The Versatile Master Artist

Chapter 11: Chapter 2: Proficiency

[Character: Gu Weijing]

Character Panel——

[Sketching Technique: lv.3 Semi-Professional (247/1000)]

[Chinese Painting Techniques: lv.2 Beginner (61/100)]

[Watercolor Painting Technique: lv.2 Beginner (21/100)]

[Oil Painting Technique: lv.2 Beginner (23/100)]

[Printmaking Technique: lv.1 Novice (6/10)]

Task Panel——

[Beginner Task: Complete the finishing touches on the current painting]

[Task Duration: Three hours]

Gu Weijing picked up the glass on the table, took a sip lightly, and confirmed that the virtual panel in front of him was truly present before him.

An ordinary high school student would either be excited or astonished when encountering such a situation.

However, thanks to painting from childhood to university, Gu Weijing remained relatively calm for the time being.

Art students might seem a bit withdrawn and unsociable in typical life, often possessing a uniquely spiritual temperament and frequently immersing themselves in various painting scenes, occasionally appearing somewhat mystical.

Whether considered a keen artistic perception or Van Gogh-like madness, when faced with such an incomprehensible situation, Gu Weijing unexpectedly experienced little emotional fluctuation and quickly adapted to the current circumstance.

It surely couldn’t be more troublesome than dealing with Brother Hao.

He silently closed the panel.

He continued picking up the paintbrush, focusing on filling the blank spaces of the draft on the canvas with corresponding fixed colors.

Another one and a half hours later.

Gu Weijing finally completed the coloring of the entire 1.4-meter by 50-centimeter canvas, placed the easel in the corner of the gallery to air dry, and then reopened the attribute panel.

[Your beginner task has been completed!]

This line appeared on the panel, while the proficiency in the [Oil Painting Technique] section had changed to [25/100]

”Proficiency increased by only two percent. Hmm, I wonder what the calculation standard is. I’ve been sketching this painting since before the Spring Festival, and today’s progress is at the finishing touches. If I were to start a new piece from scratch, how much proficiency would it increase?”

Gu Weijing looked at the virtual panel, his brows involuntarily furrowed.

”Only the sketch is semi-professional? The rest are beginner and novice? Is this truly my level in the eyes of the system?”

He pursed his lips, feeling somewhat displeased.

Aside from talent, Gu Weijing himself is also a diligent person.

After all, he comes from a formal training background, growing up in a family of painters.

Gu Weijing considered his basic painting skills not bad, even better than many seniors at Yangon University Art College who have already signed with studios/workshops, or he wouldn’t have caught the attention of the underworld.

Despite aspiring to be an artist and not taking the bald tattooed non-mainstream recognition seriously, receiving only a ”beginner” evaluation seemed overly embarrassing.

”Would you like to claim your beginner reward?”

Gu Weijing noticed a red dot in the task bar, clicked to claim it with a rather complex mindset.

[Beginner reward claimed!]

[Active Skill: Adolf von Menzel’s Painting Basics]

[Quality: Perfect]

[Special Effects: As mentioned, activating the skill will grant you the same basic drawing skills as Adolf Menzel for the next thirty minutes. Cooldown time, one day.]

[Equipment Requirements: Sketch Level lv.2]

[Master Introduction: A renowned 19th-century illustrator, German sketch master, wood and stone engraver, famous for his precise and meticulous sketching technique, author of illustrations for The Life of Frederick the Great, recipient of the Black Hawk Medal.]

[Note: As the highest honor of the Prussian Empire, even the princess of the Hohenzollern Dynasty would bow her noble head before a recipient of the Black Hawk Medal, emblematic of honor and status.]

”It’s Menzel?”

Gu Weijing opened his mouth slightly.

Even without the system introduction, he knew who Menzel was—

The most famous painting master in German history, closely associated with the Prussian imperial family at its peak.

In 19th-century Prussia, being involved in illustrating The Life of Frederick the Great was not at all like the illustrations listed in children’s comics bought casually on the streets.

Comparable to ancient Dongxia, his status was somewhere between the imperial painter Lang Shining and the Imperial Scholar, Imperial Tutor, Chief Editor of the National History Institute Ji Xiaolan.

A small-sized illustration personally drawn by Menzel, measuring in centimeters, typically fetches about one hundred thousand euros at auction precisely because he left behind over 7000 works.

”Is it just painting basics?”

He felt a bit disappointed.

It’s not that Gu Weijing underestimated Menzel, but anything termed ”Painting Basics” clearly targets beginner art learners.

For someone like Gu Weijing who has learned painting for nearly ten thousand hours, it might not have much substantial benefit.

Even if content leaned more towards unpopular professional fields like wood or stone engraving, Gu Weijing felt it would be more useful than this vague painting basics.

But driven by curiosity, he decided to see what effect this skill actually had.

Seeing Brother Hao leave, and no new customers entering the store temporarily,

To be cautious, Gu Weijing walked over and hung a ”Temporarily Closed, if you wish to purchase artwork, please call or make an appointment online” sign at the entrance.

Then he fetched watercolor paper, a box of colored pencils, and a pencil sharpener from the studio in the inner room, completing all preparations.

Only then did Gu Weijing activate the skill.

He didn’t feel anything like a martial arts master imparting decades of cultivation overnight, but rather suddenly experienced a bit of enlightenment.

The skill panel before him also transformed into——

[Adolf von Menzel’s Painting Basics]

[Cooldown Time: 23 hours 59 minutes 59 seconds]

Gu Weijing took out a pencil, already half-used, from the pen box on the side, gazing at the Mercedes model on the table.

Colored pencil drawing doesn’t require high technical content, yet it tests basic skills the most, requiring both sketching precision and the play of colors and shadows.

Moreover, creating a colored pencil drawing is much more convenient than an oil painting, which could take days, weeks, or even months; if fast, half an hour is achievable.

When experts make their moves, their skill is evident.

To truly gauge his actual drawing level after skill activation, nothing compared to painting an actual picture.

Gu Weijing initially estimated his improvement in basic skills wouldn’t be substantial.

He held the confidence in his skill, primarily because he had already learned the basics long ago.

While other kids were waving Ultraman and yo-yos in kindergarten, Gu Weijing’s birthday gift was a box of 48-color colored pencils from Germany’s Faber Castell.

Due to its overly simple painting technique, colored pencil drawing, often linked with crayons in public perception, connects to beginner and childlike doodling labels, ranking fairly niche in the art market, sometimes even less favored than pen drawings.

Its upper limit is set; even with Menzel, what room for enhancement could there be?

”Oh my god!”

As the pencil tip finally touched the watercolor paper before him, Gu Weijing realized he was the proverbial frog at the bottom of the well.