Shen Jiaru, accompanied by Zhao Xiaolei and Hua Jie, enjoyed a meal at KFC. The concept of Western fast food was relatively new in their small northern town, and many young people were eager to try the fried chicken there.
They arrived just as some trendy young folks were celebrating a birthday. They ordered several family buckets, brought a cake from next door, and gathered around the table, munching on fried chicken, sipping cola, singing birthday songs, and creating a boisterous atmosphere filled with youthful energy.
Hua Jie guzzled down soda, chewing through four chicken wings so rapidly that she almost couldn’t finish her burger.
In her previous life, she often ordered takeout, which led to stomach aches whenever she thought about fast food from places like KFC and McDonald’s. But now, reborn, she found it surprisingly tolerable to indulge just this once.
After their meal, the group headed straight for Jinsong Vocational School. Since it wasn’t time for classes yet, other students had not arrived.
Hua Jie sat next to Shen Jiaru, and the pair began working on a plaster painting. The challenge was to transform the white plaster into a watercolor painting, which significantly increased the difficulty.
When painting, they couldn’t just use black, white, and gray; after all, they were depicting the classic still life with environmental colors.
What was meant to be white had to be painted in colors.
Shen Jiaru, without even sketching a draft, confidently picked up his brush to shape and color the piece with decisive and fluid strokes.
The Jinsong Vocational School’s art teachers, who were supposed to be on vacation, gathered quietly behind Shen Jiaru, watching and learning—this was an important perk arranged by the school for Shen Jiaru in exchange for providing him with the space and models.
Meanwhile, Hua Jie was still observing and conceptualizing what the finished painting might look like. Shen Jiaru had already completed his.
He set his painting aside, out of Hua Jie’s sight, then walked over to her.
“How is it?” he asked.
“I’ve figured it out,” she replied. She began by broadly applying the wet paint and then refined smaller sections. She didn’t choose many colors, but she used different shades to manage the changes in light and shadow.
Like Shen Jiaru, she didn’t focus on overly detailed work but quickly covered the area to about 70% completion, effectively capturing the essence of the plaster before she stopped painting.
Shen Jiaru nodded in approval, then walked back to his own painting, turned it around for her to see.
When not comparing, she felt her work was flawless.
But upon seeing his, she realized the difference.
Shen Jiaru’s brushwork was wild yet rhythmic, conveying both the boldness of the artwork and a pleasing sense of order that even someone with OCD would find comforting.
His skill in quickly establishing proportions with just a few strokes showed the prowess of an experienced artist.
Although Shen Jiaru’s painting was more simplified than Hua Jie’s, the final effect seemed as if it could be sold right away—it was cohesive, expressive, complete, and richly stylish and aesthetic.
“…” Hua Jie.
Having a living artist, a great painter, right in front of her, painting the same picture, was somewhat overwhelming.
“I was too conservative in my painting,” Hua Jie admitted to herself.
“One reason is that I’m not familiar with watercolor paints, so the depth of the colors isn’t quite right. Moreover, my approach to the darker areas is still based on the techniques of gouache painting. You need to think of all the shadowy areas as a whole and then consciously work on them.”
“In watercolor painting, the shape and color of the shadows are crucial. The ability to depict light and shadow must be very strong; otherwise, it’s difficult to achieve greatness. You really need to think about this,” Shen Jiaru said, then picked up a brush from beside her and casually made a few strokes on the palette paper, adding:
“I blend all the shadows to create variations in depth without meticulous detailing. Look at this effect and feel it.”
After speaking, Shen Jiaru stood up straight and checked his watch.
It was almost time for class to start.
Fang Shaojun was the first to arrive. He greeted Mr. Shen and then silently sat right in front of the model’s chair, ignoring Hua Jie completely.
Qian Chong arrived second. He stood at the doorway of the studio, observing the vocational school teachers gathered around Shen Jiaru’s demonstration, before greeting Shen and choosing a seat to the far left of Fang Shaojun, not only ignoring Hua Jie but also completely disregarding Miss Fang.
