After Mr. Cao started painting.
The people who were still reluctant to watch were dispersed by Lin Tao's staff.
"Mr. Cao wants to paint. Everyone, please go back." Lin Tao said.
"Old Lin, let's stay aside quietly and promise not to talk or affect the master's painting."
"Professor Lin, please give me some face. Mr. Cao didn't say anything."
There were always old professors who were familiar with Lin Tao who wanted to shamelessly stay and listen to Mr. Cao's lectures.
Song Taizong said that opening books is beneficial.
After finally having the opportunity to meet Master Cao, he had the idea to teach his art in person.
Even if the content may be shallow because of Gu Weijing, it is still earned when you hear it. Being thick-skinned at this time is completely irrelevant.
In front of Mr. Cao, who is not a student?
"Sorry, teacher likes to be quiet when painting. Please go do your work."
Lin Tao is not happy for these old guys to take advantage of the teacher's guidance for free.
He knew the temperament of these people very well.
With a hundred-foot club head, it is extremely difficult to go further.
Everyone has their own confusion about painting that they want to be answered by a master like Mr. Cao. If you give them a chance, they will stick to it.
As long as these shameless old things stay, I guarantee that it will become a special lecture after a while.
Why let them take advantage of this?
Many times I want Mr. Cao to give me some advice but I don’t even have time, so he is still my master.
He even politely asked Gu Weijing's grandfather, Gu Tongxiang, to step aside.
Gu Weijing was looking up and admiring the paintings of the little old man Cao Xuan, his eyes unblinking.
He watched the pen tip dancing on the mural, like watching a grand and enthusiastic silent performance.
"With such a skill, it's close to the level."
This is the most intuitive feeling in Gu Weijing's mind.
Mr. Cao holds the brush, and the tip of the brush does not tremble at all, picking, applying, dotting, and smearing, making the painting look pleasing to the eye, but also somewhat ethereal and agile.
"Teacher, at his age, can still write like a dragon, which really puts us juniors to shame."
After Lin Tao completely drove away the rest, he walked back to Gu Weijing who was holding the palette, with sincere admiration in his tone.
Mr. Cao Xuan's artistic life is truly astonishingly long.
"I told you to drink less, but you didn't listen. You can't even control your own body, how can you hold a good paintbrush, a useless thing."
The little old man glanced sideways at his second apprentice and scolded him mercilessly.
"If you were my age and could still hold a painting brush steadily, your artistic achievements might be even higher, but do you have this ability?"
"I don't dare to compare myself with the teacher. The teacher is an art talent that only happens once in 500 years."
Despite his age, Lin Tao still blushed and lowered his head in embarrassment. If Professor Lin Tao's students saw that the usually rigid and serious Professor from Central America was scolded like a primary school student, their jaws would probably drop in surprise.
Being accepted as his second disciple by Mr. Cao, he was also very promising at a young age, and he was a well-regarded new painter in his youth.
When young people are proud, it is natural to have a cup of wine and drink.
Lin Tao does not smoke, but he likes to drink rice wine. Although he was scolded many times by the teacher, he could not completely give up this hobby.
"Bullshit, a once-in-five-hundred-year art talent." Mr. Cao shook his head, "I just work harder than my peers, have better luck, and live longer."
I don't know if it was because of the private situation, but Gu Weijing felt that Master Cao Xuan was very frank and real.
There is no air of a master at all, and he looks like a simple elder who is heartbroken when he sees his juniors failing to live up to expectations.
It made him feel very kind.
"Gu boy, you are a good talent. But if you want to go further on the road of art, it is not enough to be a good talent. It is best not to get involved in wine, sex, wealth and anger. The road of art is very complicated. It’s also very simple. If you live long enough and the old guys who are stronger than you are buried in the loess, you will be the master.”
Mr. Cao stopped painting, looked at Gu Weijing, and said in a very serious tone: "Self-discipline, this is the first lesson I teach you, and it is also a lesson I think is more important than painting itself."
"Be taught." Gu Weijing nodded seriously.
Self-discipline is the distinguishing characteristic of old-fashioned Eastern artists from Western painters.
Gu Weijing heard that the great calligrapher of Eastern Xia, Mr. Sun Qigong, the ninth generation of Emperor Yongzheng, paid great attention to health preservation.
Even in his old age, he can still write like a dragon, and he can write a three-hundred-word calligraphy calligraphy with his arms raised, and his hands will not shake, his face will not be red, and he will not be out of breath.
