Photo by Katie Shaw

Junior Michelle Liu sits at her desk and sketches her daily drawing. Liu has drawn every single day for 191 days (as of March 28, 2018). “I’ve gained the ability to commit and dedicate my time to a skill that can be useful in the long run,” Liu said.

Art has always held an important role at Ladue. LHWHS offers a variety of art classes, from pottery to drawing to AP Art Studio. It’s never challenging to find artists among the masses of students in the hallways either. However, junior Michelle Liu does have something that causes her to stand out. She has drawn a something every single day for 191 days straight (as of March 28, 2018).

“This project was a way for me to improve my art skills,” Liu said. “I haven’t drawn consistently since my middle school days, so I decided to pick it up again. I just wanted to keep in touch with something I held dear to.”

Liu started drawing when she was just a kid — a toddler, in fact. Throughout middle school, she took art lessons as well. But on Sept. 16, 2017, she made the conscious decision to draw. Every. Single. Day. To document her progress, she made an Instagram account and posts daily, no matter how dissatisfied she is with the drawing.

“I typically use pencils [when I draw],” Liu said. “I experiment with pastels or use colored pencils once in a while, but pencil takes the shortest amount of time. And I only draw humans, because I find people fascinating.”

Michelle’s friends and family have all been supportive of her work. They’ve witnessed her growth from when she started the project, and are able to tell how much she has improved over time.

“[Her art] is getting better,” Sam Liu, Michelle Liu’s younger brother, said. “Compared to the pieces she drew [before she started the project], it’s actually pretty good.”

Overall, Michelle Liu feels that she has learned a lot from drawing every single day. Nowadays, the longer she continues her art, she finds it easier not to give up, which would subsequently ruin her streak. And with each person she draws, she ends up gaining something new.

“Each individual is so unique in [his or her] own way,” Michelle Liu said. “Faces are the masks everyone carries out, and each eye is a window to a person’s soul. All I want is the capability to capture that on paper.”