Art Club! on Magical Arts Room and Sports

Evan Brockert

July 13, 2013 6:50 PM

Art Club! by Evan Brockert

Nora had bet Evan ten Galleons that Portia-who was a first year -would run her club better than he would run his. This had nothing to do the young Teppenpaw being Nora's sister and everything to do with her lack of faith in his organizational skills and his ability to punctual. The fifth year was determined to prove his cousin wrong. She always had to be right about everything and to see her not be so would be incredibly satisfying.

She'd also said that he couldn't have help from Thad or she wouldn't pay him anything. Of course, that did not mean he couldn't get help from someone else if needed. He knew that Henny was recruiting a Vice President for the Book Club, and if need be, Evan would do the same and it couldn't be his roommate anyway, because they were the same age. Part of the reason to have a Vice President-and the one he'd give Nora-was to keep Art Club going after he graduated.

Still, today, Evan was in the Art Room in MARS-if it only could have been Pluto, that would have been so much cooler- on time . This was nothing short of amazing for the Aladren. He showed up on time for class, something that had been an issue for him during his early years at Sonora, but was still usually one of the last ones there. Today, he was there first . Even before Nora, who had signed up just to see how well he ran the club. It was a little annoying but honestly, Evan wanted her to see that he was right and she was wrong. The only way for that to happen was for her to be there.

On the other hand, he was thrilled that Willow had signed up. He felt really bad for her and felt she needed something to focus on so she wasn't always worrying about Autumn. He didn't really know that much about his cousin's illness, though of course, Nora had done her best to tell him and Hope everything she'd learned. Evan was interested to a degree but he didn't really like thinking about the things the sixth year mentioned happening to Autumn-and he certainly didn't want to see the pictures in some of the books that Nora read. His sister seemed a bit more interested in it but then he thought Hope might worry about Autumn a bit more than he did, and she was the one Willow leaned on the most anyway.

One of the things that he felt was the saddest about the whole situation was that his cousin didn't paint as much as she'd done before she got sick. Evan knew it might seem like a shallow thing to be bothered about when one considered all the severe consequences of Autumn's illness if it continued and she didn't stay well. It was just that she'd always loved painting and was very talented at it and he felt it was awful that she wasn't well enough to feel up to expressing herself. He was glad she was doing well though, maintaining her weight and staying out of the hospital. The fifth year was confident that eventually Autumn would feel better permanently and go back to painting.

And that was why Evan was starting Art Club after all. So others could express themselves the way he enjoyed doing so. Well, not exactly like him, he really didn't want that. He wouldn't be unique anymore then and he liked being unique. Besides, then they wouldn't be expressing themselves , they'd be expressing him. Thus, conforming and that was not what art was about at all! Sure, everyone-including him-had to conform in some way but this was not the place for that. The artwork Evan did was his way of being different, of standing out and for anyone else to do the exact same thing, took away from him and that was not something he wanted. That was not something anyone wanted, to have the essence of themselves be copied by anyone else. That was like...having your identity stolen and Evan personally would feel pretty violated. Plus it didn't work for the person who was doing the copying either, they weren't being themselves so it wouldn't work for them as well. Plus, they weren't really standing out themselves either if they were just doing what he was doing. Both would be done a disservice in that case.

Though he wanted to start working on his stuff right away, he decided not to, on the grounds that he might get carried away and not notice others arriving. Nora would count that against him. Evan knew full well that she was not going to hand over the money to him based off one meeting, he was going to have to keep up things like being on time and having regular meetings. Setting a schedule for them. Tedious things like that. It was, however, worth it to give others a chance to let their inner selves out through art. And to shut his cousin up. It wasn't really about the money for him, it was about showing others-Nora in particular-that he could do it.

Once people had gathered-Evan would be okay with people coming in late of course, who was he to judge anyone else for a lack of punctuality-he began to speak. "I'm Evan Brockert of the Colorado Brockerts." That introduction might have seemed off putting to people not in his social class but for him, it was so automatic that he didn't even realize he did it anymore. It was more of a habit at this point, though he had always wondered why it was the Colorado Brockerts when a good many of them didn't live there. It should be the Western Brockerts, because that was more accurate. Plus, it actually did sound more impressive. He gave everyone a welcoming smile though. "Welcome to Art Club."

He thought the title was pretty self explanatory really but he was going to have to give an introduction anyway. "This is basically a club where we get together to work on art projects and express ourselves creatively. This club will have a laid back atmosphere, I want it to be as comfortable and enjoyable for everyone as possible." Thank Merlin that Carrie O'Malley was not apparently artistic. Portia had not been pleased to see her name on the Fashion Club sign-ups, having heard his opinions of the fourth year. And the fact that Nora thought she was 'psychologically fascinating' didn't exactly speak well of the girl either. People the elder Aladren thought that about were probably people to avoid. Plus, of course, the fact that Carrie had been attacked by spiders when she'd tried to cast a patronous spell in DADA.

