Founding a School

Zhou Wenbai's questioning just now was not without merit.

In her past life, she traveled all over the world, seeing not only famous mountains and rivers in Hua Country but also many famous mountains and rivers abroad. Even those she couldn't see in person, she had seen other people's photographs and paintings.

If a comparison were to be made, she could say that her vision and knowledge far surpassed those of the oldest people present, Kang Shilin and Zhou Wenbai.

These noblemen, young and old, living in ancient times with extremely inconvenient transportation, lacked Xu Xiake's hobbies, courage, and adventurous spirit. They could only wander around the capital, at most making a trip to Jiangnan.

In addition, generations of painters in her previous life explored and researched the combination of China and Western Ocean painting techniques. Xu Beihong, Jiang Zhaohe, Li Keran, and others were all masters of integrating the two painting styles. As a designer, she was also somewhat involved in the art world. She and her painter friends had seen countless paintings from these schools in museums and exhibitions. She had seen the original works of these famous painters, as well as the works of later painters influenced by them.

One of her friends, whom she met during her graduate studies, studied under a disciple of the master painter Li Keran, specializing in landscape painting. Zhao Ruxi has a wide range of interests and even spent a month learning traditional Chinese painting from her friend. Whenever she feels like it, she paints a picture in her spare time.

While she may not be an expert in this area, she does have a foundation. She is also standing on the shoulders of giants.

Because she wanted to earn points in painting, she kept trying to integrate what her master taught her, what she had learned in her previous life, and what she had come to understand while learning Professor Kang Shilin's painting methods. According to the system, this was the only way she could earn painting points.

For example, in this painting, in order to confirm that it was her original painting style, she boldly incorporated the blocks and rubbing effects of the prints she used to like, using earthy yellow or sky blue backgrounds in the style of color printmaking to highlight the beauty of the mountain outlines, emphasize the overall momentum, and create a sense of simplicity and unpretentiousness.

She had previously practiced these techniques only in small sections, never in large-scale paintings. During this period of learning from Kang Shilin, she became more mature in her overall grasp and use of ink and brush, which led her to make bold attempts.

To her surprise, the results were very satisfactory.

Through the tests on the Four Books and Five Classics every ten days, she gained a general understanding of the scoring criteria for the system's points. The higher the level of the competition you participate in, or the higher the level of the person who certifies your achievements, and the greater their influence, the more points you will receive.

So although she made this painting on the spur of the moment, it was something she had been planning for a long time.

She had planned to showcase her new painting techniques when the training course was nearing its end and all the students were present. At that time, her skills would be more refined and she would have a greater sense of control. Now, however, the situation had changed, so she had to present them earlier than planned; all the students were present except for Gong Cheng and Xiao Ruotong.

"What a beautiful painting, what a beautiful painting," Kang Shilin murmured after a long pause.

Everyone else nodded in agreement.

Zhao Ruxi's painting is completely different from theirs not only in terms of perspective and three-dimensionality, but also in its use of ink and brush.

They all use either the freehand or meticulous style, or the fine brushwork style. Even when they are using the freehand style, they still demonstrate exquisite detail and meticulousness.

Zhao Ruxi's style is simply bold and unrestrained, using thick brushstrokes and large areas of ink splashes, broken ink, and layered ink, supplemented by the use of both central and side brushstrokes. The combination of lines and surfaces immediately reveals the three-dimensionality and the rough texture of towering peaks, making the mountains appear even more majestic and strange, with solid bones, weathered by time, and exuding a magnificent aura.

In addition to its unique use of ink, this painting also differs from traditional painting methods in its three-dimensional perspective. It uses the three-dimensional perspective method they learned in sketching, making the mountains, rivers, and trees very three-dimensional and giving people a very realistic feeling.

For example, she used bold and unrestrained brushstrokes to highlight dots, lines, and planes in the black ink, creating a contrast of large blocks, a sense of mass, and a sense of backlighting. This made the fusion of color and ink in the distance seem like layers of flowing clouds, and the horizontally unfolding mountains appeared even more robust and magnificent.

All of these painting techniques are completely different from the existing painting skills of the Great Jin. They can be described as a completely new and unique approach.

Kang Shilin turned to look at Zhao Ruxi, his eyes filled with satisfaction and admiration. "With such a disciple, what more could one ask for!"

Zhao Ruxi glanced at Wu Zong, then scratched her cheek sheepishly, "Master, I still have a long way to go. This painting still has many flaws and areas that are not well done."

At first glance, her painting seems alright; at least it captures the grand and imposing atmosphere she wanted to convey. But don't look too closely, or you'll find many minor flaws in her brushwork, and in one place, the proportions aren't quite right.

Kang Shilin waved his hand. "The awkwardness and immaturity of the brushwork can be changed with more practice. But this kind of creative painting style is not something everyone can do. Take your master for example, I have spent my whole life exploring painting techniques, and I have never been able to break through the old patterns."

Zhou Wenbai nodded in complete agreement. "Exactly, exactly."

At this moment, he seemed to remember the topic from earlier and wanted to explain again, "Mister Kumu, I wasn't thinking of..."

"Alright, alright." Kang Shilin waved his hand, interrupting the pointless talk. "No need for further explanation, I understand what you mean."

He glanced at everyone, then said with pride and arrogance, "Although we have also learned Zhiwei's sketching, it will take a long time to figure out how to combine the two. Otherwise, the result will be a hodgepodge. Nowadays, besides my little apprentice who has completely mastered both and has amazing talent, who else here can do it?"

Everyone nodded in agreement.

Zhao Ruxi has been studying painting with Kang Shilin for some time now, and Kang Shilin has often praised his young apprentice for her intelligence and talent. They have also seen the paintings Zhao Ruxi created using Kang Shilin's techniques, and they can see that although she has only been learning for a short time, her progress has been rapid. Everyone knows about her talent for painting, and everyone is ashamed of their own inferiority.

Of those present, aside from Cen Song, Wu Zong, and Xiao Ruotong, everyone else was over forty. By middle age, what one has learned has become entrenched. Asking them to learn a new painting style, such as sketching, is possible. But to combine the two is not as simple as it sounds.

Young people like Cen Song haven't mastered either traditional painting techniques or the sketching taught by Zhao Ruxi, so they can't even begin to talk about integrating the two.

Only Zhao Zhiwei, and only Zhao Zhiwei, could do it.

At such a young age, she was able to create such a magical drawing technique as sketching (Zhao Ruxi blushes). After learning traditional painting from Mister Kumu, wasn't it only natural that she would combine the two?