All-rounder Artist

“What’s the result?”

“You’re really curious about the outcome…”

“Sorry, I just have an inexplicable confidence in the GOAT. After all, he’s the one who brought my sketches from last place in the entire class to the top ten!”

“My gouache painting improved because of his guidance too!”

“This time, I’m betting on the GOAT!”

Zhong Yu spoke fiercely, but he was somewhat lacking in confidence. He cursed his bad luck for choosing traditional painting in the draw.

They were throwing the GOAT to the wolves!

Thus, Zhong Yu felt guilty. Betting on Lin Yuan was his way of seeking redemption.

Meanwhile, at the front of the crowd…

Professor Kong smiled faintly, saying nothing.

Behind Professor Kong were several other art teachers who had also come to join the fun. Someone whispered:

“Is there hope?”

“You mean Lin Yuan?”

“I think we have a chance.”

“Probably, but I don’t think the result is unpredictable.”

II II

It’s not that Lin Yuan wasn’t respected, but his skills in gouache and sketching were too remarkable. Artists tend to have their specialities.

If Lin Yuan was so good at gouache and sketching, he probably hadn’t delved deep into traditional painting.

This was a common way of thinking, and indeed, without extraordinary talent, one cannot escape this rule.

“They’re out!”

Just as everyone was discussing fervently, there was a sudden exclamation at the door.

Lin Yuan and Luo Wei were finally out of the room.

Looking at Lin Yuan, they were surprised. His face was as aloof as ever, not even a smile to meet social expectations—

Perhaps he lost badly?

But after looking at Luo Wei, they hesitated again. Luo Wei seemed a little out of sorts, she was swaying as she walked and almost stumbled when she stepped out of the door that frightened many people into reaching out to steady her.

Luckily, Luo Wei didn’t fall. She gave the crowd a dazed look, finally focusing on Professor Kong. “You’re here?”

“Mm, how’d it go?”

Professor Kong asked with a smile.

Luo Wei forced a smile, “Do you want to go in and see?”

Still smiling, Professor Kong replied, “Didn’t you need a judge?”

Luo Wei shook her head, muttered, “I don’t qualify.”

Her voice was so low that only Professor Kong, who was standing closest to her, could hear it.

Taken aback, Professor Kong glanced at Lin Yuan, feeling a wave of sensations in his heart, then swiftly walked into the studio. As soon as he entered, he caught sight of Luo Wei’s painting of a Phoenix in flight.

“You’ve made impressive progress recently.”

Professor Kong complimented her with a smile.

The other teachers nodded in affirmation. Luo Wei’s Phoenix was painted so vividly and lifelike!

“Awesome!”

“Wow!”

“This Phoenix is too cool!”

“The president’s got some serious skills.”

“Did she pull out her best card?”

The students behind were craning their necks to view, and subsequently began to chatter.

Then, Professor Kong approached Lin Yuan’s painting.

No one could see the content of the painting, only Professor Kong and a few other tutors.

Under the gaze of all the students, everyone was surprised to see that Professor Kong and several tutors changed their expressions!

Especially Professor Kong, he seemed to suck in cold air!

The studio fell silent.

Members of the painting society shifted restlessly under this unexpected silence.

Zhong Yu was puzzled.

Why do the expressions of Professor Kong and the others look so strange?

Without explanation.-

Professor Kong put on his glasses solemnly, leaned forward to look closely at Lin Yuan’s painting.

He seemed to want to touch the painting but his hand stopped in mid-air and then withdrew.

The ink hadn’t dried yet.

Touching it would affect the quality of the painting.

After staring at the painting for a long time, Professor Kong finally sighed, “Using thick ink for eyes and head, giving a golden hue to the body, the effortless skill-The abdomen is depicted with a light shade of ink for the color of the body, making the shrimp appear crystal clear… using a pointed brush to depict the whiskers, claws, and pincers, both rigid and flexible…This is a masterstroke!”

The students couldn’t help but want to enter.

Professor Kong stopped them, “Look from the outside!”

The students were startled and dared not come in.

Professor Kong did consider everyone’s feelings; he turned the painting to face them.

Everyone looked at Lin Yuan’s painting. Some appeared thoughtful, some were speechless, some confused, and some puzzled-

shrimp?

The painting is not bad.

It’s lifelike.

But compared to the phoenix, isn’t it too ordinary?

That was the impression of most people.

If one were to put a shrimp painted by Qi Baishi and one by an ordinary ink painting artist side by side, most people would not notice much of a difference.

Because, after all, they’re all shrimps.

But not everyone lacks sufficient appreciation skills. There were also some ink painting experts among the Painting Society members who recognized the terror of Lin Yuan’s painting!

Therefore, these students were shocked. One by one, their gazes fell onto Lin Yuan, their eyes filled with shock and astonishment.

On the side of Professor Kong…

The university’s ink painting tutor exclaimed, “The brushwork of this painting is simply divine. Look at the waist of the shrimp, each one has a different pose. Some bend forward, some are straight, and some are crawling. There’s no stiffness at all. Although there’s no water, you can still sense that the shrimp are swimming in it.”

His words won the approval of other tutors.

Another tutor said, “Look at the shrimp’s foreclaws, they are thin at the top and thick at the bottom. The joints extend to the pincers and look like pliers, some open and some closed. The feelers of the shrimp are drawn with light brush strokes which look easy but are really difficult to perfect. At least, I can’t do it.”

“It’s so lifelike.”

If it is drawn vividly, then the shrimp gathers life on its own.

If painted stiffly, the shrimp loses its liveliness.

