After school, Elena and Layla followed Lois to their dedicated studio.
Their university registrar’s review system was not unusually strict, and they would give special treatment to people from different grades. Lois, as a class monitor, was required to lead at least three associations in their class, so she could quickly get the approval. However, the scale of their association was quite measly, so they were allocated with a meager studio and inadequate resources.
“My goodness, is this a storeroom?” Layla was stunned as soon as she entered the room.
The studio was located in the most remote corner of the top floor. It was also on the side of the entrance to the staircase. It was not a small room, but it contained some discarded items like old artboards and computers. There were two old desktops in the studio, and the artboards were too small for their usage. Luckily, they had brought their own.
One could understand why Layla had been taken aback when she saw the state of their studio as they had noticed the other studios were very beautiful. However, it was tough to articulate their disappointments in words.
There were two other boys in the studio, and both of them were also their classmates. One of them greeted Lois and then nodded at Elena and Layla. The other boy sat by the window, and he was too engrossed in his drawing to pay any attention to them.
“These are the members of our association, Rufus Graham Rufusand Aryan NicholsonAryan.”
Lois was a little embarrassed about the setting of their association’s office. It was quite lamentable.
“So, there are only five people collectively, including the two of us?”
“Well, no. There are only four members.” Lois could only smile uncomfortably. “Err, because I am the monitor, umm… I have to set up the association, but unfortunately, I can’t paint at all. ”
Layla was discouraged when she heard that. It looked like their association had only had four actual members.
“Umm, I… I’m not very good either…” Rufus raised his hand and smiled awkwardly. “My coloring… well, my skill is limited.”
After a pause, he continued, “But I like to draw. I hope that I’ll be an excellent illustrator one day!”
Elena did not say anything, but she felt a little heavy-hearted. Layla smiled at her to give her the best encouragement that she could manage. However, it was not a simple matter of encouragement or discouragement.
“So, has our association published any comic yet?”
The Animation & Comic Exhibition was scheduled to be held next month. They would not be able to participate if they did not have any published work under their belt.
Lois shoved her glasses up her nose again and said helplessly, “I actually… I didn’t expect that we’d participate in the competition, but if we want to do that, perhaps we can wait until the second half of the year.”
“Well, as a class leader, I wanted to achieve something for our association, so I signed us up.”
Elena and Layla exchanged glances. There was no doubt that they should sign up for the competition, but it would be a wasted effort if they had no publication at all. However, Lois was right about their participation in the second half of the year. Unfortunately, it was a rather long wait.
“Can we invite students from the other grades to join us?”
Caleb was also an illustrator. If she could bring him into the fold, Layla would have a little more confidence in their set up. However, if they were to start working on a comic, they probably could only accomplish ten chapters in a month. Ten chapters were considered a small beginning for an extended storyline. Without fame and successful publications, they were already in a disadvantageous position. They might not even get through the preliminary round.
Ten chapters in a month and with about forty blocks in one chapter, that was the workload of a full-time illustrator. They were only students, that was the most that they could accomplish, even if they were to work overtime. It was impossible for them to achieve more.
“No, we are just an association registered within our class. We can’t recruit students from other classes.”
Lois shook her head. The university registrar imposed some rather heavy restrictions on small associations like theirs. After all, the associations often participated in social activities, which would greatly influence the school’s image.
“Our association is also unable to leave the school campus or accept jobs in the name of Ning University. We would have to level up for that.”
Elena understood that the restrictions were to ensure that the university’s image was not affected. If they were to accept outside jobs in the name of an association under the wing of Ning University, they would have to upgrade to regular society and get their talents recognized by the university first.
“So, would you be able to help us discreetly?” Layla tapped her fingers on the table.
“Perhaps I could do that quietly, but who would be willing to do so if their names were not registered with us?”
Lois shrugged helplessly. “Well, you can’t really bully others like that, right?”
Layla bit her finger and looked at Elena. She was uncertain when it had started, but she had learned to place all hope on Elena whenever they encountered a complicated problem.
Elena said nothing as she walked toward RufusRufus’s computer. Rufus had been doing some coloring. Even though he knew that he had insufficient experience in coloring, he was the only one with the skill in the association. Hence, he still had a little confidence to show Elena his work.
To his surprise, Elena’s words crashed all of his confidence immediately. “The effect of your highlighting and shadowing are too weak. There is not much layering of colors, so it looks too plain and lacks a touch of new breath.”
Elena stared at the draft on the computer with a sullen expression. Elena might have seemed impersonal, but she had spoken the truth.
Rufus replied with a guilty conscience, “Are you… are you an expert in coloring?”
“Not an expert, but I know the basics.”
Rufus immediately looked unconvinced. “My work on coloring is already…”
“If this is already the best that you can do, then you may not have much potential in this industry.”
Elena completely cut off whatever it was that Rufus had wanted to say. Rufus moved his lips, but he was too dumbstruck to say anything else.
Finally, he lowered his head and mumbled softly, “Then you… You should show us some of your own works first. It is easy to criticize another person’s work, and everyone can do…”
Elena ignored him completely. It seemed impossible for him to paint for them at that time. After she studied his work closer, she asked again, “Where did you get this picture? Did you draw it yourself?”
The drawing looked familiar. She vaguely remembered that she had seen the original picture on the Internet.
Rufus answered impatiently, “I found this on the Internet. I was only going to color it and show it to Lois.”
He knew that he lacked experience, but he liked painting. No one said that he must be super gifted to join an association, and he had not been painting for long. Even if he seemed weak then, he might improve his skills to be an expert in it in the future! He was very uncomfortable with the criticizing look in Elena’s eyes.
“Lois, I have to go. I have something to do.” After he packed his things, Rufus was about to turn off the computer.
However, Elena grabbed the mouse and leveled her eyes at him. “This draft, apart from the original drawing that you found on the Internet, did you complete the rest on your own?”
“Yes! If you don’t believe me, you can go online to look at the original drawing. None of them were colored! I painted this draft myself!”
Rufus was angry with her accusations. He picked up his bag and turned to leave. They could only look at the crumbling door frame in anguish as he slammed the door shut. There were still no words to describe the studio’s miserable state.