Lu Yunfei arrived exactly on time, greeted the teacher leisurely, and then sat to the right of Fang Shaojun, maintaining a distance from the others.
Hua Jie looked around, wanting to sit next to Lu Yunfei, but Shen Jiaru thought that side was too backlit and off-center, so he called Hua Jie to sit between Qian Chong and Fang Shaojun.
“…” When Hua Jie sat down, she could feel the chilly atmosphere from both sides.
After all the students were seated, the vocational school teachers also left the studio.
Shen Jiaru took his place at the model’s position and stretched out his hand asking for the students’ assignments.
It was still one by one presentation, with classmates providing cross-comments, followed by Shen Jiaru’s explanations.
When it came to Lu Yunfei’s assignment, Shen Jiaru paused.
He noticed that the kid’s style of sketching had changed across these few assignments.
Starting from the drawing of a young man playing basketball, the subsequent sketches were different.
Although they still displayed Lu Yunfei’s typical meticulous technique, they began to deconstruct the average details of dynamic figures, learning to omit details and simplify the dynamic tension curves to highlight the movement of the figures.
After the students gave their cross-comments, he specifically praised:
“These sketches are excellent. It’s evident that from here, Yunfei has begun to contemplate better forms of expression in the simple depiction of muscles and movement.”
“When sketching dynamic figures like these, the focus is not only on ‘movement’ but also on ‘highlighting’ that movement.”
“‘Highlighting’ can be achieved through simplified lines, or even by omission.”
“Between the details, the coherence of the lines versus broken lines, the contrast of all these expressive forms can achieve ‘highlighting.'”
“Here, Yunfei has shown initiative in thinking and improving while painting, which is very commendable.”
Qian Chong and Fang Shaojun stared at Lu Yunfei’s sketches with a stern gaze, like sentries scrutinizing the approaching enemy.
Fang Shaojun fiddled with the corner of the paper, looking down and pondering whether she had been sufficiently dedicated and serious about the teacher’s assignments.
It was frustrating enough that the newcomer was praised, but even Lu Yunfei, who had always been quiet and unassuming, suddenly made such progress and received the teacher’s commendation.
Qian Chong turned his head to look at Lu Yunfei, his brows furrowed tightly.
“…” Lu Yunfei blushed.
His blush was not solely due to the teacher’s praise but also because the change in style, the clearer distinction between the primary and secondary elements in his drawings, was not due to his own initiative but because of Hua Jie…
He opened his mouth to say that it wasn’t his own idea, but looking into Shen Jiaru’s eyes, he didn’t know how to start.
Hesitating, he missed the best moment to explain. With his personality, it was impossible for him to interrupt the teacher.
So, he sat red-faced, anxiously glancing at the teacher and then at Hua Jie.
Hua Jie knew what Lu Yunfei was anxious about. She smiled reassuringly at him, signaling that it was okay.
The knowledge wasn’t originally hers either; it was learned from future studies. It was his own skill to be able to use it well; he shouldn’t worry too much about it.
It wasn’t until Shen Jiaru compared Hua Jie’s work and the unified style that he suddenly understood why Lu Yunfei had changed.
He held Hua Jie’s assignment, looked up at Lu Yunfei, and began to speak.
“Teacher…” he stuttered, about to speak.
Shen Jiaru waved his hand and said:
“This is good. I’m pleased that you can learn from each other’s strengths.”
“?” Qian Chong looked puzzled, glancing between Hua Jie, Lu Yunfei, and Teacher Shen, somewhat confused.
Fang Shaojun quickly figured out what was going on.
She stared incredulously at Lu Yunfei, the most silent, introverted person among the painters, who never conflicted or spoke with anyone. How had he suddenly connected with Hua Jie?
They even painted together, discussed painting techniques, and thus improved and received praise from the teacher…
She furrowed her brows, feeling a sense of anger as if Lu Yunfei had cheated.
Yet, turning to look at Hua Jie, she pursed her lips, pride making her lift her head, take a deep breath, and suppress her emotions.
It was then that Qian Chong finally reacted, asking Lu Yunfei:
“You’ve been painting together?”
