The Versatile Master Artist

And the people around are all accustomed to seeing the big scenes.

Even an ordinary master-level sketch wouldn’t surprise everyone so unusually.

At first, Sir Brown maintained a composed and indifferent demeanor.

A few seconds later, he heard the collective gasp in the conference room, which not only did not cease but intensified.

It seemed as if everyone had swallowed a Mexican burrito with too much Devil’s pepper.

The chairman also started to lose his composure.

He finally stretched his neck and frowned at the book in the academician’s hands.

Wow!

Upon seeing the cover illustration of ”The Little Prince,” the chairman’s first reaction was that this painting was extraordinary.

The kind of hazy, dreamy pigment quality and the sense of communication between the brush and ink.

Even as a photo print, it gave the silver-haired Sir a shiver all over.

A masterpiece—printed on the book’s surface yet still so powerful; the original exceeded the normal standard by far.

His second reaction, after coming to his senses, was anger.

Damn,

is this the time for these old scholars to study whether the painting is good or not?

The important thing at this moment is stance.

Understand stance!

No matter whether her painting is good or bad, it can only be said to be bad now.

Sir Brown snatched the book ”The Little Prince” over and put it on the table.

”It turns out to be a painting knife painting. Well, it’s indeed a rare technique, no wonder everyone was slightly surprised. Unfortunately, Lady Yelena, you’ve confused rarity with excellence.”

”We all know that using a painting knife to create has significant limitations, and this field is rife with frauds. At first glance, this painting seems a bit impressive, but a closer look reveals flaws everywhere.”

”So, I’ll answer this question for you: rating such a fill-in-the-numbers artist two and a half stars, you were wrong.”

”I think every one of us here can agree on this point.”

Sir Brown kicked the fat old man beside him under the table.

At this moment, more people need to step forward to lead, helping the shareholders shocked by this painting to wake up a bit.

Hellefi took over the fairy tale book with a complex expression.

He opened his mouth several times, wanting to deliver a biting sarcasm about the painting, but found himself unable to pinpoint its flaws immediately.

”Well, painting knife painting, those who understand, understand.”

The fat old man hemmed and hawed for a long time, only managing to say this ambiguous sentence: ”I agree with Sir Brown’s view. Miss Elina, you were wrong.”

Hellefi handed the book back to Anna.

”This painting does look impressive, but we old men are, after all, more experienced than you, a young girl. We are not wrong.”

He faced Anna.

But the underlying message in his tone was subtly reminding the shareholders around him.

In such a scene, they absolutely cannot offer a different opinion.

These esteemed seniors had just united to drive Anna out of the magazine.

The decision hadn’t even warmed up.

Then they’d collectively change their stance 180 degrees and admit they were wrong in handling Anna.

The judgment and vision of the entire management weren’t as good as that of a young girl.

Embarrassment wouldn’t matter.

But how would collectors around the world perceive the credibility of the ”Oil Painting” magazine, how could they trust the market potential of the Oil Painting Fund?

Now, they’d rather go against their conscience than take a step back.

It’s just an online artist and a fairy tale illustration.

Not enough to overturn the world.

-----------------

The wind blew the poplar fluff falling from the trees on the street.

The traffic on the road slowly came to a stop.

Glietz City is a city with a very slow pace of life, and the afternoon air is filled with a lazy atmosphere.

Sunlight cast hazy light and shadow between the ancient city, and the black asphalt road stretches from downtown to distant hills.

There are decades-old traffic lights, and the long flashing yellow light between green light and red light transitions gives an impatient person a sense of restlessness.

Fortunately, the residents here have long adapted to this rhythm of life.

They cross the street slowly leisurely.

Only a pair of foreign tourists who had just visited the New Art Center stood in front of the crosswalk, impatiently browsing TikTok.

The man turned his head and glanced at the still unchanged signal light.

He suddenly seemed to see something surprising, patted his girlfriend’s shoulder, and immediately raised his phone.

He pointed at the very rare deep-colored Mercedes GLS600 SUV parked at the front of the crosswalk.

Like many European countries, Austria supports paid customization of license plates.

The format is state name + letter or number.

The ”G” at the beginning of this Mercedes SUV license plate is the initial letter of Graz, the state, and nearly 95% of the cars running on the streets here all start with ”G”.

But the following numbers are remarkable.

[G·01]—this represents the number one car in the entire state.

Inside and outside, no matter how rich you are, some license plate numbers are beyond the reach of ordinary people.

Single-digit Arabic numerals under 10 in European countries generally belong to royal families or top politicians’ exclusive number segments, seeing these license plates means encountering super elites.

For instance, among the Dutch royal family’s assets are license plate numbers 01 to 06.

The number one car [W·01] in Austria’s capital Vienna is not owned by any individual; it’s the official car for each president.

”No way! Darling, look at that car’s license plate, are we encountering the governor’s outing? Quick, post a tweet...”