The Versatile Master Artist

Even if some of these works contain utterly unachievable and wildly imaginative fictional architectural designs, collectors often think that as long as they employ a sea of construction teams for a millennium, then those fantasy kingdoms on earth, like a celestial kingdom, would truly appear before our eyes.

Lady Carol’s painting style leans towards the former, while the entire structure of the building leans towards the realism of the latter.

Her brushwork structure is extremely precise and rigorous, like an architect well-versed in civil engineering.

In the composition of "Old Church on a Stormy Day," the distant thunderclouds are unstable, and the candlelight in the foreground is fleeting and elusive, except for the architectural main body of the church, which is stable and solid.

Over the past two months, through continuous copying, the help of Calligraphy and Painting Identification Skill, and discussions on writing a paper with Koizumi Katsuko, Gu Weijing gradually felt—

In Lady Carol’s composition, the three elements are harmonized; the boiling thunder sea and the hymn-like candlelight are segmented by a majestic religious building, with the framing seemingly molded into a metaphor for sealed intense emotions and rebellious pleasure.

No matter how majestic the image is, or how the thunderclouds roll.

The ultimate imagery conveyed deep within the picture remains warm.

"What kind of person is she really?"

Gu Weijing put down the charcoal pencil in his hand.

While taking out an oil paintbrush and soaking it in a turpentine-filled tube to soften the bristles, he mused carelessly.

What kind of life experiences must one go through to casually and empathetically convey such complex inner emotions at the tip of the pen?

Fortunately,

putting aside the metaphor of the composition.

After improving the sketching technique, completing such a complex architectural skeleton diagram wasn’t as difficult as Gu Weijing imagined.

His original spatial structure was already very good, and now his proficiency in sketching has also improved.

Had the two been placed in the Renaissance period, not engaging in architectural design for a church or palace would seem quite underutilized.

He is completely a promising architect.

"To learn more about Lady Carol, I still have to wait for the paper to be published in journals and attract academic interest. I wonder if when the paper is published, it will sink into the sea, or if new discoveries will emerge."

Gu Weijing contemplated in front of the sketch for a little while, then collected his stray thoughts, bent over, and reached for the palette, preparing to use a thinner to adjust the paint.

Just as he was making this intention.

A palette was already thoughtfully placed into his hand.

"Hmm..."

Hanks pursed his lips tightly, pointed to the palette, then at the canvas in front of him, and hummed softly twice.

Focus on painting!

The mere sketch on the canvas was already enough to make him enjoy it immensely.

Hanks now looked like an audience watching a movie build up to a climax, eager for Gu Weijing to hurry up and continue painting.

"It’s not that you can’t say a word... well, I’ll paint, you watch, it’s nice that we don’t disturb each other this way."

Gu Weijing quipped.

He turned his head and picked up the oil paintbrush.

Gu Weijing began slowly applying paint to the canvas.

The process of applying paint is the gradual covering of the sketch with paint.

At this time, this rich-in-information sketch in front of him could save Gu Weijing a lot of trouble.

He only needed to use different brushstrokes and paint to express the already designed color changes within the sketch lines.

He could dedicate more energy to, like a sculptor polishing a plaster sculpture, refine the details of the building with an oil paintbrush.

"A bit tight?"

According to his previous painting habits, Gu Weijing habitually applied two strokes on the thunderclouds and then paused.

Not limited to line shapes.

The contrast of light and dark in oil paintings, the relationship between the light and dark surfaces, and the painting technique in sketches have no differences.

It’s merely the ups and downs of shadows and the changes in the light and dark relationship, from black, white, and gray to colorful oily mineral pigments.

When sketching.

Gu Weijing had already envisioned the brightness and color when applying paint in his mind.

At this moment, Gu Weijing realized that although his color mixing wasn’t much of an issue, the oil paint applied to the linen canvas was a bit too thick.

The feeling of the thunderclouds in front of him was slightly too dark.

Compared to before, after achieving Tier Two in sketching, Gu Weijing’s sense of color difference and contrast has become more keen, and he is no longer satisfied with such a vague perception.

"Hmm?"

Hanks couldn’t help but hum.

He was puzzled as to why Gu Weijing suddenly stopped after applying the paint twice.

Could it be because the sketch was too meticulous and ambitious, and as a result, he couldn’t handle such complex details?

Hanks had just been not too optimistic about Gu Weijing’s overly detailed sketch.

No matter how well the architectural design is, if the construction team doesn’t have the ability, isn’t it all in vain?

However, Hanks wouldn’t show a mocking expression on his face.

Not to mention anything else, just seeing this sketch was worth him shamelessly standing by while Gu Weijing painted.

"The brushwork is a bit heavy, the paint is a bit thick, the tone is too deep."

Gu Weijing explained softly.

So it’s the tone that’s deep?

Hankes glanced at Carol’s original painting, then at the canvas before Gu Weijing, and shook his head gently.

The manager wasn’t questioning Gu Weijing’s judgment of the painting.