Ms. Detective Cat really shows off her painting knife skills.
Kelly thought that the textbook-like knife-drawing method she had seen before was already the limit of what she could imagine with this technique.
Now,
The head of a hundred-foot pole,
Go one step further.
The detective cat injects a vitality into this painting. All the scenes in the fairy tale of The Little Prince are blended into colorful paints.
Every ingenious touch of the artist's brush and every layer of color overlay sows the seeds of connection with the real world in the illustrations.
It continues to grow as readers stare.
The sense of communication in the picture is patented by the works of the top art masters, and it must be a very rare masterpiece.
Even among the surviving authentic works of Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael, and Michelangelo, there are only less than 23 out of 10 paintings that can create a sufficient sense of interaction with the audience.
Throughout the ages, no painter in Italy could breathe life into miraculous images of Jehovah and the Virgin Mary in religious works.
He will immediately become the most shining cub in the eyes of the entire Papal State.
"This cover design is really clever. It retains the original composition of Saint-Exupé and uses an oil painting knife to inject a new style. 1+1 is greater than 2."
"Mom, mom, this fairy tale book is so beautifully made."
"It's really beautiful. No matter what the external reviews say, I think the production level of this set of illustrations is still good, better than Townsendsman's version. To be honest, I have always felt that the original author's children's simple drawings are a bit silly. .”
"Amazing skills."
"..."
Customers walked into the bookstore constantly and picked up fairy tale books from the shelves at the door.
From the initial silence, to surprise, and now to shock.
The crowds who walked into the bookstore were chatting louder and louder. Everyone who got the physical book of "The Little Prince" couldn't help but express their opinions to their surrounding companions.
The voices of praise are endless.
Some of the comments are quite professional.
The group of readers who are willing to go to Oxford Street to attend the first-day book signing, like the black international student from Royal Holloway University who unintentionally joins in the fun, is only a minority after all.
Most people are fans of Saint-Exupéry or the translator Charlie Hawke.
Many people are very familiar with the plot of "The Little Prince".
Whether an illustration matches well with a famous book or not matches the temperament of the entire work.
Just a quick glance and everyone's heart can tell them the answer.
"Please don't block the door, pay attention, pay attention. Readers who are attending the book signing, please go to the reading hall on the inside. The translator of this book, Mr. Charlie Hawke of Oxford University, is already here to start giving a lecture. ”
Announcements from staff directing customers rang out.
There is a large reading hall in Waterstones Bookstore, with many IKEA-style light-colored bean bag sofas placed on the carpet.
On the podium at the front, Dean Hawke had a pen for signatures and a new edition of "The Little Prince" in his hand, looking down at the lecture notes in the folder.
Different from celebrities bringing goods,
Will the autograph session start with a lot of shouting about signing books and selling books?
This seems to have a strong smell of copper and lack of literati sentiment.
Dean Hawke will first give a small lecture, talk about his own experience when translating this work, and communicate with readers.
It won't be long, about twenty minutes.
Kelly found a sofa in a corner and sat down quietly. She looked around.
The area where customers can read and drink coffee at Waterstones Bookstore on Oxford Street is much larger than an ordinary bookstore.
It is about the same size as a small street classroom.
In just a few minutes, the reading hall, which could accommodate many people, was already filled to the brim with customers pouring into the bookstore. There were even crowds of people standing in the gaps behind.
There are so many people.
Kelly stuck out her tongue.
When the crowd was almost seated, Dean Hawke on the podium took out his speech and began to speak.
"Ahem, thank you for your willingness to participate in this book signing. Readers may be familiar with me, and "The Little Prince" does not need too much introduction. I know that it appeared during the book launch a few days ago. There were some unpleasant episodes. But being able to translate and publish this world famous book with a total sales volume of more than 100 million copies..."
Kelly's attention was not on the venerable translator.
I took a seat and listened casually for a few times.
The blonde girl took a deep breath, and with her heart pounding, she opened the book "The Little Prince" that she had been thinking about for a long time.
[When I was six years old, I saw an extremely wonderful illustration in a book describing the primeval forest. It showed a python devouring wild animals. I will draw it on it now...]
The text comes into view.
Except for expensive collection sets and some collectible hardcover comics, most of the books in Waterstones do not have any plastic protective covers.
This bookstore functions as both a library and a literary-themed cafe.
A large part of the store's profit source, in addition to books, is the money from cakes and coffee bought by customers who stop here to read.
As long as it is not damaged, customers can pick up and read books here regardless of whether they want to buy them or not.
Kelly opened the book's title page.
The first line of the book "The Little Prince" is the story of Saint-Exupéry recalling the illustrations he drew in his childhood.
The blonde girl's eyes were immediately attracted to the illustration "Python Devouring the Beast" created by Detective Cat on the right side of the page.
Kelly stared at the picture, which showed a large boa constrictor coiled like a conch.
Under the advanced printing assembly line of Scholastic Group, even the tiny traces of scales left by the oil painting knife on the green python skin are extremely clear.
"It's not an art style."
