Swish Swish Swish

By Suzanne Liew

“Swish, Swish, Swish.” Brush strokes were applied quickly as Tien Min (11) concentrated hard to complete his Chinese ink art piece. It was another stressful day in art class. “Does this look like a building?” Tien Min asked for advice.

Like many art students, he usually came in during study halls and after school to complete art pieces on time. “This needs more depth,” said Mrs. Nichols, as she was also walking towards my table and eying my watercolor art piece. I was working on a portrait, the 3^rd piece of my AP Art concentration. AP Art students have to submit twenty-four pieces, twelve breadth (different art pieces in a variety of mediums) and twelve concentration pieces (with a central theme). Taking in Mrs. Nichols advice, I shifted my focus back to my artwork when

“YAAAAY!!!” shouted Grace Moon (11), jumping with joy. “I finally figured out my theme for my AP Art concentration!”

 But her excitement slightly faded when she realized her next art piece was due in two days – on Thursday morning… But with determination, Grace assured herself that she would be done on time. The other AP Art students, Alicia Chin (12), Phillip Yeoh (11), Gloria Kim (11) and myself were scrambling to finish our art pieces on time too. Art students, especially those in Master Studio and AP Art, always have to pay careful attention to deadlines, or we will end up on the dreaded NFL…

If you haven’t been on the NFL at least ONCE, then you’re not an art student. Is it not uncommon for art students to end up on the NFL, and when they do, it’s the majority of the people in Master Studio and AP Art. Poor Mr. Maurin has to suddenly deal with twenty art students on the NFL almost every week…

But as tight as the schedule may be, the art students always manage to complete their pieces in the end, creating beautiful artwork for all to enjoy during the fine arts festival in May.