Drive to the Tang Dynasty, where supplies are refreshed daily!

“Yes, that’s the idea.” Xiao Ran continued with the second point, “The next one is ‘shading light and shadow’.”

"No matter what we look at, there are always bright and dark areas. For example, when standing in the sun, your face is bright and your hands are dark, or the part of an object that is touching the table is dark and the part that is raised is bright."

"Sketching is about using the varying pressure of charcoal pencils to depict the light and dark areas—lightly sketching the bright areas with a couple of strokes, making them lighter."

"Apply a little more pressure to the darker areas, make sure the drawing isn't flat against the paper, but rather has a 'bulging' effect."

Li Lizhi understood and said softly, "It means not using color, but relying solely on the shades of charcoal to distinguish light and dark, making the object appear three-dimensional?"

"Fifth Sister is absolutely right." Xiao Ran smiled and agreed, then added, "These two points are the foundation. Master these two points first, then think about other things."

"That's all I know. If you really want to delve deeper, like how to capture the form more accurately and how to distinguish light and shadow more finely, you'll have to rely on someone like you who truly understands painting to figure it out—I'm just giving you a starting point."

Yan Liben tightened his grip on the charcoal pencil, his eyes shining brightly: "These two points alone are enough for me to ponder for a while! First, practice 'capturing the form,' then practice 'distinguishing light and shadow,' lay a solid foundation, and I'll be able to draw anything more steadily in the future."

Yan Liben paints portraits, so capturing the form is no challenge for him at all.

In sketching, drawing portraits is relatively difficult. Yan Liben has already mastered it, but his expressive techniques are quite different.

Princess Yuzhang picked up a charcoal pencil and lightly drew on the paper: "It doesn't sound difficult, but you have to practice slowly and control the strength in your hand. Otherwise, if you draw the bright areas too heavily and the dark areas too lightly, it will look messy."

"Sixth Sister is right, it mainly depends on practice." Xiao Ran put the remaining charcoal pencils on the stone table. "I also have some willow wood charcoal pencils here. Uncle, if you want to try, use these to practice first. Later, when you find softer wood, you can make some better ones."

Yan Liben immediately picked up a charcoal pencil and lightly drew a straight line on the paper. He then tried drawing two more lines with alternating light and dark shades, feeling the changes in the charcoal's intensity. He couldn't help but smile.
"Alright, I'll give it a try! I'll first master 'grasping the shape' and 'distinguishing light and shadow' so as not to let the young master down."

Seeing his focused expression, Li Yuan smiled and said to Sun Simiao, "Look at him, he's like he's seen a rare treasure. It makes me want to try charcoal drawing too."

Sun Simiao stroked his beard and laughed: "Why are you getting involved, old man? Let the young people handle it."

"Young master, could you draw it for us to see?" Li Lizhi understood, but she had never seen a sketch before.

“Yes, yes, young master, show us.” Yan Liben chimed in.

"My drawing skills are limited, so I'll try this box!"

"Okay!" Li Lizhi nodded.

Xiao Ran adjusted his position. "Different positions result in different views. Find a good angle to draw from, and make the perspective easier to draw."

Xiao Ran picked up the charcoal stick and began to shape it.

Seeing that Xiao Ran's lines weren't parallel, Xiao Yu couldn't help but sigh.

But he didn't say it, for fear of affecting Xiao Ran.

"Do you feel that they are not parallel and are not the same length?" Xiao Ran guessed what Xiao Yu wanted to say.

"Hmm, this box is square, so they should all be the same!" Xiao Yu said.

“What you see is indeed the same, but it can’t be the same when you draw it. That’s the problem of perspective,” Xiao Ran explained.

"X-ray vision?" Yan Liben realized he had never heard of this before.

Xiao Ran pointed to the path at the entrance of the courtyard, "Like this path, it's actually about the same width, but it looks wider up close and narrower the further away you go, right?"

Li Lizhi and the others nodded in agreement; that was indeed the case, and it was common knowledge.

"The same applies to perspective in sketching; things appear larger when closer and smaller when farther away. They can't all be drawn the same way, because if they are all the same, it's hard to create a three-dimensional effect."

As Xiao Ran spoke, a cube appeared on the paper. Xiao Ran picked up the paper and asked, "Doesn't it look more three-dimensional like this?"

"It seems so." Princess Yuzhang nodded.

"Yu Niang, you try it. If they are the same length, what will the drawing look like?"

"Okay!" Xiao Yu ran to find some paper.

Pick up the charcoal stick and start drawing.

Li Lizhi and Zhang Erya also went over to take a look.

It does look awkward and lacks a sense of three-dimensionality.

"It's really not that good," Xiao Yu smiled, admitting defeat.

I hadn't thought about it that much before.

Following Xiao Ran's previous method, making things appear larger in the foreground and smaller in the background, and not quite parallel, the perspective effect was achieved, making the cube on the paper look more pleasing.

“Hmm, Yu Niang’s has a three-dimensional feel to it now,” Li Lizhi said after looking at it.

