Almighty painter

Chapter 1025 Artistic Alchemy

"Let me show you this—"

After Gu Weijing walked around the studio, he went into the inner room and a few minutes later came out to show everyone a picture frame.

"What do you think?"

He placed the picture frame on the table and then asked.

The students gathered around and huddled together.

A watercolor painting of a figure, depicting an old man with a pipe in his mouth, sitting at a table, looking sideways at the painter, with a very unique brushstroke style.

At first glance, it looks rough.

Upon closer inspection, it's more accurate to say it's unique.

"It looks like it was drawn on a burlap sack," one student commented.

“This kind of large-area flat brushstroke…” another person interjected.

Among the students selected by Samuel Kertzens to enter his studio were many exceptionally talented individuals.

Many of them have a pure passion for watercolor painting, and some have an exceptional talent for it.

There are also some people—

It has both.

Take Lily, for example.

She always has a wildly imaginative approach to the composition of her works, and she likes to introduce all sorts of novel textures and brushstrokes into her paintings. Not every attempt is successful, but unsuccessful attempts are also part of artistic imagination.

On the system panel, her watercolor technique rating has reached professional level three.

Gu Weijing said that she painted better than he had at the same time, and this praise was genuine.

Lily, however, felt that this simple self-portrait was far more impactful than her elaborately designed "Ballade pour Adeline".

This painting breaks the color boundaries commonly found in watercolor painting.

Both paintings use a large number of blocks of color.

Compared to his own paintings, the portrait in front of him used more "bold" brushstrokes. Rather than focusing on the contrast of light and shadow or the depiction of spatial three-dimensionality, the painter paid more attention to expressing the characteristics of "sensuality".

All the brushstrokes adhered to the drawing, forming a unified plane, with a slightly hard feel reminiscent of woodblock printing.

Lily studied it for a moment.

She believes this was the result of the painter's deliberate choice.

It's easy to paint skillfully, but difficult to paint clumsily.

Exquisite works are easy to attract people; it's like a serenade played on a violin.

The unadorned works are like playing a violin, producing a deep and powerful atmosphere. Combining this sense of power with the lightness of watercolor paint, the result is a seamless and extremely difficult piece to paint.

"Is this your work?"

Lily bit her nails, thinking, "I saw a very different art style than before, a new experiment with color."

What do you all think?

Gu Weijing inquired.

"Marvelous".

One classmate spoke with a hint of admiration.

At first, they had somewhat mixed feelings about Gu Weijing.

The students from the music academy who surrounded Williams had feelings of admiration, envy, and a little bit of resentment towards him.

They might think that while Williams is strong, luck played a larger role in his success, which is the reason behind that classic internet saying – "Ha, I could do that too."

The moment Miss Elena dangled the "carrot" of the Vienna Philharmonic's principal player in front of Williams, it was unclear whether some of those who outwardly called him "Willie" more affectionately hoped he would bite into the carrot or that Anna would mercilessly crush him.

Many people would think so to some extent.

Gu Weijing was just a lucky little donkey who actually jumped up and "caught the carrot".

If Anna Elena were his or her agent, they could also hold an exhibition at the Louvre Abu Dhabi, and they could also sell a single work for a million pounds.

a Million—$100,000,000.00.
Anna is "1".

Gu Weijing's talent is just a series of zeros following the "1".

After spending six months together, many people gradually changed their views.

Gu Weijing's personality played a significant role in this.

He sells one of his works for a million dollars, and his agent is Anna Elena, who greets you when you meet him—this alone is enough to win him favor.

Status gives a person extra luster.

A power-hungry creature like Catherine could have a young officer from the Imperial Guard help her down, allow him to kiss her hand, and then ask him to die for her.

The two things are completely different, yet the core of "power" often carries similar attributes.

Not every donkey that "bites the carrot" can maintain such a humble attitude as this student.

on the other hand.

What impressed everyone was Gu Weijing's artistic talent.

German society has a tradition of obedience to authority, and German campuses traditionally hold great respect for those of higher status. The most typical example is that the title of "Doctor" carries a social significance in Germany that is completely different from that in many other European countries.

This contrasts sharply with American society.

To put it more politely, American culture shows more respect for sports stars; to use a more negative description, some believe this is related to a certain degree of anti-intellectualism in social culture.

Just like Ross Geller in Friends.

Dr. Geller, a tenured professor at New York University, should be an extremely intelligent character, but when he appears in the show, he is the classic image of a low-EQ, dull-witted person who has been "unpopular" since childhood.

in contrast.

In German society, hearing that someone is a "Doctor" immediately inspires a sense of awe and respect.

Beyond his title as a great artist, Gu Weijing truly impressed many of his classmates with his intellectual talent.

A good painting is a good painting.

Gu Weijing did better than all of them.

Gu Weijing would always examine a work for a moment, carefully considering its brushstrokes, identifying which forms could be better depicted, and explaining the emotions or thoughts the work aimed to convey to its audience, as if he had personally witnessed their painting process.

Especially the latter.

Seeing their painting process firsthand might not be enough; you might need to think about it as seriously as they do.

of course.

Sometimes, when his artwork is too obscure, he will have a serious discussion with his classmates and finally come up with his own opinion.

You can deceive people about anything, and you can sell anything for a price using suitable "marketing methods," but these things are absolutely impossible to deceive. Gu Weijing was just like that, word after word, painting after painting, winning the respect of all his classmates.

There are two teachers at the art academy who are in charge of teaching watercolor.

Samuel Kertzens was the more experienced, more senior, and higher-ranking one.

Gu Weijing may not have the same profound artistic insights as Professor Kozens, but he also possesses a patience and good temper that Kozens would never have.

