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

studio.

Jiang Zhe is painting a small oil painting of a worker with a thick beard. Next to the easel, there are more than a dozen small oil paintings of the same size. Some are finished, while others are still blank canvases.

The phone vibrated.

Jiang Zhe put down his paintbrush, picked up his phone and took a look.

Wang Zhenlai's text message:

The agreement was reached, and about half an hour later, we left the auction house.

Jiang Zhe smiled.

Wang Zhen and his colleagues have already talked with galleries and auction houses several times.

I did not participate in the negotiations, but I listened to them talk about the process.

It's tough.

Now, the deal has finally been made.

He replied to Wang Zhen: "I'll pick you up."

Jiang Zhe drove his SUV to Christie's auction house.

After waiting for a while, I saw Wang Zhen and his three companions leaving the auction house, talking and laughing.

The temperature was low today, but Wang Zhen walked briskly in her high heels. The other three also had smiles on their faces.

Everyone held the briefcase tightly in their hands.

Jiang Zhe lowered the car window and waved to a few people.

Wang Zhen saw Jiang Zhe and took the lead to walk over.

"Teacher Jiang!" "Thank you for coming to pick us up." Three friends from the Artist Association greeted from afar.

"You're welcome, get in the car."

"Twenty! Twenty booths!" Wang Zhen opened the passenger door and quickly sat down. He said to Jiang Zhe excitedly.

The other three sat in the back row.

Xiao Lin, a part-time curatorial consultant of the External Relations Department of the Artists Association, hugged his briefcase and shivered when he felt the warmth in the car. "The standard of the exhibition is higher than expected."

Another companion, whose glasses were covered with moisture, said, “The result is better than expected.”

“I have to thank Mr. Jiang for making this collaboration possible.”

Jiang Zhe said, "You're welcome, let's go celebrate."

As the car started, Wang Zhen sent a message to the staff of his gallery. The others called their superiors to report.

Although Jiang Zhe was driving the vehicle, from the few words spoken by several people, it can be guessed that the country should be very satisfied with the results of this negotiation.

After the report was over, several people began to talk to Jiang Zhe about the specific content of the negotiations.

Old Chen loosened his tie and placed his briefcase flat on his knees. "Teacher Jiang, your suggestion is still the best. For this exhibition, both parties will come forward to coordinate the transportation, and the process of exhibitors going abroad can also be accelerated. Go directly through the diplomatic courtesy channel!"

Another colleague said: "I guess the gallery and Christie's auction house should have a lot of room for maneuver and will benefit more."

"I saw Deborah's pen almost piercing the paper when she signed it!"

Wang Zhen turned around and leaned on the back of the chair. "She was very cautious and finally forced a supplementary clause - all works during the exhibition period cannot be included in other auctions."

Xiao Lin smiled happily: "With more booths, maybe we can form long-term cooperation in the future..."

Although we haven't received an official reply from our superiors, the result should be good. A few people were in a good mood and began to imagine...

Jiang Zhe invited Wang Zhen and others to his home.

Everyone had been here once, and with the joy of completing the mission, they were not restrained.

Jiang Zhe ordered food and prepared snacks for everyone.

Wang Zhen and others also helped.

Everyone sat around the long table in the living room and continued to talk about the joint art exhibition.

"Teacher Jiang, the booth you are given is the best. Moreover, it is not among the twenty booths. We have seen the renderings." Xiao Lin pointed to a wall in the empty living room and said, "Your booth is the prime booth at the entrance. Its area is not smaller than this wall."

Lao Chen took out the exhibition floor plan and pointed out the booths of Jiang Zhe and his team: "Your work is in the prime location at the entrance of Hall 1! We have four corner booths..."

"Do you know who lives next door to you?" Wang Zhen asked.

Jiang Zhe said: "I know, the painter that Deborah promoted. There is also a new one introduced by Christie's.

They arranged it this way on purpose so that the audience can see them next to my work.”

Several people suddenly fell silent. They understood Jiang Zhe's role, and they also knew that the auction house and gallery wanted to take advantage of Jiang Zhe's rising fame.

"Let's not talk about this anymore. What are we going to do next?" Jiang Zhe changed the subject. He picked up the teapot and prepared to refill the water for the few people.

Wang Zhen snatched it away and stopped him from doing it.

Lao Chen danced wildly on the booth floor plan with red and blue markers: "The media will arrange three reports. We need to prepare for the preliminary publicity and on-site interviews."