In this painting, the shrimp’s whiskers look soft but are tough, seem broken but are connected, in the chaos lies order… on the paper, the shrimp seems to be frolicking and swimming in the water, its feelers moving along with the water waves…”

“This painting should have a name.”

Kong An looked towards Lin Yuan at the door.

Lin Yuan finally revealed a smile, “Six Shrimps.”

A student replied, “There are clearly only five shrimps!”

“Yeah…”

“In fact, there are five.”

“Wait…”

“Look at the edge of the shrimp cluster…”

“There seems to be another shrimp?”

“It’s a shrimp head, claws, and whiskers…”

“It’s too pale, barely visible!”

“Indeed.it is six!”

“The sixth one is blocked, but it does exist…”

11 11

The crowd suddenly fell silent too.

This illusionistic composition is a highly sophisticated technique in traditional Chinese painting. Many students fail to grasp this technique. Even though they cannot comprehend why the professors are so amazed by Lin Yuan’s painting, everyone knows that the standard of this painting is extremely high.

“Lin Yuan, how about selling this painting to me?”

Kong An unexpectedly turned his head towards Lin Yuan. Unknown to everyone, at that moment, Kong An had completely given up the idea of accepting Lin Yuan as his disciple.

Because Kong An knew, Lin Yuan’s skills in traditional Chinese painting were superior to his own!

“Professor Kong!”

Luo Wei suddenly spoke, “This painting has already been sold to me by Teacher Lin Yuan! You wouldn’t steal it from a student like me, would you?”

Just a while ago she was being polite.

Her attitude had changed remarkably: “And I made a promise to Teacher Lin Yuan. I will be his comic assistant in the future. I have paid a great price for this painting!”

The crowd was speechless.

Was there any need to announce the win or loss?

Even Luo Wei called GOAT as “Teacher Lin Yuan”.

Looking at the “Six Shrimps” painting, Kong An felt a little regretful. However, Luo Wei had made her stand. He couldn’t do anything about it now, but just sighed, “You are indeed very fortunate. Make sure to cherish this painting.”

“I will.”

Luo Wei reverted to her humble demeanor. She was still respectful to him, as long as he didn’t steal the painting.

Every professor turned their gaze to Lin Yuan, “May we take pictures?”

“Sure.”

Lin Yuan didn’t object.

He noticed that his reputation in painting was soaring high.

“Click.”

“Click.”

All the professors, including Kong An, took pictures, and many at that.

“It seems that this painting does not have a signature.”

After taking the pictures, Kong An turned to Lin Yuan, “Can you add a signature?”

Lin Yuan shook his head, “No need.”

The painting was to be sold to Luo Wei. This was a deal he had made with Luo Wei before he left. The price Luo Wei offered was one million.

Compared to the value of this painting, one million is a drop in the ocean.

But Lin Yuan knew that because he painted it, its value could not be compared to that of a painting drawn by Qi Baishi himself.

Even if the painting could be regarded as painted by Qi Baishi himself.

In addition, Luo Wei promised to be Lin Yuan’s comic assistant for three years.

Lin Yuan thought for a while and agreed. After all, he was not going to sell this painting at some sky-high price.

In other words.

If you paint Van Gogh’s Sunflower, even if Van Gogh’s spirit possesses you, if the painting is not actually painted by Van Gogh himself, it won’t have the same value as the original.

Lin Yuan understood this very well.

Even for Qi Baishi himself, his paintings were not valued in the beginning.

They became valuable only after he became famous, old, and even more after his death.

“This painting can be sent for exhibition.”

Kong An looked at Lin Yuan and suggested.

Luo Wei quickly replied, “I will send it for exhibition.”

Lin Yuan nodded. Doing this could raise his reputation even further, which, in comparison with music and literature, was still considerably low.

“Let’s call it a day.”

Kong An waved his hand at the crowd.

Most students were still puzzled. A few who were somewhat reluctant took pictures too. But since Kong An didn’t let them in, they had to take their photos from afar.

Those who understood knew why Kong An wouldn’ t let them in.

The painting had no protective measures. With so many people swarming around, if the painting got damaged, it would be a great pity.

“Can you paint this kind of painting again?”

When the crowd had almost dispersed, Kong An asked Lin Yuan.

Lin Yuan shook his head and promptly replied, “This is the best I’ve ever painted. It can’t be replicated.”

Kong An regretfully said, “I was hoping to get a painting from you. If you can paint like this in the future, could you give me one?”

“I’ll try my best.”

Lin Yuan wasn’t sure if he would get another character card like this in the future.

Kong An nodded.

He didn’t doubt Lin Yuan’s words.

This painting was truly extraordinary. It was normal that Lin Yuan could only paint it once. Just like composing a song, when inspiration strikes, extraordinary performance naturally follows.

But such extraordinary performance showed one thing:

Lin Yuan is a master of traditional Chinese painting!

His major is not Gouache or sketching, but the most popular and widely studied genre in Blue Star:

Traditional Chinese painting!

How astonishing!

Lin Yuan’s proficiency in Gouache and sketching, which is on a professional level, is not his main focus…

“You’re going to be a great master in the future.”

This was Kong An’s final comment. As a matter of fact, Lin Yuan’s painting had already reached the level of a great master. However, it was a pity that the artistic community wouldn’t acknowledge a student as a great master.

That was inevitable.

Blue Star’s artistic community highly values seniority.

Only now, Lin Yuan should have his place in Blue Star’s artistic community. He, Kong An, would fully support Lin Yuan!

Lastly, I am begging for a monthly ticket!