Between the high school students, impulsive and passionate emotions filled the air.
Sun Qian set up his easel and suddenly turned to Qian Chong and said:
“Today, I’m painting a more challenging oil painting from life, competing with you guys.”
“How can we even compare? You’ll definitely be worse than us, and then you’ll just claim it’s because oil painting is difficult—that would just mean we’d have to watch you cheat,” Qian Chong frowned and tilted his head, sarcastically suggesting that Sun Qian was just laying the groundwork to make excuses.
“Hmph, what if my oil painting turns out better than yours?” Sun Qian raised his eyebrows slightly, “You guys are still learning gouache, aren’t you? Heh.”
“Have some shame and stick to gouache, don’t show off here,” Fang Shaojun had already made two strokes when she suddenly turned back and glared at Sun Qian, her gaze and tone full of disdain.
“…” Qian Chong looked at Fang Shaojun and suddenly realized that her sharpness and arrogance, when directed at someone annoying, was actually… quite satisfying.
“!” Sun Qian was choked by Fang Shaojun’s words and was about to retort when he was interrupted.
Hua Jie stood up, smiling:
“Hey, why don’t I, who normally paints with watercolors, join you in painting with oils? But I didn’t bring my oil painting supplies, could I borrow yours?”
“?” Sun Qian frowned, “Are you joking?”
“Stop messing around, Hua Jie!” Qian Fugui stretched his neck anxiously, concerned about such reckless behavior at this critical moment.
It was as if Qian Fugui was about to jump up and cover Hua Jie’s mouth with his hand.
But Hua Jie just laughed: “Lighten up a bit. If I, a watercolor painter, end up beating you in oil painting, that would be so thrilling. After this, Sun Qian might never dare to show his face again, it would be utterly humiliating, haha.”
Initially intending to refuse and mock Hua Jie some more, Sun Qian gritted his teeth and decisively said: “Fine! But if you lose, don’t start crying and fussing about it being your first time painting with oils and not accepting defeat.”
“Haha, even if you cheat, I won’t!” Hua Jie packed up her watercolor paper and paints, rubbing her hands as she walked over to Sun Qian, “Come on, paper, brushes, paints, let’s sit side by side and share.”
“…” Sun Qian glared at her unwillingly, but reluctantly pulled up a stool and sat down. He pulled out a sheet of oil painting paper from his easel, and placed the paint box, oil box, and brushes between them for shared use.
Hua Jie examined the oil painting board Sun Qian handed her, touched it, and noticed that he had already applied the oil painting primer—roughly in horizontal and vertical strokes—and had also sanded it down well, making it extremely smooth.
In direct painting, it’s actually better to sand it down less, to keep it a bit rougher.
Since he had smoothed it out so well, she decided to use the classical painting technique.
With pursed lips, she looked up at the landscape before her and began to compose the scene in her mind.
Sun Qian picked up a brush and, while observing the still life, also kept an eye on Hua Jie.
He noticed her feeling the oil painting board; her actions and expressions seemed knowledgeable.
Impossible, right?
A 15-year-old girl who transitioned from gouache to watercolor, and now paints in oils? Does she not sleep, spending all her time painting?
Sun Qian was 16 this year. He was never a prodigy; he prided himself on being the hardest working in the country, dedicating all his time to painting, except for eating, sleeping, and basic studies.
From childhood, he sacrificed so much joy—giving up soccer, video games, and carefree vacations with friends.
This dedication allowed him to solidify his basics by 16 and take up oil painting for over six months.
He couldn’t believe Hua Jie was more diligent than him.
After observing the surroundings for a while, Hua Jie suddenly smiled slightly, having mentally visualized her composition.
Turning to see Sun Qian starting to shape his piece, she commented with a smile:
“Do you like to paint directly on the blank board?”
“?” Sun Qian turned around, not understanding her meaning.
With a composed and slightly raised eyebrow, Hua Jie picked up a large brush and mixed a greyish-brown tone, laying a base layer on the board.
Sun Qian frowned at her, suspecting her of wasting his paint.
Using such tricks was pointless; his family was not short of money.
Hua Jie then realized that Ju Lei had not even taught Sun Qian the classical technique of laying a grey toned base, commonly used by many oil painters—a very targeted approach, focusing on mastering one technique in depth without considering a comprehensive system of knowledge during the student’s learning process.
Was Teacher Ju Lei too eager for quick results?
Everything was aimed at the final presentation, to master painting, and all the “unnecessary” details were omitted for the students.
Wasn’t he just training technicians? Completely disregarding the students’ choices and characteristics…
Pursing her lips, Hua Jie suddenly felt a bit sorry for Sun Qian.
These kids, striving their utmost in painting, were merely tools for Ju Lei to boast about in the art circle.
What’s the point of laying a solid foundation so quickly if, when it comes to artistic competitions like this, even if Sun Qian’s “Under Jingshan” is well-painted, it lacks any emotional expression? A perfectly square landscape painted strictly by the rules—what’s the significance of that?
For now, it’s still alright, since photography technology hasn’t advanced to what it will be in twenty years.
In a few years, people like Sun Qian will find it even harder to compete. Can your painting ever be better than a photo with Photoshop edits?
Unless you can achieve the hyper-realistic level of Teacher Leng Jun, but on the entire market, there’s only one widely recognized hyper-realistic oil painter, and even that’s a highly controversial style.
Hua Jie feels that Ju Lei’s teaching methods are somewhat unorthodox.
And Ju Lei already holds a significant position in the art world, so she feels incredibly fortunate to be studying under Teacher Shen.
“Laying this base layer prevents the white of the board from showing through in the painting. In watercolor, white spaces can be beautiful, but not in oil painting,” Hua Jie explained, then began to outline her drawing.
