The Versatile Master Artist

Miss Elina does not wish for the public to equate Detective Cat’s artistic image and painting style solely with a children’s book artist who only illustrates children’s illustrations.

Such an artistic route is too limited and juvenile.

The top possibilities might involve collaborations with Disney or Nintendo, participating in the creation of animated movies or cartoon characters.

There is already a fairy tale master, Jean Arnou; there’s no need for a second replica.

When necessary, Miss Elina wants Detective Cat Sister to draw some things ”specifically for adults” to attract more attention from the art collection world.

Illustrating for ”Lover,” even if it doesn’t compare with the somber bodily imagery in a very obscure art film, can at least be as tantalizing as the nude sketch performance for Rose in ”Titanic.”

After all.

Such talent in painting, despite the current pressure from Sir Brown and ”Oil Painting” magazine.

Anna still hopes that in the future, Detective Cat Sister’s works can move toward art exhibitions and significant awards in the art world.

Illustration is just a stepping stone; the display cabinet in art galleries is the ultimate destination for great artists.

”I’ll think about it and see later.”

”Alright.”

Interesting...

Anna slightly raised her eyebrow.

She keenly sensed—when facing such a topic, the Detective Cat opposite seemed a bit reserved.

It was completely unlike the reaction of a thirty-something sister who is open to all sorts of things.

Of course, it was even more unlike that of a sixty-something seasoned painter.

In her mind, she recalled the elderly man named ”Gu Tongxiang” newly represented by Ma Shi Gallery, and shook her head slightly.

Strictly speaking.

The possibility of painters of such an age taking orders online and using youthful names like ”The Detective Cat” is quite small.

However, the painter community is like a botanical garden of peculiarities gathered with various eccentric personalities.

Some painters are particularly adept at self-promotion and talking big in front of the media, while others, after saying a couple of sentences to outsiders, give the impression they might faint from shyness at any moment.

They cannot be conjectured with common logic.

”Since that’s the case, let’s talk again in the latter half of the year. I’ll decline the manuscript for ’Blue Moon.’ Right now...you can take a look at this task. Compared to romance novels, I think its style is more suitable.”

Anna opened an email on the computer.

This is another manuscript from Scholastic Group’s ”Undying Wood Plan,” a commission for illustrations accompanying a novel called ”The Blazing World.”

This novel has extremely low fame, and to be honest, it doesn’t read smoothly, but its asset is a very high level of sophistication.

The world’s most renowned feudal era science fiction novel is ”Frankenstein,” published by Mary Shelley in 1818.

However, as early as two centuries prior.

In 1666, the Duchess Cavendish, who served as lady-in-waiting and bridesmaid at the court of Queen of Charles I, published the world’s first female science fiction novel, ”The Blazing World.”

Duchess Cavendish’s scientific literacy was much higher than that of ordinary noblewomen of the time, and she was even one of the patrons of the newly established Royal Science Association of the United Kingdom and France.

It is the world’s first utopian novel, combining elements of fantasy, science fiction, romance, alternate political theory, philosophy, and theological debate.

A novel with such high academic standing, yet it is unknown to outsiders.

The only reason is that it genuinely has a high reading threshold.

It’s not as approachable as Shakespeare’s plays, with some rhetoric still carrying Middle English word formations and numerous foreign French vocabulary from before 1453.

Anna thinks it is actually just right.

Miss Elina read this book with her private tutor when she was young.

The fiery, magnificent, and psychedelic literary style, the vague and chaotic worldview, covered in clouds, also suits expression through painting knife painting.

It is almost the opposite extreme of ”Blue Moon,” which the publisher releases only to elevate the prestige of the Undying Wood project.

This thing wouldn’t sell well after publication.

Like those boutique bone china display teapots that little cafes love to place in the most conspicuous window displays — beautiful but almost no one really buys them.

”Just perfect for Detective Cat Sister to illustrate.”

Miss Elina is very aware.

The current project for ”Little Prince” is booming because Saint-Exupéry’s book is already one of the world’s best-selling fairy tales.

It has a substantial reader base and happens to meet with various coincidences in pre-release discussions on the internet, resulting in a miracle of combined factors including Detective Cat’s own painting skills.

It’s hard to replicate.

There’s only one ”Little Prince” in the world.

So whatever Detective Cat’s next illustrated book is, it can’t achieve the same level of attention and sales.

”Wind, Sand, and Stars,” ”Night Flight,” these other representative works of Saint-Exupéry have a far smaller reader base than ”Little Prince.”

And as long as sales decline, it gives people like Sir Brown the opportunity to speak against Detective Cat.

With that being the case,

it’s better to completely abandon book sales and switch tracks.

From popular fairy tales to serious literature, from commercial films vying for box office, to art films competing for prestige, to see if there’s a chance to pursue awards in the illustration world.

In the art realm—judges, to demonstrate their different perspective from ordinary audiences, see obscure sales as a plus when awarding.

”Titanic,” ”Pulp Fiction,” ”The Truman Show,” ”The Pianist”... these blockbusters of depth and box office that could all enter the top hundred, even top ten of film history, were all born in the same year, a veritable clash of titans.

Yet, at the Oscar awards ceremony that same year, the struggle for best actor and actress awards was all lost to a niche art film called ”Perfection.”

”The Blazing World” is the award-chasing work Anna selected for Detective Cat.

”However, you need to be mentally prepared that payments for such works won’t be high, including the cover illustration, the whole contract package price is... 2700 USD. At best, I can try to negotiate a few points on the royalties, but considering the sales, it doesn’t really have much significance.”

Anna smiled bitterly while typing.

High reading thresholds and good sales are mutually exclusive options.

Thinking both about artistic depth for awards and explosive sales to make big money; ha, you’re not the publisher’s favorite, where in the world are there such cheap pies to pick up?

”Blue Moon” is estimated by sales data this year to exceed 300,000 copies.

Whereas ”The Blazing World”...

Selling 3,000 copies would make the publisher burn incense in gratitude.

If not for a giant publisher like Scholastic Group, which can spread the costs of storage, logistics, and printing over multiple projects.

A small publisher doing such a book would be left with nothing.

Even for Scholastic Group.

While ensuring good print quality, the spread cost might lose several pounds, or even over ten pounds, per book sold.

It’s fundamentally to showcase the publisher’s ”responsibility for publishing literary value books” and ”social mission to discover historically unknown outstanding female writers”—such a quest for politically correct voice is loss-making for attention and vanity projects.

Offering a super high commission fee is impossible.

The big house also has no surplus grain.

This book was never intended as one of those commercial projects for outside illustrators; the art department plan was for its full-time artist to do it.

It was Anna who proactively contacted them after scouring through their huge publishing schedule for the book’s name.

The art department saw the current popularity of Detective Cat and wanted to avoid offending them, so they symbolically offered a price of 2700 USD.

If the contract price wasn’t too low.

Miss Elina wouldn’t have had to leave it for later discussion.

”Although the money is low, let’s think of it this way—let’s consider the publisher is printing the promotional brochure for us for free. The painting opportunity is still pretty good. Fantasy style, ancient history, considerable academic value, female author’s female power, and you, the painter, are a girl. Except for lacking racial elements, all the promotional aspects illustration jurors love these years are fully assembled.”

”With so many buffs stacked on, even with the ’Oil Painting’ issue, as long as the painting is good enough, there’s a chance to earn several awards in the illustration field.”