Almighty painter

Chapter 644: Unlimited
After designing satisfactory demos for all the characters in the musical Cats.

Gu Weijing then began to work on submitting the final draft of the work for the performing company of the stage musical in London's West End and the Singapore art exhibition.

Mr. Sloth had told him this during the early discussions.

The frenetic and complex aesthetic design, filled with twisted body movements with all kinds of complex lines, is a way of expressing the creator’s inner passionate emotions through non-objective and irrational visual language.

It was as if the pianist was dancing wildly under the moonlight, like rain and waterfall.

But when it comes to commercial design, what is often needed is not tens of millions of elements pouring down the screen without any order of importance.

Rather, it is the ultimate condensation and precise development of one or two elements.

In the sketchbook in Gu Weijing's hand, each of the little cat sketches has one or two of these characteristics.

The old age of the patriarch cat, the roundness of the fat cat, the arrogance of the mysterious cat, the beauty of the charming cat...

These qualities are already evident in the sketches.

But it’s still a little unrefined.

It is the falling rose leaves in late spring and the fragrance of grapes adorning the branches in autumn.

For a Lv.5 sketching skill, being able to use lines to outline this hazy, fluffy texture is already very good.

Gu Weijing hopes to take this "characteristic" to a higher level, to achieve a sense of absolute solidity, absolute firmness, a beauty that touches people's hearts and is as solid as a rock.

Make them seem like they come from the real world, with the ultimate feeling of being able to be touched, hugged, and even breathed.

The cats in today's sketches live in Gu Weijing's heart. But it is not enough that the moment the audience sees these drawings, they also run into the audience's heart and become a fat or round, old or small, mysterious or cute little cat that can be held in the arms and "sucked".

This is where the "Real World" watercolor skill on the system panel can play the greatest role.

It allows Gu Weijing to refine and deepen every feature he created in those sketches.

The brushstrokes wrap around the "key characteristics" on the sample, constantly squeezing and condensing inwards.

Loose clouds condense into rain, and rain freezes into hard ice.

finally.

The difference between Gu Weijing's conception of the work submitted to the Singapore Biennale Organizing Committee and the sketch he made in the courtyard of the old church.

It is like bunches of grapes fermenting in aged oak barrels, with all the pigments, tannins, flavor substances and fruit aromas layered together. After brewing through spring, summer, autumn and winter, a cup of transparent wine with distinct smell and three-dimensional structure is formed.

Or vice versa, after continuous distillation, pressing, standing and filtering of thousands of rose petals and leaves, all pigments and impurities, all unnecessary embellishments are discarded, and finally only one drop of essential oil remains after layer-by-layer extraction, which is as transparent as water but as viscous as ointment.

It lost the original color of the plants and broke the shapes of roses and grapes.

It has lost its flowers, leaves, rhizomes or fruits, but in a tiny drop of liquid, it carries the most essential "concepts" contained in thousands of flowers, leaves and fruits.

Grapes and wine.

Roses and rose oil.

The two things have the same origin and are of the same species, but they are completely different from each other.

therefore.

Gu Weijing is not worried because people around him can find the connection between him and the identity of "Detective Cat" from the brushwork, color matching or the appearance of the cat.

Too bad.

The levels of painting are completely different, and the final effect presented in the work is the difference between a green child with pigtails and a young lady in her twenties with fully grown eyebrows and eyes and in the prime of life.

for example.

Gu Weijing is currently drawing the old chief of the Jellicle cats, "Dutronomie", and Dutronomie in the sample on the drawing board.

When creating the work twice, with and without using skills, the changes in the drawing are in all aspects, not just making the painting more beautiful.

The current version.

Old Chief Jackley seemed to look even thinner and smaller, like a drier kitten, with soft cream-colored fur on his chest and abdomen that looked like a white beard and almost hung to the ground.

The eyes are brighter.

More vicissitudes.

Even... more childish.

