Reborn as a great painter, with a system, you can be willful

The morning fog has not yet completely dissipated in Manhattan's Upper East Side.

"Good morning, Mr. Jiang. You are so strong."

"Good morning, thank you." Jiang Zhe finished his morning run, said hello to the property security guard who had just changed shifts, and walked into the elevator.

When I get home, I throw my workout clothes into the washing machine, run the machine, and start washing.

After Columbia University started, he quickly adapted to a regular life and began to resume his morning jogging.

After shaving, Jiang Zhe looked at his face in the mirror.

I came to New York to study, and before I knew it, two months had passed. With a regular life and consistent exercise, I look great and feel energetic every day.

He put on his silk housecoat, stepped barefoot on the floor, and headed straight for the kitchen.

He personally designed the space, which perfectly combines elegance and modern pragmatism: behind the etched glass cabinet doors are a variety of cups, plates and bowls for different occasions. The Wolf brand built-in stove has a cool metallic luster, while the honeycomb chandelier on the island adjusts the indoor light to a warm level.

As the cast-iron skillet preheated over a blue flame, he retrieved eggs from the refrigerator and separated the yolks from the whites—a move that was performed with practiced precision.

When the bacon curls up into golden waves in the pan and the fat bursts, the aroma fills the air.

Jiang Zhe had just arrived in New York. After having breakfast at a nearby breakfast shop several times, he found that it was neither delicious nor good for his health, so he started cooking for himself.

The cooking skills he gained from the system rewards allowed him to do the job with ease.

Several breakfast plates were brought to the table.

When I sat down at the dining table and looked at my own achievements, my appetite was whetted.

The Hollandaise sauce on the Benedict eggs flows like the clouds painted by Titian, the avocado slices are arranged in a Mondrian-like orderly beauty, and on the freshly baked Belgian waffles, maple syrup is seeping along the honeycomb patterns to create a Caravaggio-like chiaroscuro contrast.

In the blue and white porcelain plate, the glaze color contrasts with the amber gold of the egg yolk flow center.

While enjoying breakfast, the morning light shines through the glass windows, casting light and shadows on the dining table.

This moment gave him a breakfast ritual, so he took out his camera and took pictures of the light and shadow composition, thinking about whether he could put this moment on the screen.

After breakfast, the aroma of roasted coffee beans wafted through the kitchen.

Jiang Zhe took a sip of the coffee he bought at the Columbia Student Center and glanced at the clock, which showed 07:47.

There are still two hours before the meeting with Professor Kerry, which is enough time to finish the strokes of inspiration that came to me last night.

Go up to the second floor of the duplex apartment and come to the studio.

The studio here is not as big as the studio in his villa in China. It looks a bit crowded after putting many tools and picture frames in it.

Feeling that the air was a little turbid, he opened a window and let the early autumn wind bring the scent of maple leaves from Central Park into the studio.

Outside the window, the surface of the Hudson River was filled with golden spots.

Jiang Zhe walked to the easel. The undried cobalt blue and ochre on the palette glowed with pearly luster in the morning light. On the easel was an unfinished oil painting.

The painting depicts a scene of jazz music being played.

Prepare your paint and medium.
He used a badger-hair brush to lightly brush the edge of the canvas, and the canvas vibrated slightly with the rhythm of the strokes.

After arriving in New York, he integrated into the new living environment. What he saw and heard was different from what he saw and heard in China. He began to try to express some new themes and made appropriate changes to various techniques.

Immerse yourself in creation and forget the passage of time.

The set alarm went off.

Jiang Zhe decisively put down his paintbrush, grabbed the charcoal sketchbook, put it in his backpack, checked the materials to be handed over to Professor Kerry, changed his clothes, and went out earlier than scheduled.

Because it is very close to the school, the journey is smooth.

He walked to a classroom with ease and waited for Professor Kerry to finish the get out of class.

A few minutes later, Professor Kerry walked out of the classroom. Seeing Jiang Zhe waiting for him, he waved his hand and asked him to go to his office.

"Jiang, I read the email and information you sent. It's very good. We can continue to delve deeper in this direction." Professor Kerry recently grew a beard.

"I have a few more questions." Jiang Zhe followed the professor to his office and handed over the research progress he brought to the professor. Then he skillfully prepared coffee.

He prepared the coffee and sat opposite the desk waiting for the professor to give his answer.

Professor Kerry looked very carefully.

On his desk was a copy of the Atlantic Codex, and on the wall of his office hung a reproduction of Botticelli's work. These were the information that interested him recently.

