Almighty painter

Chapter 167 The Court Painter
If Gu Weijing in the past wanted to copy "Douhua Tu", facing the meticulous plant texture brushwork on the scroll, he must have the feeling that the dog eats the hedgehog and has no way to start.

Traditional Chinese painting and calligraphy share the same origin,
Compared with the western painters who evolved from "painters" and frantically brushed on the canvas with a small brush, in the field of Chinese painting, there is more attention to the method of holding and using the brush.

Just a small soft brush,

There are six ways of using the pen: center forward, side forward, smooth front, reverse front, loose front, and Tibetan front, and five different ink writing techniques: focus, thick, heavy, light, and clear.

If you count the more detailed small classifications that deal with different screen scenes.

Then there are no less than twenty or thirty types of different methods of inking ink lines.

Countless painters have spent their entire lives on these intricate brushes.

Gu Weijing began to paint Chinese paintings when he was babbling.

In the past six months, I have been taught by experts like Cao Lao and Professor Lin Tao, but I dare not say that I have thoroughly understood every brushwork.

When he originally painted the branches and leaves of flowers, he liked to use the most round and strong center, and use the smooth brush to outline the edges with heavy ink with half and half of water and pigment.

This is the most robust option,

The way of drawing lines with the center and the smooth strokes is like a screwdriver in a car repair tool, which is very versatile.

You can use it to screw flathead screws, Phillips screws, pry a decorative panel, open a courier, or open a can if necessary.

Anyway, I can do anything.

There's nothing wrong with being wrong, it's just not good enough.

A lot of things are not good enough to pile up together, and the final picture will form a very different picture look and feel.

"The original leaf veins of this painting... are done with brushes like this!"

Gu Weijing imitated the hints in his mind and compared the texture details of the high imitation "Douhua Tu" on the side, and suddenly felt enlightened.

It is difficult to guess the violin technique based on the symphony,
But looking at the violin score to appreciate the timbre of the symphony, for those who understand the basic knowledge of music theory, the difficulty is reduced geometrically.

At this time, those originally obscure brush strokes, like spider webs separated by skillful hands, were peeled off little by little, revealing the mystery to his eyes.

Lang Shining's Douhua painting's branches are obviously drawn with reverse brushes along the growth direction of the leaf veins.

"It's not a reverse brush in the traditional sense, it should also incorporate some brush techniques of Chinese painting staining."

Gu Weijing observed the painting examples in the "Summary of the Essence of New Body Painting" in his mind.

He felt the traces of the pen in the sample template on the book in his mind——

During the process of Lang Shining's brushwork, the tip of the brush seems to vibrate slightly on purpose, breaking the original smooth color in the vibration of the pen, and showing the fine tooth-shaped natural edge of the leaf veins, which is fully expressed.

lifelike.

"No, it's not so much to understand with staining, it's better to say...it's more like the texture of the brush strokes that are very common in oil paintings, using the fluff of a brush to gently rub the surface of linen cloth!"

Gu Weijing clenched his fists and muttered to himself.

Oil painters do not have too many rules and regulations when using pens, but painters pay attention to the combination and matching of brushwork and pigment colors.

Perhaps because of cultural customs, Western-style painters are more "flowing" than Chinese painting methods with fixed rules.

Different themes, different substrates, different media and pigments...

Famous oil painters have their own little habits when using pens in various situations.

Things like slowly dabbing the brush across the canvas, or experimenting with dragging the brush in different directions, can give the paint a compelling texture and color.

Not only can it be closer to the effect of natural light, but it is also a way of expressing the artist's personal emotions.

The most obvious example is Van Gogh.

Among the many oil painters of the same period, Van Gogh’s most notable personal brush style is that he likes to press the paintbrush on the canvas, and rotate it while vibrating to form a specific swirl-shaped brushstroke, which is used to express Psychedelic starry sky and crazy emotional state.

And Castiglione's painting method obviously has the shadow of a certain western brush style.

But it is softer, much more refined, and requires more control over the wrist.

Gu Wei has judged,
This is probably because oil paintings are viscous paste pigments, while Chinese painting style works prefer water-soluble plant pigments.

Pigments have different adhesion and smudging abilities on the substrate, so the brushwork will also be slightly adjusted.

"interesting."

Gu Weijing wrote slowly.

The bean flower grows silently on the surface of the rice paper, and the emerald green branches and small lavender petals are delicate and charming.

Gu Weijing's writing is very smooth, with almost no sense of stagnation.