Traditional calligraphy and painting of the Eastern Xia Dynasty are not divided into different families. Gu Weijing observed that the same is true for Mr. Cao Xuan.
His hand holding the pen is extremely steady and strong.
The old gentleman's arms were as skinny as firewood sticks. However, the brush, wrist and arm muscles have formed a very stable pen holding triangle, which is extremely stable when painting.
Only long-term training and absolute self-discipline maintenance of the body can maintain physical condition at such an old age.
This kind of self-discipline of literati is the tradition of Eastern Xia artists, and it is also a very important aspect of virtue in ancient Chinese culture when a gentleman cultivates "virtue".
In contrast, his grandfather Gu Tongxiang did not have this achievement, although Gu Tongxiang was about the same age as Lin Tao.
Several years ago, he heard his grandfather lament that his pen grip was no longer stable.
This is also something that can't be helped.
Yangon is a society of connections and relationships.
Especially in the turbulent times, it is difficult to be alone in a small building of a calligraphy and painting shop by the Yangon River and quietly run your own small calligraphy and painting business.
There are various welcomes and drop-offs, and banquets and banquets. You don’t have to participate if you don’t want to go.
Nicotine and alcohol not only cause cancer, but also damage the brain. Many neighbors on the street who drink alcohol all the time have minor problems such as trembling hands.
For artists, this is a big problem.
After Mr. Gu turned fifty, his hands became increasingly unstable.
However, the painter is pretty good at this.
Look at those European and American underground music singers who spend their days coughing up pills, sucking in fans, and being promiscuous, especially the representatives of hippie culture. Not to mention whether they can still be active in the music scene at the age of sixty and be free from illness and disaster. Living past the age of forty is considered longevity.
"As for the second point, have you ever thought about what elements a professional painter should have when painting?"
What elements?
Gu Weijing shook his head.
“Skill, knowledge, and emotion.”
Lin Tao, who was standing aside, had a solemn expression on his face.
“These are the three elements that my teacher taught me when I was getting started, and they are also the basis for all my achievements today.”
Skill?
Knowledge?
emotion?
He had heard about the six major categories of painters and the three major categories, but this was the first time Gu Weijing had heard of this three-element theory.
"The so-called skill is the foundation of painting, which is the source of water and the foundation of wood. Without the blessing of skill, no matter how much knowledge you have, no matter how turbulent and rich the emotions in your chest are. Without the foundation of painting as a medium, But it’s just the moon in the water, the flower in the mirror.”
Lin Tao explained to Gu Weijing: "You are very good at this. At your age, at least the basis of sketching is very close to that of a professional painter. This is very good. You have obviously worked hard."
These old painters' judgments are really accurate.
Gu Weijing lamented that according to the system panel, his sketches were semi-professional and close to Yuanman.
"But when it comes to knowledge, you are not good at it. I can see that when you drew the pen drawings a few days ago, you were simply copying. Can you tell how high the Shwedagon Pagoda is, how many bells are on it, and those The gold in this place is thicker, what kind of construction technology was used?"
"You know?"
Gu Weijing felt that although he didn't understand it, the other party would never know more than him, a native of Myanmar.
Lin Tao nodded and took out a small notebook from his arms, with dense records written on it.
“From the day I learned painting, my teacher asked me to record the background knowledge of any building, character or scene I considered painting. I knew about the Shwedagon Pagoda before coming to Yangon. You can never draw well what you don’t understand. I have continued this habit for fifty years. I can fill an entire house with notebooks filled with notes.”
Gu Weijing was convinced: "Is this knowledge?"
"This is knowledge."
"No matter how outstanding ancient painters like Raphael or Titian were, they couldn't draw airplanes well, because they would only regard it as a miracle and add a religious halo instead of pursuing mechanical rigor. Knowledge is power, you can't It’s terrible to look at impressionist abstraction, and Monet’s paintings of buildings, whether it’s “Capitol at Sunset” or “Doge’s Palace,” are all based on an incomparable familiarity with the architecture itself.”
"So boy, don't be dissatisfied with the little girl who lost to Sakai Katsuko. I heard that she has paid great attention to the accumulation of this aspect since she was a child. Her famous work "Birds of the Sea" once made professional marine biologists admire the birds. The feather texture is so fine." Mr. Cao spoke at this time.
"As for the last part, which is the hardest part, it's the emotion."
The little old man changed a paintbrush and picked from the palette.
"Pay attention. Let me demonstrate to you once what is the so-called finishing touch in Chinese painting."
