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

Chapter 352, Oil Painting Bust, Looking Forward to Good News
"Everyone, please put your painting supplies in the studio first, and then go to the multimedia classroom to attend the class. The teacher will use a large projector." The class monitor came to convey the notice.

This kind of thing happens often. Although it is a sketching class, if the teacher wants to use clearer projection when teaching, a multimedia classroom must be used.

At that time, high-end multimedia equipment was not yet popular.

Jiang Zhe and his classmates came to the multimedia classroom and saw a male teacher and two classmates debugging the projector.

The students found their own seats and sat down.

Jiang Zhe looked at his watch, 7:56.

The teacher adjusted the projector, asked everyone to sit down, and introduced themselves first.

The teacher's surname is Chi, and he is in charge of the oil painting sketching class.

"Students, I have also seen the color and sketching exercises you have done this semester. Regarding this class, let me first talk about the overall requirements.

When learning oil painting, you must give full play to the characteristics of the material, and you cannot discard what you have learned before. Skills such as sketching and color are to assist you in modeling. However, modeling cannot be copied and pasted.

If you draw the model exactly as it is, that's not called painting.

What I am going to talk about today is for you to learn, not to copy. You should draw your own things.

Refer to good paintings, refer to models, and once you have a feeling, then create.”

After the teacher finished stating the requirements, he began the lecture.

He started with French neoclassical oil paintings, focusing on the portraits of David and Ingres, then talked about the portraits of the Itinerant Art Gallery and Impressionist painters, and then talked about Matisse.

Part of what he talked about was high-definition photos he took during his study tour. The angles of some of the materials were different from those in the books, so the students listened very carefully.

There is an important way to learn in college. That is, some of the things that teachers talk about may be information that students will never be able to access in their entire lives.

For example, Professor Chi talked a lot about the information he collected in the Hermitage (Winter Palace).

Many students may never have the opportunity to personally come into contact with it in their lifetime, but they can learn relevant information through the teacher's explanation.

Teacher Chi clicked the mouse and a new portrait appeared on the display screen.

This is a small oil painting of a head, and the students couldn't tell who created it.

Teacher Chi explained: "This is a portrait created by a little-known French painter. He lived in the same period as the famous painter David. This kind of portrait is very similar to today's ID photos. When there were no photos, many painters made a living by painting this kind of portrait. It is usually about 22×17cm, with the same style and action angle. Many painters can finish the painting in one or two hours. If the customer is in a hurry, they can even pick it up on the same day.

However, once the camera was invented, this kind of painting was replaced.

Even this kind of portrait has a certain beautifying function.

Therefore, today, we cannot use the resemblance as the first criterion for judging paintings. Everyone should find the beauty they want. "

After he finished explaining the examples, he went on to state the specific requirements: students must complete at least two oil painting sketches within two weeks, with a size no less than 50×60cm.

"The original requirement of the sketching class was to complete four paintings. After discussing with several teachers, I felt that the time was too tight and it was easy to produce works that were just for the sake of doing things. So, we changed it to at least two paintings to give everyone enough time.

There are three models for you to choose from.” Teacher Chi emphasized again, “Don’t be in a hurry. Start drawing when you have a feeling.”

The teacher has finished teaching, and the rest is up to the students to understand on their own.

Jiang Zhe and his classmates returned to the studio.

At 10:00, the models came to the studio.

The students have been divided into three groups, and the three models have taken their seats.

The models are all middle-aged and elderly people between 40 and 50 years old.

The model in Jiang Zhe's group is a man with half-white hair, wearing blue trousers and a gray jacket.

The man was thin, with cloudy eyes and thick joints in his hands. He sat in a chair in a relaxed posture.

Teacher Chi helped the models adjust the rituals and directions one by one. When he felt everything was fine, he announced the start.

The students are all watching.

Jiang Zhe walked to different positions and observed the models.

He understood and memorized some of the details he wanted to know, then returned to his seat and quickly sketched the composition style, character proportions, and dynamics in his sketchbook.

He used simple lines to draw shapes, tried his best to perfect the composition, and determined the basic form without considering the details of the picture from the beginning.

Because the prepared frame is 55×70 cm, I decided to paint a bust.

Next, he began to use sketches to depict different details, including the character’s face, movements, hands, etc., and tried different possibilities for each detail.

When Jiang Zhe was considering the shape of the characters' clothes, he also thought about the color matching of the picture.

The realistic effect of the model's clothing was not conducive to highlighting the characters, so he considered changing the background tone to light gray, close to the tone of the top, and then painting the character's skin color slightly darker to highlight the key points.

While he was thinking about the details, he heard Teacher Chi asking the model to rest and have lunch.

Jiang Zhe looked at the time and realized that it was already lunch time.

The students also left the studio one after another. No one had started drawing the final draft yet, so there was no need to worry about continuity.

Jiang Zhe and Chen Yan had lunch together and then went for a walk on the campus.

