The Versatile Master Artist

This is indeed the two hometowns of Miss Sakai.

”Manet likes to paint very bright and splendid works, and I can see the idea of using dark-toned strokes to express intense colors in the painting style of senior Carol. In a sense, these two styles can be reconciled. I want to explore a painting path that suits me based on this.”

Koizumi Katsuko said seriously, with a longing expression.

”The thought is very clear.” Gu Weijing nodded, showing his affirmation.

He thought he couldn’t come up with any better suggestions.

”I already have a painting path, but the skills and proficiency in using the brush can only be gradually improved and can’t be rushed.” Koizumi Katsuko took out a palm-sized teak frame from a small backpack placed on the sofa, wiped her fingers again with a tissue, and then took out a well-preserved sketch illustration.

”I could never quite learn how to integrate my emotions into my paintings. A few days ago, I slightly felt I was getting the hang of it, but when practicing in the hotel, I still didn’t quite grasp it.”

She handed the sketch to Gu Weijing, speaking with a tone of implicit expectation, ”Can you teach me, please?”

Gu Weijing took the sketch paper.

He recognized it as the small portrait he gave Koizumi Katsuko in the Fitz School’s self-study room.

”My father told me that a painter should be close to nature and feel life. I also want to hear your opinion, Mr. Gu. You are the only one I’ve met who can handle emotions so well among the peers.”

”Even if this is just a simple pencil sketch, I can often feel as though I am having a staring contest with myself while looking at this sheet, as if looking into a mirror.”

Miss Sakai stood beside Gu Weijing, earnestly seeking guidance.

”What do you think about while drawing? I feel the lines I draw are never as lively and full of emotion as yours.”

What to think about?

Looking at the sketch paper before him,

Gu Weijing recalled his feelings when he created the first piece on the system panel that received the [Heartfelt] evaluation.

”Thinking about drawing, yet not thinking about drawing; thinking about the model, yet not thinking about the model.”

”Sounds like you’re practicing Zen.” Koizumi Katsuko’s eyes revealed a puzzled expression.

”Actually... I didn’t quite understand. Could you explain it more straightforwardly?” She candidly admitted that she didn’t fully grasp the meaning behind Gu Weijing’s words.

”Remember when I mentioned in the paper about the idea of empathy?” Gu Weijing said, ”You need to resonate enough with the scene in your painting, connecting your heart and the environment. When your heart is filled with the desire to express, painting becomes a natural thing. Your mind is empty yet fully concentrated; you don’t need to deliberately pursue the emotions in your brushwork, yet you can easily feel the emotions flowing gently at the tip of your pen.”

”This resonance is probably the purpose Uncle Sakai mentioned about feeling life and nature.”

”Empty yet fully concentrated.”

Miss Sakai muttered to herself, contemplating this feeling of painting.

Gu Weijing gently stroked the hair on the back of Koizumi Katsuko’s head and said, ”The fastest way to feel all this is not to daydream, but to find a model that sparks enough interest in you for drawing. Don’t treat the model as an empty object like plaster; it’s not just a bunch of lines, but a living person. Understand him, care for him. The more you paint him in your daily practice, you’ll be able to find the feeling.”

Koizumi Katsuko thought for a few seconds, then smiled, looking at Gu Weijing: ”Mr. Gu, you mean, I should paint more of you?”

”I think —” Gu Weijing neither refused nor smiled in return: ”The common models in paintings by great painters are often their lovers; there’s a reason for this.”

”Well, not only are you my Monet, but occasionally be my Miss Molan!” Koizumi Katsuko said offhandedly.

”Then please have Miss Sakai take care of me.” Gu Weijing joked in return.

Molan is the most common female model in Manet’s works and was his long-term... um, prostitute.

The literary circle of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries mainly featured this unrestrained style.

Venereal diseases and tuberculosis are signature traits of artists.

Famous personalities who were infected or died from syphilis include Van Gogh, Maupassant, Nietzsche, Wilde, Schubert... just a casual thought can pull together half a name list.

