Reborn as a great painter, with a system, you can be willful

Chapter 350, Sketching, Winning, Harvest Season
Sunday morning,

Jiang Zhe sat at his workbench, flipping through a picture album he brought back from Paris.

The works in the album are mainly from German-speaking painters, including Dürer's works.

Although the sketching course assignments were completed successfully, the challenge tasks issued by the system were still there, and the task of improving sketching skills to the master level had not yet been completed.

He wanted to continue his previous study of sketching and continue his research, hoping to complete the task as soon as possible.

He selected four representative works of Dürer from picture albums and systematic materials, all of which were self-portraits.

Dürer's masterpiece is his self-portrait.

The four works record Dürer's life at different ages.

The first one is a sketch, a self-portrait of Dürer when he was 13 years old. He left a message in the upper right corner of the picture, "This is a picture of myself I drew in 1484. At that time, I was still a child."

Jiang Zhe looked at the text and judged from the context that this should be a passage written by Dürer after he became an adult.

He did not copy this work. After all, Dürer's skills were not yet perfect at this time.

He analyzed the painting in the way of reading it, and then started looking at the second work.

This is an oil painting.

The work is in the album, but a clearer picture is stored in the system.

This work is now in the collection of the Louvre, so Jiang Zhe collected detailed information during his visit.

He used the system page to observe the works.

This is a self-portrait of Dürer when he was 22 years old, measuring 56×44cm. Although it is an oil painting, the painter painted the image on parchment and then mounted it on canvas.

In this painting, Dürer is holding a plant in his hand. His outfit seems a bit strange today. However, Jiang Zhe found out that this outfit was very fashionable during the Renaissance.

According to current research, this painting was sent by Dürer to his fiancée whom he had never met.

Jiang Zhe found a piece of sketch paper and began to copy the oil painting using the sketching skills rewarded by the system. From the oil painting, it can be seen that his skills are already very advanced at this time.

He did not copy all the details, but focused on the face and hands.

Soon after the copying was completed, Jiang Zhe examined the picture. This painting symbolized love. Unfortunately, less than three months after Dürer got married, he went to Italy, saying that he was going to study art and culture.

Jiang Zhe reopened the album and found the third work.

This is a painting of Dürer himself in Italy. He was 26 years old at the time.

Jiang Zhe used the previous work to compare the image of Dürer in this painting. It can be seen that the appearance and dress are quite different.

Dürer had long wavy hair and a beard, and wore the most popular black and white striped hat at the time, as well as white gloves that symbolized nobility.

In Jiang Zhe's opinion, the biggest difference between the two paintings is Dürer's eyes. The 22-year-old Dürer still has a hint of immaturity, while the 26-year-old Dürer's eyes reveal confidence and composure.

Jiang Zhe also saw Dürer's very famous signature on this painting, a slightly deformed A with a D below.

For this work, Jiang Zhe only studied it and did not copy it.

He focused his study on the fourth work.

Dürer created this world-famous self-portrait when he was 28 years old. He left the words in the painting: "I, Albrecht Dürer from Nuremberg, painted a self-portrait for myself with the most harmonious colors." There is also his signature on the painting.

This painting is more famous and more special than the previous self-portrait.

Because a mirror is needed to create a self-portrait, most of the people in the paintings are facing the camera sideways, but this painting is facing the camera directly, which made the creation of the painting somewhat difficult.

In this painting, Dürer has long hair and a long beard. He looks like a successful man with an extraordinary demeanor. The most interesting thing is his gestures.

Jiang Zhe looked at the hands in the painting and the first thing he confirmed was that the hands that he had copied before were Dürer's hands. Secondly, the gesture of these two hands was very special and could usually be seen in portraits of Jesus Christ.

The index and middle fingers are raised listlessly, which is a gesture of blessing. In the painting, Dürer's two fingers are not pointing at others, but at himself.

After seeing these details, Jiang Zhe began to appreciate the beauty of this painting. No matter what method Dürer used, the most impressive thing about this work is its momentum and beauty.

Looking at this self-portrait from hundreds of years ago and looking into the eyes of the person in the painting, he had an illusion that a wise and steady gaze was looking at him through 500 years of time.

Jiang Zhe even felt a hint of pressure from this momentum.

He did not avoid various senses, but savored them carefully, and then reversely inferred the beauty that Dürer and other Renaissance painters wanted to create.

He vaguely grasped a bit of the charm.

Jiang Zhe had an idea: could he also draw a self-portrait?

He kept the idea in mind. Now, he had to immediately solidify and expand the realization. This could only be done later.

He took out a pencil and began to sketch the painting.

Because the sketching skills rewarded by the system include those of Dürer, so copying the oil painting with sketches is just a matter of changing the materials. In terms of skills, there is not much difficulty.

What is rare is to make the insights your own.

Time passed unconsciously.

