The literary giants of the late Ming Dynasty began by copying books

Chapter 185 Basics of Sketching

Hearing this, Zeng Jing stood and looked at his painting from a distance, and said with a smile: "The face of the character in my painting is originally from the front. Although the body is a little skewed, it is not too sideways, so it is naturally painted from the front."

Wang Wenlong asked doubtfully: "Can't we draw it along the axis of her body?"

"Body axis?" Zeng Wing shook his head, "What is that?"

Wang Wenlong noticed that Zeng Jing seemed to have never been exposed to similar concepts, and couldn't help but ask: "May I ask Brother Bochen how he started to learn how to draw faces?"

Zeng Jing said naturally: "First learn how to draw a ten-faceted face, that is, a frontal face, then learn how to draw a slightly sideways seven-quarter face, and finally learn how to draw a half-face that is turned sideways. After learning these three aspects, no matter whether the character is looking down or up, his face will always be the same. If it doesn’t change, you can start by learning some character movements.”

Wang Wenlong finally understood. No wonder the level of figure painting these days was not high. It turned out that Chinese painting did not pay much attention to figure painting at this time.

At this time, "paintings were divided into three categories": figures, flowers and birds, and landscapes.

Landscape paintings and flower-and-bird paintings embody the relationship between man and nature, and are definitely the most popular. Figure paintings are often integrated with architectural paintings, and are not taken seriously.

Masters of figure painting like Zeng Jing only learn three forms of human face painting. All characters use these three forms. How can they not be the same?

In contrast, Western painting originated from religious painting and is an expert at painting figures.

Wang Wenlong had learned some sketching in his previous life, and now he suddenly realized that he could teach Zeng Wing something at his own level. He smiled and said: "Bo Chen, why don't you try dividing the human head into several large pieces, and according to its different angles, Draw the corresponding structure so that the character's head can be turned at will."

"For example, we can divide the human face into three groups. The forehead is a square, the cheek is a flat trapezoid, and the lower jaw is a slightly sharp trapezoid..."

As Wang Wenlong spoke, he picked up the pen and drew a head block on the paper next to him when sketching. He also demonstrated how to use this block to draw a head that rotates at different angles. As long as the structure of the head is mastered, no matter the character, No matter how you rotate it, the drawn head will not be deformed.

It was the first time Zeng Jing saw a human head painted from so many angles, and his eyes lit up: "Jianyang's painting method is somewhat similar to that of Western missionaries in Nanjing, but the characters they painted don't seem to be as good as Jianyang's." The painting is so exquisite.”

Wang Wenlong shook his head and said: "European paintings are much better than mine. The Western figure paintings you see in Nanjing are not exquisite only because the missionaries who came to China are of average quality, and the Western paintings they brought are not the work of famous artists."

He explained: "Europeans have been fond of painting religious stories since ancient times, and many painters took this as their profession. In the past hundred years, the so-called Renaissance style has emerged, and they have become more and more devoted to portraits. There was even a famous artist named Daphne 80 years ago. Strangely, in order to study the structure of the human body, they purchased cadaver dissections and repeatedly practiced drawing various structures of the human body. They have already delved into this art to an extremely deep level. Their figure paintings are like looking into a mirror, and they are truly lifelike."

"Is what Duke Jianyang said true?" Zeng Jing was quite surprised.

The reason why Zeng Jing was able to create the Pochen School painting method was because he was greatly shocked after seeing European paintings in Nanjing decades ago. He studied figure painting carefully and finally came up with his own set of layers of dyeing. Drawing techniques that reflect facial structure.

Zeng Jing felt that the quality of the paintings he painted was not much worse than the Western Madonnas he had seen in Nanjing. He thought his figure paintings were already very good, but he did not expect that according to Wang Wenlong, they were just the most common European paintings. Just level.

Zeng Jing couldn't help but feel disappointed: "According to Jianyang, how can I be praised for my ability?"

