Chapter 113 - 105: Portrait

Chapter 113: Chapter 105: Portrait

"Someone else wants to buy my calligraphy and painting?"

Chen Jingle froze for a moment when he saw the message from Li Beixing. Wait, was his artwork really this popular? Or were there just too many rich people in this world with more money than they knew what to do with, willing to spend tens of thousands on the work of a complete unknown?

GASP.

Chen Jingle drew in a sharp breath and asked with a smile, "Am I slowly building up a reputation?"

"Why wouldn’t you be?" Li Beixing’s eyes curved into smiling crescents.

Speaking of which, she was the first person to ever buy Chen Jingle’s work. At the time, she had spent ten thousand yuan on two calligraphy pieces. Operating on the principle that you couldn’t put a price on what you loved, she had gladly paid above market value. How long had it been since then? The price had already multiplied several times over. This proved that the quality of his work was truly recognized by people.

"Thank you, Teacher Li!" Chen Jingle said sincerely.

Li Beixing sounded a little displeased. "Didn’t we agree you’d just call me by my name?"

"It just slipped out. Sorry about that."

Li Beixing didn’t dwell on it. "You can take the commission, right?"

"Of course," Chen Jingle replied. "Turning down money would make me a fool. Please tell the client that I guarantee his satisfaction. If he’s not happy, I’ll keep drawing until he is."

To him, Mr. Long’s request was absolutely no problem. It was in the bag! Phrases like "A steady stream of customers" hung in shops were similar in nature to "Heaven rewards the diligent" or "The highest good is like water." As for the Flowers and Birds Painting, he could consider taking the fine brushwork route, trying his best to highlight the Lingnan characteristics. Guaranteed to please!

Li Beixing couldn’t help but laugh. "You really are..."

"Are what? Greedy for money?" Chen Jingle asked with a smile.

"No, I didn’t mean that," Li Beixing said, feeling a bit embarrassed and quickly explaining herself.

Chen Jingle, however, didn’t mind. "It’s fine. Even if you said yes, I wouldn’t care because this is a transaction. Since people are spending money to buy my work, I naturally have to make sure the client is satisfied. I can’t just let them spend money to be a sucker."

Curious, Li Beixing asked him, "Are you really short on money?"

"I don’t think there are many people who dare say they aren’t short on money, right?" Chen Jingle said. "I can only say I’m not lacking in pocket change, but I definitely don’t have big money."

He was indeed worrying about money right now. He had been perfectly content lying flat and living simply, but suddenly, his material desires in a certain area had begun to surge. It was disrupting his rhythm of life, which wasn’t ideal. Fortunately, he could still control his thoughts. He hadn’t let material desires override his true self, nor did he suffer from excessive mental friction.

If he wanted it, he wanted it. There was no crime in thinking about it. He just needed to ground his thoughts in objective reality, making sure they didn’t devolve into mere daydreams.

Hearing his words, Li Beixing fell deep into thought.

Before she could dwell on it too long, Chen Jingle spoke up again. "By the way, I told you last time I’d make up a painting for you. Have you decided what you want me to paint?"

Her train of thought interrupted, she said, "I haven’t decided yet. How about you give me some suggestions?"

"Me?" Chen Jingle was surprised. "Uh, how about I paint a portrait of you?"

"Ah? Really?" Li Beixing’s eyes lit up. She didn’t have any strong preferences when it came to painting, so a portrait was indeed an excellent choice.

"Of course!" Chen Jingle said. "Do you want a traditional Chinese painting or a sketch? My oil painting skills are average, so I won’t embarrass myself."

Li Beixing thought for a moment. "Traditional Chinese painting, please. Do you need a photo?"

Although sketches looked realistic, no matter how well they were drawn, they never felt very high-class or suitable for framing and hanging. A traditional Chinese painting suited her better.

"It would be better if you had a photo," Chen Jingle said.

"Then I’ll send you one." She bit her lip, scrolling through thousands of photos on her phone until she found the one she deemed her best Hanfu shot. She sent it over. "Do you think this one is okay?"

She had taken this photo while traveling in the Divine Capital early in the year. Out of all the pictures she had taken in recent years, it was her absolute favorite.

"It’s fine," Chen Jingle replied.

Such a bland reaction? Li Beixing’s mouth twitched. She put her phone away, feigning nonchalance. "Fine, I don’t really care about your opinion anyway," she thought.

Meanwhile, Chen Jingle was studying the photo she had sent.

The person who took it had solid skills; at least they weren’t some amateur tourist trap photographer. The three key elements of portrait photography were perfectly executed. In the photo, Li Beixing perfectly illustrated what it meant to have bright eyes, white teeth, and a radiant smile. Her looks were not inferior to the models at the traditional culture exhibition, and she was far more recognizable than those generic internet-famous faces.

She knew her own features well—she truly looked beautiful when she smiled.

"I’ll use this one," Chen Jingle thought, his mind already forming a general direction.

Of course, he didn’t rush to start painting. Considering that Li Beixing had helped broker several deals for him, he felt he couldn’t paint it too casually. At the very least, he needed to be in an excellent state of mind before picking up his brush. If he was going to paint, he had to do it well.

When it came to figure painting, the pinnacle of traditional Chinese portraiture undoubtedly belonged to the Tang Dynasty. However, in figure paintings prior to the Song Dynasty, the pursuit was not lifelike resemblance, but rather charm and spirit.

What were charm and spirit? For example, it was "An old man in a straw cape and hat on a lone boat, fishing alone on the cold, snowy river."

