The Versatile Master Artist

When Gu Weijing was searching for information about the Little Prince, he came across such a story on Google.

It is said that,

the great playwright Shaw, at the age of 91, bedridden in a nursing home in Dublin, read ”The Little Prince” for the first time and was immediately moved to tears.

The old man suddenly burst into tears, sobbing uncontrollably.

”This book contains an entire philosophical system,” said the 1925 Nobel Prize in Literature winner to a friend. ”With a subtle melancholy, it’s unbelievably beautiful and moves one to tears.”

Gu Weijing wondered if perhaps his own cultural cultivation was too lacking, which is why he couldn’t comprehend the mindset of such a great writer.

At least,

when he read ”The Little Prince,” he really never felt like crying, unlike those sentimental young women on the internet.

Even when Mr. Tree Sloth got the most engaged while reading.

Gu Weijing at most just felt an ”oh” in his heart, thinking that this story seemed somewhat flavorful.

Dull, like a wooden fish that never makes a sound.

Unfortunately, the little friend before him is awfully aloof.

The other party didn’t seem very interested in enlightening Gu Weijing, adopting an indifferent attitude, not even bothering to speak.

”Alright, if you don’t want to speak, then don’t,”

Gu Weijing shook his head in dismay.

Anyway, he’s already submitted the manuscript to the publisher, and both Mr. Tree Sloth and the Scholastic Group have provided satisfying feedback.

This was just an attempt to add a finishing touch.

Gu Weijing found himself helpless to give it up, as there was already a thirty-second countdown on the virtual panel.

Looking at the deep expression of the little guy sitting on the sand dune in front, he knew it.

Gu Weijing thought,

the cool expression of the young man before him could charm women’s hearts from young maidens of eighteen to toothless old ladies of eighty.

No need for Photoshop, it could directly serve as a poster for a late-night emotional variety show on television.

The emotions of longing and sorrow in his expression were so intense and complex that inviting a romance expert over could easily film two hundred episodes of emotional talks, deceiving a year’s worth of tears from housewives sitting on sofas.

In thirty seconds,

even if the Little Prince changed his mind and took mercy, willing to open his heart to him,

what could be said in such a short time? Absolutely useless.

Gu Weijing could only accept the reality with resignation.

He still felt a bit heartbroken over using up his one-time skill.

Since the young fellow didn’t want to pay attention to him, Gu Weijing decided to keep himself occupied by reaching out to memorize the side profile of the Little Prince before him.

He wondered if he could try to copy that profile bit by bit.

Strangely,

the Little Prince before him looked exactly like the character in his original works.

The same object,

appeared rigid in his paintings.

But at this moment, the little boy in front of him,

even if he didn’t speak or move, just sitting there coolly watching the stars, no one would take him for a statue or puppet.

Even when Gu Weijing had just seen that silhouette on the sand dune from afar in the Temple of Thought, he felt that the other was soulful, prompting him to say hello.

Such lively ”vitality” made him almost enviously cry.

Gu Weijing racked his brains, studying the causes of these visual differences.

The image looked identical. If there was any real difference, perhaps...

it was due to the eyes?

Such passionate yet reserved eyes could never be achieved by an inanimate object without soul.

Candle burning countdown, nineteen seconds,

in the bedroom, Gu Weijing began to act as if trying to save a dying horse.

He picked up some dark paint with his painting knife, hoping to catch the last bit of time, to capture that mysterious gaze.

In the instant the painting knife was about to touch the linen canvas,

Gu Weijing hesitated and stopped. The rough straight flat blade of an oil painting knife is only suitable for shaping large areas of color and the overall atmospheric feel of a painting.

Such as large snow scenes and starry nights.

Detailing a subject’s eyes was never a strong point of the painting knife.

Legendary Painting Knife Painting bestowed Gu Weijing with painting control and nuanced knife skills that surpass most painters.

Exceptional techniques provided a broader scope for detailed operation.

In his hands,

details are not taboos for the legendary painting knife, unlike regular painting knives.

Even using a pear-shaped painting knife, which can be up to 3.5 cm wide.

Gu Weijing could easily sculpt the complex curves of human facial features within a copper coin-sized canvas area, unlike many painting knife painters who could only replace it with a few simple, varying color blocks.

But that was his limit.

”Portraying the expression in a person’s eyes” falls within one of the least skilled areas of painting knife painting.

It’s like a duck farm forcing ducks to hatch goose eggs, completely unrelated.

If it weren’t so,

how would painting knife painting be so niche?

Moreover, the Little Prince’s gaze was far too complex.

The eyes seemed made of endless polygonal curves, yet also appeared to be a perfect circle.

Just gazing into them gave the illusion of your soul being drawn in.

Wanting to capture the essence of it in a painting, Gu Weijing really felt at a loss.