Drawing and Painting is a four-year elective which not only helps students refine their technical skills but also pushes them out of their comfort zone.

According to Kelsey Lei (11), a second-year student, the first year is structured and the teacher eases students into drawing, especially those who are new to art. Students are given specific assignments, starting with a pattern project in graphite, and complete two per quarter.

As you progress through your second and third years, the teacher focuses more on the “technical side” of art and the projects become more self-directed.

“He tries to help us refine what we’re doing, makes us play around with the material that we’re using,” Lei said.

By your fourth year, students are free to do whatever project they can think up.

“You’re more free to express yourself,” Colleen Kagawa (12) said.

Kagawa, in her fourth year of Drawing and Painting, has always been interested in art. This year, she designs her own projects and is currently working on an art piece about her grandmother.

“I wanted to relate to the idea of William Shakespeare’s Macbeth ‘the brief candle,’” she said. “The idea that life is very short, especially for older people.”

Drawing and Painting is a recommended elective for students who wish to explore their creative side.