“And, stop painting on smaller canvases, paint on a larger one.”
“Teacher!” Qian Chong was stunned.
Shen Jiaru huffed and ignored him, then picked up Fang Shaojun’s painting.
He looked at it for a while, nodded slightly, first saying, “As expected, Fang Shaojun is the most consistent,” then flipped the painting over, “Fang Shaojun, you start.”
“…” Fang Shaojun pushed her bangs aside and began:
“The dark parts of this portrait were not handled well; they should have been done in cool tones, but I didn’t dare.”
“Lu Yunfei,” Shen Jiaru called.
“The treatment of the hair is too detailed, it’s somewhat overwhelming,” Lu Yunfei again lifted his gaze from his own painting, looked for a while, and then slowly said just one sentence.
He seemed like someone who wouldn’t be affected by his surroundings, stubbornly immersed in his own world.
“Qian Chong,” Shen Jiaru called.
“You’re focusing too much on color, and the sketching relationships aren’t well represented.” Qian Chong pointed at the side of the face portrait that was only half integrated, “This side has been neglected, there’s too much environmental color, it feels like the person is going to melt into the background.”
“…” Fang Shaojun turned and gave Qian Chong a sideways glance, her eyes carrying a faint disdain.
“Hua Jie,” Shen Jiaru’s gaze returned to Hua Jie.
“Yes, both Lu Yunfei and Qian Chong are correct,” Hua Jie immersed herself in the painting, and any initial restraint and hesitation she had when entering the studio were swept away.
Her gaze was focused on the painting, her demeanor exceptionally serious, even somewhat aloof as she delved deep:
“If the overall composition were shifted a bit more to the left, the balance of the entire painting would be better.”
“Rembrandt lighting is very classic, and because it’s classic, any slight mistake is very noticeable.”
“Since this part is so bright, then here, here, and here, should all be brighter to be reasonable.”
“Everything else is very good, the structure of the body is solid, the expression of color is solid, and the use of these color blocks is very bold, very beautiful.”
Fang Shaojun turned to look at Hua Jie, noticing her still carefully and seriously examining her painting, her brow unconsciously furrowed.
Hua Jie’s earnest attitude was too intense. When she looks at a painting, when she analyzes a painting, that concentrated demeanor puts significant pressure on her.
A highly competitive person, faced with a classmate like Hua Jie, would inevitably feel a sense of urgency.
Such meticulous and detailed commentary, it’s hard to know what her own paintings are really like.
Fang Shaojun pursed her lips, her gaze moving from her own painting to the one in the teacher’s lap, Hua Jie’s painting.
Qian Chong and Lu Yunfei, after Hua Jie finished speaking, each looked up as if they were very curious about the painting skills of this new student who had shown no sign of timidity and had been overly serious in her critiques from the start.
“Do some exercises on the dark parts of the portrait,” Shen Jiaru handed the painting back to Fang Shaojun.
Then, he finally picked up the kraft paper bag Hua Jie had handed over.
Under everyone’s watchful eyes, he slowly untied the twine, with Qian Chong anxiously rubbing his fingers.
Finally, Shen Jiaru pulled out Hua Jie’s assignment.
It was not just one, but a stack.
“…”
“…”
“…”
Fang Shaojun and the others were stunned. Didn’t Hua Jie have midterms last week? And she still painted so much?
How much homework did the teacher actually assign her?
Shen Jiaru held his own painting in one hand and Hua Jie’s copied paintings in the other.
After looking for a while, he suddenly laughed.
The sternness from before dissipated, and he looked up at Hua Jie with interest.
Indeed, a person who paints, after dutifully copying, it’s impossible not to include some of their own elements.
At first glance, Hua Jie’s painting seems like a faithful copy, with steps and techniques replicated, but if you look closely, you’ll see… haha, it’s full of personal expression.
The other students, besides Hua Jie, were a bit shocked. It was the first time they had seen the teacher laugh while reviewing homework.
“Hua Jie, you speak first,” Shen Jiaru finally flipped the painting around and placed his own beside it.
“…” Hua Jie pursed her lips, looked at the teacher, and after thinking a bit, she said:
“My watercolor techniques are rusty.”
“…” Shen Jiaru looked at the other three disciples, realizing that they studied gouache and were very unfamiliar with watercolor, unlikely to provide any critique. He decided not to call for a cross-review and simply said:
“For a beginner in watercolor, to reach this level on your first still life copy is not disappointing.”