His tone was thick with the implication of ‘You’ve been colluding?’
Shen Jiaru shot Qian Chong a stern look, and the young man quickly quieted down and behaved.
“Painting is a solitary activity, but learning to paint doesn’t always require one to be a lone ranger. Being aware and learning from those around you, taking what you can use, is how you make faster progress. ‘Among any three walkers, one of them is sure to be my teacher,'” Shen Jiaru advised earnestly.
His gaze swept over the students, noticing that although Qian Chong was trying to appear obedient, his eyes still held a defiant spark, showing his disbelief.
Fang Shaojun kept her head down, seemingly receptive to learning, but what she truly thought was hard to say.
Lu Yunfei looked at him, but with a thoughtful, vacant stare, it was unclear if he understood.
He sighed, his gaze finally meeting Hua Jie’s, who responded with sincere nods and agreement.
Well, he had said these things before; it was up to them to take what they would from his words.
Since Hua Jie’s last class, the overall quality of this week’s assignments had improved, perhaps due to her igniting their competitive spirit.
This time, he praised Lu Yunfei for learning a new way of expression from Hua Jie, hoping it might gradually spur the other students to change, not wanting to be outdone.
Clapping his hands, he stood and walked to the door to call Zhao Xiaolei, who then invited the model into the studio.
Shen Jiaru walked to the window, checked the light, and arranged the model’s pose. He used the curtain to block some light so that half of the model’s body was in bright light and the other half in the shadow cast by the heavy curtain.
“Color portrait,” Shen Jiaru indicated the range for the life drawing.
Zhao Xiaolei couldn’t help but remark, “Teacher Shen is really strict with his students. Gouache figure drawing for high school students, and he sets such a high difficulty.”
After closing the door, Zhao Xiaolei found his own drawing board and watercolor supplies in the studio, sat in a slightly rear position between Fang Shaojun and Lu Yunfei, and quietly began to paint.
Hua Jie held her mounted paper board, looking at the model half in light and half in shadow, recalling the teacher’s earlier comments about handling shadows in watercolor painting.
While the others had already started painting, she was still observing and thinking.
Only after mentally sorting through various brushstroke methods, color schemes, and techniques did she finally pull out a pencil and solidly sketch the outline.
Watercolor lacks covering power; unlike gouache, where you can directly sketch with a brush dipped in paint and then cover up the lines with more paint.
Therefore, she could only lightly outline with a pencil, later covering the sketch with watercolor or erasing it with an eraser.
Her sketching was light yet precise; due to her thorough observation, her strokes were highly efficient, generally needing no erasing or redoing.
She quickly surpassed Fang Shaojun, who was sitting to her right front, in the speed of drafting.
Glancing at Qian Chong, she noticed the young man was indeed impatient. His speed was even better than hers, and although he frequently had to erase mistakes, his overall presentation was still very strong.
It had to be said that his basics weren’t really poor. It was more that his impatient and somewhat lazy nature led him to disdain foundational skills, making his drawings lack solidity.
When Qian Chong noticed Hua Jie looking, he immediately shrugged his right shoulder to block her view.
“…” Hua Jie pursed her lips. Were all teenagers this immature?
Or was it that boys matured later and were especially childish?
She turned her attention back to her own work.
“Everyone, paint faster. Don’t focus on the details for now. Pay attention to the current light; finish one complete painting in an hour. We’ll take a break, and I’ll have the model change poses, then start on the second painting,” Shen Jiaru instructed.
“Okay,” Hua Jie was the only one to respond.
The other students silently picked up the pace, earnestly focusing on their work.
Zhao Xiaolei glanced at Hua Jie, appreciating her demeanor. She was a well-behaved young woman, seemingly lacking any teenage rebelliousness, sensitivity, or awkwardness, making her appear much softer and more adorable.
After outlining the facial contours, features, facial structure, and hair relationships, she paused her pencil.
She thought about her painting approach again while observing, stirred the brush in the water, dipped it into the palette, and began mixing colors boldly.
