Chapter 128 - Wind, Water, Cloud (3)

"Nature is ever changing and impossible to apply the proof by exhaustion. It's not something someone with no background like you should ask about."

Gu Shishi didn't even lift a brow, but she emphasized on the second half of what she said.

The bouffant dress girl looked unhappy immediately.

And then, Gu Shishi's paint brush had already started tracing in the middle of her painting paper.

The bouffant dress girl immediately put on a sarcastic smile.

"I decide what I want to learn! If all I want to learn is to draw lines, why do I need to pay for your premium class?!"

Gu Shishi didn't say a word, as though she didn't even hear her.

Her paintbrush never stopped.

Ling Xiaomei, standing to one side with her hands still balled into fists, said, "Please be quiet."

"Yo! Do you have a leg to stand on with your skill level?"

Ling Xiaomei was flushed. Thinking that she was about to quit anyway and didn't really care about the consequences, she stood up with a dark face!

But before she could walk over, she heard Gu Shishi's voice.

"Meimei, can help me add some water~"

Ling Xiaomei stopped in the middle of her action.

"Oh, alright."

As she poured some water in from a pot into the empty palette, she couldn't help but look over at Gu Shishi's drawing paper curiously.

She has a background in art and her strength was western painting style. She could grasp the drawing of wind; after all, the wind makes the leaves move.

But when it came to water and clouds, she found it very difficult to depict without using colors or lines.

She was stumped yesterday when her student brought it up. She was even more nervous after she was mocked and had even more difficulty coming up with any method to depict it.

She finally thought about some ways around like last night, such as drawing a boat or something.

She was very curious how Gu Shishi would handle it.

"Gongbi style!"

When she turned and looked, Ling Xiaomei was stunned.

When she saw Gu Shishi drawing the lines, she thought that Gu Shishi was trying to teach the bouffant dress girl the basics.

She hadn't expected that during the short moment while she added water for her, an antique-looking city had appeared on her painting paper.

The city was on a platform made out of bricks and tapered upward. The roof was decorated with dragon-head ridge ornament. There were a total of three floors with each floor having doorways on each side.

Picture: dragon-head ridge ornament

At a glance, it was no doubt a dignified and magnificent structure!

"This is... Zhengyangmen?"

Ling Xiaomei, a native of the northern region, couldn't help but let out an exclamation when she saw the arch bridge that Gu Shishi had just depicted.

The bouffant dress girl, who had been making fun of Gu Shishi's skill level since she had entered the room, also started to look a bit uneasy.

Gu Shishi's gongbi, even in the eyes of a layman, was still very appealing.

She was painting in such speed and putting down each line with no hesitation, as though she was drawing from a photo.

The bouffant girl didn't step away like Ling Xiaomei did; she watched the entire time and saw each stroke clearly.

This was virtuosic!

It was even more realistic than sketching!

"But... this isn't what I've asked for..."

She added uncomfortably!

Her voice stopped the very next second, as though someone had choked her.

After Gu Shishi had finished with the arch bridge, she took the plate of water from Ling Xiaomei.

She soaked the paint brush into the water in its entirety. Once it was fully wet, she brushed her pen over the arch bridge.

All of a sudden, the water caused the ink to spread and the concise lines made from the black ink earlier smear. (see wash painting technique)

Seemingly, the people on top of the bridge looked like flowers in fog, their real shapes difficult to detect.

"Cloud!"

Ling Xiaomei couldn't help but call out in joy.

***

Chapter 129 - Wind, Water, Cloud (4)

"This is a distant view. The viewing angle was from a tall mountain up top. Looking from high to low and obstructed by the cloud, they couldn't make out the emperor's carriage clearly."

Gu Shishi smiled and said, "That's exactly right."

The bouffant dress girl's eyes widened. That worked?

She thought Gu Shishi would go for a nature painting and had already prepared her sarcasm.

"What about the wind? How come the wind didn't blow the cloud away?"

She gritted her teeth.

Gu Shishi tosses the paint brush away. "I'm not done yet. What's the rush?"

She switched to a narrower brush, dipped it in some ink. Then, she etched out two identical flags on both sides of the city wall, covered in the fog.

The flag posts were tall and straight and the flags waving in the air. The stiffness of the flag posts was softened by the flags.

Ling Xiaomei's eyes beamed instantly!

"Look, here's your wind," said Gu Shishi in rebuttal.

"Okay, so what about water? There's no way there will be water in the city from this angle!" said the bouffant girl with her teeth gritted.

Gu Shishi smiled. Moving her paint brush a little, she etched out the tiles on top of the roof, leaving a lot of white spaces in between the tiles.

She then added an antique watchtower and a barbican. Detailing out the layers of tiles, the lines sometimes bending and turning... forming a lot of water puddles...

It didn't take too long for the bouffant dress girl's face to turn very colorful.

Ling Xiaomei had turned into a fan of Gu Shishi. There were stars in her eyes as she looked at Gu Shishi, and they were filled with worship and admiration.

"The rain landed on top of the structures turned into puddles. And that's your water!"

Gu Shishi put her paint brushes away and nodded.

"These are all little tricks. Meimei, you only need to spend some time thinking about it and would be able to come up with this as well. You just hadn't have the time to think it through; otherwise, you will be able to draw this as well."

Ling Xiaomei paused for a while before she recollected herself.

That was true. She might not be able to draw as well as Gu Shishi could, but she could come close to the meaning of it.

Except that the painting would take even longer from the planning to the drawing. That would exceed the time of one class.

Gu Shishi handed her the paint brush. "Starting from when I was 13, my master would give me different topics every day and I had to paint over 100 paintings every year. All these plans were already burned into the brain."

Ling Xiaomei's eyes widened. "Since you were 13?!"

Gu Shishi nodded. "Yup. So, you can do this too, if that's what you just. Just need to put in the time."

Ling Xiaomei bit her lips.

And, the next moment, Gu Shishi turned to the bouffant dress girl who had a complicated look on her.

"I am done. Did that answer your question?"

She squinted.

"Except that this class did more harm and good to you. Water can take millions of different forms. You don't even have the foundation. This is but a waste of time."

The bouffant dress girl gritted her teeth. "Well, I wanted to. I've paid. You have a problem with that?!"

"No problem." Gu Shishi put the painting away. "Thank you for your support. Meimei, we can get quite a cut for a $5,000 session, right?"

Ling Xiaomei nodded like a true fan immediately.

"Good, then let's go for something good for lunch~" Gu Shishi expressed her contentment.

Bouffant girl: "......"