Molan, Manet’s favorite female model, is neither a lover nor a socialite, only a proper working prostitute.

Koizumi Katsuko froze for two seconds.

Once she understood the teasing implication in her heart, her cheeks immediately turned red, and she gently slapped Gu Weijing’s arm in embarrassment.

”You’re improper, you know I didn’t mean that.” Miss Shengzi’s voice was as light as a mosquito.

Gu Weijing saw Koizumi Katsuko’s skin was tender; when joked with, her cheeks turned red like a ripe apple, with a naive look that he really liked.

He casually reached for her arm and pulled her into his embrace.

Koizumi Katsuko symbolically resisted a couple of times, then half-heartedly stretched her arms to wrap around his neck.

The two of them got cozy, cheek to cheek, for a little while.

Gu Weijing didn’t do anything excessive, just hugging, with at most their faces so close as to whisper secret words to each other.

But the same simple physical contact, the affection between the two and the natural behavior while painting, brought physiological stimuli that were entirely different levels.

In a short while,

two similarly inexperienced young people in love were feeling hot all over.

Gu Weijing only had a bit of sweat at his neckline and forehead, while Miss Shengzi’s body, whether from nervousness or shyness, was so sweaty that she seemed like she was pulled out of the water.

A few strands of wet hair clung tightly to her temple, and the girl breathed rapidly like a fish out of water, with even her gaze a little hazy.

Seeing Miss Sakai’s pitiful, pleading expression.

Gu Weijing ultimately decided, with great willpower, to be a gentleman and not seize the moment for a kiss.

”I think... it’s not... not quite right.”

Koizumi Katsuko sat on the fabric sofa for several minutes, her chest’s intense heaving slowly calming down.

She took half a cup of coffee from the coffee machine, then added half a cup of ice water from the cold water dispenser to the coffee cup.

The girl was in no hurry to drink, just holding the iced coffee to her chest, sipping little by little, using the faint coolness to soothe her body heated under the pheromones.

Just like that,

her voice still carried hints of breathlessness.

”Were we too intimate just now?”

”No... I didn’t mean that.” Koizumi Katsuko slowly said, ”I meant Molan, it’s about asking you to be my model.”

”I think that’s not quite right.” Koizumi Katsuko shook her head.

The two of them had only been slightly affectionate for a few minutes when Miss Sakai suddenly changed her mind. Gu Weijing did not speak, only looking at the girl on the sofa with puzzled eyes.

”I may have to practice a lot every day, and if painting you, it would make the use of the brush too familiar.” Koizumi Katsuko looked at Gu Weijing.

”Isn’t familiarity a good thing?”

”No.”

Koizumi Katsuko shook her head.

”It might not be a bad thing for artistic creation, but I don’t like it.”

”Familiarity will make one lose the initial passion, making it seem ordinary. Besides, to be honest, I must consider the possibility of not getting the desired work for a long time. Prolonged drawing of the same theme can make me feel tired and discouraged.”

Miss Sakai pinched a streak of wet hair with her fingers, ”I don’t like associating your face in my heart with feelings of fatigue and discouragement at any time.”

In psychology,

the human brain can produce associative effects.

When someone listens to music they love while doing something very painful, like eating dark cuisine,

over time,

hearing similar melodies will remind them of the taste of dark cuisine.

”Mr. Gu, I don’t want you to be my practice model, just like a kiss; a kiss too easily obtained loses its charm. I hope in the future, when I feel our emotions are as intense and beautiful as today, when the heartbeat is like a drum, then I will pick up the brush.”

”I hope every time I want to paint your face, it will make me excited and shy.” Koizumi Katsuko looked at Gu Weijing’s profile.

Miss Sakai is already quite shy right now, but her tone is serious: ”I hope that even when you are gray-haired, I will still blush painting you.”

”Hmm... maybe you can change models? How about Jasmine?”

”Jasmine?”

”She’s always been a lovely little model, and I assure you, she’s always been very good.”