The Versatile Master Artist

Jerry can easily knock Gu Weijing down on the flag football field, can direct a micro-film with a heartwarming theme, and pin the highest-level scout badge to his chest. He walks with pride, making all the girls in the school cheer for him.

But when a lovely girl like Miss Sakai, who seems like a fairy stepping on colorful clouds, jumps out to defend Gu Weijing,

Jerry, inexplicably, still feels utterly defeated.

It’s as if he was out competing, eating hot pot and singing, in high spirits, only to suddenly be flattened by a Tathagata Divine Palm.

He cast his gaze toward Mona standing by the printer.

Mona still stood there like a marble statue, her finely crafted features unchanged since moments ago, as if an iron mask was fixed on her face without alteration.

Jerry could still see from the tightly clenched fists of the student council president that her mind was definitely not as calm as her exterior.

Mona’s mind was a mess.

She looked at Koizumi Katsuko, blinking her eyes.

She didn’t even know what emotion she should be feeling at that moment.

Mona felt she should be happy for the distinguished Gu Weijing that Miss Sakai spoke of, but a part of her didn’t actually want to hear about such a Gu Weijing.

Since childhood, she had been the one out of the two who attracted more attention.

So she could handle their relationship more calmly, being aloof and detached, abandoning whenever she wanted to.

Mona at times thought it was great and cool for Koizumi Katsuko to stand up for her childhood friend.

But deep in her soul, a little demon roared, wishing she could rush over like a school ruffian and tear Koizumi Katsuko’s clothes, scratch her pretty face, and pull her hair, calling her "Bitch."

Darn it,

she was the student council president, how could she have such thoughts?

Yet deep inside, she could distinctly hear the little demon screaming and whirring.

Even towards Koukou, whom she had always disliked, she hadn’t felt this way.

So Mona could only stay there, motionless like a piece of wood, maintaining a vacant expression.

Miss Koizumi Katsuko stood just a few steps away from Mona, close enough to smell the strawberry scent from her body.

The warm spring breeze gently moved the pleated skirt of Miss Katsuko’s school uniform, revealing the smooth calves above her socks.

The dancing shadows of the curtains cast on her undulating body, the air filled with the scent of plants and spring flora from outside, mingling with her fragrance, making her seem like a woodland sprite.

Even Mona had to admit.

At this moment, Miss Katsuko looked truly beautiful.

"Here, it’s yours."

Koizumi Katsuko handed the iPad back to Mona.

"A genius like Mr. Gu, with enough patience and trust, will naturally shine tenfold in radiance for you. You know, Gu Weijing is completing a large painting that I believe will be noticed by the entire Asian art world."

"I said I came to Yangon for Mr. Gu. And the decision to participate in the Singapore Art Biennale was also to follow in his footsteps."

"I just hope that in his brilliant future, I won’t be left too far behind," Koizumi Katsuko smiled.

Miss Sakai was saying this to Koshiba Tarou.

Yet Mona still felt as if she had inexplicably been stabbed in the chest.

...

Among the names of art critics passed down since the 19th century, Giovanni Morelli is the most influential one.

He was an Italian, a fellow countryman of Da Vinci.

One of the three editors when the magazine "Oil Painting" was first published.

At that time, there weren’t vague new terms like visual arts section. The three editors were respectively in charge of oil painting, watercolor, and sketch. Morelli was specifically responsible for writing sketch critiques.

He discovered that in every master’s pencil works, especially when rendering intricate details like fingers and ears, the sketch bore a strong personal style.

The lines drawn by masters in their sketches were fluid and densely interwoven.

The precise artistic lines drawn by pencil were as simple as doodles by ordinary people.

He named this phenomenon "brush momentum."

In the corner of the classroom, Gu Weijing was now feeling that he was gradually forming his own brush momentum.

Upon realizing this,

his heartbeat quickened a bit.

Forming a personal aura-like brush momentum in sketches is one of the distinctive features of stepping into the domain of sketch experts.

Just like Dongxia’s commentary on calligraphy works, saying this calligrapher has already mastered it. They often say his brushstrokes and structure have formed his own "script style."

Though the tools and paper used in sketches and calligraphy differ, both are arts that use exquisite brush and ink structures to showcase flair.

So in this aspect, the evaluation standards for both are quite similar.

Everything comes down to the same root.

This wasn’t the first time Gu Weijing had felt the existence of brush momentum; when using the Basic Painting Skills from Menzel, he felt the intense "brush momentum."

Menzel’s most typical personal style is anatomical precision and a bold charm.

The brushwork is vivid and expressive.

The elder combined hard pencils, soft charcoal, heavy chalk, light and transparent watercolors into his sketches, creating extraordinary visual effects.