The Versatile Master Artist

[Thanks for the grand reward of one hundred thousand!]

”This project focuses on cultivating the next generation of master-level artists who will lead the international art fashion trend, with comprehensive guidance courses provided by the world’s best professors. Positions at the world’s top art galleries, including the Metropolis, Vatican, Florence Art Gallery... will be open to students with project graduation certificates,” Gu Weijing thought for a moment and said.

”Sounds rather impressive. It’s said that the positions in these top art galleries are so hard to apply for that even if you slack off all day, you won’t get fired.”

Koukou seemed somewhat longing. She tucked a strand of hair that mischievously slipped out from the side of her ear back into her helmet and asked, ”What’s the exact name of the project you just mentioned?”

”It sounds impressive because I just read the promotional text from the school’s official website, but it’s actually quite remarkable.”

Some positions at foreign art galleries are like those of tenured professors at top schools, with high pay and prestige, and are almost impossible to be fired from.

As long as you don’t make any principal mistakes, you can be shameless and comfortably become a ”salary thief.”

It’s one of the best destinations for ordinary art students.

Gu Weijing shrugged and said, ”It should be called [Menzel Turner—Master of Excellence Training Programme], and if you’re interested, you can check the English homepage of the school’s website for more detailed information.”

He wanted to say something more when his phone suddenly vibrated.

Gu Weijing pulled out his phone and saw a message from Mr. Tree Sloth, his agent.

He clicked in.

There were two new contents on the social media page.

One was a message forwarded by Mr. Tree Sloth about the publisher’s marketing department adjusting the contract and deciding to open a competition between Villerein Studio and Lady Detective Cat for the ”Little Prince” project.

The other one was a new tweet reposted by Mr. Tree Sloth from the Villerein Studio official account, posted 3 minutes ago.

The official blue check mark on the Twitter account was noted as - [Scholastic Group Master of Excellence in Writing and Art Contributions Award Winner, Illustrator Vellein]

Vellein’s agent posted a new message under the account.

The tweet’s background is a photo shot from bottom to top of the Scholastic Group European Headquarters Building, accompanied by Emperor Caesar’s famous saying ”VENI VIDI VICI” (I came, I saw, I conquered).

The official Twitter of the illustration studio doesn’t have the millions or tens of millions of views like those of Hollywood celebrities, but the fans’ loyalty is high, and they often like to collect and share new illustration images from the studio, waiting every day under the tweets.

They are loyal fans of the studio and are quite well-informed.

In just three minutes, fans have already been leaving comments guessing Vellein’s purpose of visiting Scholastic Group.

”Mr. Painter, are you here this time for the ’Little Prince’ project of the group? Heard you might be penning the new version of ’Little Prince’ for the group, looking forward to it. (By the way, will your ’Green Wilderness’ illustration collection be reissued? It’s so hard to buy; the thousand sets on Amazon were all snatched up in half an hour.)”

’Green Wilderness’ is a collection published by Scholastic Group, dedicated to a distinguished illustrator like Vellein, organizing the illustrations he’s drawn over the years, with pretty good market response.

Vellein’s account just replied to this message.

”It was meant to be a limited edition. If you can’t find it on Amazon, you can try your luck at brick-and-mortar bookstores. As for my purpose of visiting the publisher this time, due to confidentiality clauses, it’s inconvenient to say here. But if you can guess, it’s not a matter concerning the studio.”

Then the official Twitter liked this fan message.

...

Scholastic Group, European Headquarters Building.

Illustrator Vellein stood in the VIP elevator, quietly watching the floor numbers change on the elevator display.

Vellein’s appearance is quite like the image of high-end art workers from Europe and America.

Not tall, but extremely thin.

Thin in a way that suggests a long-term practice of animal protection and vegetarianism, slightly skeletal, with bones noticeable under the skin.

Year-round, spring and autumn, cold and hot, his attire is the same.

A custom handmade suit by Savile Street tailors with no brand logo, shiny Prada men’s leather shoes on his feet, round thin-framed gold-rimmed glasses on his face, and a Montblanc 18K rose gold Writer’s Edition pen tucked into the chest pocket, dual-purpose for drawing and writing.

Combined with his soft, feminine voice and slightly neurotic smile when he speaks.

On the street, even people who don’t know Vellein would think that if he weren’t an artist, he might be the kind of genteel psychopathic killer depicted in Shimada Shosetsu’s detective novels.

However,

Vellein is actually quite mature, without the common wantonness and ostentation of European and American artists’ infantilism.

This is manifested not only in the fact that although he is less than fifty years old, he likes letting his barber dye his hair into gray and white, giving the illusion of a sixty-plus-year-old man at first glance.

It’s also shown in the fact that even for a seemingly certain market investigation in the eyes of Director Charlie of the art department, Vellein is willing to seriously fly to the publisher’s headquarters and personally make a trip to the site.