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

Jiang Zhe held the teacup and looked out the window.

It is summer.

The windows isolate the hot and humid air outside. The air conditioner slowly releases cold air, making the indoor temperature very comfortable.

After a while, he walked into the spacious study and sat down in front of the large painting table. He glanced at a few stationery items, let his emotions settle, dripped a little water into the inkstone, and began to slowly grind the ink.

The ink, as it rotates in circles, gradually melts and emits a mixed fragrance of several Chinese medicinal herbs.

I was thinking about what to draw and how to express it, and before I knew it, the ink on the inkstone had become thick.

While the ink was waking up, he spread out a three-foot-long piece of mulberry paper, picked out a half-worn wolf-hair brush, moistened the brush, and mixed the ink.

He held the pen, thought for a moment, and then decisively inserted the tip of the pen diagonally into the paper - pause - and move the pen.

The thick ink at the tip of the pen draws smooth and favorable lines on the ivory white paper.

Jiang Zhe's wrist trembled in the air, and the brush and ink techniques of traditional Chinese painting turned into the texture of urban buildings.

After arriving in New York, I spent most of my study and creative time on studying oil painting, but I also did not give up studying calligraphy and painting.

The chance of extracting Chinese painting techniques with system rewards is not high, but a little adds up to a lot. At this time, he has mastered more Chinese painting techniques than when he first arrived in New York.

At this moment, he uses traditional Chinese painting to express the city life in New York. This is the application and innovation of traditional Chinese painting techniques, and it is also a question he has been thinking about frequently in the past year.

Exploring new painting languages ​​cannot be done mechanically, but requires constant experimentation.

When the ink on the tip of the brush was about to run out, white dots appeared on the paper. He dipped the tip of the brush into water and swept it horizontally. The ink color suddenly became lighter. The city buildings in the distance in the painting gradually emerged.

After finishing part of the distant view, he changed a brush, adjusted the ink, and used the "leaking roof" brushstroke technique to start depicting the spire of Morningside Church.

The tip of the pen moves backwards, twists, sometimes fast, sometimes slow. The techniques of drawing sand with a cone and folding a hairpin are used one after another.

While painting the surface of the bell tower, he took a short break and observed the effect of the painting. Looking at the building depicted in ink and wash, he suddenly remembered the scene of him and his friends visiting and sketching here last year.

Pick up a pen and decorate the open space of the building with a few small figures

The pine smoke ink mixed with cyan creates a grayish-blue patch on the backlit part of the building. The brush tip gradually becomes scattered during the writing process, scraping the paper surface, creating a natural flying white effect, which just fits the traces of moisture on the wall.

As the painting gradually becomes complete, the street scene of Morningside Heights is slowly unfolding on the neatly-lined rice paper with the special brushwork of traditional Chinese painting; the traffic on Broadway is like a mountain stream, the fire escape is like a vine hanging from the cliff, and even the sunshade of the hot dog stand on the corner has become a thatched pavilion described by Ni Zan.

After Jiang Zhe finished carving a part, he would stop to check and think.

My writing style today is a bit hesitant, perhaps influenced by my emotions.

He relaxed, found a goat-hair brush for dyeing, and began to mix colors.

The colors include traditional plant and mineral colors as well as Western gum pigments.

The teaching building of Columbia University, which he was most familiar with, was painted into a small green landscape effect, and the oak tree in front of the building was lush and green.

When he was describing the tree, many things he experienced at Columbia University came to his mind.

Writing "Oriental Art" in the reading room...

Busy, arguing, exploring, failing, and succeeding in the restoration lab...

The joy of peeping into the secrets of some rare manuscripts...

Because we studied too late and it was raining heavily, I stayed in the research room with a few students to rest, and we took turns telling stories...

In the classroom, a professor once mocked Chinese painters for only using two-dimensional thinking to deconstruct three-dimensional objects. I argued with him, and since then I have spent more time studying Chinese painting.

In addition to the scenery of Columbia University, some objects that left a deep impression on him gradually appeared on the screen.

The auction house building, the exhibition areas of several galleries, the tree canopy of Central Park, and the ferry on the Hudson River
An hour later, Jiang Zhe stepped back and examined the painting. He thought it was OK, so he used a brush dipped in water to wet the image.

The ink color began to spread subtly, and the brush and ink gradually blended.

This Chinese painting of New York scenery is basically finished. The city buildings have replaced the ink-and-wash mountains, and the traffic on Broadway looks like a mountain stream.