"Also, I was thinking, maybe we could do a booth at the fair this year." Evan avoided looking at his cousin at the mention of this. He didn't want to see the fact that she might have been laughing to herself at him or even an incredulous look. "Today is just going to be introductions though. Of course, anyone is welcome to work on projects after that."

Subthreads:

Can't wait to get sketching by Dimitri Porter

11 Evan Brockert Art Club! 212 Evan Brockert 1 5

Dimitri Porter

July 16, 2013 2:26 PM

Can't wait to get sketching by Dimitri Porter

Dimitri had been super excited when the sign up sheet for the Art Club went up in Cascade Hall. He immediately signed his name on the sheet under a few others he saw already printed there. He had thought about signing Darina’s name to the list as well, but thought better of it. His sister was fairly artsy, but she was more of the singing and writing type than the actual drawing type. Dimitri liked to randomly sketch people and things he saw and put them together or leave them drawn alone. Sometimes he drew without having anything to look at at all. He would just let his mind wander and would draw whatever images seemed to creep their way in. Some of his drawings looked like he got them from graphic novels while others looked silly and cartoon-ish. It all depended on how he felt at the time. He had remembered to bring a few sketch books and a couple of canvases with him to school along with some of the rest of his art supplies. He didn’t pack everything because it would have taken an entire trunk to itself to do so. He instead packed his smaller art case and his canvases bag with at least three small ones inside. He brought a few containers of oil paints, acrylic paints, colored pencils and markers. He figured if he did any smaller drawings he could color hem in with the pencils and markers.

Dimitri put a few last minute odds and ends into his art bags and rushed out of his dorm house. He refused to be late for his first meeting with the Art Club. He was also kind-of excited about it because it would give him the chance to talk to Lucian again since he apparently signed up for the club as well. He had had a pretty good time talking to him at the Fencing Club meeting and couldn’t wait for their next meeting when they could actually fence a bit. He was also looking forward to their next meeting because he knew that Clara would be there for that one (he would make sure of it). He made it up to the MARS rooms hoping he was fairly early and pushed open the Art room door. He found the room slightly set up already and the boy running the club already there. Dimitri gave Evan a warm wave hello as he found himself a chair to sit in. he put his art bags down on the floor near him and pulled out his sketchbook and drawing pencil. While he waited with Evan for the other members to arrive, Dimitri began sketching the room. He drew in the chairs and easels, the paintings on the walls and Evan as he waited. He was still sketching when the other members arrived. Dimitri looked up from his drawing and glanced around. He grinned sheepishly to himself and put the sketchbook in his lap.

He listened intently as Evan introduced himself and explained that they would not necessarily be doing any art projects as of yet. Dimitri was a tad disappointed that they wouldn’t be starting right away, but he wasn’t that disappointed. His mind began racing with all the possibilities it could come up with for their next meeting. He smiled to himself as his mind raced. He waited for Evan to sit down before he got up and introduced himself. “Hi…um…I’m Dimitri Porter and I’m a first year,” he introduced himself. He could have done the formal intro as Evan had, but felt the simple approach was probably better in this case. “I’ve been drawing stuff since I was eight and I recently got into painting. Acrylics mostly. I prefer to do pencil sketchings, but art is art right?” he asked, grinning slightly. He sat back down in his seat and waited for the next member to introduce themselves. He flipped through his sketchbook and found a clean piece of paper. He began sketching the person talking and soon was lost in his own little world again.

0 Dimitri Porter Can't wait to get sketching 0 Dimitri Porter 0 5

Aria Yale

July 17, 2013 7:11 PM

Can't wait to break away. by Aria Yale

Aria was trying to venture out more this year. Her isolation and lack of confidence really upset her over the summer. She was not that girl. She had fun and was open to the world back home. She was not so sure why it remained so difficult for her to do so here. It was like the walls of the school contained her true self and refused to allow her out. She hoped that this feeling would go away soon. She hated feeling stuck. Joining clubs were the easiest way of at least immersing herself with people, hoping that it would help her feel better.

Art was something she did naturally and with her friends and family back home. It was right that she had chosen to join this club. At least, looks-wise, she'd fit in. With her wild curls, smudged eyeliner, pierced stud in her nose, peasant tops or ripped jeans, Aria looked like she was an Artist. She felt that what she wore made sense for her even if others found it strange.

