1 Year Of Beginning

Zhang Yi was furious. He would never let Feng Mian work in Beauty Design. After he found out that the design that Feng Mian made with collaboration during White Day achieved great success, he was determined to never let anyone poach his son's wife. He would make sure that they would never succeed!

Wei Lian laughed. "I'm not even asking you, Old Zhang."

"I will never allow it! My daughter had to work with my son. They're going to make the company famous!"

"She's a painter and I'm sure that she'll be happier to be a painter."

Feng Mian smiled and scratched the back of her head. "I'm happy with my current position so far. Thank you very much for the offer, but I can't accept it, Grandpa Wei."

"It's not a big deal," Wei Lian said calmly. He looked at the unfinished painting and sighed. "Xiao Mian, I'm going to offer you a deal now."

"Yes?"

"I own several galleries and one of them specializes in showing newcomers in the art field. I have never heard your name in this field before, so I assume that you're new in the art's world. If you want, I can give you a chance to show your paintings in that gallery."

Feng Mian's eyes widened in disbelief. She looked at Wei Lian as her eyes began to tear up. It was her dream since she was a child to have her paintings up in a gallery. Because of that, she had been working hard to improve her painting and learned many skills ever since she was young.

Now, Wei Lian offered her a deal that she had long dreamed.

"Really, Grandpa Wei?"

"Of course!" Wei Lian smiled. He could sense Feng Mian's happiness, but he also had a condition. "However, I have a request from you."

"Yes?"

"After your paintings have been put in an exhibition, I want you to sell this painting to me."

Feng Mian was stunned when she saw Wei Lian pointed at her unfinished painting. She looked at the old man with a confused expression. "But it's not finished yet."

"Finish it first," Wei Lian replied with a laugh. "When it's finished, I'll put it in the gallery, but I won't sell it. I want this painting for myself."

Zhang Yi snorted. "You're taking advantage of my daughter in law, Old Wei?"

"This is a good deal," Wei Lian sighed helplessly. "It's not like I won't pay her, but I just want to reserve the painting first. That way, I'll be able to have this painting after I showed it in my gallery."

"Hmnm, you better offer a good price."

"Of course. That reminds me. Have you thought about the price for your painting?"

Feng Mian blinked her eyes. "I think maybe just following the standard price? I can use the inch size then I'll multiply it with dollars."

Wei Lian nodded. "That should be a good deal. What's the base price that you want to quote for yourself."

"Well, the size of the painting is 18x24, so if I use the area's method, I can get 432 dollars?" Feng Mian was not totally sure. "If I use the length method, I can get 336 dollars."

"Hm? You multiplied it by eight dollars?"

"Yes, since I don't think that I can quote a high price, I think that 8 dollars for a starter should be good."

Wei Lian nodded. He was surprised by how realistic Feng Mian calculation was. Many new painters hoped that they would be able to gain big almost immediately from their first creation. However, it was quite unlikely because they would need to make sure that they have a name first.

Only a rare few would be able to get a high price right at the very beginning. And even rarer those who could maintain the price at that level.

"I'll keep your method in mind when I ask the price. However, I believe that you wouldn't mind if I can get more."

Feng Mian nodded her head almost immediately. The material for painting itself was quite expensive, which was the reason why the price of paintings was high. Of course, it didn't mean that they would be able to get such a high price immediately because the value of each painter would be different.

Zhang Yi arched his eyebrows. "That price seems cheap if I compared with the paintings that you buy, Old Wei."

"Those are paintings from renowned painters, Old Zhang. It'll take time before Feng Mian can reach that level in the future."

"Oh, so it'll increase?"

Wei Lian nodded. He looked at the paintings before him. "As long as she can keep this standard of painting, I'm sure that she'll get a lot of money from selling her arts. Still, it'll be better if you have other work to do aside from painting because there's no guarantee that you'll be able to produce so many paintings."

"Yes, I understand. Thank you for your advice, Grandpa Wei."

Feng Mian knew that the reason why she could draw so much was because it all based on her life experience from her childhood to her high school. If she had to wait for more inspiration, it would surely take some time before she could produce a really good painting.

But time waits for no one.

If she wanted to live, she would need to make sure that she still has another source of income. Working in Zhang Liang's company was certainly a position that she couldn't afford to lose. If not, Feng Mian knew that she wouldn't be able to survive on her own.

Wei Lian nodded. "I'll contact Zhang Liang to tell him that I'll need some people to move the painting from here. Also, you need to add frame, Mian'er."

"Ah, right…"

"I'll help you."

"Thank you, Grandpa Wei."

In the end, it took some time before they finished their discussion. The gallery would open in Mid-May, which meant that there was still more than enough time for Feng Mian to finish her last painting. As for taking the paintings out, they still needed to wait for Zhang Liang's permission before they could start to move.

After it was settled, now Zhang Yi began to pester Feng Mian to give him one of the three sunsets paintings.

"Now that you say it. Do you want to include these three in your exhibition?" Wei Lian asked.

Feng Mian shook her head. She was only making the three paintings because she needed to practice her skill again. Even though it looked good, she was merely replicating the view that she saw in Zhang Liang's mansion back then.

"No, I think that I want to give one of them to Father. As for the other two, I'm still unsure."

Wei Lian nodded. "I can put them in the gallery too."

"It's too bad to be seen in the gallery."

Zhang Yi: "…" bad?

In his eyes, the three paintings were already very good. The detail and shading that Feng Mian did to make the painting lifelike was very beautiful. He couldn't wait to hang the painting in his house.

However, Wei Lian understood what Feng Mian meant. When she was painting, she had created several mistakes. Even though she covered it in the end, his keen eyes still noticed some marks that were left. It was small, but for a professional, it would be unacceptable.

Because Feng Mian made the painting with speed as her priority, the quality was a bit subpar. Nevertheless, it was a good painting overall.

"Now that it's settled, let's talk about other things."

"Okay, let's go to the living room."

…

Sora's Corner: Art's Pricing (repost)

There are several methods for artists to price their arts. Usually it would also depend on the painter him/herself. The method that's normally used would be based on the size of the painting itself. There were two methods based on the size, which is to count based on the lines or on the area.

Note: this method is usually used for hardcopy painting, which meant that it was painted on a canvas or other items.

16 inch (length) + 16 inch (wide) = 32 x (10 to 100 dollars or other numbers, depending on the painters). The result of the multiplication would be the price of the painting.

Or

16 inch (length) x 16 inch (wide) = 256 x (1 to 10 dollars or other number, depending on the painter). The result of the multiplication to the dollar would be the price of the painting.

For unknown painters, they would usually use the lower ones because no one would want to buy if they price it too high.

For online design, different methods of pricing would be used because there's hardly anyone who would want to buy expensive art if it's not good.