Professor Kerry circled a paragraph in the document with a pencil and said to Jiang Zhe: "The subtle iris emblem at the bottom of the mast... unless this is an encrypted message from the Medici family - they are not only funding art, but also the arms race on the Atlantic route..."

Jiang Zhe explained his research. A lot of the information was obtained with the help of the system, so he was very confident.

After some discussion, Professor Kerry's face was filled with smiles again. This student, who had only been enrolled for a short time, had shown excellent learning and research abilities. He was completely different from those young painters who were arrogant because of their talent.

After finishing their business, the two started chatting.

“Ginger, have you ever smelled real Venetian rosin?” Professor Kerry pushed a block of rosin wrapped in silk across the oak table and unveiled the silk like a child showing off a treasure: “This is the scrapings from the restoration of the Convent of San Marco in Florence in 1986, mixed with beeswax left over from a fifteenth-century picture frame. My friend got it.”

Jiang Zhe touched the amber object with his fingertips.

The scent of turpentine and ancient resins mingled in the morning light. He flipped open his sketchbook and used charcoal to record the details of what his professor had said: how Lorenzo de' Medici mixed crushed lapis lazuli into the gold leaf of his painting frames to highlight his family's devotion to the sacred art.

However, he had gained knowledge and skills about painting materials from the system's rewards several times. Judging from his existing knowledge and experience, he thought that there might be some doubts about Professor Kerry's treasure.

However, this suspicion requires more evidence, so he remained silent.

After confirming the next research details with Professor Kerry, he prepared to leave.

Professor Kerry reminded: "You should visit George more often. He complained to me that you haven't been visiting him as often recently."

"Thank you for your reminder. I will ask questions often." Jiang Zhe agreed. George is also one of Jiang Zhe's mentors.

At noon, the dome of Butler Library casts a waterfall of honey-colored light.

Jiang Zhe was in the rare books section. He raised his head and slowly moved his eyes, which were sore from excessive reading.

Next to it, on a copy of "On Art" from 1620, some of the ink marks on the marginal notes have become blurred due to age.

He had a simple lunch and started reading and taking notes again until he successfully completed the purpose of borrowing the book.

To relax, I took out my charcoal sketchbook and drew the librarian who was napping across from me.

The style is similar to Rubens's drafts - the relaxed jaw line and relaxed movements form a wonderful gravity balance, and the pencil gray flows between the parchment lines to create a Baroque dynamic.

"Mr. Jiang, the book you ordered has arrived."

Another administrator tapped on the oak table, stirring up dust.

"Thank you." Jiang Zhe got the book he had always wanted.

"If you need anything else, remember to tell me as usual." The young administrator was already very familiar with Jiang Zhe.

Many people came here to borrow books, but the young Jiang Zhe left a deep impression on many staff members. After a long time, the vibration of the mobile phone interrupted Jiang Zhe's work.

I picked up my phone and saw a message from Christie’s sales manager: “The auction is over. Your work was sold for $15.6. Congratulations.”

He replied with a smile and thanked the other party.

The auction price of this work exceeded that of previous works of the same type. This was due to both accumulation and system rewards.

Most of the money spent on purchasing a luxury house and improving the quality of life has been recovered through system rewards.

……

As the setting sun turned the Roman columns of the Jerome Sculpture Hall into golden strings, Jiang Zhe opened his sketchbook in a coffee shop under the blue awning.

The tip of the charcoal pencil was suspended three millimeters above the paper, staring at the couple who were arguing diagonally opposite - the girl was waving her red scarf, and the boy accidentally bumped into a passerby when he stepped back.

Capturing the fun of this moment in life, Jiang Zhe's charcoal pencil suddenly moves quickly, freezing the dynamics of the two people into the image in the painting, and using the shades of pencil gray to distinguish the boundary between reality and the painting.

"The painting is really great! Can you draw a portrait for me?" A clear female voice interrupted the creation.

Jiang Zhe looked up and saw Emily, the teaching assistant of the Art History Department, standing by the table with three books in her arms.

The pearl earrings dangling from her earlobes reminded Jiang Zhe of the women in Spanish court paintings.

"Please take a seat. If you like anything, just order it. I'll treat you," said Jiang Zhe.

Emily sat down with a smile, ordered a cup of chocolate ice cream, and then posed in what she thought was the most beautiful posture.

Jiang Zhe made some observations and then began to write.

I came to Columbia University to study and met many new friends. Emily is one of my good friends.

