The Versatile Master Artist

Illustrators and serious artists are two highly similar but fundamentally different professions.

Illustrators are like pop singers, aiming for the mass market that appreciates simplicity; their ultimate dream is to become a popular cultural symbol.

The most profitable illustrators take a career path like KAWS, delving into trendy brands and art toys.

Every year, they sell millions of co-branded luxury items worldwide, earning tens of US Dollars per piece, with a net income of hundreds of millions of dollars.

Among the buyers of KAWS collaborations.

There is a large number of non-trendy art enthusiasts.

They don't even know what trendy art is. The symbolic meaning of KAWS art is something nine out of ten can't understand; it's just the religious fervor and socially popular environment that naturally create a crossover effect.

Essentially, top-notch illustrators hope their work is as brainwashing as the Chopstick Brothers' "Little Apple."

From kindergarten children to square-dancing grandmas, it doesn't matter if they like it or not; they can still hum a few lines of "You are my little, little apple."

The hardest part of this industry is selling cheap illustrations online.

The middle and upper tiers earn money from publishers, game companies, and film animation distributors.

While the top elites benefit directly from the popular traffic. They achieve the goal of "if everyone in the world gave me one dollar, I would be a millionaire."

Serious artists are like composers conducting classical symphonies in the Golden Hall, seeking timeless works that can conquer time.

They hope to establish their own artistic sects, conquering art history with epoch-making works.

The illustration market moves downward, while the market for serious gallery-represented artists moves upward.

The more money, the higher the class, the more elite yet less understood.

You don't need billions of people to know you, unlike illustrators who must consider the opinions of any employer and produce numerous works.

You only need to do one thing—conquer the wealthiest collectors with exceptional artistry.

Trend artists focusing on trendy brands perish unknown if nobody knows their names.

A serious artist selling paintings worth tens of millions of dollars each year can be renowned within the industry while being completely unheard of outside. This is quite usual.

During the Renaissance, great oil painters only cared about the thoughts of nobles and high-ranking priests, as they were essentially servants of the upper power class.

Great painters usually have very low sales volumes but extremely high prices.

A painter who can sell a single painting breaking the record at one billion dollars is more prestigious than one who sells ten paintings at ten million dollars each. Similarly, a painter with an average price of ten million dollars per painting is more prestigious than one who sells a hundred paintings for one million dollars each.

Andy Warhol became the beloved of mythical galleries because he had a huge volume of works that matched Monet's average prices.

Sometimes, the distinctions between the two professions blur and can transform into one another.

Even classical music has "March of the Athletes," which students deeply dislike during exercise time.

Popular musician Bob Dylan can also win the Nobel Prize in Literature.

But in terms of Gu Weijing's current development path choices,

he wisely judges that overlapping Detective Cat's identity with Gu Weijing's name under the spotlight is not a necessary choice.

If he can win an award at the Singapore Art Exhibition and successfully become Mr. Cao Xuan's disciple.

He will definitely be a top "academic school" offspring, a serious artist with impeccable credentials.

In the eyes of his future potential audience, the identity of an illustrator might not necessarily be a plus.

Moreover, more importantly—after the gallery learns of the news, future agency contracts may very likely require a share from his illustration business.

The help provided is minimal.

Not to mention,

Ma Shi Gallery, although having a great reputation among collectors, serves a different clientele and might not be able to secure premium contracts like "The Little Prince" from publishers.

"The gallery promises to package and promote the artist...and holds exclusive rights, with agency areas including all countries and regions worldwide..."

Gu Weijing read the contract.

Seeing such terms was entirely expected, as Ma Shi Gallery has been in this industry for nearly a century and would not have left any obvious loopholes.

"What does exclusive rights mean?" Gu Weijing asked.

"Exclusivity, uniqueness, call it what you like; after signing, you cannot work for other galleries, collaborate with other galleries, or consignment. Note, it's any other gallery; to put it bluntly, even contributing to your family's studio is not allowed. Principally, you also can't participate in any art exhibitions, academic conferences, or art competitions held by other galleries."

Hanks shrugged, "But if necessary, you can obtain written consent and authorization from Ma Shi Gallery in advance. We don't mind you occasionally getting exposure with other galleries."

"Only galleries?"

"Only galleries? What else..." Hanks suddenly became a bit wary and thought for a moment, "Going to auction companies privately is also not allowed! There are appendices to the contract for specific details."

"You want to be like Hirst, but you're far from it." He smirked, half-jokingly, half-warningly. "If you want to secretly hold an auction, no major auction house would seriously accept it."