At least, Gu Weijing wouldn't say he's going to show you a big treasure, then pull out a watch from somewhere and smash it on your head.

Gu Weijing was like that, writing one word after another, painting one picture after another, and won the respect of all his classmates.

Moreover, if we were to use a highly utilitarian evaluation standard, we would use market price as the sole criterion for evaluating industry standing.

A painting by Nakitzen could sell for less than a million pounds.

The market value of watercolor paintings has traditionally been much lower than that of oil paintings.

Let alone 100 million.

Even if you offered half the price, 50, or even 25, it probably wouldn't sell for that much. Gu Weijing's transaction price, in the watercolor painting industry, is practically unbeatable, except perhaps for artists like Turner and Gauguin…

Even those who harbor prejudice or envy towards him must now admit one thing—

Gu Weijing was definitely not the kind of lucky donkey who, by sheer good fortune, jumped a little too low once or twice and happened to snatch the carrot off Miss Elena's fishing rod.

At such a young age, how can a painting sell for such a high price? Is there an element of luck involved?

It's really too much; luck plays the biggest role.

Without Miss Elena, without that maritime robbery, without the Maes Gallery, without the report in "Painting" magazine, without Deckard Anron giving up his "antics"... missing any one of these elements, his paintings could not possibly sell for this price.

Similarly, even if we disregard all factors and remove all the additional aura surrounding Gu Weijing due to his different status, and simply look at him from the perspective of an ordinary student.

Everyone agrees that he is the art master that the "Master Project" is looking for. He is the most outstanding student in this year's class, and even in the past and future classes.

Just look at this painting, and you'll understand.

The prize will still go to him.

It should belong to him.

If this art-in-residence program isn't looking for someone like Gu Weijing, then what kind of person is it looking for?
"Amazing?" Gu Weijing repeated the other person's evaluation.

The young man nodded. “I completely agree with you. In my reply to the other party, I also said that this is a remarkable work.”

"Isn't that your painting?" Lily asked, her tone unusually surprised.

"Yes, that's not the case."

The changes brought about by fame are not limited to receiving interviews from television stations, thieves breaking the windows of the school's public art studios in the middle of the night, sneaking in and stealing the paintings that Gu Weijing had prepared for the Master Project, or having many people pay attention to and applaud him after watching a Mozart opera at the Hamburg State Opera that he could not actually appreciate.

Countless people of all kinds will try to contact Gu Weijing.

This is similar to the treatment of famous painters across different eras. Picasso received a large number of letters daily, and some people even tried to "stake out" him at his residence in Paris.

The Hamburg Academy of Fine Arts has a relatively quiet campus environment, and not many people still write letters nowadays.

But at the Maes Gallery, within just a few months, thousands of emails accumulated, some encouraging from fans, others filled with insults. These events were also part of the process of gaining fame.

It's not so much a shadow of fame, but more like the price of fame.

In addition, Gu Weijing also receives a large number of art submissions.

They have all kinds of items, from traditional paintings to strange and bizarre things.

The moment Gu Weijing's work sold for £100 million, he was no longer a person.

He became a cultural symbol, even an image, both an image of art and an image of wealth.

Next.

As was inevitable, Gu Weijing became a person with this kind of imagination, a gap and a bridge to express this imagination.

When a living painter creates a huge sensation in the art market, it will inevitably attract a large number of imitators.

Even a young man in his twenties like him can do it.

Then.

"I'll go... I think I can do it too."

Similar events often tend to unfold in a comedic way, or one could say a tragic way.

Whether it's a tragedy or a joy largely depends on which perspective you interpret those submitted manuscripts.

Sending in artwork with some great desire, hoping to be appreciated by a famous artist, to greatly impress the artist, and then to gain great wealth and success—this kind of story is essentially just a retelling of the 19th-century story of trying to invent a perpetual motion machine, or trying to crowdfund a rocket to launch into the sky to prove that the earth is flat.

A love for science is certainly a good thing.

But if you want to study science, you should at least have basic scientific knowledge and literacy; otherwise, you can only say that you're doing something very strange. Maybe it's alchemy, maybe it's hand-crafting philosopher's stones, maybe one day you'll be shocked to find that when you say "Yugadim, Leviosa," pronouncing the syllable "ga" clearly and for a long time, the feather in front of you actually flies up.

Ok.

Cowhide!

You might expect that one day an owl will fly to your window carrying a strange letter.

Even so, that is still not science.

The same reason.

To work in the arts, one should at least have a basic understanding of art.

otherwise.

They would randomly place something out, perform some strange rituals, point at it with a paintbrush, and chant a few incantations, hoping it would turn around and transform into something golden.

It's probably best to just say that he's playing with "alchemy".

Take another step back.

Interest is the best teacher. Even the best mathematicians start by learning 1+1. Van Gogh never received a systematic academic art education. He couldn't afford to go to art school and sold very few paintings in his lifetime. But this did not prevent Van Gogh from becoming the greatest painter of his time, or perhaps the greatest painter in the history of Europe.

Scientific literacy can be cultivated.

Artistic literacy can be cultivated; everyone possesses artistic literacy and the right to aesthetic appreciation. Even a night soil collector lost in thought watching the sunset outside Nanjing can be a fine artist.

The most crucial difference between the two may lie in what the overwhelming desire is that one cannot suppress when sending the email.

money.

wealth.

Of course, no problem. Who isn't just an ordinary person? When Gu Weijing was a child, the biggest reason he wanted to be a painter was simply to make his grandfather proud.

But that shouldn't be all the desire and all the longing.

For someone who is passionate about a subject, even if alchemy fails, the joy gained in the process remains real.

Those who practice alchemy but fail to extract gold will only reap emptiness and nothingness in their palms.

(End of this chapter)