She wet the entire painting with a large brush and carefully left white spaces, then started applying colors. After spreading out the color blocks across the painting, she handled some basic effects like blending and diluting.
As the beautiful water stains slowly permeated the painting and the paper dried, she continued to observe the model and thought about the details she would add later.
When the paper was almost dry, she began to apply color blocks to the face, layering some lightly for a stacked effect, while others were directly brought to their final depth in one go.
She worked on building volume while detailing simultaneously.
Although she was new to watercolor, she had over a decade of drawing experience. Her hands were steady, her eyes were sharp, and she sketched with confidence, not slowing down at all.
Because she had thought through many techniques and their applications beforehand, she painted as if she didn’t need to think, continuously mixing colors and making strokes.
Keeping an eye on the overall composition, she generally avoided the problem of suddenly realizing a part of the painting was off, a habit formed from countless scoldings and failures in the past—she had decided never to make those mistakes again.
“When painting people, don’t be afraid to use cool tones. As long as you balance the warm and cool tones well, there won’t be any issues,” Shen Jiaru advised from behind Lu Yunfei.
Hearing this, Hua Jie paused for a moment, then dipped her brush into blue, and began mixing it on her palette.
She glanced at Qian Chong and noticed that he was indeed using a large proportion of cool tones. She stared at his painting for two minutes and realized that this young man had a knack for using cool colors to depict light sources. The contrast and the bold use of warm light amidst the large cool areas were very daring, almost breathtaking.
She learned immediately, observing the contrast of light and shadow on the model’s face carefully, and then without hesitation, she applied the cool tones boldly.
The feel of the painting changed instantly; as she enriched the shadows, the atmosphere of the painting became more intense, but a rich sense of conflictual beauty gradually emerged from the canvas.
A smile appeared on Hua Jie’s face, feeling greatly rewarded, and her strokes became faster.
Shen Jiaru stood behind her, but she was so engrossed in her painting that she didn’t notice him.
Teacher Shen looked at Qian Chong’s painting, then at Hua Jie’s, and his lips curled up in a smile.
Was this young lady about to drive Qian Chong and Fang Shaojun to despair?
Not only had she provided a new way of painting to Lu Yunfei, but she also adopted Qian Chong’s method of using ‘cool tones with strong shadows and minimal bright areas to enhance conflict,’ integrating it into her own work, making her paintings even more eye-catching.
Wouldn’t this force the two overly proud students, Qian Chong and Fang Shaojun, to change?
Sooner or later, they’d be frustrated enough to join in the environment of learning from each other’s strengths, mutual learning, and joint advancement.
Shen Jiaru exchanged a glance with Zhao Xiaolei, then strolled behind Fang Shaojun, nodding and saying:
“The treatment of the cheekbones here is very beautiful, just tuck in the jaw a bit.”
“Here, the painting has become muddy.”
“When considering the environmental colors, don’t overdo it. Be bold.”
“Increase the saturation.”
“Okay, teacher,” Fang Shaojun stared at her painting and the model for a while before responding respectfully.
“Hmm.”
Shen Jiaru then moved behind Qian Chong, pointing at his painting and asked:
“Trying for a special use of color?”
“Ah…” Qian Chong was momentarily startled.
“The painting is muddied, don’t you see?” Shen Jiaru sighed.
“Here?” Qian Chong asked tentatively.
“Otherwise? You’ve noticed the issue yourself, yet you haven’t corrected it,” Shen Jiaru said, raising his voice for everyone to hear:
“Let me emphasize again, when mixing colors, if you can use two tones, do not use three; if three is enough, do not overmix colors.”
“The more you mix, the dirtier your painting can get.”
“Paint not only produces a visual response but also a chemical reaction.”
“Overmixing increases unpredictability, and once it dries on the paper, it’s likely to look dirty.”
“Most of the time, I still support you experimenting in your learning process.”
“But don’t mix colors just to chase a unique shade.”
“Everything should still be about the painting’s needs, not your unnecessary obsession with ‘specialization.’ Understand?”
