The Versatile Master Artist

Sketching professors would think this photo is made with Photoshop.

The document is thick, with more than just one mural photo.

Old Wu, when getting through membership approval, wanted to make Gu Weijing’s résumé appear solid and beautiful, so it wouldn’t look like he used public power to give the neighbor’s child a back door entry.

The old man included a lot of promotional material taken by the tourism bureau during the Great Golden Pagoda project.

Professor Watter saw Gu Weijing’s name ahead of Koizumi Katsuko’s on the golden acknowledgment list on the monument, saw photos of various big names watching and commenting on Gu Weijing’s sketches, and even saw a candid shot of Old Sir Cao Xuan instructing Gu Weijing on painting on-site.

This might be a scene captured by a tourism bureau-employed photographer using a telephoto lens from afar.

An old man and a young man stood before an ancient mural.

Elder Cao held a brush, while Gu Weijing stood beside the little old man like a little assistant.

The telephoto lens caused the background to blur severely in the photo.

The content on the mural was nothing but blurred, diffused spots of color, but Mr. Cao Xuan’s facial features were presented very clearly.

The old sir pursed his lips, looked sideways at the young man beside him, his face didn’t look very kindly, it was a quite serious expression, yet not distant.

In the picture,

The old gentleman’s expression didn’t have the usual cold and perfunctory demeanor that established artists have towards young people gilding themselves.

No young person gilding themselves in Myanmar was worth Elder Cao’s perfunctory attitude.

Professor Watter inexplicably felt that the expression on this great artist’s face reminded him of how he looked seriously when lecturing in the classroom.

The little old man seemed really to be earnestly teaching and enlightening Gu Weijing?

”No wonder the line drawing ability improved so rapidly, yet he pretends it was all self-realized, without hiring a private teacher. Cut, if this isn’t a private teacher, what is? And it’s a boutique one-on-one class.”

The sketch professor enviously puffed up his cheeks, jealousy scratching at his heart.

There is a specialization in every field.

But Eastern art masters possess exceptionally high line drawing abilities, a view acknowledged in Western academia.

They create a piece of art, whether meticulous or freehand, not relying on focal change, not relying on big-close and small-far scaling.

What they rely on is the lines drawn by their hands one by one.

In the art community, while there are critics of Cao Xuan, not a single critic ever suggested Cao Xuan’s painting techniques are not robust enough.

Receiving such enlightenment from an art Grandmaster, a little more perception.

The sketching technique analogously enhances, achieving a leap in a short period becomes reasonable.

”This luck... such a teacher I could afford.”

Watter’s heart felt complex emotions.

He once thought if he knew where Gu Weijing learned his skill, he would enroll himself in such a class.

Thinking now,

Professor Watter felt relieved he hadn’t said this in front of Gu Weijing, or else he would have felt embarrassed for himself.

Hiring a private teacher like Cao Xuan was beyond his financial reach of hundreds or thousands of US Dollars.

Even if he sold himself, he could not afford it.

The Canadian principal’s mind was not as complicated.

He was merely fiddling with the globe on the office desk.

The principal liked to spin this object when he had nothing else to do.

It serves as a commemorative gift distributed to each campus head by the Fitz teacher group during the principal meeting.

The globe was made of brass, volleyball-sized, with embossed mountains and hills, and Fitz’s English initials highlighted in red on various continents.

Each abbreviation represented a Fitz campus globally.

The Myanmar campus was always the most inconspicuous among them.

Sometimes the board contemplated shutting down the Myanmar campus due to no excellent teachers willing to be stationed, coupled with the unstable situation.

Three years of silence, a miraculous turn of events.

This year not only welcomed heavyweight transfer student Koizumi Katsuko, but also a student obtained the highest badge of the British Scouts, and now appeared a ”young artist.”

The latter two were local students who had been in Fitz for several years.

Compared to the honor of collaborating with a master ranked roughly in the world’s top five within the school,

Even Jerry’s charity micro-film became less appealing in the principal’s eyes.

”Hmm, how about this, Gu Weijing has been enjoying the scholarship tuition reduction treatment. Setting aside the previous years, I think we should simply refund all his tuition fees for this year, considered as a benefit from the school. Then, make copies of these photo file materials, and create a special promotional wall for student Gu, what do you think?”

The principal casually suggested.

”I don’t know, anyway, he doesn’t have to attend my class in the future; I am not capable of teaching such a student. He should just do whatever he wishes.”

Professor Watter put all the materials back on the desk, answering with a lack of interest.

Originally, he felt that Gu Weijing was quite like him, working hard but lacking a bit of luck, so he wanted to lend a helping hand.

Unlucky?

Unlucky my foot!

With such abundant opportunities, even the ancestral grave might catch fire.

Professor Watter looked at the photos on the table, feeling too aggrieved to speak up.

If I had even a tenth of the good opportunities this kid had back in the day, found a master to give a few pointers and steal a trick or two, I wouldn’t just be a sketch teacher in Myanmar now, would I?

”Then let’s do it. Leave your copy of the sketch too, and paste it on the promotional wall.”