Wang Zhen ate a small piece of cheese and said, "Some publicity needs to be prepared from now on. Especially Jiang Zhe, you need to prepare photos or footage of your latest creation."

Jiang Zhe thought for a while, suddenly looked around, and then said: "I think we can take a picture of the current scene. You have done a lot of preliminary work, and it should appear in the publicity." As he spoke, he stood up and walked around, and after comparing several positions, he chose an angle.

"Let's start from here and take a picture of the scene where everyone is discussing. This will serve as the process data for the early preparations."

This suggestion was approved by Wang Zhen and others. Although they were not the ones who made the final decision, they had paid a lot for this matter and naturally did not want their hard work to be buried.

Following Jiang Zhe's suggestion, Wang Zhen and others adjusted their positions and postures.

Jiang Zhe set the camera to shoot automatically and walked quickly to his position.

The camera automatically took a picture, recording a moment when several people were discussing the art exhibition.

An hour later, Xiaolin received a text message.

She read it and said excitedly to a few people: "My superior sent me an email! Follow-up work has been started."

After hearing this, everyone was very excited. Their efforts and hard work finally paid off.

Soon, the other two also received replies from their superiors.

The superiors decided on the participation, and of course, there were also suggestions on exhibition halls, publicity, etc.

They say that work needs to be done, but it can't be done in one day, and there are many things to be done later. Now they just want to relax.

Jiang Zheding's lunch has arrived. Several people are giving each other blessings and toasting each other...

Two days later, Wang Zhen came to Jiang Zhe's duplex mansion again.

Jiang Zhe invited Wang Zhen to the studio.

"How many are they?"

Wang Zhen said: "Let's go shopping. No matter how busy you are at work, you should take time to rest. When you come to the United States, you should also buy some souvenirs to bring back." She habitually inspected the works in Jiang Zhe's studio.

I saw a dozen small-scale oil portraits placed near the easel.

Her eyes rested on an oil painting on an easel.

A quick glance will reveal that this painting is 14cm wide and 23cm high, smaller than an A4 paper. It is different from the specifications of Kang Cheol's previous works.

A closer look reveals that the figure in the painting is a man wearing a helmet and with a thick beard. The man is looking up, as if he is about to shout.

Jiang Zhe uses light to shine on the beard, which not only makes the character more three-dimensional, but also draws the viewer's attention to the details, highlighting the character's expression and focused eyes.

The man's hands holding the tools were bulging with veins, and his skin was tanned and very rough, showing the characteristics of his profession.

The colors of the picture are reasonably matched, using the color contrast of the clothes to form a complementary color relationship. At the same time, the area of ​​the contrasting colors is reduced and controlled to an appropriate level, which is both harmonious and contrasting.

The more Wang Zhen watched, the more interesting it became.

I have seen so many paintings. The dynamics of the characters in this small painting, the relationship between light and shadow, and the contradictions created by colors are very dramatic. Such detailed descriptions are in line with the overall expression needs and are very meaningful.

"Although this work is small, it is deeply painted. The key is that it has all the details and is very finely tuned." She said to Jiang Zhe: "Such a small picture can still show rich information. It is not descriptive at all and has a strong painterly quality. It is completely different from those greasy realistic paintings copied from photos."

Jiang Zhe said, "Do you think there is any problem?"

Wang Zhen shook his head: "Such paintings are vivid and lively, and are worth appreciating. It can be seen that the appeal of art has nothing to do with the size of the painting, but has something to do with the ability and talent of the painter.

Before I came here, I just watched an oil painting exhibition in China. The size of those paintings is getting bigger and bigger. The workmanship is very hard, and the effect of repeated painting is feared to be not rich, but there are not many works that can make people recollect them repeatedly. Speaking of which, there is also your reason. "

Jiang Zhe was surprised: "What does it have to do with me?"

Wang Zhen said: "Your works are selling for higher and higher prices. Your fame is growing. Many young painters want to copy your path to success, thinking that your painting style may be more popular in the market, so they began to create realistic, even photo-realistic works. However, the effect is not good."

Jiang Zhe shook his head: "It has nothing to do with me, I just like this way of expression."

Wang Zhen asked, "You painted this batch of small-scale portraits in preparation for creating new works."

Jiang Zhe replied: "No, I plan to continue to revise the work for the Kassel Documenta. These characters are certain characters in the work. I will enlarge the characters or draw them again in their original size to try to see if the image of the characters can be more refined and vivid."

Wang Zhen was surprised: "I remember you said you had spent it all, why do you want to change it?"