With the assistance of "Summary of the Essence of New Body Painting", it is like when doing geometry homework, the teacher of the system has listed all the problem-solving ideas and auxiliary lines and started drawing.

The painting is natural, freehand and light.

This "Fairy Calyx Changchun Atlas: Bean Flower" in the National Palace Museum in Taipei in the Eastern Xia Dynasty is of the type ink and color on silk.

The so-called coloring on silk refers to painting on silk with Chinese painting colors.

It would be too extravagant for Gu Weijing to use silk when practicing copying. Good silk is much more expensive than linseed oil canvas, so he used ordinary rice paper.

Cooked rice paper with better water absorption performance can show the characteristics of subtle brushwork.

Gu Weijing constantly verified the contents of the knowledge cards with the original imitation of "Fairy Calyx Changchun Atlas: Dou Hua" and his own paintings.

This kind of flowing clouds and flowing water, the painting method that was originally incomprehensible-the feeling of understanding one by one, made him feel so refreshed.

Soon, Gu Weijing completed the plant body of the bean curd.

The time consumed by Chinese painting is shorter than that of oil painting, which is also relatively speaking.

This "Picture of Douhua" is not a large work, but besides the douhua, there are also a lot of scenery such as grass, rocks and birds.

If he really followed the auxiliary guidance of the "Summary of the Essence of New Body Painting", he would not sleep after finishing all the painting stroke by stroke.

After copying the bean curd, he put down the brush.

Probably because only a small part of the original work was drawn, the system did not give a percentage of the similarity of the copy.

[Changchun Atlas of Immortal Calyx: Bean Flower (partial copy)]

[Oil painting techniques: Lv.4 professional painter · first level (3136/5000)]

[Chinese Painting Technique: Lv.4 Professional Painter First Level (1086/5000)]

【Mood: A Simple Work】

Gu Weijing folded his arms and watched the effect, very satisfied.

"Awesome!"

Castiglione's painting techniques in the original work are still far superior to him, but the overall charm and style have already improved by [-]% to [-]%.

If the skin is thicker, Gu Weijing can definitely think that he has already drawn both form and spirit.

"For scriptures, are you still painting?"

Mr. Gu was wearing pajamas, with a copy of "Basic Photography for the Elderly" tucked under his arm, and appeared beside him like a ghost.

"When did you come down, I didn't notice."

Gu Weijing raised his head to see his grandfather, and was slightly startled.

"Actually, I didn't come here for a few minutes. I saw you painting, so I didn't bother you." Gu Tongxiang waved his hand, indicating that his grandson didn't need to be influenced by himself.

Elderly people tend to have difficulty falling asleep.

Mr. Gu was lying on the bed flipping through a few pages of textbooks on hobbies and hobbies for the elderly. When he was about to go to bed, he heard movement in the front of the gallery downstairs, so he came down to take a look, and happened to see his grandson painting.

For Gu Weijing, the old man has always been very precious.

Good talent, hard work, and good luck.

To get the favor of Mr. Cao, as long as you follow the steps, there is no reason not to make a career.

"Eh? Is it imitation Castiglione?"

Gu Tongxiang raised his eyebrows suddenly.

When he went downstairs, he put the glasses on the bedside in the bedroom, and couldn't see the details clearly.

However, he could still roughly see that the scroll next to his grandson Gu Weijing was "The Immortal Calyx Changchun Atlas: Douhua" that he bought from Dongxia back then, a masterpiece of Castiglione in the Qing Dynasty.

"Well, the painting feels pretty good."

Gu Weijing nodded.

"Feels good? I'm not old, and my tone is not small."

Gu Tongxiang was overjoyed.

He lightly patted Gu Weijing's shoulder with the textbook under his arm, and taught him a lesson: "At my age, I dare not say that I can draw one or two points of fur when I draw Castiglione. How old are you, and I dare say that it feels good." .I’m not afraid that the wind will flash my tongue.”

Regarding Castiglione's paintings, Gu Tongxiang still thinks he has a good say.

The imitation of Castiglione's new body painting in the store sells so well, Mr. Gu has long thought of imitating Castiglione himself.

Gu Tongxiang couldn't even imagine whether he could draw the essence of Lang Shining.

Castiglione does not belong to Holbein's kind of morbidly rigorous painter who can control the lines of his pen to millimeter precision, nor is he like Zheng Banqiao, a master of both calligraphy and painting who incorporates Ouyang Xun's calligraphy into his paintings.

Using the pen itself is not complicated.

If you can imitate one or two points of fur, you can make a lot of money just by bluffing foreigners.