He spent most of the day studying Dürer's self-portrait and felt that he had a deeper understanding of Dürer. However, when he opened the system, he saw that his skills had not changed and the tasks were not responding.

He wasn't discouraged either.

On Monday and Tuesday nights, he insisted on taking two hours every night to copy sketches. On Wednesday afternoon, Jiang Zhe was in class when his cell phone started vibrating.

He glanced at his phone and saw it was a text message from Wang Zhen.

At this time, Christie's auction has not started yet, so there should be no news of the auction.

He finished writing down what he wanted to record, and then clicked on text messages while listening to the class.

The message was brief: Are you free to talk? Good news, there's news about the Venice painting competition.

Jiang Zhe thought, if you have any news, why don’t you just tell me directly?
He replied via text message: I'm in class, you can contact me via text message, or I'll call you after class.

Wang Zhen replied: I am waiting for your call. You should have won the prize. I am confirming the news.

Jiang Zhe was stunned for a moment when he saw the news of winning the award, and then he began to look forward to it. With at least the award and the successful auction as a backdrop, it seemed that this news could not make him so excited, but he still looked forward to the harvest.

He put his phone down. After all, they were still in class and couldn't act too outrageous.

I continued to listen to the lecture and take notes, and couldn't help but ponder. The start time of the two competitions was not much different. The Venice Painting Competition did not announce the finalists, and the announcement of the results was even later.

Although he tried hard to concentrate on the lectures, when he had a little break, he couldn't help but wonder what kind of award he could win.

Gold? Silver? Bronze? Hope for the best.

"...If there are no questions, let's end the get out of class." The teacher announced the end of get out of class, and the students stood up and prepared to leave.

Jiang Zhe had already packed up his stationery and books and was ready to call Wang Zhen.

I walked out of the teaching building and met the class monitor.

The monitor informed the students that they should prepare the materials and tools for tomorrow.

Jiang Zhe chatted with the squad leader for a few words and then came to the parking lot.

He got in the car and quickly dialed Wang Zhen's number.

"Manager Wang, I just got off get out of class."

Wang Zhen said, "That's right, I wanted to call you. The news has been confirmed. Your work has won a prize in the oil painting category at the Venice Painting Competition. Guess what the prize is?"

Jiang Zhe said: "I guess the gold prize is unlikely."

Wang Zhen said: "It's not a gold medal, it's a bronze medal. Congratulations."

"Thank you," Jiang Zhe said, feeling a little disappointed. He had already won a silver medal, so winning a bronze medal at this time didn't seem to make him too happy. Mainly, his expectations were a little high.

Wang Zhen heard Jiang Zhe's tone and consoled him, "Don't be discouraged. It's not easy to get a bronze medal. Many painters have participated many times but still haven't won anything. This is your first time participating in the competition, and you are participating abroad. It's great to win a prize. The value of this award is no less than that of the American portrait painting competition.

Moreover, this competition is to prepare for the higher-level competitions later on.”

Jiang Zhe quickly adjusted his mood: "I understand. The disappointment is because I had high expectations. It's okay. When will the award documents be delivered?"

Wang Zhen said: “Now, the news has just been announced, it should take some time.

I have heard that some critics and judges are very impressed with your style of painting. Some have already started asking for the price.”

Jiang Zhe said: "There is no rush to sell the paintings, let's wait and see.

Thank you for the good results. It's worth your hard work and efforts."

Wang Zhen said, "Your work is good. I organized a group of works to participate in the competition, and only your work won the prize. I heard that you may be the only one in our country who won the prize. Now you know how valuable it is, right?"

The two chatted for a while before ending the call.

When Jiang Zhe saw Chen Yan coming, he opened the door and got out of the car.

Chen Yan said, "I didn't see you in the teaching building, and someone said you were heading to the parking lot. Is there something urgent?"

Jiang Zhe said: "I'll call Wang Zhen."

Chen Yan looked at Jiang Zhe and said, "Judging from your expression, it should be a good thing."

"Guess." Jiang Zhe took out his phone and said with a smile: "Let's go eat first."

"Tell me quickly what the news is." Chen Yan walked side by side with Jiang Zhe.

Jiang Zhe told Chen Yan the good news.

"Really? Even though it's a bronze medal, it's pretty good. You, you've won awards in a row." Chen Yan was even more excited than Jiang Zhe himself. "You've had good luck recently, right? Do you want to go out and celebrate?"

Jiang Zhe said: "Now, the news has just been announced. It's not too late to celebrate after we get the award information."

"We have a reward. Even if we don't celebrate for now, we should have a snack tonight." Chen Yan took Jiang Zhe's arm.

Jiang Zhe: "We should have more food."

The two of them walked towards the cafeteria, talking and laughing.

"The campus is so beautiful in autumn." Because of her good mood, the campus in Chen Yan's eyes is more beautiful than ever.

"Yes, autumn is the season of harvest," said Jiang Zhe.

(End of this chapter)