Artist Brenda Fajardo had an elder brother--I forget his name--who himself taught art when I was in third grade. I recall one of his lessons, which was to render a round vase with charcoal on drawing paper. It was really a lesson in tone, shadows, turning edges, highlights, and bounced lighting. I remember that I did a lousy job and managed only to get my hands and fingers terribly smudged with charcoal. I also remember that he held up the work of one of my classmates--I also forget who it was--and praised it to high heaven. I thought that I would like my work to be as good as my classmate's someday. To this day, though, I have tried different types of media and I detest charcoal most.