“…”
“…”
“…”
The three senior students, who were all set to harshly critique Hua Jie’s painting, were stunned and wide-eyed, wondering why the teacher had not given them a chance.
All three huddled together to take a serious look and discovered it was indeed watercolor.
Had a watercolor student really mixed in among them, the gouache students?
Wait!
Why could a watercolor student critique their gouache paintings so thoroughly?
And… why was the critique so on point?
All three turned their gaze back to Hua Jie, each frowning, both puzzled and a bit annoyed by her.
The three who usually did not see eye to eye suddenly found a common point of contention—
What’s the deal with Hua Jie, this newcomer?
“Thank you, teacher,” Hua Jie quickly expressed her gratitude.
“Here I laid down two layers of color; the top layer didn’t completely cover the underlayer, allowing the color beneath to show through, adding depth to the image and a dynamic interest, while the neat junction of the two colors keeps the painting clean.”
“You even noticed that when copying.”
Shen Jiaru nodded, then added:
“The air pockets here are a common occurrence in the dry brush technique, where two colors meet but do not blend, creating a reserved white space.”
“Moreover, when the brush is laid down in one go, the shape of these air pockets is very irregular, adding a carefree touch to the pure watercolors, perfectly fitting the unrestrained nature of this still life.”
“Ah, this attentive stroke and handling, you’ve managed to achieve that too, and your brushwork during the copying was also very smooth, obviously done with extreme speed in one stroke.”
“Logically speaking, as a beginner, it’s impossible to have such brushwork and handling skills, even in copying. Did you practice this stroke many times before painting?”
“Yes, I practiced on four sheets of paper,” Hua Jie honestly replied.
Shen Jiaru’s gaze lingered on her for a while, indeed noticing a hint of fatigue under her eyes.
The homework he assigned was much more than what could normally be completed; he had intended to make her understand just how challenging the goals she set for herself were.
Yet, he hadn’t expected this young girl to be so stubborn, managing to complete the assignment to such an extent through sheer grit.
How long did she paint? How harsh were the nights she stayed up?
“How many times did you redo this copy?” he continued to inquire.
“…” Hua Jie pursed her lips, feeling a bit embarrassed; she was really slow, and the number of redos was quite high, “About twenty times.”
Many of those times, she had restarted just after painting a little.
“…”
“…”
“…”
Even the other three students couldn’t believe it and their mouths fell open in shock.
It turned out this seriously stubborn fool, who was overly focused even when critiquing their paintings, was also incredibly tough on herself.
Shen Jiaru’s smile faded, and his look at Hua Jie carried a mix of complex emotions.
He really shouldn’t have given her such heavy homework; this child was different from Qian Chong and the others, who treated their assignments more casually.
She really… took him by surprise.
This determination… was somewhat reckless.
For children who are lazy, shrink back, and fear hardship, they need to be pushed hard.
For Hua Jie, it seems he needs to loosen the reins.
Indeed, a little daughter needs to be pampered.
“You did quite well…” Although he saw many issues, he really couldn’t bear to point them all out at once.
Shen Jiaru thought to himself, they must cultivate their skills gradually and improve step by step.
“You can’t become an expert overnight,” he reflected, deciding to adopt an encouraging approach. He nodded in approval and said, “You’ve basically met my expectations, well done.”
After saying this, he set down the painting.
While the other three students were still feeling pity for Hua Jie having to redo this copy multiple times during her midterms, Shen Jiaru suddenly picked up the remaining stack of paintings and began to look through them one by one.
“?”
“!”
“…”
The three senior students instantly became unsettled as they leaned in to look—
Holy cow!
So many glass spheres?
And each one in different colors, also using different brush techniques?
Is this newcomer a robot?
Fang Shaojun turned to look at Hua Jie, suddenly wanting to pinch her to see if she was made of flesh or metal.
“The paintings are so clean and neat.” Shen Jiaru examined each sphere, noticing that each was meticulously outlined with a compass, and the spacing between each sphere was uniform.
Not a single sphere’s color bled beyond its outline; each was impeccably clean, displaying a level of meticulousness and patience that seemed innate for painting.
“You must have redone these, too? How many sheets of paper did you waste?”
“Just… about a dozen or so…” Hua Jie said, somewhat embarrassedly smiling.
