Mrs. Sakai looked at Mona's "Self-portrait" and shook her head quietly.
In her view,
this little girl is really not suitable for learning painting. She could study fashion design, graphic advertising, architectural art, or simply take ordinary cultural classes.
All would have a better future than studying painting.
The fairest thing about cultural subjects like Maths, Physics, and Chemistry is that a student only needs to work hard to achieve good grades.
Studying is one of the few endeavors in life where effort and reward almost always correlate positively.
However, painting is different.
It's not that Mona isn't smart, nor that she's not hard-working... she just lacks the innate talent that her daughter Koizumi Katsuko possesses, and this "Self-portrait" is proof.
Excellent painters can easily distinguish the priorities in a picture.