It wasn’t until after the Song Dynasty that theories and initial creations regarding realism began to emerge, and portraiture slowly incorporated what modern people call structural perspective. For instance, the Vimalakirti Teaching Painting by Li Gonglin of the Northern Song Dynasty followed the realistic route. Unfortunately, due to various reasons, this theoretical painting method did not become mainstream at the time and gradually disappeared into the long river of history.

Like calligraphy, figure painting in the Song Dynasty remained more obsessed with the expression of "intent." In today’s popular terms, it meant the transmission of emotion. To put it more crudely, one only needed to look at those ancient erotic paintings. Instead, the fine brushwork of flowers, birds, and animals reached its absolute peak.

Zeng Bochen of the Ming Dynasty did try to integrate Western techniques into traditional Chinese portraiture, which gave rise to the Bochen School, becoming wildly popular for a time. As for certain people who concluded from this that ancient Chinese figure painting art was lacking and that "so-called freehand brushwork is actually a fig leaf," they needed to know that Western painting schools weren’t all about realism either. If only realistic paintings were good, then Picasso’s works would be garbage. And as for the merits of realism, contemporary hyper-realistic styles received far more criticism than praise.

A crucial aspect of painting was conveying emotion, which was universally applicable in both Eastern and Western art fields. It wasn’t that ancient Chinese realistic art didn’t exist, but its expression was more focused on sculpture. The Terracotta Warriors or various statues of deities were prime examples.

Although the development of traditional Chinese figure painting up to the present day had not surpassed the pinnacle of the Tang Dynasty, it could still be considered a diverse flourishing of styles. Take Mr. He Jiaying, vice chairman of the Artists Association. His fine brushwork figure paintings were elegant and bright, seamlessly combining Chinese and Western styles. While enhancing the sense of reality and a slice-of-life feel, they also retained the Oriental charm of traditional Chinese painting. It was nothing short of innovative.

It was just that many of his paintings were not suitable for children under eighteen to view.

In comparison, Chen Jingle personally preferred Mr. Bai Bohua’s paintings of gentlewomen, which seamlessly blended freehand and realistic styles, aligning much better with his own aesthetic appreciation of traditional Chinese painting.

If Chen Jingle were to paint a portrait, he planned to take the fine brushwork route. To make an analogy, Ghost Blowing Light was a classic, but right now he preferred Mysterious Resurgence. However, exactly how he applied the fine brushwork depended on his personal skill level and stylistic choices. Even within the same fine brushwork style, some people’s paintings drew applause and admiration, while others were unappealing.

In short, he made a mental note of these calligraphy and painting tasks. He aimed to complete them one by one over the next few days and deliver them to the clients as soon as possible. No matter what he was doing, it was inappropriate to keep people waiting too long.

Meanwhile, after passing through several hands, the message finally reached Long Zhijie. Mr. Long was overjoyed to learn that Master Chen Jingle had agreed to the commission.

"If the quality is on par with the two pieces in Liu Deqiang’s collection, in a few years, it will conservatively double or triple in value!"

He didn’t intend to make a fortune off this, but often, seeing something he bought appreciate rather than depreciate in value just felt incredibly satisfying. It wasn’t about how much money he made; it was about the sense of accomplishment from a successful investment!

After sending Chen Qiyun home, Chen Jingle prepared for a midday nap.

He was already used to taking a short nap every noon; otherwise, his mental state wouldn’t be good enough for attending classes, studying, or working in the afternoon. He would decide whether to study calligraphy and painting or something else after waking up.

Speaking of which, it seemed people in many places didn’t take midday naps. Among the northern provinces, he only knew of Sanjin, and to a degree even more exaggerated than Lingnan—it was the kind of place where everyone took a nap. In Lingnan, most people would take a short nap at noon. Usually, for students or workers, the two hours between 12:00 PM and 2:00 PM were used for eating and resting. Some even extended it to 2:30 PM or 3:00 PM.

By the time Chen Jingle woke up, the rain had mostly stopped, leaving only an occasional drizzle. He stared out the window for a while in a daze. Looking at the thick clouds in the sky, he suddenly had a new realization about the four characters, "A steady stream of customers."

Well, when inspiration suddenly strikes, it can’t be stopped!

He immediately took out his brush, ink, paper, and inkstone, and with a flourish of his brush, wrote down four characters that left him highly satisfied.

"Done!"

With his calligraphy and painting tasks for the day completed, he could spend the rest of his time reading up on subjects that interested him. Like history.

Having finished reading the Outline of National History previously, he had essentially sorted out his limited historical knowledge in chronological order, preliminarily building his own historical knowledge system. Next, he could follow the chronological order and conduct in-depth research step by step.

The parts prior to the Shang and Zhou Dynasties were subject to debate, but Chen Jingle didn’t care. His current thought was simply to learn first, stuffing all the knowledge into his brain. Only when his knowledge reserves were sufficient would he be qualified to question, debate, or propose his own insights. Otherwise, with his current level, what was the point of affirming or denying anything? Wouldn’t he just be like an amateur crank?

So, he had to study first!

History was truly fascinating. As a modern man who had only lived through thirty years of springs and autumns, he could stand at a higher dimensional perspective in the vast river of time, observing the lives of countless people. From their birth to their death, everything they experienced—big or small—and all their various emotions were recorded by history.

The unrecorded parts waited for you to explore and unearth. This experience of cross-temporal dialogue was something other disciplines couldn’t provide. Furthermore, reading history helped Chen Jingle in his study of historical materialism and Marxist philosophy. Aside from history, he also read ideological and political theories, all of which were inseparable from history.

Even things like calligraphy and painting had relevant descriptions found in history.

Besides reading, Chen Jingle would also write essays during the process. Maybe they would be useful, maybe they wouldn’t. Whether they would be useful or not, he felt he should write them down first. When the need arose, they would naturally come in handy.