step away from your artwork can help you look at it again with fresh eyes.

Both professors would provide helpful advice that didn't seem personal whenever you raised your hand during class. Personally, I feel as though this helped improve my art skills a lot and pushed me to see things in a different light. Even though it's been a year since then, I've recently drawn charcoal still-life in under 90 minutes, which I wasn't able to do initially.

My point is that when a professor provides you with useful insight, then you can use those tips and advice to better yourself as an artist. So, I think it might be best for Inuyama to go to an indie art prep school and drop this popular one.

 

[chip_skylark1101]

First mc got hard carried by main girl, so glad were actually getting good characters now

 

[ItsThatBriGuy]

You don't want to make another one of that guy from Germany just because you failed some guy from entering art school.

Austria, but the point stands (especially in the country that kinda helped him along).

 

[story645]

You will have to forgive me, but I cast doubt on the possibility of expressing any of these meanings with a realist still life sketch, done in a classroom as one of dozens more.

Company and Private Life is a silly little Twitter manga and also has a nice example of still life of a faucet where the shading & linework is used to draw your eye to the leaky drop that's just about to fall off, right after the old friends talk about a new character coming into their mix.
https://mangadex.org/chapter/04ae545a-6fe0-4ef6-85c8-6c17ba5fccd2/2

 

[danvolodar]

Company and Private Life is a silly little Twitter manga and also has a nice example of still life of a faucet where the shading & linework is used to draw your eye to the leaky drop that's just about to fall off, right after the old friends talk about a new character coming into their mix.
https://mangadex.org/chapter/04ae545a-6fe0-4ef6-85c8-6c17ba5fccd2/2

My eye is drawn towards the shining point at the base of the faucet, below the handle and its fat black reflection, which dominates the piece's colours. But regardless, this is precisely an example of a still life used for the metaphorical meaning of the items chosen to be depicted - something Inuyama cannot do.

 

[Simptember]

Why they gotta do my boy like that. He's already got it bad enough.

 

[GoblinGuy]

But regardless, this is precisely an example of a still life used for the metaphorical meaning of the items chosen to be depicted - something Inuyama cannot do.

And something Inuyama will not be able to do for the actual entrance exam, either. A lot of people in this comment section seem to not understand that this is exactly how the actual exam goes, too. With the exact same kind of people having the exact same mental process when grading your work. And that still life that you have zero input in beyond mentally deciding to rearrange stuff as you draw it counts for most of your "grade" on whether you pass or not, which is why the prep schools focus so much on it.

There's a reason art students in japan usually spend multiple years as ronin. And it isn't because the prep schools aren't helpful.

 

[danvolodar]

And something Inuyama will not be able to do for the actual entrance exam, either. A lot of people in this comment section seem to not understand that this is exactly how the actual exam goes, too. With the exact same kind of people having the exact same mental process when grading your work. And that still life that you have zero input in beyond mentally deciding to rearrange stuff as you draw it counts for most of your "grade" on whether you pass or not, which is why the prep schools focus so much on it.

There's a reason art students in japan usually spend multiple years as ronin. And it isn't because the prep schools aren't helpful.

Sure, no prob. But why pretend this is anything but legalized corruption, then? Talk about "love" and whatever? "Do it the way we taught you at the paid prep course, or you'll never pass however good at the subject you are".

 

[GoblinGuy]

Sure, no prob. But why pretend this is anything but legalized corruption, then? Talk about "love" and whatever? "Do it the way we taught you at the paid prep course, or you'll never pass however good at the subject you are".

Funny, the general compaint was "they're not telling him how to improve" and now it's "he has to do exactly what they say to not fail"? He literally just has to show some artistic intent.

It helps that I'm already pretty sure of what the issue at hand is (it was foreshadowed pretty heavily), and explained it last chapter when nearly everyone was convinced he was just fumbling the sketch to make his girlfriend not feel bad (a nice hearty "ha, suck it!" to those people). He used to see "eroticism" in everything and he's suppressing it thinking it'd disgust Toyoda, and the moment he stops suppressing it the teachers are instantly going to pick up on it and he'll be praised. Because he's producing meaningful art, and they can tell, and to you it'll still be just a drawing of some random shit on a platter. But you can bet your ass that if Inuyama was on top of his game that apple would've been hella "plump" and "juicy".
What probably doesn't help on the other hand, is there's only so much the artist can do to convey that in small drawings "made by his drawings" especially given the time of a serialized manga. But it's supported by the writing, and the writing has already conveyed it, so it's not the manga's fault if you're not picking up on it.

 

[danvolodar]

Funny, the general compaint was "they're not telling him how to improve" and now it's "he has to do exactly what they say to not fail"? He literally just has to show some artistic intent.

They are not telling him how to improve precisely because, as you have yourself suggested, the filter is not being good or not, it's doing things the way they want him to, purely to let them know he's paid the bribe (prep course price).

He used to see "eroticism" in everything and he's suppressing it thinking it'd disgust Toyoda, and the moment he stops suppressing it the teachers are instantly going to pick up on it and he'll be praised.

You're right, of course. With the manga tropes as they are, this is precisely the syrupy road this is going to do, and Inuyama will bring out the eroticism in these... checks notes... apple, stick, and cup. Even if the readers can't see it because it makes zero sense (other than from the plot perspective of accepting himself for who he is and yada-yada).