The color of the old patriarch's pupils in the painting is a bit like a jar of amber wine that has been sealed for many years, or a drop of transparent rose essential oil.

These pupils once reflected the changes of dynasties and were once filled with all kinds of emotions.

Joy, sorrow, suffering, happiness... they all appeared one by one in the eyes of this old patriarch cat.

Whether it is happiness or pain, it is only temporary.

It has really lived for too many years.

So eventually.

The pleasures that we thought would intoxicate us forever and the regrets that we could never escape from have all been faded away by time.

Only the clear and transparent, childlike innocence remains.

It was as if time had passed so long that all the wine in the jar under the osmanthus tree had run out, and the fiery temperature that made people cry, get drunk, and sleepless was gone.

After the opening ceremony.

Only a pool of amber water remained.

But there is a faint scent of osmanthus.

"This watercolor skill is really amazing."

Gu Weijing nodded slightly.

This technique actually contains two perfect skills, Menzel sketch line and watercolor technique. Although the quality on the panel is still perfect, the appeal of the painting is not inferior to the legendary technique of knife painting.

It is easy to draw the real thing, but difficult to draw the abstract thing.

It is extremely difficult to depict the abstract with the real.

It is not difficult to draw the red, swollen, bloodshot eyes that look like rotten persimmons from crying and tearful.

The difficult part to draw is the cover of "The Little Prince", in which the stars in the sky and the eyes that express deep love for the rose are reflected in the haze, as well as this look that seems extremely clear, clean and almost innocent.

It's obviously just a frozen painting.

When looking at it, it reflects people's hearts like a mirror.

After using a skill.

Except for the eyes, ears, mouth and nose, anyone who takes a glance at a cat's facial features will immediately notice the visual difference that they are countless times more refined than before.

Compared with making sketches, the biggest difference Gu Weijing can feel is the overall feeling when creating.

Feeling is different from brushwork or technique; it is a collection of all the painting experience of a creator.

Can't tell.

The truth is unclear.

It can also reflect the state of a painter during creation to a great extent, and the "feedback" he receives after he puts pen to paper. The quality of feeling cannot be simply distinguished by "happy" or "sad".

When the painter puts pen to paper, the emotions he projects vary depending on the content of his creation.

He can be happy, sad, upset, or even irritable under special circumstances.

An outstanding work is not necessarily one that the painter feels is "good" when painting, but it is definitely one that the painter feels is "right" when he puts pen to paper.

The main creative intention of this painting "Old Patriarch Cat Basking in the Sun" is to condense and deepen the original sketch to make it more realistic.

Before tonight.

Gu Weijing thought that the feeling he felt when he put pen to paper should be getting heavier and heavier.

The cheap plastic models that were light and had large tolerances were gradually replaced by heavy metal models with exquisite shapes and every texture and wrinkle were perfectly restored.

The tip of his pen carries the "weight of a cat".

Really draw it.

Gu Weijing then discovered that things were a little different from what he had imagined.

When he first started drafting, Gu Weijing could clearly feel the changing weight of the brush strokes as he put pen to paper...you can call it resistance or call it heaviness.

Anyway, it's that sense of solemnity when controlling the brush.

Skills activated.

Countless information flooded into his mind.

He was aware of what each perfect trajectory, perfect color, and perfect brushstroke should look like from Menzel's experiential perspective. He also knew clearly what mistakes might be made when putting pen to paper, where the paint might have problems spreading on the wet paper, and where the contamination caused by excessive overlapping and mixing of watercolor paints should be avoided.

Gu Weijing seemed to be playing the "Circle through the Wire" electromagnetic maze game in a children's mall, where he used an iron ring to slide from one end to the other along a slightly electrified curved wire.

He has a complete masterpiece of watercolor in his mind.

Every bit of paint, every stroke of the brush, every change of color, shines brightly in Gu Weijing's mind.

What he needed was to follow the diagram stroke by stroke and copy it on the paper in front of him.

With the support of the system.

It's not difficult to do this.

