Chapter 10

The willow branches hung low, swaying in the wind. The warm sunlight of early spring bathed Mengchun, and a gentle breeze blew, causing the bamboo curtains to flutter. It was noon, and the intersection of Panlou Street and Machang Street was at its busiest. From the window of the small building where Wuhao Gu was, he could see the dense rows of food stalls on both sides of the street, one after another, emitting enticing aromas. Various cries of vendors mixed together.

The door of the Wu family painting studio was tightly closed, with only the second-floor window facing the street pushed open, and the bamboo curtains mostly pulled up.

If one looked inside from the window, they would see Wuhao Gu sitting upright behind a large wooden board placed on a wooden stand, facing the window, holding a brush in his hand, and occasionally lightly sketching on the other side of the board.

On the other side of the wooden board was a three-foot-wide piece of silk, with a similarly sized raw xuan paper (uncoated with alum water) underneath as a backing. The backing paper was glued to the wooden board with paste, and the edges of the silk were also coated with paste and adhered to the backing paper.

The silk depicted the architecture of the Sang family entertainment venue, not far from the Wu family painting studio, using the perspective technique from the future. The perspective technique involves applying principles of geometry and optics in painting, including vertical perspective, oblique perspective, overlapping, near-large far-small, near-short far-long, atmospheric perspective, and color perspective, among others.

In fact, similar methods exist in traditional Chinese painting techniques, such as the high-distance method, the flat-distance method, and the deep-distance method—these three methods were proposed by the Northern Song painter Guo Xi (who died in 1090) in his famous landscape painting treatise, "Lin Quan Gao Zhi." However, the three methods are mainly used in landscape painting and are not realistic painting techniques.

In addition to the use of perspective techniques, the detailed architectural painting that Wuhao Gu was creating also employed the style of hyperrealism. Hyperrealism, also known as photorealism, involves artists not directly sketching from life but first taking photographs of the desired images and then meticulously copying them onto the canvas, aiming for a highly detailed and precise representation. If described in one word, it is: "realistic!"

Now, Wuhao Gu, of course, did not have a camera, nor the tools and pigments for oil painting. However, he could combine the detailed brushwork techniques he had mastered in this life with some realistic brushwork techniques from the future (Wuhao Gu had studied detailed brushwork in his previous life, though not deeply), such as the spray method and the powder method, as well as hyperrealistic painting techniques, to achieve the utmost level of detail and refinement.

This hyperrealistic detailed brushwork painting, titled "Sang Family Entertainment Venue," began two days ago, the day after Wuhao Gu was extorted for 7,200 strings of coins by Zhao Tieniu. Because the painting was so meticulous, it was not yet complete.

To focus entirely on his painting, Wuhao Gu had not opened his studio for the past two days, spending all his time, except for eating, drinking, and using the toilet, in seclusion.

The reason for his dedication was twofold: first, it was a habit he had developed in both his past and present lives—although he was not a great painter in either life (at least not yet), he always put his heart and soul into his creations, never painting carelessly.

Second, it was to dazzle the eyes of "High Marshal Gao" and "Prince Wang's Son-in-Law"! Now, Wuhao Gu could only rely on his painting skills, not only to make money through forgery but also to astonish Bianliang with his talent.

Only by astonishing Bianliang and reaching the level of the "Four Masters of the Song Dynasty" could Wuhao Gu avoid the trouble caused by the "non-existent" famous paintings by the "great villains" lurking in the shadows.

Of course, becoming a great painter like the "Four Masters of the Song Dynasty" was also his lifelong dream.

A light sound of footsteps came from the stairs, followed by a somewhat sharp voice: "Big Brother, did you send the painting tools and ink to me? Guo San and Liu Xiaoyi said you were moving to Daxiangguo Temple..."

The voice stopped halfway, and the footsteps ceased. Wuhao Gu gently put down his brush and saw Guo Jing, Liu Wujie, and a young monk with a hint of spirituality in his eyes and a somewhat short stature standing behind him, all with their mouths wide open, staring dumbfounded at Wuhao Gu's easel.

"Third Brother, Xiaoyi, Monk, what brings you here?"

Wuhao Gu quickly stood up, moved three folding chairs from the room, and invited them to sit down.

"Big Brother, your architectural painting is simply amazing! How did you do it?"

"Yes, Big Brother, after your ordeal in the Kaifeng prison, your painting skills have improved dramatically!"

"Amitabha, Big Brother, are you possessed by a painting deity?"