Kelly sniffed.
She looked at the illustration on the second page, then turned the book and looked at the cover again.
Both paintings are so beautiful and delicate.
It's just that the accompanying picture of "a python devouring a beast" has a completely different visual look and feel from the cover painting.
Its techniques are equally sophisticated, but not overly ostentatious.
Compared with the cover painting, which is extremely expressive and complicated in technique, the illustrations on the second page reveal a childish and simple feeling.
It not only has the wild vitality of forest creatures, but also cleverly expresses the theme of "the work of a six-year-old child" vividly.
No child in the world can draw such beautiful knife paintings.
The first impression of Detective Cat's knife drawing is that it was drawn by a child.
This sounds very difficult to understand - but this kind of sense of proportion is blurred between what is possible and what is not, what is and what is not.
It is precisely the subtle difference between a master and a mere mortal.
"It's really amazing."
Kelly couldn't remember how many times she had complimented Detective Cat today.
It was hard for her to think of a more accurate adjective to sum up her mood besides disbelief.
The illustrator certainly did not disappoint.
Just the first illustration in the text shows Detective Cat's easy and ever-changing control of his skills.
Especially his grasp of the main theme of the painting is extremely accurate.
Without a deep enough understanding and insight into the artistic conception of "The Little Prince", it would be impossible to draw such an appropriate work.
Kelly was happy to see Hunter and turned the pages faster.
[Boa constrictor eating beast], [Astronomer in hat], [Growing baobab tree], [King on an asteroid]... illustrations flowed before her eyes one after another.
When Saint-Exupéry created this fairy tale book, he also created many sketches of simple illustrations, some of which were selected for publication by publishers, and some of which were not.
These existing drawings are currently distributed in the hands of national art collectors in the world, and are as top collectibles in the illustration industry as Dragon Balls.
The largest collector is the French national government, which has collected 60 of the drawings over the past two decades.
The old version of "The Little Prince" published by the Townsendsmann Group contains 39 of them.
When the Scholastic Group conceived this book project, it hoped to increase the proportion of colorful illustrations in it as a selling point to attract its appeal among children and literary youth.
So after discussions and communication in all aspects.
Includes cover.
There are a total of 56 pictures in the fairy tale book Kelly is holding.
About two-thirds of the illustrations, like the cover and "Python Devouring the Beast", are based on Saint-Exupéry's original composition and were redrawn with a knife.
There are also more than a dozen illustrations, which are original works created by Gu Weijing after he had insights in his mind while Mr. Sloth was reading to him.
Every picture made Kelly extremely satisfied.
"There is no need to read the text. Take these illustrations alone and read them as comics. They are all an extremely wonderful and coherent story. Detective Cat relies on his painting skills and deep understanding of the fairy tale characters written by Saint-Exupery to directly The aesthetic meaning of this fairy tale book is supported by color."
Kelly raised her head and glanced at the master translator who was talking non-stop on the podium, and curled her lips: "What a pity, it would be great if the signature was not the dean of the Faculty of Arts of Oxford University but the detective cat sister."
True.
This sentence somewhat betrays the translator’s years of hard work.
Dean Charlie Hawke's translation is of excellent quality. During the process of localizing the words and sentences into English, he retained the delicate and precise word formation characteristics of the French article.
Get the essence of the three flavors of trust, expressiveness and elegance.
Even the real selling point of Scholastic Group this time is the dean’s profound writing skills.
The illustrations of Detective Cat are only accessories to the original text.
It can be said from the reading experience.
On the contrary, Kelly felt that the textual content that Dean Hawke had polished after years of hard work became less important when set off by the intricate illustrations and pictures that matched Detective Cat and Saint-Exupéry.
The illustrations are more like the real skeleton of the new version of "The Little Prince", and the text is the flesh and blood attached to the skeleton.
The blonde girl would glance at the main text briefly at first. Soon, Kelly felt that the efficiency was too low and began to only appreciate the illustrations.
However, it is like an illustrator telling a story with pictures for Saint-Exupéry.
She clearly had no intention of writing. Looking at the illustration of Detective Cat, the classic sentences accompanying the text flowed into her heart as if naturally.
[People have long forgotten this truth. But you shouldn't forget it. You must always be responsible for what you tame. You are responsible for your roses. 】
[You just sit quietly on the grass, a little far away from me. I'm looking at you from the corner of my eye, but don't say anything. Language is a source of misunderstanding. But, every day, you can sit closer to me...]
[At night, I like to listen to the stars, they are like 500 million little bells. 】
The pictures of Detective Cat are like a moveable feast, and the timeless words are the accompaniment of this feast, and the two work together seamlessly.
It only takes a short time to flip through the 56 illustrations from beginning to end and only get a rough impression.
Kelly turned slower and slower.
"The Little Prince" has a total of twenty-seven short chapters.
When she reached section 23, Kelly pinched the corner of the page, hesitated for a moment, and then started to turn the page back to front.