The charcoal pencil deliberately enhances the contrast of light and shadow when moving on the paper. The left cheek is depicted with a hard pen tip to depict the cold light, while the right cheek is smudged with a rubbing pen to create the warm tone of dusk.

Emily's eyes swept over Jiang Zhe.

Columbia University students come in all shapes and sizes. There are wealthy businessmen, second-generation rich people, and children from ordinary families. Among them, there are definitely people with good talents and good family backgrounds.

Jiang Zhe is not the most popular student, but in the eyes of many people, he has a unique charm.

Jiang Zhe quickly completed a simple portrait.

Emily marveled at the texture of the painting.

She wanted to invite Jiang Zhe to have dinner together.

Jiang Zhe smiled and showed the text message. "Sorry, the materials I ordered have arrived and I need to go home to receive them. Can you find another time?"

……

Back at the mansion for the reexamination, he watched the owner and workers of the painting supplies store move the tools and supplies for Chinese painting and calligraphy into the studio.

Many of the painting tools and materials used in China are not convenient to bring here. If I want to create something different, I have to buy new ones.

As he began to prepare dinner for himself, the city lights outside the window were gradually lighting up.

From the kitchen came the sizzling sound of cast iron pan meeting olive oil.

Tonight's main course is pan-fried cod, stewed beef, cabbage salad, and toasted muffins.

Because of exercise and fulfilling studies, his appetite has increased and he doesn't have to worry about gaining weight.

After lightly touching the cod's skin to confirm its crispness, gently flip it over to let the golden veins on the fish skin instantly bloom.

After a busy day, Jiang Zhe sat down at the dining table, listening to light music and completely relaxed.

In order to make life better, he spared no time and put a lot of thought into dinner.

The Georgian silver candlesticks are paired with Jingdezhen ice crackle porcelain plates; the napkins are folded into a swan shape, which is a variation of the plaster statue of Jerome in the Sculpture Hall sketched in the sketchbook; the lighting in the restaurant is also adjusted to the most appropriate brightness. While dining, you can also enjoy the beautiful scenery outside the window.

The moment the braised beef in red wine melted in his mouth, he closed his eyes to capture the layers of taste.

After dinner, he bit into a toasted muffin and opened his laptop.

There are many unread messages on the communication software.

There were messages from China, parents, family, friends, and classmates. Almost every day, someone would leave him a message, some asking about his life, some asking for information about the art world, and of course, some asking for his help.

Jiang Zhe processed the messages in different categories. He simply responded to daily greetings, and handled requests for help with discretion. The responses to his parents were much more detailed.

In addition, there is information from the United States and Europe, most of which is related to the painting or exhibition.

After spending some time processing this information, he began to organize what he had learned and researched today.

Four years of study at university gave him a good habit of reviewing and sorting out the day's events, checking if there were any omissions, and then planning what to do tomorrow.

Make sure you have everything you need to do tomorrow. Look at the time and you will have more than an hour before bedtime, so you can do whatever you want.

He took out his sketchbook from his backpack and looked through the day's harvest... a few fragments recorded in the morning, manuscripts recorded during the day, and sketches in the evening...

These fragments can form new creative themes.

I come to the studio, adjust the light, and reconstruct the materials captured during the day.

After finishing some drafts, I continued with my previous oil painting creation - the posture of the librarian I saw today can be integrated into the oil painting.

The neon lights of New York outside the floor-to-ceiling windows are cooling down, and Jiang Zhe is isolating the city noise outside the glass.

There are several completed works in the studio, including oil paintings and watercolors. These works were gradually completed in his spare time after he came to New York.

These are all excellent works. Some manuscripts that were evaluated as ordinary works by the system have been destroyed.

When it was time for a break, Jiang Zhe decisively stopped writing, washed up, and lay down on the comfortable big bed.

Click on the system.

Today is the system settlement day.

Today you spent more than 1.5 hours exercising, 3.5 hours creating, and 7 hours studying.

Your learning accumulation this month has reached an excellent level, the project completion rate has reached 82%, and one of your works has been auctioned and sold successfully.

After comprehensive calculation, you can get the following rewards this month.

Reward funds: $7, which can be withdrawn or accumulated through the following channels.

Reward 2: An opportunity to observe a master’s creation.

Reward 3: A chance to improve ancient book restoration skills.

……

The next morning, while Jiang Zhe was shaving in front of the bathroom mirror, he received a text message from Professor Kerry: "Bring your charcoal sketches to my office. A curator is interested in your work." (End of this chapter)