Guo Jing, Liu Wujie, and Fu Monk sat on the folding chairs, their eyes fixed on Wuhao Gu's painting. They knew that Wuhao Gu's "Huang Family Prosperity" was well-known on Panlou Street, and his skills in the Wu family's traditional white-line drawing (inherited from Wu Zongyuan, a master of Northern Song white-line drawing) were already at least half the level of Wu Zongyuan, but his future prospects were not considered promising.

This was because Wuhao Gu's paintings were still at the "imitation" and "imitation" stages. His imitations of "Huang Family Prosperity" and Wu Zongyuan's white-line drawings could pass for the real thing, but his "imitations" (which involved creating without a model) still had a deliberate feel and lacked the necessary artistic depth.

Therefore, Wu Chengzhi did not have high hopes for Wuhao Gu's future in painting, believing he would only become a minor official in the painting and calligraphy trade, just like himself. As the small private agents for the Wu family painting studio, Guo Jing and Liu Wujie naturally knew about Wu Chengzhi's evaluation.

However, the "architectural painting" now before them was clearly the work of a master, no, a grandmaster!

Although the painting lacked a certain artistic depth, it pushed detailed realism to the extreme, as if the real scenery had been miniaturized and transferred to the silk.

Guo Jing and Liu Wujie, who had been private agents on Panlou Street for many years, and Fu Monk, who had seen many good "architectural paintings" at Daxiangguo Temple (including imitations and copies by famous artists), had never seen anything like it.

Moreover, Guo Jing and Liu Wujie, who knew a lot about painting techniques (as private agents in the painting and calligraphy trade, they could not paint but had a good eye), noticed that Wuhao Gu had used some techniques they did not know.

For example, the "near-large far-small" effect of the buildings and the "real-virtual, deep-shallow, complex-simple" changes in the distant background were all handled perfectly—any more or less would not have achieved this effect.

This alone would make Wuhao Gu one of the top painters of his time!

Furthermore, Wuhao Gu's handling of the details and colors in the painting was extremely skillful, making the painting look exactly like the real thing.

This level of hyperrealistic painting, according to Guo Jing and others, was not created by any of the past masters... It was likely a technique pioneered by Wuhao Gu!

A painter who could create such a sophisticated technique was undoubtedly a grandmaster!

"Big Brother, if you take this painting to the Daxiangguo Temple market, it could fetch over a hundred strings of coins!"

The young monk who had come with Guo Jing and Liu Wujie immediately estimated the value of the unfinished painting. He was Fu Monk, who had taken vows at Daxiangguo Temple. Although he had become a monk, he had not renounced the secular world and still worked as a private agent for painting and calligraphy, just in a different location.

When Guo Jing and Liu Wujie visited Daxiangguo Temple the day before to find him, they told him about Wuhao Gu's plan to make a big move, so he came to the studio with them today.

Fu Monk paused and said, "With your skills, why bother imitating others' paintings?"

"Indeed," Guo Jing agreed, "even the painting saint might not be able to create such a painting."

Liu Wujie added, "At least in the present, Big Brother's architectural painting is unparalleled."

Wuhao Gu smiled slightly, "Third Brother, Xiaoyi, Monk, you're all flattering me. Unfortunately, they (the people who set up the scheme against the Wu family) want treasures by the painting saint and the calligraphy saint, not my paintings."

"Then who is this painting for?" Fu Monk asked.

"It's for Gao Qiu at Prince Wang's residence," Wuhao Gu said with a smile, "I wonder if it will meet Prince Wang's standards."

"Of course it will," Guo Jing said confidently, "Once Prince Wang sees your painting, he might even protect your family."

"Just seeing it might not be enough," Wuhao Gu shook his head gently, "He will only realize its value when he can't imitate it."

"What? Prince Wang can't imitate it?" Fu Monk was surprised, "He is a master of detailed brushwork."

Wang Shen's status in the painting world was much higher than in the political arena, and his reputation for imitating famous works was well-known in the Kaifeng painting and calligraphy trade.

Wuhao Gu shook his head, "He can't imitate it... he can only copy it!"

Imitating involves copying the original work directly, while copying involves tracing the original work with a thin paper (or silk) placed over it.

Therefore, imitating is more difficult than copying!

Without the perspective techniques from the future, it would be almost impossible for Wang Shen to quickly imitate Wuhao Gu's painting.

So, once Wang Shen received the painting, he would be so engrossed in it that he would lose his appetite and sleep... and this was exactly what Wuhao Gu wanted to achieve.

Because Wuhao Gu knew that Prince Wang Shen had a lifelong friend in the world of painting and calligraphy, named Zhao Ji!