Chapter 82

Principal Wu, who was rather plump, was sweating even more due to the poor ventilation. However, he clearly seemed experienced: "Everyone here is a new student with varying levels of expertise. A skyscraper starts from the ground up, and learning must also proceed step by step. Should I now arrange for a professor or a graduate mentor to lecture you on the practical application of Bauhaus principles in interior design? Would you understand? Could you grasp the concept of 'less is more' in spatialism? Be humble and grounded. Look at that student—diligence is the path to success. Embracing books with hunger and thirst is the way to truly enter the student mindset..."

He was referring to Bak, who made a shocked expression and smiled, holding up the thick photocopy to indicate its size. The students burst into laughter, but the atmosphere improved significantly. There was no longer any dissatisfaction or feeling of being cheated. The principal hadn't been wrong, especially with his professional术语-laden rebuttal, which immediately silenced everyone.

After the plump principal wiped his sweat and left, the young teacher, He, began his lesson hesitantly, his voice trembling, and his sweat even more profuse than the principal's: "Design... um, is the bridge between spiritual and material civilization. Humans hope to improve their living environment through design..."

A young student voiced his dissatisfaction: "Can you stop reading from the book? These words are all in the Design Essentials. We can read, you know. Do you want me to read it for you and take your lecture fee?"

The teacher, likely a student from the art academy, was taken aback, standing helplessly with no idea what to do. He held the photocopy in his right hand and unconsciously touched the lectern with his left. If there had been a crack in the floor, he would have definitely chosen to hide in it.

Bak, who had paid the most for the training, didn't say a word. He smiled and watched how the young man would handle the situation.

After swallowing a few times, He chose to be honest. In the silent classroom, he said, "I study oil painting. I'm substituting today. We'll skip the introduction to interior design and start directly with the techniques of perspective drawing, which is a fundamental skill for any art major."

He picked up the chalk that the principal had left on the lectern and began writing and drawing on the blackboard without regard for the noisy students. Some even stood up to demand a refund from the training institute but stopped at the door and eventually returned to their seats.

This young man, his face flushed, seemed to gain confidence as soon as he picked up the chalk and faced the blackboard. He started from a corner and, with a few strokes, sketched the diagonal view of a gabled house. Then came the road, trees, railings, buildings, cottages, and clock towers. Familiar street scenes appeared on the blackboard as if printed, and everyone in the classroom felt as if they were standing in the middle of a straight road, with the scenes on the blackboard coming to life.

This was Bak's first lesson. Interior design, after all, is a visual art. No matter how much you talk, it's the visual elements that captivate the audience. Perspective is the most basic fundamental skill in any painting technique. For Bak, a complete novice, this substitute teacher, who studied oil painting, demonstrated what painting skills were in the simplest and most direct way, and also illustrated what professional skills meant.

Without sketching or drafting, he started from a corner, and a vivid street scene appeared on the blackboard, encompassing everything from the fluttering advertisements in front of shops to a child drooling with a finger in his mouth at a bun shop, classical buildings with overhanging eaves, and distant skyscrapers. The silent art of painting brought the entire classroom to a hush.

He drew for about half an hour, and almost everyone was eagerly waiting to see what he would draw next. He drew without a draft, making changes on the fly, in a room with only one wall and a window, creating a self-directed scene. He drew a few strokes to depict a greedy child nearby and a family crossing the street in the distance, even a work platform hanging from a building to clean the glass facade.

The countless details showcased He's painting skills. No one felt bored or restless; they were all drawn into the world on the blackboard. When He couldn't hold the sixth piece of chalk due to its small size, he stood up, dusted the chalk off his hands, and said, "This is perspective! Perspective is everywhere!"

His face, no longer awkward, was radiant, and his cheeks were flushed with excitement: "Everyone understands the simple principle that objects closer to you appear larger and those farther away appear smaller. This is perspective. But only professionals can apply this principle to every detail..."

He picked up the enamel cup filled with chalk pieces, showing the round opening first, then holding it level to indicate the opening, and then drew a circle and an ellipse on the blackboard: "This is perspective, perspective from different angles. But what else should professionals notice?"

Everyone looked at the two ordinary circles, unable to see anything noteworthy, especially the ordinary enamel cup. He, now more confident, held the cup near the ellipse: "Don't you think the ellipse's opening, when facing you, has a front and back difference? Since there is a distance difference, the perspective should also differ?" He rubbed the opening to show the slight front-to-back space difference.

This principle was simple, and everyone nodded in understanding.

He then erased the originally symmetrical arcs and deliberately increased the curvature of the lower arc: "The closer it is to you, the greater the curvature. This is a simple principle, but you only realize it when I point it out. So, it's about recognizing that perspective is everywhere..." He turned slightly to the side on the podium: "Including my eyes, they should appear as different sizes."

Someone questioned: "Teacher, isn't the arc a bit exaggerated? It doesn't look that obvious." It was a subtle difference.

He put the cup back: "This is artistic exaggeration... Once you understand that perspective is everywhere, let's look at each detail in this street scene and discuss what a vanishing point is..."

There was no need to take notes or memorize theories. Just listening to this conceptual teaching made Bak feel it was worth it. Even if he had walked into a training institute that was a wolf in sheep's clothing, as long as he was still under the guidance of a professional, it was a shortcut for him, a complete novice driven by interest, far more efficient than blindly seeking knowledge on his own.