The Versatile Master Artist

”She painted a lot? I’ve painted my fair share too, and I’ve finished them. Oh well... It’s better to take it slow. If I submit a rushed piece of work, I’ll only end up disappointed. Just with that series, ’The Little Prince,’ she has the right to be the centerpiece.”

Professor Borges wiped his mouth and stood up decisively.

Anyway, in his heart, Detective Cat could never surpass him. The more polished the other’s painting becomes, the more it highlights the artistic sophistication of his own work.

”If that’s the case, come to my room after everyone finishes eating.”

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In Professor Borges’s room, along the wall, twelve drying frames were lined up.

Compared to Anya’s whimsical idea of painting the room.

The professor’s creative setting seemed much more mundane.

Each piece was painted on a small 30×40 canvas, facing the wall, waiting to be turned over and displayed.

”Amy.”

Professor Borges said.

”What? Are you referring to the cat?”

The assistant raised an eyebrow.

”I mean, the name of this series of paintings is ’Amy,’ isn’t that clear?”

Professor Borges didn’t appreciate his obtuseness, responding offhandedly.

The old man picked up the well-behaved little cat lying on the armchair’s cushion, which had already been fed by a servant during dinner. The professor cradled the cat with his left arm, while his right hand stroked from the top of the cat’s head to its nape.

”Of course, the little girl now is also named Amy.”

”The emotional substitution technique isn’t working well. We’ve tried many methods, but none had the expected effect. Tony won’t see this white kitten as the cat that accompanied him as he grew up, just because it’s named Amy too.”

The one speaking was Dr. Jin Anqing.

Since they needed to assess the impact of Borges’s work on Tony’s psyche, the psychologist hadn’t left after dinner.

There were plenty of vacant houses on the ranch, so he just stayed at the illustrator’s home.

Professor Borges shrugged to express disdain and stayed silent with a cool demeanor.

”The professor must have figured out a way; he has confidence in his own work.” Jean Arnauld was very familiar with Borges’s commanding presence in front of a series of easels.

It’s a feeling of having everything under control.

Illustrators, too, feel this sense when creating, truly believing themselves to be the best, the greatest fairy tale illustrator in the world.

Jean Arnauld didn’t feel offended at all.

The illustration master admired Professor Borges ’ spirit.

Confidence is indeed a good thing. How can a disheartened artist create miraculous work?

Whether it was Picasso’s great enjoyment of watching pretty girls fight for him, or Dali’s famous saying, ”As a painter, the greatest luck comes from two things: first, being a Spaniard, and second, being named Dali. I’ve happened upon both lucky circumstances.”

Many great painters were extremely narcissistic.

”If painting knife techniques really help autistic patients, then my work will be effective... If not, then it’s the limitation of the painting knife techniques themselves.”

The professor thought for a moment, smacked his lips, and added.

”If it’s painted well, it’s your credit, if not, it’s the painting technique’s fault?”

The assistant couldn’t help but speak up.

”Of course, that’s how it is. I am simply the best in this field. Right now, I represent the pinnacle of painting knife art.”

Professor Borges didn’t seem to catch the sarcasm in the assistant’s tone and was supremely confident.

Jean Arnauld gave the assistant a stern look, signaling him to keep quiet.

Upon learning that Gu Weijing wanted to choose Amy as his painting subject.

Dr. Jin Anqing half-jokingly, half-seriously said, this behavior is akin to each boy in a football team steadfastly believing that the prettiest cheerleader in the squad would like him.

If in any cheer squad, the prettiest girl was named ’Muse Goddess.’

This metaphor fits artists perfectly.

No matter if their work is worth 50,000 USD, 500,000 USD, or 5 million USD.

Once artists reach a certain level, many persistently believe they are the unique, extraordinary one, kissed by the Muse.

Professor Borges, and earlier Lady Anya, who wanted to make a last attempt.

They lacked the technique for painting a cat but none would avoid ’Amy’, the closest yet most challenging option to the right answer.

Even though Anya knew her painting skills couldn’t match the other two.

She would still hope that her depiction of Amy would have a distinct effect until she actually failed.

”Let me take the little cat if it doesn’t work out after all; she likes me.”

”Likes you?”

The assistant glanced at the little kitten curling into a ball in the eccentric grandfather’s hands.

”Yes, animals always favor two kinds of souls, those with innate defects and those naturally appealing. The former they take pity on instinctively... Sorry, I wasn’t intentionally targeting Mr. Tony.”

Professor Borges’s emotional intelligence was at best lightly impaired, not terribly so, nodded to Jean Arnauld mid-speech.

”No problem.” Jean Arnauld shrugged.

”What about the latter?”

Listening to his insistent theories, the assistant asked curiously.

”The latter... who wouldn’t like them? They are naturally the focal point of admiration, whether by people or animals.”

Professor Borges proudly lifted his chin, with an expression of ”I’m just naturally adorable and lovable.”

The assistant repeatedly reminded himself of his 400,000 New Zealand Dollar annual salary and the future prospects of making loads of money working as an art agent, suppressing the urge to ask ”And which one are you?”

A surge of retorts got stuck in his throat, making him almost choke.

”Professor, shall we start looking at the paintings?”

Even with Jean Arnauld’s patience, he had a hard time tolerating Professor Borges’s especially thick aura of narcissism now.

”These are the best paintings I’ve done so far, take your time to appreciate them.”

Professor Borges stood before the easels, gazing at everyone in the room, as he flipped over the first easel on the far left.

It was a child with a cat on top.

The child revealed only half their face, looking upwards, with a hand supporting the cat on their head.

The high saturation of pure oil colors created a striking contrast between light and shadow in the scene.

The cat’s fur was pure white, the tip of its nose was black, the whites of the child’s eyes were pure white, the pupils a dark shade.

The sunlight on the top half was white, while the shadow cast by the cat on the lower half was black.

While not a black-and-white sketch, the entire image was divided into yin and yang halves by strong contrasting colors of light and dark.

Artworks frequently using black and white can often appear like ancient black-and-white photographs, exuding an aura of antiquity.

But Professor Borges’s painting lacked this impression entirely.

People often say art is a reflection of the artist.

Apart from the old professor himself, probably none of those present in the room would find anything lovable about the old man, but his painting was truly adorable.

The black-and-white transformation of ancient stillness and the childlike fantasy of the oil painting knife were expertly combined.

The two entirely different styles, like the mix of pigments under Professor Borges’ painting knife, didn’t seem incongruent or chaotic at all.

It was just beautiful.

It was simply Zen.

The scene resembled a Tai Chi yin-yang fish ingeniously sliced by the painting knife into two blending colors and depths.

Upon this piece coming into view, the room once again fell silent.

”Such an exquisite fairy tale painting; this technique is something I absolutely couldn’t accomplish, it’s simply marvelous. First ’The Little Prince’, and now this painting.”

Jean Arnauld observed the piece for a moment, and softly said, ”Seeing Professor Borges’s work, I suddenly felt the urge to learn painting knife techniques.”