Lisa Qi: Apollo Art Academy

For my CIP I chose to enroll in Apollo Art Academy, an art school that was only about a 10 minute walk from my homestay. My hobby has always been drawing, so I wanted to get involved with art in some way during my stay in Japan.

A fellow KCJS classmate, John Evans, also enrolled into the same school as me and we both had classes on Thursdays. The thing about art classes is that they usually span over a long period of time, so it came as no surprise to me that the class I took ran from 1:30pm to 5pm. In fact, most of the other students in our time slot stayed longer than 5pm to get more progress done on their works.

When we first arrived at the academy, I was not sure what to expect, but Tanaka-sensei and everyone else were very welcoming and helped us fill out the short application sheet. Afterwards, we started with a trial class before beginning an actual lesson course. Evans-san and I had both originally wanted to take watercolor or oil pastel lessons, but Tanaka-sensei started us out with pencil and wanted us to slowly progress upwards to working with color.

Originally, I had been considering joining an art circle at Doshisha University, but I am glad that I chose to enroll at Apollo instead, because I heard that art circles usually consisted of students all sitting separately and working silently on their own individual projects, and I felt that I would not had had the chance to practice much Japanese. Midway through each class, everyone gathers around a big table and we get a chance to chat with eachother while eating snacks. In addition, Tanaka-sensei usually walks around the class giving each student individual criticism throughout the class. Though there are times where I am not 100% sure if communication was clear, attending these classes has been a very fun experience getting to know the other students in my class while also improving my art skills and I will most likely continue with this CIP in spring semester.

5 thoughts on “Lisa Qi: Apollo Art Academy

  1. Lisa,

    I’m glad that you found a good academy to practice your drawing skills in! Although I just recently began, I also like drawing very much, and I’ll probably take a class on drawing once I go back to UVA.

    I just wanted to ask you what you usually drew in Apollo Art Academy, and (since it seems that you’ve been drawing longer than I have) any tips on drawing for a beginning artist 🙂

    • John,

      I think it’s great that you have taken an interest in drawing. Early art classes can be a bit boring/tedious, in my opinion, but I hope that won’t deter you. 🙂

      Usually we drew vegetables, fruit, and other inanimate objects. It wasn’t extremely interesting but it was good practice in texture and lighting. The best way to learn is to just practice on your own; there are a lot of free resources online for daily exercises in anatomy, color, etc. Come talk to me if you want other advice.

  2. I think it’s very interesting that so many CIP experiences, including yours and mine, involve sharing snacks or a meal in some way! It definitely shows how important eating (and sometimes drinking!) can be in terms of social involvement.

    I was wondering (and you may have mentioned this in class, but if so I’ve forgotten), what did the age makeup of the other students look like? I.e. were they all pretty young, or were there some older people like others have had in their lessons/classes?If so, do you feel like that’s presented any particular benefits and/or challenges that you might not have encountered in a circle at Doshisha?

  3. I think it’s very interesting that so many CIP experiences, including yours and mine, involve sharing snacks or a meal in some way! It definitely shows how important eating (and sometimes drinking!) can be in terms of social involvement.

    I was wondering (and you may have mentioned this in class, but if so I’ve forgotten), what did the age makeup of the other students look like? I.e. were they all pretty young, or were there some older people like others have had in their lessons/classes?If so, do you feel like that’s presented any particular benefits and/or challenges that you might not have encountered in a circle at Doshisha?

    (Sorry if this comment posts twice! The first time, I accidentally tried to post it without logging in first)

    • Shannon,

      I definitely agree that eating is a good way to interact with others in a social environment!

      Most of the other students were older with the exception of a few students in there 20s/30s, and John and I were among the youngest there. I actually prefer interacting with older Japanese people sometimes…maybe it’s because I’m more used to them, but sometimes the freshmen at Doshisha have an aura of innocence that I cannot get close to.

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