“…” Sun Qian frowned, recalling how sometimes small white spots would show through on his floor when he painted, which looked somewhat ugly, though he hadn’t paid much attention to it before.
Could it be…
After lightly sketching the composition with a pencil, she turned to look at Sun Qian again.
She noticed he had chosen a small building as the subject, depicting it in its entirety in the composition.
Hua Jie shook her head; this approach was too much like a tourist photo. Presenting a small building in such a straightforward manner made the painting look extremely rigid.
Though it also followed a triangular composition, it resembled an architectural blueprint. Like many people who take pictures in front of famous sites, giving a thumbs-up in front of a frontal panorama—it’s particularly uniform, particularly… plain.
She couldn’t help but recall the many tutorials on photography and painting composition she had seen in the future. At the beginner stage, it’s okay to compose like Ju Lei, because everyone is just practicing, painting a complete still life or a group of buildings is fine.
But when it comes time to sell art and produce works, continuing to paint this way would be foolish.
Hasn’t Ju Lei systematically taught his students about the traditional and quirky aspects of composition, and the difference between examination and creative painting techniques?
She pursed her lips, her gaze shifting to Sun Qian. From her perspective, this boy shouldn’t be called Sun Qian, but something like Sun Tiezhu—very honest, very down-to-earth.
Sun Qian noticed her gaze and turned to look at her painting.
Hua Jie didn’t choose an independent building but opted for a corner on the left.
Two vertical walls intersect at one-tenth from the right of the painting, the wall directly in front is horizontally and vertically aligned.
In front of the wall is the side view of a corner staircase, which ascends from right to left, its side forming a triangle. The horizon line is placed at the lower third, extending left to the edge of the canvas, cut into a right-angled triangle by the vertical edge.
The side of the triangular staircase is an ivory white, and the wall parallel to this side of the staircase is the largest block in the painting, with the wall perpendicular to it on the right only occupying one-tenth of the area and painted in the brick-red of the Forbidden City.
The light comes from the right, casting shadows on the wall in front of the painter and the white side of the triangular staircase.
At the bottom third of the painting, on the brick surface, a dove of peace rests; another is perched on the staircase’s handrail, and yet another dove flies past the brick-red wall, about to land on the handrail.
The composition of the entire painting assigns the static to the scenery and the dynamic to the doves of peace, with each segment containing different triangular compositions.
The vertical corner of the wall and the ascending steps and walls give this small corner scene a sense of variety and a unique dynamic within the stillness.
Hua Jie’s composition is meticulously crafted, yet Sun Qian doesn’t quite understand it at first glance. It’s just a small corner; apart from the floor and walls, and a set of steps, what else is there?
Isn’t this deliberately simplifying the painting?
In comparison, the complexity of his painting of the small building is much higher.
“Don’t be lazy and slick with your composition,” he scoffed.
Hua Jie looked at Sun Qian with an especially patronizing pity, and said lightly:
“Complexity doesn’t necessarily make a painting look better. You lack a lot in aesthetics. Whether or not Teacher Ju Lei teaches you, you should find some famous paintings and books about this and study them closely.”
“Stop blabbering,” Sun Qian retorted, and returned his focus to his painting.
“…” Hua Jie just glanced at him and didn’t say anything more.
As the brush continued to outline on the board, regardless of the initial layout, the walls and pavilions of the Forbidden City gradually became clearer.
Sun Qian rubbed his wrist, stretching and flexing his gloved hand, shaking and massaging it until it felt more relaxed, then couldn’t help but look again at Hua Jie’s painting.
Earlier, when Hua Jie used his palette, she directly used the red he had prepared, then shook her head in dissatisfaction and remixed the paint.
At that time, he was busy with his own painting and didn’t notice how she adjusted the colors. Now, his gaze fixed on her painting for a long while without moving.
The same red brick wall; his use of color was purer, without considering the warm and cool tones brought by the lighting, resulting in a relatively high purity in the colors he saw.
However, Hua Jie’s use of color was completely different. Whether it was her ability to perceive more colors or her rational analysis of the effects of lighting, her color use involved only a few small areas of high purity, with most areas having mixed colors.
The lighter areas seemed to have yellow added, while the darker areas seemed to have blue and green added.
The feeling presented by the painting now seems as if each stroke subtly adjusts the colors; no part of the canvas is covered with a uniform color.
The red walls, with their varying cool and warm tones, give a particularly strong impression of light and shadow.
Hua Jie then dipped her brush in beige and gently brushed it onto the canvas. Many parts were painted quickly, yet each stroke was carefully considered before being made.
Focused yet fluid.
Sun Qian furrowed his brow, wondering why, even when using the same colors, the effect on the paper felt completely different.
“The same colors on my canvas give a different impression because my color mixing and shading are stronger than yours.
It’s more than just a level above you, so you can see it but can’t learn or explain it.
Even if you try to copy it, subtle differences might emerge, leading to a drastically different quality of the painting.”
Hua Jie suddenly stopped painting, turned her head to him, and spoke deliberately.
Even when standing on the awards podium, the young girl had always been all smiles, gentle and sweet.
Sun Qian had never expected her to be so sharp and uncompromising after their conflict arose.
Staring intensely at her, he remained silent for a while before he realized that he had inadvertently spoken his thoughts aloud.
Embarrassed and ashamed, he pressed his lips together into a straight line, quickly diverted his gaze, avoiding her defiant look.
Her gaze made him feel as though he were worthless.
His previously confident strokes suddenly began to falter.
Sun Qian began to doubt himself because Hua Jie’s expression was too confident.