After the walk, he was ready to go to the car to rest for a while. As soon as he walked to the parking lot, he saw Professor Qin and Teacher Hu coming out of the parking lot.

Professor Qin asked Teacher Hu to go eat first and took Jiang Zhe aside.

"Yesterday, I told the department head and the dean about your award. The school takes it very seriously. Originally, I wanted to promote it in the media, but considering your new achievements, I decided to wait. I will promote it after all your honor materials are in place."

"I understand. Thank you, teacher. I will report to you as soon as the file is delivered." Jiang Zhe said. He knew why the school attached great importance to it. This was an honor that could add points to the school.

After they parted, he returned to the car and adjusted the seat to the most comfortable position, while also keeping the air circulating in the car.

He lay back in his seat, closed his eyes, activated the system, and began to look up information.

He found the works of Sargent and Hals and studied them. The works of these two painters were of reference significance to his current studies.

He has done in-depth research on Sargent's works, so there is no need to say more.

Many of Hals' portraits are busts. The characters he painted are vivid and their expressions are very vivid; his brushstrokes are flexible and accurate, which can enrich the modeling and increase the brilliance of the picture.

While observing, Jiang Zhe also considered continuing his previous attempt - combining classical modeling techniques with impressionist colors.

At 1:30 p.m., Jiang Zhe came to the studio on time and began to squeeze colors onto the palette.

Previous practice and thinking made him very familiar with the character image and also considered the basic color tone.

He planned to paint the base color and basic tones this afternoon. When mixing the colors, he did not use oil, but added quick-drying oil or turpentine to some pigments, or added nothing.

These pigments can also dry faster and retain the characteristics of oil paintings by applying thin layers.

After the model was in place, Jiang Zhe began to sketch with carbon sticks.

Teacher Chi came to the studio and began to inspect and guide.

He walked past several students without stopping and came directly behind Jiang Zhe. He saw Jiang Zhe carefully using a small piece of carbon stick to determine the position of the head and then draw the dynamics of the figure.

Although the strokes are simple, the shapes are concise and vivid.

The teacher didn't say anything and continued to watch other students' creations.

At this point, the students are all in the drafting or just beginning to color the work. Some are painting in gray tones, while others are using turpentine to mix semi-transparent colors and then painting flatly, leaving the draft in place.

Jiang Zhe finished the draft, confirmed that there were no problems, and began to apply the first layer of color. He also used a small amount of turpentine to mix large blocks of color and the tone of the clothes, and used a large brush to apply thinly to paint the base color.

During this process, except for the face and hands, all other parts of the painting were painted, even covering part of the original draft.

Next, Jiang Zhe adjusted the character's skin tone.

The colors he mixed are gray and dark, belonging to the middle tone of skin color, showing the characteristics of the characters' long-term labor.

When applying the base color, it is inevitable to cover part of the contours of the facial features.

Teacher Chi took a look around and saw Jiang Zhe's work again.

"The way you draw is different from before."

Jiang Zhe replied: "I want to try a new method."

Teacher Chi continued to ask: "Next, how do you want to draw?"

Jiang Zhe said: "I want to weaken the color tone of the character's clothes and make the character's skin color darker to create a contrast."

"Okay, let's give it a try." Teacher Chi did not comment.

Jiang Zhe continued to adjust the background color as planned.

The pigments he used to paint the base color can be roughly divided into three types: quick-drying oil, oil with turpentine, and nothing.

Different ways of using pigments will present different incentives.

When he first started painting the base color, he was very fast, but because it was a short-term creation, he needed to paint part of the base color directly into the final effect, so adjustments were needed.

Jiang Zhe depicts the background area, using brushstrokes and shapes to create changes in space without changing the color tone. He then depicts the light and dark changes in clothes and accessories.

When the paint was dry, he began to focus on the character's face.

At this point, he began to slow down his painting speed and considered for a long time before he started.

Jiang Zhe carefully appreciates how light passes through the forehead and cheekbones of the face and blends gently into the background. He distinguishes the changes in cold and warm tones from the existing middle tones and also grasps the overall shape.

Because of the size of the oil painting, there is relatively limited room for modification, both in terms of outline and internal structure.

Jiang Zhe could only be concise in all aspects and depict the object with as few strokes as possible.

Teacher Chi knew that it would be difficult to see very wonderful works during this period, so he left for two hours before returning to the studio.

He walked and looked, complaining in his heart. When many students paint oil paintings, they either develop in the direction of sketching, or pay too much attention to color and forget about the shape. Some people even rush to redraw the image because the oil paint covers the draft, resulting in problems with the shape.

It wasn't until I saw Jiang Zhe's work that I felt better.

Jiang Zhe's works are also divided into several large blocks of color. However, the transition between tones, the division and fusion of brushstrokes have already revealed the outline and structure of the characters.

He saw that Jiang Zhe added a stroke to the face of the character in the painting, perfectly dividing the forehead and the eye sockets.

(End of this chapter)