Gu Weijing just needs to stay fully focused and concentrate without distraction.

Gu Weijing originally understood this as the necessary dedication to reach the realm of a master in watercolor painting.

If you want to paint well, realistically, accurately or even perfectly, the picture must have finer color granularity than that of ordinary excellent painters, and you must also process more information while working.

This is what he imagined the "quality" required for "texture".

Gradually.

As the work gradually takes shape, the time it takes to activate skills on the panel jumps by one second.

The information in Gu Weijing's mind gradually faded away like the tide.

There is no trace of brushstrokes for the next second.

There is no color matching reminder.

No more error statements to avoid.

Even the image of the old Jackley cat lying on the grass by the roadside, basking in the sun, was gone.

This does not mean that Gu Weijing has lost his creative direction or focus.

No.

As a lot of information in my mind gradually fades away, the process of "creation" itself becomes clearer and clearer.

Gu Weijing was clearly fully engaged and thinking, his brain working at high speed, all his energy absorbed by the content on the canvas, not allowing for a single distracting thought.

He suddenly began to feel the alternating hot and cold airflow as he breathed through his nose, the hard touch of his finger bones against the wooden barrel of the watercolor pen, and could clearly hear the wet rustling sound as the tip of the pen slid across the paper and the paint spread in the gaps in the watercolor paper. He could smell the very light, faint plant scent of the so-called "odorless" water-soluble arabic resin added to the paint at the tip of the pen, which was very similar to the smell of turpentine thinner, but much lighter.

He could even feel which muscles in his hips, legs, waist and back were being squeezed and which muscles were being stretched and relaxed when he sat on the chair.

During high school classes.

The teacher always emphasized again and again that when creating, one must focus all attention on the painting and maintain absolute concentration.

Logically speaking.

In Gu Weijing's opinion, all this information that has nothing to do with painting should be considered "distractions" and should be avoided.

The sound of paint spreading on paper, the touch between fingers and pen, the warmth and coldness of air flow when breathing...what do these things have to do with painting itself?
Gu Weijing has been painting for many years.

For the first time in his life, he realized what the arabic resin used as a pigment fixative should smell like.

the strange thing is.

It was precisely these distracting thoughts that made the act of "picking up the pen to paint" become more vivid than ever in Gu Weijing's mind at this moment.

He knew he was painting.

He knows that he is thinking, but this "knowing" does not interrupt the continuity of his thinking.

It's an extremely wonderful feeling.

Gu Weijing could even feel time slipping by him. Every second was like the beating of a string, and every stroke of the brush in his hand accurately hit the notes on the string.

He was totally focused.

His heart is as clear as a mirror, without a trace of dust.

Call it the mind or the head space.

Gu Weijing found that he no longer had to play and frolic with a group of cats in that silent black box.

Because at this moment, they had already broken the window, knocked the box, opened the lid, and "drilled" out of Gu Weijing's body, appearing on the drawing paper in front of him, using their round heads, pink noses, and plum-colored little feet to support, push, and arch the paintbrush to paint.

From light to heavy, and then from heavy to light.

Gu Weijing could not feel the weight of any brush at this moment. His pen tip was so light that he seemed to be scribbling without thinking, but the texture of the picture was not impaired at all.

Its weight is still there, but it has grown wings.

Grandpa Gu Tongxiang has been obsessed with martial arts novels and kung fu movies all his life. The old man has a tie, which was a gift from an American customer. It is said that he bought it from Chinatown. On it is written the twelve-character martial arts mantra of the late martial arts master and kung fu superstar Mr. Bruce Lee:

To have law when there is no law.

Take the infinite as finite.

For a tie that emphasizes simplicity, wearing it outside is actually quite non-mainstream.

However, Gu Weijing remembered this sentence when he was a child.

He might never have thought of it at that time.

One day in his life, when he was painting a watercolor in the middle of the night, the old man's non-mainstream tie suddenly flashed through his mind.

(End of this chapter)