But no one dared to laugh at her for being slow, not even Qian Chong, who had initially wanted to harshly critique her painting. At this moment, even he was inwardly shocked.
He had the least patience among Shen Jiaru’s students, and Hua Jie’s meticulousness, to him, seemed almost pathological!
OCD! Psychotic! Crazy!
“…” Shen Jiaru sighed and looked up again at the well-behaved girl standing there, somewhat shy when not discussing painting.
Suddenly, he felt a pang of sympathy—was it because she had to mature early in a poor family, or was it just her naturally diligent and straightforward character?
“Sit down,” he gestured, indicating everyone should return to their seats.
Fang Shaojun and Qian Chong sulkily walked back to their corners, while Lu Yunfei was still engrossed in the glass spheres in Shen Jiaru’s hand, captivated by the colors of a few of them.
“Teacher, may I take a look?” he asked, uncharacteristically initiating conversation.
“Yes,” Shen Jiaru handed the stack of glass sphere paintings to him.
Lu Yunfei gently took the paintings, silently returned to his corner, and began to earnestly examine the spheres. Then, he opened his paint box, picked up a brush, and started attempting to mix the beautiful colors Hua Jie had achieved with watercolor using his gouache paints.
After trying for a while, he suddenly stopped, staring fixedly at his paintbox, finding it increasingly displeasing. It must be because gouache is an opaque, high-coverage paint, whereas watercolor is transparent, which is why he couldn’t reproduce the color.
He no longer wanted to work with gouache; he wanted to paint with watercolors…
“Let’s do a direct still life drawing, shall we?” Shen Jiaru stood up, walked over to Hua Jie, glanced at the still life setup in front of her, and thought it feasible.
He was yet unaware that his new disciple had almost led Lu Yunfei astray and spoke gently to Hua Jie as if negotiating.
“Okay,” Hua Jie quickly nodded.
Why did Teacher Shen’s demeanor seem somewhat cautious?
As if she were a little baby that could be easily frightened.
Qian Chong and Fang Shaojun in the other two corners of the studio turned their heads to look towards Hua Jie and Shen Jiaru, their gazes deep and thoughtful.
Soon, they realized they were not the only ones watching Hua Jie.
Fang Shaojun and Qian Chong’s eyes met in the air, and both quickly turned away in disdain, then stopped looking around randomly.
One of them put away the ‘field sketch’ that he had displayed on his drawing board for Hua Jie to see, and the other continued drafting his still life.
Thus, the studio was quiet, without any undercurrents, only filled with their own thoughts and Shen Jiaru’s soft words to Hua Jie:
“Use a B pencil to lightly outline the draft. At the beginning, you don’t need to draw very cleanly; a bit of dirt on the base sketch is fine.”
“Yeah, you can draw some auxiliary lines for light and shadow.”
“Shadow lines are very important in watercolor painting; many artists rely on shadows and dark areas to create their works.”
“Yes, that’s right, using a sepia spread for this group of still life is suitable…”
When Shen Jiaru got up twenty minutes later to guide the other three students and stop Lu Yunfei from continuing his study of Hua Jie’s glass spheres, it had already started to snow lightly outside.
After making some corrections and advancing techniques for the other three students, he leaned against the window sill, surveying the studio.
Fang Shaojun sat upright, more finely dressed and poised than usual. Every so often, she would unconsciously glance at Hua Jie, who was consistently focused on her own work.
Frowning in dissatisfaction, Fang Shaojun took a deep breath and completely immersed herself in painting her still life.
Even Qian Chong, who was somewhat lazy on other days, now wore a serious expression, exceptionally focused and diligent.
The usually impatient young man, who often started flying off the handle after just a few strokes, was particularly steady today. When setting up the basic form and overall light and dark relationships, he followed the steps meticulously without any shortcuts or rushing.
Lu Yunfei, who is typically calm, finally set aside Hua Jie’s glass spheres. However, when he began shaping, he awkwardly chose a particularly unusual color, subtly revealing the competitive spirit Hua Jie had ignited in him.
A smile slowly spread across Shen Jiaru’s face.
The students, who were usually independent-minded and held themselves in high regard, now felt a full sense of urgency due to Hua Jie’s arrival.
This new disciple was indeed a valuable addition; she had done more to reform the class’s attitude than all his strenuous efforts and various methods of motivation combined.