The old man checked all kinds of information, sat for three months comparing Castiglione's picture album, and even reported a cheap tour group for the elderly to the Forbidden City to visit Castiglione's authentic works.

As the saying goes,
God rewards hard work, as long as you work hard, you will be rewarded.

Gu Tongxiang has gone through a season of hard work, paid countless hardships, and lost a small handful of precious hairs, and finally realized his enlightenment and discovered a secret——

I am not imitating Castiglione's material.

Ideal is full, the reality is very skinny.

This brushwork looks simple, but it is really fucking difficult to draw.

If the family opens a gallery in a tourist attraction, it is indispensable to draw imitations.

Those works that are much more difficult than Lang Shining's paintings, such as "Luo Shen Fu Picture", "Fuchun Mountain Dwelling Picture", "Five Steeds Picture" and other national treasures whose value cannot be estimated with money, have also been imitated by Mr. Gu.

Painting can be painted,
In fact, it is nothing more than a question of whether the painting is good or bad.

But none of these masterpieces disturbed Mr. Gu as much as Lang Shining's works.

So weird.

The chef who has been cooking for a lifetime wants him to forcefully combine the salty and spicy Hunan cuisine with the sweet Jiangnan stir fry.

Mr. Gu looked at his three-month study results, and after careful consideration, he concluded that foreigners just like exotic customs, and they probably haven't discovered this taste yet.

Selling this kind of thing outside is not only unconscionable, but also easy to smash the signboard.

Gu Tongxiang lit a brazier in the yard, burned all his "failures" on fire, and never mentioned the imitation of Castiglione since then.

"Lang Shining's painting method is difficult."

He didn't expect his grandson to go his own way.

"Don't be discouraged if you can't paint well. If the tricks of new body painting are easy to figure out, how can you talk about Castiglione's success?" Gu Tongxiang comforted Gu Weijing, who looked hesitant to speak.

"You have to learn from my grandfather. If you don't understand painting, it's not shameful at all. It's embarrassing if you have to force your mouth."

When the imitation painting failed, the old man's mentality was quite good.

It's not that Gu Tongxiang's mentality is extraordinarily open-minded, but that their elders really worked as court painters, and they know the secrets of this industry better than outsiders.

As the old man said,
If the secret of the new body painting was so easy to figure out, it would not be Lang Shining's turn to be so beautiful.

From the beginning, Mr. Gu's biggest extravagant wish was to be able to imitate two parts of the skin and be satisfied.

Court painters are actually quite a poor group of people.

They are close to power,
In the Forbidden City, the status of chess players who accompany the emperor to play chess to relieve boredom, court actors who sing ditties, and juggling troupes who perform acrobatics for concubines are much higher.

But in the end,

Court painters are still only the dependents of power, and they are servants who provide sacrificial and recreational services to the royal family.

This is actually very similar to those concubines in the harem who look forward to luck every day.Everyone is hoping that their painting style can be favored by the emperor.

This is the place where the top painters in the world gather together.

The emperor admires your painting skills, you are a celebrity guest in the mansion of a dignitary and a nobleman, and you are worth a lot of money.

If your paintings are not outstanding enough, you are nothing like those cold palace maids who may not even see the emperor's face several times in your life.

The court painters under the administration of the painting academies in the Qing Dynasty didn't even have a formal grade.

Both upper and lower limits are exaggerated.

There are some lucky ones who can rely on painting like Lang Shining to become a nobleman with a third rank and wearing a flower feather.

Like those poor little eunuchs and old maids, there are also those who really starved to death and froze to death in the Forbidden City.

The painter's life and wealth and the ambition of a whole family to flourish are pinned on a small paintbrush.

The king of Chu had a very thin waist, and many of the palaces starved to death.

Lang Shining is so appreciated, and the effect of the painting is so good, who wouldn't want to learn two strokes.

In the Qianlong Dynasty alone, according to historical records, there were three foreign missionaries, Castiglione Castiglione, Wang Zhicheng, and Ai Qimeng, who practiced the combination of East and West.

Among the local court painters, there are also two local schools of painting, the Loudong School and the Yushan School, headed by painters such as Tang Dai and Leng Mei.

Everyone is aware of the astonishment of the art style combining east and west, and everyone wants to get a share of this popular art genre.

Which of these senior masters is not a generation of talents,
The one who really draws the famous hall,
There is only one Lang Shining.

Gu Tongxiang doesn't believe that his grandson can paint well.

Even if he is studying painting with Master Cao Xuan's second apprentice, Professor Lin Tao, it won't work.

(End of this chapter)