Xiao Ran held the willow charcoal pencil and squinted at the square box on the table for a while.

The side of the box facing the sun was lightly lit, while the shaded side was dark and deep. The boundary between light and dark curved gently at the corner of the box.

He gestured lightly with his fingertips on the paper, then pressed down lightly with his wrist, and the side of the charcoal pencil brushed along the edge of the box he had drawn earlier, gently sweeping across the shaded side.

"First, find the 'line of demarcation between light and shadow,' which is the boundary between light and dark."

As he drew, he explained in a low voice, leaving a faint layer of gray on the paper with the charcoal pencil. "These lines have to follow the shape of the box. They can't be straight; they have to be curved a bit so that the box really has edges and corners."

Yan Liben's gaze instantly locked onto that faintly visible boundary line, and he even softened his breathing.

He had painted portraits for half his life and knew "where to darken and where to lighten," but he never thought of finding such a "line" first.

In the past, when painting a person's face, one would add ink to the cheekbone based on feeling. But Xiao Ran first determined the boundaries between light and shadow, and then slowly laid down the tones, which was like "building a skeleton" for the object, making it very stable.

He couldn't help but lean forward, watching as the charcoal pencil turned in Xiao Ran's hand, changing from the side to the tip, and gently pressed down next to the boundary line, instantly darkening the gray area and making it the dark side of the box.

"The dark side can't be completely black either; it should be darker near the boundary and gradually lighten towards the edges."

Xiao Ran gently rotated his wrist, and the charcoal marks spread across the paper like fine sand, gradually creating layers in the shadows. "Otherwise, it would look like a black patch, which wouldn't look real."

Li Lizhi couldn't help but lean closer, her fingertips almost touching the paper.

The lines were flat just moments before, but after adding a few layers of charcoal ash, the box on the paper seemed to slowly "bulge" up.

She was used to seeing landscapes painted by artists in Chang'an. The pavilions and towers in those paintings were outlined and filled with color, exuding an ethereal quality. But this box in front of her had no color, only the shades of charcoal, yet it felt as if she could reach out and touch the edges of the box, making it more "real" than those pavilions and towers.

"This looks like a real box sitting on the paper."

She sighed softly, her eyes full of surprise, "In the past, when I looked at paintings, I just thought they were beautiful. But today, this painting feels like I can touch it."

Princess Yuzhang nodded, pointing to the shiny side of the box: "Why aren't those shiny areas painted?"

"Keep the glossy side on, just lightly dust it off."

As Xiao Ran spoke, he used the finest tip of his charcoal pencil to lightly draw two lines on the bright side, like fine marks left by sunlight. "If you fill it up, the brightness won't show. You have to 'leave blank space,' just like leaving a lingering aftertaste in poetry, except that the aftertaste is 'brought out' by the light."

Xiao Yu stood to the side, watching the box on the paper gradually "stand up," and the doubt on her face had long since disappeared.

The box he had drawn earlier was flat, but Xiao Ran added these layers of charcoal ash, making it look as if he had given the box on the paper a "front and back".

The bright side is in front, the dark side is behind, and even the shadow under the box is spread out in varying degrees of near and far, as if it were really projected onto the ground, depending on the pressure of the charcoal pencil. "So it's not just about drawing 'nearer is larger and farther is smaller,' but also about distinguishing between light and dark."

He murmured to himself, completely convinced. He had previously found the "non-parallelism" awkward, but now he understood that the "truth" was hidden within that awkwardness.

Li Yuan and Sun Simiao also came over, the old couple squinting as they examined it: "This box looks exactly like the one in the yard, even the shadow is similar!"

Sun Simiao stroked his beard and laughed, “When we usually see Yan Gong’s paintings of people, they look like they’re alive. But when he paints boxes, they look like they could be taken down and used. It’s different from his landscape paintings. Landscapes are pleasing to the eye, but this looks ‘real’.”

Yan Liben suddenly spoke up, his voice tinged with excitement: "Young master, your method is to draw 'light' into the paper!"

“In the past, when I painted portraits, I only thought about ‘what expression this person should have’, but I didn’t think about ‘where the light should shine on his face and where it should be dark’.”

"If you draw it this way, the face of the person will probably be more three-dimensional, and even the curve of the cheekbone can be shown!"

Xiao Ran smiled upon hearing this, and lightly swept another mark on the shiny surface of the box with his charcoal pencil, thus completing the drawing:

"I only know this little bit. Uncle, if you put your mind to it, you'll definitely be able to draw better than me."

The square box on the paper stood quietly, its bright side revealing a light gray hue, while its dark side concealed layers. Even the projection of the box carried the slanted shadow of sunlight, making it seem as if it had been "traced" from the table onto the paper.

Li Lizhi gestured with her hand and whispered to Princess Yuzhang, "In the past, looking at paintings was about 'appreciating' them, but today, looking at this painting feels like 'looking at the real thing.' It lacks the cloud-like imagery, but it feels more real."