Although there are still some flaws, it is enough for this kind of work to express emotions. He thought for a moment and wrote a paragraph of words in cursive script in the blank space in the upper right corner of the painting:
"People say that Chinese painting is not suitable for depicting steel forests. I use the method of drawing, rubbing, dotting and dyeing to depict the scenery of New York. I know that the brush and ink should follow the times. Wu Zi Year."

After writing the inscription, he stamped his name and left a small portrait seal in an inconspicuous corner of the city. The pattern was a lotus in ink with gears interlocking.

He fetched his camera and took a picture.

At this time, a friend called and asked him to have a party.

Jiang Zhe declined the offer, citing his graduation preparations as an excuse.

He took a short break and wanted to clean up his drawing desk, but when he thought about graduation, he seemed to have some inexplicable emotions that needed to be vented.

So, spread out a piece of rice paper that is slightly smaller than the previous work.

Re-grind the ink and prepare the pigment.

He thought about what to paint, and some images engraved in his memory naturally emerged.

I haven't been back to Binhai for a year and a half. Because of research topics, creation, and various other reasons...

In my previous life, I always missed home terribly whenever I went on a long journey.

After rebirth, I have experienced more things and more wonderful things, and this feeling of homesickness has become stronger.

Dip the brush in ink, adjust the ink, scrape the edge of the brush with the belly of the brush a few times, and then start writing decisively.

The thick ink flowed along the tip of the brush, fell onto the paper, and slowly seeped out.

Old residential buildings, old neighborhoods, dense street trees, old people and children... the old house where I lived before high school. Appear on paper.

After finishing one place, he adjusted the ink and started to move the brush tip from the lower right side of the rice paper, slowly drawing out the traces of an old street.

The roads, two- or three-story shops, the constant stream of pedestrians, and the tall sycamore trees gradually appear in the brush and ink.

He used a reverse-stroke brush to erase the iron door of the old cinema, and then changed his brushstrokes to draw the waves rolling up thousands of piles of snow in Qianhai Bay... a twenty-story department store... the oldest seaside tourist road, the sightseeing bus...

As his portrayal deepened, his method of depicting cities with his brush and ink became more and more perfect.

The most exquisite part of the depiction is the streets and alleys of the old city. There are elementary schools and junior high schools here, and the atmosphere of fireworks that brings countless joy to oneself.

After Jiang Zhe finished painting an old-fashioned bridge, he examined the painting.

This painting took less time to create than the previous one, but it is more in line with my own wishes. I changed a pen and wrote a postscript in the blank space.
Three years of dining at Xiake,
Today I will untie my lover.

If Danqing has faith,
Go to my hometown first.

After signing, he waited for the painting to dry. He looked at the two paintings from a distance and found that he had used some abstract elements in dealing with the images in the paintings intentionally or unintentionally.

Looking at the seemingly waving blocks of color, he suddenly had an epiphany. He took out a pen and wrote down his thoughts in the notebook he carried with him.

Mobile phone vibration.

Jiang Zhe read the message and responded.

While waiting for the work to dry, I turned on my computer and checked seven unread emails… There was an invitation letter from a school in China, an invitation from an art institution in the United States… a draft for an exhibition… an auction promotion… and also, an invitation to the graduation ceremony.

Jiang Zhe turned on the stereo and played soothing music. He checked the two paintings with his hands and found that they were dry.

When the works are folded in half, they are stored in a custom-made mahogany painting box, which contains calligraphy and Chinese painting works that he is satisfied with.

Then he began to pack up other items, including the Huanghuali paperweight, and put it in the toolbox.

He picked up the Mazikeng Duan inkstone with fish brain jelly and stroked the banana leaf pattern on the side wall with his fingertips. This is a small leak from Christie's autumn auction last year - the "Listening to the Rain Inkstone" from the Qing Dynasty, with large size, good material and exquisite carving.

Since I bought this inkstone, I have been using it on my desk. The ink crust on the inkstone now shows the traces of one month's use.

He gently scraped it with a bamboo opener imitated from the Palace Museum, and suddenly remembered that he had used the same technique to restore the remaining manuscripts of Bada Shanren in the Ancient Books Department of Columbia University Library.

More than a dozen Hu brushes were taken down from the custom-made rosewood pen holder and put into a camphorwood pen box specially designed for storing brushes.

He picked up his two favorite brushes and played with them carefully. The wolf-hair brush had his own words engraved on the pen holder, and the goat-hair brush had mother-of-pearl inlays on the pen holder, which was iridescent.

There are traces of ink and blue at the base of the two pens.

He sighed, put away his brush, and put away a few ingots of ink.

He picked up the Ge Kiln iron wire pattern brush washer from the Qing Dynasty, wiped it clean, and put it into a box filled with shock-proof sponge.