Aria had no qualms about Evan. He seemed like a nice guy. Maybe a little narcotic, but she supposed she would prefer that than some of the other people she had seen interacting. She wasn’t sure though about the things he had said in his speech. All she had wanted to do when she joined this was work on her art and meet some other people who had similar interest, like she had with the Horse Lover’s Club. She did not expect to have to work on projects with other people or work a booth at the fair. She felt that a project with someone else might stifle the creative flow or that one person would feel like their work was more important or better than her own. The fair she could possibly do, but she didn’t want to over-extend herself since she was already committed to the Horse Club and their fundraising that may happen during that time. It was something she would have to think about after Evan had decided what it was that he was looking for.

The person after him was a first year. She recalled his face in Teppenpaw, so he was at least around enough to get noticed. She was even certain that he was with the other girl who dressed funny, but then, they were first years and people tended to befriend those in their year. Unless you were stuck in her year and everyone else were of a different blood status where such things mattered or had a million family members and couldn’t be bothered. And then, if you were different, you were alone.

It was Aria’s turn to go, so she also stood up as it seemed to be what was expected, “I am Aria Yale, I am a Fourth Year. I have been making things for as long as I can remember. Clothing, dolls, offerings… Most of the time now I like to do pottery, ceramics, and carvings usually with my parents.” Her father helped her with her carvings, oh how she loved to do those the most! By the time she was finished, Aria had glanced around and found the first year completely ignoring her and instead, was drawing in his book. Annoyed at his lack of respect and manners, Aria sat back down and turned her attention to the next person.

6 Aria Yale Can't wait to break away. 228 Aria Yale 0 5

Dimitri Porter

July 17, 2013 8:41 PM

What are you trying to break away from? by Dimitri Porter

Dimitri began sketching the girl who decided to introduce herself after him and found himself fascinated with her. The curls of her hair bounced around as if they had a life of their own and he found himself having a hard time trying to completely capture the freeness of it. The stud in her nose complimented her face in a way that most piercings didn’t on people. Dimitri had seen some outrageously weird piercings on people that looked as though they had been jabbed into the person’s ears or face. They looked like the person had fallen on the piece of metal and it had gotten lodged painfully into their skin. Hers was delicate and demure. It accentuated her nose and made it appear more petite than it already might have been. Dimitri shaded in the area on her nose where the stud sat and made a satisfied face. He felt that he had captured the dimensions of it almost perfectly so it looked as delicate and demure as it appeared to him. He moved next to sketching her eyes which he could tell were intelligent and curious. Despite the fact that he was sketching as she spoke, he heard every word Aria said. He found himself getting lost a little in her voice as she described the things she liked to create. She sounded so passionate about her art workings. He was a little confused about her comment on offerings? she’s made and wondered if she would mind his asking about that.

He kept sketching, trying to get the make-up she wore in his drawing just right. It appeared that she had smudged it slightly, but it worked really well for her. He shaded and lightened until he felt he had gotten the same effect as she had with her make-up with his pencil. He left her lips plain (no lipstick since she appeared not to be wearing any) and plumped her lips up a little giving them fullness and strength. He softened the lines around her lips so that the outline of them didn’t appear so harsh. Her lips weren’t after all so why draw them that way? Once he felt he had completely captured her face, Dimitri moved on to her shoulders and blouse. He drew out the line of her shoulders from her neck making them slender-ish, but not delicate. Aria didn’t strike him as someone who was weak. Once he got the shoulder proportioning just right he began working on her blouse. She was wearing what his mother would call a “standard peasant blouse”. The sleeves appeared to be the standard ¾ inch sleeves that stopped at the crook of the elbow. Although he could totally be wrong and they could actually be long sleeves that were just pushed up. It appeared to be a white or an off-white blouse maybe? Dimitri could never really tell the difference. It could be eggshell for all he knew. It looked like it might have had a drawstring at the neck that was left untied, but he couldn’t tell from where he was sitting and the angle he was looking at it from. Dimitri just sketched what he could see.

As he drew in the shadow lines of the blouse he realized that he had spent the whole time she was talking not looking at her directly once. She must have thought him pretty rude at this point. He mentally kicked himself for that and glanced up to see where she was. She had already sat down near him and appeared to be rather annoyed. He thought for a second that he might have spotted a look of total disapproval on her face, but he could be wrong. Either way she was clearly unhappy with him for ignoring her while she spoke. Hoping to alleviate at least some of her irritation, Dimitri cleared his throat and tore out the page in his book he had been drawing on. He lightly tapped her on the shoulder and held out the sketch to her. “A peace offering if you will accept it for not looking at you while you were talking,” he offered, waiting to see if she would take the sketch. “I do that sometimes when the subject I’m drawing really fascinates me.” He offered the simple explanation knowing that it sounded kind-of corny and lame, but at least it was the truth. “I hope you aren’t too angry with me.” He offered her a friendly smile.

0 Dimitri Porter What are you trying to break away from? 0 Dimitri Porter 0 5