by Preaw Pran
Everyone is drawn to art for different reasons. For some, art is a hobby enjoyed in their free time; for others, it becomes a profession and a way to sustain a life. Personally, I have come to perceive art as a form of alchemy. This idea arose from the fascination I felt when I encountered certain artworks and eventually led me to immerse myself in creating art for myself. As an apprentice at the ÀNI Art Academies, I’ve had the opportunity to experience a specific process of creating an artwork through a carefully designed curriculum that has helped artists around the world have similar experiences.
When we speak of alchemy, many of us picture a wizard stirring a pot, attempting to transform ordinary metal into gold—in other words, striving to turn something of little value into something precious. In a crude sense, one might also think of the artistic process this way: combining simple, relatively inexpensive materials to create something of greater value. However, I would like to consider alchemy from another point of view.
During the first two years of the curriculum at ÀNI Art Academies, I worked primarily with black charcoal and white pastel pencils. They are remarkably simple materials and, at first glance, can seem almost “lifeless”. While charcoal is the remnant of once-living material transformed by fire, black-and-white materials, in general, seem to strip away the rich world of color we so readily associate with the living world. Yet from these limited materials, we learn to create the appearance of light, form, space, texture—and yes, even life itself.
The magic began with my first creative project, Song of the Siren, a black-and-white drawing incorporating the sky, waves, and a fisherman. Everything I had done previously at the academy began to make sense: form replication, pressure scales, gradations, and form-box exercises. When I brought these elements together, I began to understand how the skills built through all those hours spent in front of the easel could make a drawing come alive—not only in the eyes of the viewer, but in my own eyes as well. In this sense, the alchemy of art for me is not turning metal into gold, but something far more grand: bringing life into lifelessness.
Editor’s Note: We are extremely proud to share that Preaw Pran‘s drawing mentioned in this article has been recognized as a Meritorious Selection in the Richeson75 2026 Landscape, Seascape, & Architecture Competition. We are so happy for her!