Jiang Zhe displayed his formal works and then arranged the small portraits.

"I had originally planned to stop revising it, but a few days ago I accidentally discovered that some parts of the picture looked messy. In particular, the images of some characters are not vivid enough, and their characteristics are not distinct enough, so I want to try again. You can compare and see if there is any improvement."

"I don't object to you making changes, but please don't change it before the deadline." Wang Zhen said as he walked closer to take a closer look.

As I watched, I was more and more amazed at the brilliance of these small paintings:

The woman jogging in the morning, the worker sweeping the steps, the woman walking her poodle, each of these characters sees a different city skyline reflected in their eyes.

Some of these details may be overlooked if you don't look closely.

She compared it with the finished draft.

This painting already looks perfect, but Jiang Zhe demands even greater perfection, so I can only support him.

Wang Zhen said: "How to modify it is up to you. I can't give you more professional advice."

Next, she got down to business.

“Which channel do you want to participate in the exhibition?”

Jiang Zhe can participate in the exhibition through the auction company's channels, or he can let Wang Zhen do it, just like the previous exhibition operation method.

"We have to complete the submission and packing by New Year's Day at the latest." Wang Zhen unfolded a document and still hoped to do it himself.

Jiang Zhe took it and saw that it recorded the requirements for participating in the exhibition and the deadline for each step of the operation.

"Your work is an oil painting. If you submit it before it is completely dry, the transportation process will become troublesome."

Jiang Zhe finally decided to let Wang Zhen use her gallery channels to submit the works to the organizing committee.

Wang Zhen took the written schedule and asked Jiang Zhe to write down the most critical time nodes - submitting works and waiting for invitation notifications...

After discussing the submission of works, the two moved to the reception room.

"We have reached an agreement with the auction house this time. The joint art exhibition will tour the country. The first stop will be in the capital." Wang Zhen held the silver coffee cup and took a sip of coffee.

"Do you need my cooperation in publicity?"

Wang Zhen said: "The domestic art association and cultural departments want to promote cultural exchanges, so there will be interviews and reports. Can you go back and participate in the activities?"

Jiang Zhe shook his head: "I don't know. The research and study tasks are getting more and more difficult."

Wang Zhen understood Jiang Zhe. Although on the surface, Jiang Zhe's life was very easy, from the full manuscripts and works in the studio, as well as the various materials in the study, one could get a glimpse of his intense study.

“You can take some promotional photos in advance and give them to art columns and the media. It would be best if you have detailed photos of the creative process.”

Jiang Zhe said, "Since you want to take pictures, let's take them now. There's no need to find another time."

Wang Zhen called the relevant department and asked about the requirements for the filming content.

While she was on the phone, Jiang Zhe had already prepared the shooting location and equipment.

Due to the needs of learning and creation, he has a complete range of shooting equipment.

Wang Zhen was familiar with the tools, and Jiang Zhe found a good shooting angle.

After getting ready, he sat down in front of the easel and began his daily painting work.

Wang Zhen first filmed the video. The camera swept across the practice works in the studio, and then focused on Jiang Zhe who was working on the painting.

Wang Zhen admired Jiang Zhe even more when he saw that he was very focused when creating and was not affected by the camera at all.

She zoomed in to film the specific brushstrokes that Jiang Zhe used to modify the characters in the painting.

Next, according to the publicity requirements, film Jiang Zhe's understanding of creation

"Not long ago, I sketched in front of the New York Stock Exchange." Jiang Zhe talked to the camera: "The man selling hot cocoa was the inspiration for this painting."

After Wang Zhen finished shooting the video, he continued taking photos.

After taking the last photo, she said as she sorted it out: "Remember when you were preparing to come to New York, some people in China said you were 'too academic'?"

Jiang Zhe was packing up his painting supplies. He no longer felt anything about these comments.

"I'm in New York, what did they say?"

Wang Zhen said: "I saw someone write a review praising your work, which played a role in communication and exchange, showing the spirit of the times, etc. Among those who criticized you back then, he was a very active one."

Jiang Zhe asked who it was, and then said, "I don't have any contact with him. Have you improved your relationship with him?"

"No, he changes very quickly. As long as you can still bring benefits, there will be people who speak well of you." Wang Zhen talked about the importance that domestic painters and critics attached to this joint exhibition.

Jiang Zhe has experienced this phenomenon in recent times. Many friends in China hope that he can help speak up and get a booth for the joint exhibition.

(End of this chapter)