| Etienne is huddled in on himself a little bit in the art room. It's chilly in this part of the building and he seems to be trying to conserve heat inside the oversized fleece of his top, one hand disappeared inside a sleeve, the other holding an oil pencil over a sketchpad, on one page of which he's studiedly drawing a reclining chair from a back corner angle, just trying to get all the lines going in the right angle to suggest a chair facing away from the viewer, but indirectly so. A tiny shoe and sock on the outstretched footrest indicates there might be a small child sitting in the giant lay-z-boy, otherwise obscured.
Still fresh to the school, Shane has the only slightly helpful map of the school in his hand. He says softly, but just loud enought to be heard from the doorway, "Um.." It is more of an attempt to get the huddled form's attention than to speak in itself. "Mister Barlow, the art teacher, " as if someone from the school who is in the art lab wouldn't know the art teachers, "said that it would be cool if I hung out in here... " His voice becomes more mumbled, "He said that I might fit in with some art club that meets here sometimes..."
Etienne's attention is attained easily enough with the simple 'um,' and he presents a sleepy sort of smile while he hears the guy out. "Yeah, this is Art Club. I think it meets on Wednesdays, as well, so..." he looks from one corner of the room to the other, then back to Shane with a shrug accompanied by a smile a little more vigorous and mirthful. "Maybe that's more popular. But come grab a seat. I'm Etienne," he introduces himself.
Shane steps into the lab. He unslings the backpack that was hanging from his right shoulder, setting it on the floor. He looks around the art lab, before his eyes focus on Etienne. He offers a slight smile, far less energetic. "Shane... " A wry grin dances in the corner of his lips. "I'd hope so... 'cause I don't think one counts as a club, unless of course you have multiple personalities or you see dead people." He hops up on one of the desks, putting his feet on the seat itself. He cocks his head, "Well, I'll just shut up now and leave you alone."
Etienne shifts, half-standing and sliding a foot up onto his chair, sitting on it and using it to angle himself forward over the art table he's sitting at. "Does two count for a club?" he wonders, "At any rate, if I wanted to be left alone, I'd go home and draw in my room. So are you taking art this year?" he goes on, a genial enough effort at sparking casual conversation.
Shane cocks his head slightly, "Well, I'm not completely sold on joining up... not really sure I'll be here long enough to really bother." He doesn't really explain the statement, but just moves on. "I generally can't draw if someone's trying to talk to me... It's like I can talk or I can draw, but not both... "
"Hm?" Etienne sort of half-wonders after Shane's comment about not being here that long, but he doesn't press over it too much, seeming to sense that he might prefer not to discuss it. "Alright, well, I found some oil pencils over there," he nods his head to point the way to the workbench where there are other art supplies arrayed for club use.
Shane glances over at the supplies, "So those are just like for anyone to use?" He hops off his perch, examining them. While he may be trying to feign disinterest, he does so poorly. "The last school I was at thought they were doing good providing us with newprint pads and pressed charcoal."
And maybe they were, for their budget," Etienne supposes, looking down at the chair he's sketching. "But look about at the neighborhood. There's a lot of local taxes being poured into the school system here, it seems to me," he murmurs lightly, keeping his eyes on the sketchpad, which seems to be his own, but only recently cracked open.
Shane nods, "Yeah, I know... Didn't mean to sound like I was complaining... I was actually kind of grateful for it... and yeah, this place is kind of unreal, huh?" His fingertips glide over some of the supplies. Temptation and desire winning out. "So what is it like living in this modern day, liberal Mayberry? "
"Mayberry?" Etienne responds, looking up from the sketchpad and tapping the flat end of the oil pencil against the paper a few times. "No, I understand. The disparity in public school funding from district to district is a pretty interesting problem, and has a lot of ramifications worth getting upset about. Even if you happen to benefit from being on the 'right' side of the problem." A moment passes, then he decides to explain, "A book I was reading for Poli Sci had a chapter that talked about it."