Many people feel this way when they watch TV dramas or movies. After seeing a very exciting passage, I was obviously looking forward to it, but I couldn't bear to finish it.
That's what Kelly is like now.
She was a little reluctant to read all the illustrations so quickly. I want to go back and review these previous works carefully.
In the reading hall, readers are admiring the illustrations of "The Little Prince" and even reading them over and over again.
Kelly is far from alone.
"...The rose is an important image in Saint-Exupéry's works. Philosophically, this fairy tale character has multiple meanings and metaphors..."
Dean Hawke on the podium was immersed in explaining the philosophy of "The Little Prince".
He suddenly felt that the atmosphere of the entire seminar was a little quiet.
The information conference is not a vegetable market.
It wasn't very noisy, but now it seemed a little too quiet for no reason, and the atmosphere was so quiet that it was a bit weird.
Dean Hawke himself had never been so quiet when he was attending classes at the university.
Apart from his own voice, the only sound that could be heard was the scraping of paper.
He looked away from the lecture notes and glanced at the readers sitting on the beanbag sofa in front of him.
Sand, sand, sand.
Everyone held "The Little Prince" seriously and kept turning the pages.
"It seems that readers still recognize my translation level."
Seeing everyone's serious and dedicated appearance, even the great translator Hawke couldn't help but feel happy.
"It's just that what I'm talking about now doesn't actually have very profound content...does it sound like you're listening so intently?"
Apart from joy,
Charlie Hawke couldn't help but feel a little puzzled.
When Kelly came back to her senses from the second illustration.
Mr. Hawke's presentation has ended.
Readers who are interested in purchasing the new version of "The Little Prince" need to go to the front desk to pay first, and then take the purchase receipt to the staff to ask for Charlie Hawke's signature.
I didn’t enjoy watching it for the second time.
Kelly was still completely immersed in the beautiful illustrations written by Detective Cat. While reading the book, she stood in line in front of the checkout counter where a long line had already gathered.
at this time,
Kelly suddenly realized a problem.
I am too absorbed in reading by myself.
Where has her best friend Maka gone? ——
Some are happy, some are confused.
How happy Kelly was when she read "The Little Prince".
Maka is showing how confused she is right now.
The round-faced girl stood in the back of Waterstones Bookstore, hiding among the unnoticed bookshelves of fitness guides.
She held a copy of "The Little Prince" in her arms and gnawed on it with her fingernails in her mouth.
"Should I... buy it or not?"
Maka bit her finger hard, as if there were two villains fighting to the death in her mind.
So pretty!
Not buying!
The painting is really beautiful!
I won’t buy it!
This kind of beautiful fairy tale book looks really comfortable to give to your younger brothers and sisters at home during the Easter holidays! Much better than giving away some Lego bricks.
Damn, what nonsense are you talking about? If I say I won’t buy it, I just won’t buy it. My boyfriend also asked me to go fishing in the Scottish Highlands next weekend.
But……
Maka felt that at noon, she was dragged out by her best friend to attend some nagging autograph session instead of watching the handsome topless guy in school.
What a very wrong decision.
But Fan had been tougher before and refused Kelly's invitation.
Now there is no need to be so entangled.
Maka accidentally bit her nail while hesitating, and gasped slightly in pain.
"It's annoying!"
She stamped her foot heavily.
Out of sight out of mind.
The girl wanted to make up her mind and insert the book "The Little Prince" into the corner of the shelf in front of her, and then rush out of Waterstones Bookstore without looking back.
He raised his hands, then stopped hesitantly.
It is difficult for ordinary people to understand Maka's mood at this time.
It's just a fairy tale book.
There is no illustration or fairy tale book in the world that has the same effect as heroin. Once you take a look at it, you won’t be able to take it out. If you can’t buy it, you will die.
Ordinary people face such a bet and don't fight over the steamed buns.
He patted his butt and left.
Maka is no ordinary person.
Although she is not an illustration fan like Kelly, she is still a student at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts, an art student at one of the top universities in one of the four major art academies in the world, and a tireless dream chaser on the road of art.
Who among those who can get into the four major art academies with real skills has not pursued artistic pursuits?
Worshiping authority is only an external manifestation of her process of pursuing her own artistic path.
Maka may sometimes lack flash ideas and creativity in the eyes of her teachers, but her grades are not bad at all, even slightly better than Kelly's.
On a university campus full of top students, GPA can also rank in the top 15%.
People who truly love art are more or less obsessive-compulsive and will make decisions that are unbelievable to outsiders for the sake of good art.
Paul Getty, the former richest man in the world, is a typical Grandet iron rooster. His grandson was kidnapped, and the robbers gave him an ear. He was ruthless and unwilling to pay a penny, and spent 2.2 billion U.S. dollars on art collections. Without blinking an eyebrow.
Anna is willing to offend Van Dorn for the detective cat she has never met, and is worried about using precious favors, just asking Osborne to give her a chance to test the manuscript.
Maka was not so strange, but she had her own little insistence.
The bet is no big deal.
But it’s no fun to lie to yourself.
(End of chapter)