Wang Wenlong quickly comforted him and said: "Westerners are good at oil painting. I, the Ming Dynasty, use ink painting, which is another set of techniques. If I study more, I will definitely be able to surpass their Western characters. Po Chen can create a set of ink bone painting methods. Now I also know that Westerners’ painting methods, if they study them carefully, they will definitely become more refined over time. This is also an undertaking that has never been done by predecessors, and the achievements that can be made in it are huge.”

Wang Wenlong knew that the contemporary meticulous figure paintings of later generations absorbed Western sketching methods in terms of modeling, making them more realistic in form, and continued traditional Chinese expression techniques in terms of painting techniques. Many masters also emerged from this path. This path is definitely promising. .

"Is this really possible?" Wang Wenlong smiled and said, "Although I am not familiar with Western painting techniques, I do know some of their essence. Their painting methods would be simple if we only focus on the theoretical level."

Wang Wenlong was really not bragging. He nodded and said: "The essence of Western painting lies in quantification. Perspective is derived from objective physical laws, structure is derived from perspective, light and shadow are derived from structure, and by adding a color, everything can be basically What you see is transferred to the picture. Since it is based on reasoning, it is easy to learn. As long as the principles are explained clearly, anyone can understand it."

Zeng Jing was surprised again. This basic content was broken at a glance. Wang Wenlong simply picked up the pen and started to explain perspective to Zeng Jing.

Perspective is basically the content of geometry, involving concepts such as parallel lines, similar figures, the projection of a circle is an ellipse, etc.

Wang Wenlong has good expressive skills, and Zeng Jing can also understand it. The more he listens, the more fascinated he becomes. At the same time, he is surprised by Wang Wenlong's extensive knowledge of Western painting - Wang Wenlong copied it from the introductory sketching textbook he had read in his previous life.

He couldn't stop at this lecture. In the next two days, Zeng Jing finally understood perspective, structure, light and shadow. This was enough time for a painter of Zeng Jing's caliber. As for the color part, Wang Wenlong only had the basics in his mind. The sketching textbook was not written and could only be left to Zeng Jing’s own research.

Zeng Whale's eyes were bright after he had learned all the contents.

In the past few days, Wang Wenlong has helped him build a basic set of sketch thinking in his mind, and his entire concept of painting has undergone a huge change.

Even in his mind, he had combined the sketching content taught by Wang Wenlong with the traditional Chinese painting techniques he had mastered, giving birth to countless creative ideas. He wanted to quickly draw dozens of paintings to experiment with these ideas one by one.

He said to Wang Wenlong with great gratitude: "Mr. Jianyang, I will treat you as a teacher and treat him with courtesy."

Wang Wenlong waved his hand quickly: "It's just some superficial knowledge, don't take it seriously."

Zeng Jing shook his head and said, "Sir, please don't refuse. If what you have taught me these days were used while I was studying, I'm afraid the master would have to teach me for several years."

Zeng Jing knew the value of what Wang Wenlong taught and was extremely grateful. Seeing that Wang Wenlong could not refuse, he could only smile and said: "I have given all my knowledge in painting to Bochen, and there is no need for more teaching. Bochen worships me." There are no more benefits to being a teacher.”

Wang Wenlong finally relented, and Zeng Jing said happily: "In this case, I will hold a banquet to become my disciple today."

Wang Wenlong waved his hands repeatedly, "There is no need to hold a banquet or apprenticeship, just make a verbal agreement."

"In this case, I will obey Master, but there is always something to thank Master."

Wang Wenlong knew that Zeng Jing's current reputation was not the most famous. It would take more than ten years for him to truly become famous in the painting world. And with Zeng Jing's sketching skills in this time and space, he was afraid that his achievements would far exceed those in his previous life.

Wang Wenlong also didn't lack Zeng Jing's apprenticeship fee. Thinking of Zeng Jing's future reputation, he simply smiled and said, "No need for Cheng Yi, just give me a painting by Bo Chen."

"What's the problem? Master just waits for a few days."

(End of this chapter)