The Versatile Master Artist

”Mr. Cao, is that you?”

Gu Weijing didn’t expect Elder Cao to contact him personally, and his heart skipped a beat.

”I saw that painting. It’s an interesting idea...” Elder Cao said calmly.

”Thank you, Mr. Cao.”

Being praised by Elder Cao, Gu Weijing was quite excited.

At least it showed that his style was generally on the right track.

”Don’t be happy too soon, I’m not here to praise you.”

Elder Cao’s tone became stern: ”Let me ask you, is the reason you wanted to create a fusion painting because of the Singapore Art Biennale?”

”Yes, that’s the case.”

Gu Weijing dared not put on airs in front of the old gentleman and admitted honestly.

The main objective reason he tried this style was to easily win awards.

”Opportunistic! Not improving your painting skills honestly, you want to run before you can walk, that’s not a good habit.”

Mr. Cao Xuan’s first comment was a stern criticism.

Although Elder Cao admired his courage, he would not give Gu Weijing a chance to be arrogant or complacent.

”Your painting only has ideas worth seeing. As for the work itself, I can only describe it with eight words, ’Ambition as high as the sky, destiny as thin as paper.’ The painting is a complete mess, neither Chinese nor Western. Such fusion art is laughable. With your skills, you want to win awards? Wishful thinking,” the old man scolded.

Gu Weijing was at a loss for words.

He knew Elder Cao’s words were harsh, but they were all honest truths.

”Please teach me, Mr. Cao.”

He asked respectfully for instruction.

”Teach you? Hmph, that’s not easy to say...” Mr. Cao Xuan snorted, ”I first ask you, do you really want to create fusion paintings?”

”Of course.”

”If you only see this painting style as a shortcut to win art awards, I advise you to give up early. This road is not easy, nor is it a shortcut for opportunism.”

Cao Xuan’s tone had no hint of joking.

”If you truly want to paint in this style, you must paint diligently. Whether or not you can create works you are satisfied with before the art exhibition, I do not allow you to change paths without this do-or-die mentality. Attempting such a high-difficulty style is merely irresponsible recklessness.”

”The choice is in your hands, consider carefully and then tell me your answer.”

”If you regret now, I won’t blame you.”

The old man’s voice came from the receiver: ”But I do not want to hear you say, after practicing for a while, that this path is too difficult. I don’t want to continue.”

”Mr. Cao, I want to continue painting.”

Gu Weijing did not hesitate much.

This painting style is very suitable for the Singapore Art Biennale, and it suits the systematic him well.

Whether from the immediate interests or from a long-term perspective,

the fusion painting style is a painting technique he will not regret.

”Good! You have courage.”

The old gentleman’s tone showed gratification, ”Since that’s the case, about how to reconcile the disharmony between oil painting and Chinese painting, I have two suggestions.”

”Please tell me.”

”First, I suggest you look at how relatively mature Eastern and Western fusion art style works are done.”

”Do you mean Zhao Wuji or Wu Guanzhong?”

”No, I mean the court paintings of the mid-Qing Dynasty and later.”

Elder Cao explained: ”When modern art masters like Zhao and Wu began experimenting with fusion styles, their artistic concepts were already quite mature. Relatively speaking, you are still too immature at present, directly learning or imitating them would be too difficult.”

Learn Romanticism first from Turner, learn critical realism from Tsarist Russian painter Vasily, learn Sezessionstil from Klimt, learn Aestheticism first from Edward Jones.

Trying to understand the earliest form of an art style’s initial development is less difficult for a student just starting to try a new style.

The new style of court painting represented by Lang Shining in the Qing dynasty actually had a bit of unavoidable meaning during its creation process.

Lang Shining and other European painters originally intended to recommend pure oil painting to the Qing Court, but Emperor Kangxi didn’t like it, didn’t buy it.

In the era of feudal dynasties, whether East or West, what style was painted was dictated by the employer.

That’s why they changed to a fusion painting style.

This deliberately created product was instead able to more clearly reveal the traces of the initial collision and fusion of the two cultures.

That’s why Elder Cao suggested to Gu Weijing to appreciate the court paintings of the mid-Qing Dynasty and later.

”Your ancestors were imperial painters, you should understand what I mean.”

”I understand.”

Gu Weijing realized.

”This is the macro art direction. As for the details, you need to do a lot of practice on line sketching. This is to train your pen technique. Do you know what line drawing sketching is?”

”I’ve learned about it.”

Before meeting Elder Cao, Gu Weijing’s first dream for university was Central Academy of Fine Arts in Dongxia.

The Central Academy of Fine Arts is one of the best art schools in Asia. Its portfolio requirements for overseas students include content related to line drawing sketching.

Gu Weijing knew what line drawing sketching was.

”When doing line sketching, do it earnestly. Every stroke must be done with care. I have two requirements for you, the first is to use a freehand sketching approach when using the pen. The second, use a pen, don’t give yourself chances for mistakes. Only when you can control freely can you achieve ’Sea of All Rivers.’”

Elder Cao summarized.

When drawing line sketching, many people prefer to completely simplify it using sketch thinking. This loses the unique charm of Chinese painting in the work.

And using a pen further trains control.

Unlike easily erasable hard pencils, pens greatly reduce the margin for error; every line needs to be well thought out, if your wrist slightly twitches, your drawing is ruined.

These two suggestions could both be considered golden advice.

...

Gu Weijing put down the phone and paced around the courtyard of the orphanage, then found his current personal model not far away—a Jasmine who was quietly watching him paint.

Compared to other noisy children in the orphanage,

Little Girl Mo Li was always very well-behaved.

She was just used to loneliness, and a little attached to Gu Weijing who showed her kindness.

When Gu Weijing had time to play with her, she was very happy. When he didn’t, Little Moli just held her doll and watched quietly, not causing any trouble.

Her sensibility made people feel heartache.

Gu Weijing always felt that he got more from Little Girl Mo Li than what he gave her.

Not to mention the value of the missionary diary he got from the janitor uncle.

Little Moli also had a quiet aura, every time Gu Weijing got irritated with painting, just seeing the little girl’s figure in view calmed him down.

This time was no exception.

Line sketching, if quick, a piece can be finished in just over ten minutes.

But when he tried using meticulous freehand drawing methods, with a pen, the speed slowed greatly.

Especially with Jasmine’s long hair behind her head, it would appear on paper as hundreds of almost parallel curves with millimeter spacing.

If any line was not pulled correctly,

Gu Weijing would have to start from scratch.

He sat quietly under the tree for an entire afternoon while Little Girl Mo Li kept him company for the whole time.

As the sun set towards the western mountains, Gu Weijing, after several failures, finally completed the first line sketch.

He slowly exhaled.

[Title: ”Jasmine Under the Tree”]

[Sketching Technique: lv.4 Tier One Professional Painter (1731/5000)]

[Chinese Painting Techniques: lv.4 Tier One Professional Painter (621/5000)]

[Emotions: Heartfelt]

”This time the feeling is right, besides... without the distraction of color, just handling the lines makes the difficulty much lower.”

Gu Weijing nodded; while this practice method was a bit troublesome, the irritating sense of disconnection never appeared again while painting.

Generally speaking, the drawing was very smooth.

”Ding, you have a new task.”

Gu Weijing heard the system panel’s prompt in his ear and opened the virtual panel.

[Chain Task: Fusion Painting - Sea of All Rivers (1/3)]

[Current Task Content: Complete one hundred different themed figure line sketches. (Note: More than twenty must be rated as Heartfelt)]

[Current Task Reward: Knowledge Card - ”Essence of New Body Painting” Lang Shining]