Yan Liben stared at the sketch, his fingers involuntarily tracing patterns on his knee.

He was already thinking about how to use this method to paint portraits of meritorious officials, how to distinguish the light and dark of their armor, and how to use charcoal to lay out the curve of their helmets. This would make those meritorious officials look more like they were "standing" in the palace, rather than a painting hanging on the wall.

Yan Liben was thrilled when he thought about these things.

I really hadn't thought of this method before.

"My skill level is limited; I can only draw a sense of it." Xiao Ran wasn't being modest; this was the truth.

This kind of superficial knowledge was enough for the enlightenment of Yan Liben, Li Lizhi and others.

If they study hard, they will definitely be able to learn sketching.

These people have a good foundation in ink painting, especially Yan Liben.

The group stared at Xiao Ran's painting for a long time.

Xiao Ran found another piece of paper, intending to sketch the little princess and the others.

Unfortunately, its ability to capture form is lacking; it doesn't quite resemble the subject.

But judging from the size of the clothes, you can tell at a glance that they are four little girls.

"Young master, is this drawing of the rhinoceros and the others also a sketch?" Li Lizhi felt it didn't quite look like it.

"This is a sketch, the emphasis is on speed, there's not much detail."

“Young master, this is interesting too.” Princess Yuzhang went to find paper and charcoal pencils.

Xiao Ran had previously thought that the others learned very quickly, but he didn't expect that they could learn it at a glance.

Yan Liben and Li Lizhi, the Princess of Yuzhang, have truly exceptional skills.

Li Lizhi's paintings feature small figures, but there are many of them.

It started with the Little Princess, Princess Chengyang, Third Sister, Yan Yao, Zhang Jinnian, and Xiao Hei. Later, Sun Simiao, Wang Ji, Li Yuan, Empress Xiao, and Zhang Mingde were also added.

Zhang Jinhe, Zhang Erya, Xiao Yu, Princess Yuzhang, Cheng Tiehuan, Li Ke, Li Tai, Cheng Chumo, Qin Huaidao, Zhang Dalang, Li Wu.

Finally, draw Xiao Ran and himself at the very front.

An exterior scene was added, which is inside the courtyard.

Princess Yuzhang leaned over to take a look, and it really did look like a family portrait.

"Sister, you're so biased! The young master's painting is the best," Princess Yuzhang teased Li Lizhi.

Zhang Erya and Xiao Yu also came over.

Li Lizhi's portraits are very lifelike; even when viewed individually, one can easily identify who the subject is.

Zhang Erya pointed to the hem of the little princess's dress in the painting and said with a smile, "Sizi is still holding half a sesame cake in her hand! She was holding it like that while eating yesterday, and later gave half to Yaoniang."

Everyone crowded around to take a look, and sure enough, it was.

Li Lizhi used a fine charcoal pencil to draw a small semicircle in the little princess's palm. The lines were so light they seemed to float, yet they instantly reminded people of the little girl clutching the pancake at the dinner table yesterday, reluctant to eat it.

Yan Liben pointed to that spot, his eyes full of admiration: "That's the beauty of charcoal sketching! It doesn't just 'copy' a person's appearance; it captures the 'living' appearance of a person in the pen."

"The painting even captures the little bit of 'reluctance' that the rhinoceros is holding onto the pancake."

Xiao Ran was also convinced; that was true talent!
Li Lizhi could sketch out the characteristics and habits of other people with just a few strokes.

Yan Liben, Sun Simiao, and the others also praised Li Lizhi's talent highly.

I had no idea before, but after Xiao Ran explained it to me, I learned it.

Li Lizhi also enjoyed sketching and drawing, and she certainly wanted to share this happy occasion with Li Shimin and Empress Zhangsun.

In the letter, Li Lizhi wrote about her insights and experiences in sketching and quick drawing, as well as a quick sketch of her family portrait.

With everything prepared, Li Lizhi packed the items and had Li Wu deliver them to Chang'an City.

Yan Liben must have consulted with Li Shimin and received his permission before taking Yan Yao to Kaolao Village.

When Li Shimin received the letter, he also smiled.

"Yan Liben has found an opportunity. Your Majesty, take a look at this painting." Li Shimin handed the sketch of Li Lizhi to Empress Zhangsun.

Empress Zhangsun reached out and touched it; the charcoal ash immediately stuck to her hand, unlike the brushstrokes.

Upon closer inspection, Empress Zhangsun also laughed.

Seeing the two little princesses made me smile very happily.

"This painting style is quite interesting and unique!" Empress Zhangsun stared intently at the two little princesses.

“Yan Liben has benefited greatly!” Li Shimin said with a smile. “Anan, spread this news so that more people will know about it.”

Yan Liben's case will definitely move many more people.

They took the initiative to go to Kaolao Village.

It's not just Xiao Ran who's going; Li Shimin is also pushing things along.

He opened doors of convenience for many officials.

Li Shimin's goal of creating a model village for the Tang Dynasty is getting closer and closer. (End of Chapter)