The Versatile Master Artist

Chapter 33: Chapter 21: Buddha Worship and Protection Painting

Gu Weijing attempted for the first time to mix colors according to the formula recorded in ”Mojie’s Handwriting”.

He picked up a small knife, roughly measured on the vermillion ink stick, cut a few small pieces, and placed them in a mortar beside him, carefully grinding them.

When it appeared to be a bright pinkish color, Gu Weijing set down the porcelain rod, adding a little diluted gelatin to increase viscosity.

In theory, the vermillion ink should now appear as clear and bright liquid like red ink.

However, Gu Weijing could clearly see that the bottom of the paint showed many tiny, uneven particles like sand.

Sedimentation — that was the problem Gu Weijing worried about before using vermillion ore.

The natural mined raw ore paints and modern chemical red paints have a great difference in properties, compounded by preservation conditions, leading to instability and sedimentation as a prominent disadvantage.

Unless one has a lot of experience, it would result in the problem of adding too much water to the flour, or too much flour to the water.

If too little water is added, sand-like particles will appear on the brush, ruining the overall texture of a painting. Too much water means the paint won’t solidify and might even drip down the fresco.

Each type of pigment gets phased out for a reason; perhaps its effectiveness is poor, or perhaps its usage conditions are too demanding.

The elder teachers in mural restoration projects may have considered using vermillion for coloring here, but the difficult usage conditions and relatively complex preparation process of vermillion are important reasons for ultimately not adopting this natural mineral pigment.

”——Mix with warm water, stir with fingers, until smooth and moist.”

A line of notes flashed through his mind from the notebook.

Gu Weijing was momentarily stunned, then rolled up his sleeves, tentatively brought hot water, and dipped his fingers into the paint tray, replacing the porcelain rod for grinding.

Unexpectedly, this method worked remarkably well!

He could feel through the skin between his fingers the vermillion powder slowly dissolving in the hot water.

As soon as he felt all particle sensations disappear, he immediately stopped adding water. The paint in the tray instantly became just right, with a slight jelly-like feeling yet would definitely not stick to the brush.

[Painting Experience +7]

[Chinese Painting: lv.3 Semi-Professional (8/1000)]

The virtual panel in front of him indicated his painting proficiency increased, this was the first time this happened for Gu Weijing after obtaining the panel without drawing to gain experience points.

This unique little trick could not be summed up without hundreds or thousands of uses of vermillion as a pigment.

Simple yet unusually effective.

Mix with warm water, stir the pigment with fingers.

These are just unbelievably simple points, yet easily solve a problem that has troubled many experienced elder painters.

Gu Weijing sighed.

He knew that according to old masters’ habits, to prevent apprentices from outrunning masters, such little secret tips were often kept hidden.

For example, passing to sons not daughters, only to inner disciples, not registered disciples, only young apprentices not senior apprentices, etc...

Old cobbler’s dye formulas, master cook’s fruit wood roast duck temperatures are similar.

If an apprentice dares to steal learning, even if beaten to death, the boss won’t say anything.

It’s a kind of countryside shrewd social experience, also the reason many precious skills are lost.

People always reinvent the wheel over and over.

No need to say, he could imagine that techniques like using warm water and fingers have surely been invented by many historical masters skilled in calligraphy and painting like Wang Wei, gradually lost, waiting to be reinvented.

From the perspective of people back then, would there be a better choice?

Gu Weijing felt a bit sentimental.

He gazed at the mortar in his hands for a while, then continued according to the notebook’s guidance, quickly adding clay silver and Flower Cyan successively, various corresponding tips would pop out from the notes from time to time.

When the proficiency level on the panel for Chinese painting reached [Chinese Painting: lv.3 Semi-Professional (35/1000)],

The small puddle of pigment in the tray had already turned into a lovely, translucent blue-green color.

Just like a lotus floating in the water.

Gu Weijing picked up the brush in his hand, lightly dipped it in the mixing tray.

...

Time passed quickly.

Mixing colors is not only a technical job, but also physical work, especially when apart from convenient modern chemical reagent tubes, one completely uses old-style ink preparation methods.

But when he saw various mineral pigments dissolve, permeate under his command on the mixing tray, ultimately turning into a piece full of textured color on the painting, this sense of satisfaction and fulfillment in his heart was inexplicable.

Seeing the lotus on the fresco showing that petal essence half-opened, seemingly pink and red, Gu Weijing felt exceptionally joyful—

Purity and beauty without reason.

The color was stunningly beautiful, just relying on paint color’s unique three-dimensional feeling under the sunlight, it had a sense of drawing three-dimensional space on a two-dimensional plane.

Gu Weijing was extremely satisfied as he looked at the unused paint in the tray and even had an impulse to lick it with his tongue.

Finally, he understood the feeling of Wang Xizhi as a small child dipping ink with a steamed bun to eat.

So-called madness, so-called survival without it, more is an emotional attachment to painting, frenzy for painting. Gu Weijing quickly snapped out from that fantasy over lovely colors. Mineral pigments, mineral pigments, many contain heavy metal minerals.

That is to say...

Painting pigments, many are toxic, one absolutely must not eat them randomly.

The young man retracted his fingers, smiled slightly.

He continued ”flipping through” ”Mojie’s Handwriting” in his mind. This notebook documented numerous pigment combinations and relevant small tips, waiting for Gu Weijing to practice and test them.

He even felt a kind of joy in opening treasure chests in online games.

Each type of painting technique has its own characteristics and advantages.

Gu Weijing dipped the brush in mixed paint, slowly applied colors, European oil paintings have unique aspects in expressing character texture and perspective relationships, but what is called the mystic charm of Eastern art lies precisely in this color’s shade and brightness, unpredictably.

He quickened his progress, eager to try more color combinations.

[Painting Experience +9]

[Painting Experience +7]

[Painting Experience +5]

Gu Weijing’s speed in completing the painting coloring work increased consistently.

His most experience points now came from the pigment mixing process, while coordinating colors, it was also learning painting light and shadow.

For coloring itself, he didn’t need to refer much to the original sketch for reasoning and thinking to know how best to paint anymore.

As for whether it could be painted well, it only required more practice.

When Gu Weijing completed all the tasks on the fresco before him, the time on the watch was only half an hour.

He checked his watch, it was already a bit late to eat.

Gu Weijing was unwilling to wait idly for the afternoon group work to start.

He searched for his next task assigned to him.

Before Yakai Gangchang left for lunch break, he casually picked from the top of the task box a signed card stuffed in Gu Weijing’s pocket.

It was the wall numbered ”No.17”.

All walls that needed coloring had their own Arab numerals, and wall number seventeen was in a relatively inner position.

Gu Weijing carried his paintbrush and paint tray, walked west of the Great Golden Pagoda for a few minutes, crossed several groups of isolation lines, finally arrived at wall seventeen.

He raised his head.

”Oh?”

This turned out to be a half new, half old Buddha Worship and Protection Painting.