“Understood.” This kind of reminder and teaching targeted at everyone, yet only Hua Jie responded.
Amid the cool demeanor of the other students, she seemed like an overly enthusiastic primary school kid who’s eager to raise her hand at every question and clap wildly after the teacher speaks.
“Soften this edge line here; otherwise, the head will look flat,” Shen Jiaru pointed out another detail on Qian Chong’s shadow area before moving on.
He stood by the window, scanning the entire studio, occasionally offering a few words to someone.
Like a hawk eyeing its prey, he could spot any issue with a stroke, understanding everything, the king of the studio.
An hour of intense painting passed in the blink of an eye.
When Shen Jiaru clapped his hands to signal a stop, Lu Yunfei looked up, his face blank, as if he had just realized where he was and what he was doing.
Fang Shaojun stretched lazily, heedless of others, stood up to twist her stiff limbs, then coldly sat back down.
Qian Chong curled his lip, muttered ‘pretentious,’ and forcibly suppressed the urge to stretch.
“The model has worked hard, take a break,” Shen Jiaru said, then added:
“The four of you, put your paintings on the stand.”
“Okay,” Hua Jie responded.
The four kids arranged their paintings in order on the stand.
“Take a look at each other’s work,” Shen Jiaru instructed.
Qian Chong looked at his own first, his lips curling in satisfaction.
Cool, this use of colors is too stylish, especially the way the hair was handled, just perfect!
He indulged in his self-admiration for a while before reluctantly turning his gaze to the watercolor portrait to the right of his painting.
Then, the more he looked, the more he felt something was off.
“Why are you copying my way of handling the contrast at the boundary between light and dark?” He turned angrily, glaring fiercely at Hua Jie.
He was furious!
“Because your method is really good! I just tried it a bit and gained a lot, I really liked it,” Hua Jie responded nonchalantly, completely ignoring his glaring eyes, and smiled cheerfully.
“You! You’re not allowed to copy me!” Qian Chong was infuriated to the point of almost fainting, as if he had punched into cotton.
“Why are you so petty?” Hua Jie said, then pointed at the color combination used on the nose of the character in his painting and the highlights in the hair, boldly stating:
“Isn’t your treatment of the warm light something you learned from senior Fang Shaojun?”
“!” Qian Chong swiftly glanced at Fang Shaojun, then hurriedly turned back, speechless, pointing at Hua Jie, almost wanting to rush up and bite her.
“Isn’t the detail here using the curved stroke that Lu Yunfei is best at?” Hua Jie, who had painted with gouache for most of her previous life, could not be fooled.
“Who said that?” Qian Chong stubbornly denied.
“Petty,” Hua Jie rolled her eyes epically.
Qian Chong was so provoked by her eye roll that he nearly exploded on the spot.
Shen Jiaru silently watched as Hua Jie handled Qian Chong, and just as Qian Chong was about to burst from anger, he intervened:
“Van Gogh was also influenced by Impressionism when he painted. If you want to reach the pinnacle, don’t confine yourself.”
“You haven’t even developed your own style yet, and you already have such a temper.”
“These little techniques, if they can be easily learned by others, it means your skills aren’t there yet.”
Fang Shaojun watched Qian Chong with intense interest, not missing a moment to see him utterly embarrassed, wishing to remember this moment forever.
She only wished she had more talent, otherwise she would have added insult to injury.
At that moment, Lu Yunfei suddenly stretched out his arm, tossing a piece of paper onto Hua Jie’s lap.
“?” She turned to look, and the young man had quickly averted his gaze, sitting upright as if nothing had happened.
Unfolding the note, it was neatly written with two words:
Thank you.
Simple and straightforward, she understood he was still thanking her for the method of capturing motion in sketching.
She pursed her lips, looking at Lu Yunfei, who was intently gazing at the painting on the stand, and then at Qian Chong, who was quietly fuming with flushed cheeks but completely helpless. There was also Fang Shaojun, with her arrogant eyes, continuously trying to provoke Qian Chong.
Surprisingly, she found these problematic kids, well, quite adorable.
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VOL 1-2
VOL 3