The eight years in New York are precipitated in the ice cracks. This is the object he first fell in love with at the auction special exhibition. It is not too old and has a little damage, so it is not expensive. It is a stationery with both beautiful appearance and practical value.

When I was packing, I suddenly saw the documents for purchasing several seals. One of them was a bloodstone seal in a brocade bag. Although it was new, the material was very good. The seal was engraved with four small seal characters "Jiang Zhe's Seal". There was also a seal made by Chen Julai, which was both practical and collectible.

The phone suddenly vibrated, and the blue screen showed a message from Wang Zhen. Preparations for a biennial venue in China began.

After Jiang Zhe responded, he continued to clean up.

After sorting through a stack of Qing Dynasty poetry notes, Jiang Zhe pulled out a poem note that was sandwiched between "Methodology of Art History".

On the paper was a half-song of a poem written last year in small characters: "Where the Hudson River is frozen, who can pick up a piece of feather from the star raft?"

Now that his main purpose of coming to New York to study has been achieved, he doesn't know how to complete the half-song.

Forget it, continue cleaning up.

I packed the stationery and other items in the study one by one. Some of the books and items have been shipped back to China, and some more things are to be shipped away one after another.

After checking the items in the study, he checked the studio and the bedroom. This was not the duplex mansion he bought when he first arrived in New York.

In 07, the housing prices near the duplex mansion rose. He saw the fluctuations in housing prices and recalled the economic fluctuations in 08 in his previous life.

He had no intention of settling here, so he took advantage of the rising house prices to sell the duplex mansion. After deducting various handling fees, he made a small profit. Then, he rented the house he lives in now.

The location is not much different, but the area is larger.

The price of his works continued to rise, and after completing the three major art exhibitions, he received a large amount of bonus funds from the system rewards. Therefore, he was not short of money.

In order to make my life more comfortable, there are more and more items in the room. Some items can't be sold, so they can only be shipped back, which has become a more troublesome thing now. Some items can only be packed at the last minute because they still need to be used.

Jiang Zhe opened his notebook and checked his defense paper and the materials he needed to prepare for graduation.

Then, I opened an unfinished manuscript entitled "The Extension of Traditional Calligraphy and Painting Techniques in Contemporary Urban Themes."

He added today's creative experience and a few pictures to the document...

There is still a lot to be done in a short period of time.

At the same time, at Columbia University, there was a knock on Professor Kerry's office door.

Come in—Professor Kerry looked away from the documents.

Professor White pushed open the door and walked into the office. "Do you have time? Let's chat."

Professor Kerry stood up, prepared a cup of coffee and put it on the table: "It just so happens that I also need a break, we can talk slowly."

"Will you sign for Jiang Zhe?" Professor White did not touch the cup of coffee.

Professor Kerry nodded. "Of course, he has done a good job in every study, in my opinion. His achievements in artistic practice have far exceeded our initial expectations. Before he obtained his doctorate, he has participated in the world's three major art exhibitions and won awards. This year, the highest price of his work was over $30. His graduation work has been booked by the Guggenheim.

I have never had a better student than him.”

He paused and continued, "You came to talk to me about this matter. Do you have any opinions?"

Professor White said slowly: “I also think that he is very talented and will become an influential artist in the future.

Would you like him to return home? Why don't you suggest that he stay? As far as I know, there are several schools and institutions that would welcome him to work there. "

Professor Klin smiled. He knew that White admired Jiang Zhe very much.

White is very strict and has very high requirements for students, so it is even more difficult to pass him. However, Jiang Zhe is an exception.

"First of all, I respect his personal opinion. I have talked to him. He wants to return to China to be a freelance artist or find a job that will not interfere with his creation." Professor Kerry recalled several conversations he had with Jiang Zhe. He asked Jiang Zhe about his plans after graduation and even hinted that he could help. However, Jiang Zhe was determined to return to China.

"He told me about his future plans. I think returning to China to develop his career might be a better choice for him."

"I don't think he'll be in a better position to go back than here," White said. "I plan to talk to him again."

"Of course you can talk to him," Professor Kerry said. "No matter where he goes, he got his Ph.D. at Columbia University. His mentors are you and me. The more successful he is, the more it proves our success."

Professor White misunderstood and thought that Professor Kerry wanted to use Jiang Zhe to increase his influence and authority. So he silently decided to talk to Jiang Zhe again.

On the day of graduation, Jiang Zhe received the certificate from his instructor.

There was thunderous applause from the audience.

He turned around and accepted everyone's congratulations.

In the crowd below the stage, Jiang Yi and his wife were laughing particularly happily.

(End of this chapter)