The Versatile Master Artist

Gu Weijing looked at the sky.

Feeling that he had collected enough material for the day, he moved the canvas board in the courtyard and fixed a large sketch paper, beginning to design the draft for the art exhibition piece.

Oil painters have different habits when painting.

Some like meticulous and complicated processes, first sketching small 5:1, 8:1 drafts on sketch paper or linen canvas, then enlarging and copying them onto the formal canvas to determine the overall line and shape.

Then, based on this shape, they create an initial underpainting and color relationship, before starting the final painting.

Some bold and free-spirited artists, however, start painting directly on the canvas with a brush dipped in oil or acrylic without even sketching the lines and shapes.

Neither choice is superior to the other.

It depends more on personal habits and painting styles.

According to the standards for participating in the Lion City Art Exhibition, professional painters are considered beginners. Gu Weijing didn’t dare to overestimate himself and hoped to conceive his work from the simplest and most basic way.

He gazed at the courtyard of the old church for a moment, using a pencil to establish three key points on the paper, forming a triangle in the draft.

Triangular composition,

it’s a very common composition method in oil painting, where the high point of the subject and the boundaries of the two low points form a pyramid-like triangle.

Famous paintings like Da Vinci’s ”Mona Lisa,” Eugène Delacroix’s ”Liberty Leading the People,” and Géricault’s ”The Raft of Medusa” all use this composition.

Gu Weijing’s previous painting ”Sunshine Orphanage” was purely an experiment in painting technique, without so many considerations.

But for an art exhibition, the composition requires some thought.

He prepared to use the dilapidated and partially broken yet still towering Statue of the Virgin in the church courtyard as the background and the peak of the triangular composition.

The lower points on the left and right are the children playing in the courtyard.

The transition between the top of the triangle and the two bottom corners is filled with taller adult volunteers.

The entire painting, featuring a group of people, will have about seven or eight main figures, including two or three adult volunteers and five or six children.

”The space here is for the Statue of the Holy Mother, with light coming from the top of the statue, the right side has the big locust tree... Hmm, in a slightly left position is Uncle Ah Lai, the gatekeeper, sitting on a small stool washing Jasmine’s hair. Whether it’s the character relationships or height proportions, everything fits well.”

Gu Weijing simply sketched the side profile of the burly gatekeeper on the sketch paper, only needing to outline roughly in the thumbnail draft.

He spent twenty minutes, and the white paper was filled with lines of various proportions.

”Triangular composition, hmm, the picture is quite solid.” Someone said in an astonished voice.

It’s inevitable to be surrounded when drawing outside.

However, most are just curious onlookers, and few have a professional artistic eye.

The fact that someone could immediately recognize his compositional thought made Gu Weijing glance sideways.

At some point, a group of people had gathered around him.

At the forefront was a gentleman looking about forty years old, wearing a light palm-colored high-collared jacket, elegant and looking quite scholarly.

He seemed to be a leader visiting the orphanage, followed by a secretary carrying a briefcase and wearing gold-rimmed glasses, as well as a government official dressed in high-ranking police uniform.

At the back of the group, the female director of the orphanage cautiously followed along.

Her expression was both nervous and flattering.

”Xiaogu. This is Chen Lisheng, Mr. Chen. He just assumed the role of president of the Myanmar Charitable Commerce Association last year, and he is an investor in the largest joint venture car factory with Toyota in the Leyada District of Yangon.”

The female director turned her head and introduced the middle-aged man: ”Xiaogu is a volunteer here and a very outstanding young man learning painting.”

”Does Mr. Chen understand painting?”

Gu Weijing asked. He vaguely recognized this name, which had appeared frequently in Yangon newspapers over the past two years.

”I studied it. In my youth, I aspired to be an artist, but at the time Southeast Asia was an alkali land in turmoil, unsuitable for an artist’s career, and instead, I found success in business.”

The entrepreneur seemed to fall into reflection.

”Sorry, Uncle, I want to paint quietly now.” Gu Weijing nodded as a greeting.

It’s true that Mr. Chen was a big entrepreneur, but Gu had no desires or demands from him, so he had no intention to curry favor or socialize.

He stopped speaking to them and continued, with his head down, to work on the composition on the paper.

Gu Weijing always felt that the current structural design wasn’t perfect.

The secretary with the briefcase showed an unpleasant expression.

Myanmar’s political and business relationships are complex, but when conducting business as Boss Chen does, both the underworld and legitimate dealings must diligently honor him; even a slight monetary gesture from his hand could evoke substantial economic change in a region.

This young man is too ignorant.

”Where did this student come from? Where are his parents?” The secretary frowned, looking at the female director beside him.

”Ah... Xiaogu is a good child, just a bit quiet by nature. Please don’t mind.” The female director somewhat anxiously tried to cover for him.

The group of people came with significant influence.

It’s said meeting a king is better than meeting his attendants. Without any visible action from Boss Chen, just his secretary’s displeasure could cause trouble for an ordinary family.

”Alright, alright, why bother with kids? This is the real nature of an artist. People like us, steeped in the pursuit of money, have long since had our sharpness and intelligence eroded by the stench of copper.”