Shane starts chuckling. He shakes his head, "Yeah... You know like that old show Andy Griffith... idyllic American small town where everyone is nice and everything... " He just blinks at Etienne, before reaching up and rubbing the back of his neck, "Wow... and you just painted a portrait of that sentiment with the fact that you're taking poli-sci in high school..." He reaches down and picks up one of the pads of paper and a 4B pencil and starts letting the drawing pencil dance over the paper, barely looking at it too much.
Etienne blinks, "Heh, yeah," he laughs, finally. "I don't have much of a high school resume, yet, so my grandfather told me I should take challenging electives to make my college applications more impressive," he explains, head listing to one side, looking over his own drawing. "I kind of wanted to take art, but I figured I could indulge myself in the club, instead."
The pencil stops, as Shane just looks at Etienne for a moment, "Dude, you're in high school.. you shouldn't have a resume yet... Besides... don't colleges look for involvement in extracurricular activities like clubs and such..." He grins as he shrugs slightly, "So think of it as killing two birds with one stone.. three if you actually allow yourself to enjoy it while you're at it."
"I'm in National Honors, and am doing service hours through that," Etienne answers. "Art club is more for my own enjoyment, although someone did say something about going into competitions. I haven't heard any specifics, though," he admits, lightly shading in a section of lay-z-boy as he does so.
Shane glances at the pad and starts drawing again. "Do you ever just relax or do anything just 'cause? I mean ... well it's none of my business, but I think I'd burn out if I was full thrust all the time."
"I suppose I do this 'just cause,'" Etienne smiles at his drawing as it starts to take a rounded, lush look. "I mean, I'm never going to be an artist, I don't think. But it's fun, it's relaxing, it has a certain zen quality to it. I enjoy it. What about you, are you in it for the long haul, or is it a hobby to you?"
Shane shrugs, "Mister Fowler said that I needed to join some kind of club or something to try to fit in... Seemed like the lesser of the evils when I looked at the list. Besides, it's not like people really make a living drawing or painting... There is a reason for the phrase 'starving artist'."
"Only the very talented or the very lucky," Etienne agrees. "What are your favorite media in which to work?" he wonders, getting his foot out from underneath him so as to stand up and stroll across the art room to look over the supplies. "I suppose if we're meant to craft a project for some sort f art fair, we may as well discuss what manner of project it's to be."
Shane shrugs slightly as he closes up the drawing pad. "I dunno... I mainly just draw with whatever is at hand.. pencil, pens, sharpies." He smirks slightly, "Cans of spray paint... but I can't really afford to go there again. Well anytime soon... I have played around with oils and acrylics.. I kind of hate watercolor and pastels..." He cocks his head slightly, "So what about you?"
"Spraypaint... comme les graffitis?" asks Etienne, sliding into a smooth French, and, just as quickly, back out of it. "It might be interesting to play with that medium. For myself, I mainly draw, sometimes paint. I enjoy throwing pottery," he adds. "We could do a composite piece of a potsherd midden spraypainted in urban fashion."
"What?" Shane blinks then grins as he figures out what Etienne was saying, "Yeah, I guess so... " He shakes his head, "I'd have to check with the warden to make sure that I'm allowed to touch a can of spray paint... "
"Could make some statement on the artistry of urban youth endeavoring to cover over the crumbling and broken infrastructure of life in a depleted county." Etienne considers the notion, looking toward a wall, then back toward Shane, "Or do you consider it might be too heavy-handed? Surely you would be allowed to work in the medium for a school project."
Shane smirks, "Personally I like to think of it more like that art is can be organic and not constrained to static and archaic mediums but can be more of a reflection of the cultural flavor of this generation..." He sighs softly, then cants his head slightly. His tone becomes a little pensive, "Well... the fact that I got arrested for tagging the side of a building and nearly landed in juvie might color the idea a bit more negatively than it might otherwise." He glances at the time on his cellphone, "Well, anyway. I have to run. It was nice meeting you, Etienne... Catch you around."
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