Reborn Treasure Appraiser: I Really Didn’t Want to Be an Expert

Chapter 16 Are you willing to study for a master's degree?

Even though he was reborn and had a mental age of over 30, Lin Sicheng still enjoyed such things.

What’s more, they live in the same dormitory?

Don’t you see, there are four girls living in the same dormitory, and a group of fifteen people is formed.

He looked gossipy: "Tell me in detail!"

Xiao Yuzhu glared at him.

"During her sophomore year, she had a boyfriend who was studying fine arts. He came from a well-off family and was quite handsome. But one day, we ran into him shopping with another girl, and they broke up.

After that, He Wan rarely played with us anymore. No matter who in the dormitory had a boyfriend, she would make a sarcastic remark.

"why?"

"How would I know?"

Lin Sicheng thought about it for a long time but still couldn't understand.

"Where did the term Phoenix Girl come from?"

"My family is from Foping."

A national-level poverty-stricken county and a hometown of medicinal materials?
But as for the Phoenix Girl... she doesn't look like one.

He dresses well, is elegant and graceful, and is also a good student.

Her personality is not like her either: if she disagrees with something, she will splash Coke in people's faces in public. Do you expect her to be a Phoenix Girl?
"Tsk, that's pretty cool... You're done for now, at least until you graduate from college."

"Tsk, are you still afraid of this? There are no three-legged toads, but there are many three-legged men, right?"

"That's true!"

Lin Sicheng nodded subconsciously, but then felt something was wrong.

No...Miss, your last name is Huang, right?

"Yes, I have three too!"

Xiao Yuzhu poked him with a bottle, and Lin Sicheng took out his phone: "When does Senior Li get off work?"

"Usually six o'clock, almost!"

"Send me a message!"

"it is good!"

After a while, Li Zhen sent a message: "Professor Shang is busy, it will take a while!"

……

The dusky color stained the glass windows of the teaching and research office. Shang Yan's fingertips holding the mouse suddenly paused, and her eyebrows raised.

The mouse rolled again, pupils dilated slightly, and teeth bit his lips.

"Li Zhen, come and see!"

Li Zhen leaned over and looked at the computer screen: the report card of the 2003 class of the Department of Cultural Heritage for the 2006-2007 academic year.

As the cursor slides, the three tables are merged together:
Name: Lin Sicheng.

Arts and Crafts: Failed. Make-up exam: 60.

Basic Chinese Painting: Failed. Make-up exam: 60.

Cultural Relics Drawing: Failed. Make-up Exam: 60.

Li Zhen finally understood why the tutor had that expression: he knew very well that Lin Sicheng had failed every subject, including how the supplementary exam results came about.

But thinking back to the pictures he drew today, it was absolutely impossible that he could have drawn them at a level that was barely enough to pass the supplementary exam after failing the initial exam.

Not to mention 60 points, even 90 points is impossible.

Li Zhen thought for a moment and said, "The last time I heard him say that Professor Lin gave him extra lessons during the summer vacation."

Shang Yan scoffed: "You believe that?"

Art is like anything else. Besides intuition, it also requires accumulation. To put it bluntly, it comes down to practice. There's no such thing as a sudden enlightenment or sudden improvement.

If you think about the skill demonstrated by those three sketches, it would be impossible to complete them in not just one summer vacation, but even ten summer vacations.

Furthermore, those three sketches are not in the same style as Professor Lin's. They do not belong to the composition of cultural relics at all, and have even jumped out of the scope of ceramic art.

Shang Yan thought about it and clicked the mouse a few more times. An oil painting appeared on the screen: an elegant woman leaning against the dining table, on which were placed a blue and white porcelain teapot and teacups.

This is "The Lady," created by the renowned European painter and sculptor James in the mid-19th century. The artist is renowned, and the work is even more famous, a representative work of the "European Neoclassicism" school of painting.

It is also one of the compulsory works in the "Ceramic Arts and Crafts" course in various domestic colleges and universities.

"Put aside the tone and color, just look at the composition and compare them carefully!"

Li Zhen observed it carefully for several minutes. "Teacher, I feel that the sketching techniques, line and surface structure, spatial structure, and treatment of light and dark relationships used in Lin Sicheng's sketch are similar to this painting...hmm, a bit similar?"

"Yes!" Shang Yan clicked the mouse again, and the second picture appeared on the screen.

It's also a porcelain pot, but not a blue and white one. Instead, it's a gourd pot, a type popular after the late Ming Dynasty. It's not an oil painting, however, but a landscape on silk.

The characteristics are obvious: detailed brushwork, rich colors, delicate brushwork, and simple and smooth lines.

Strangely, some parts of the painting seem to have applied the focal perspective method of Western oil painting, with the anatomical structure and light and shadow effects being very obvious. However, they are perfectly integrated with the overall composition and artistic conception of the painting.

What's even stranger is that the line and surface structure, and the contrast between light and dark are more similar to those of Lin Sicheng's paintings, and even more similar to Yam's "The Lady".

"This painting, titled 'Bogutu,' was created by the Italian missionary Lang Shining, the chief court painter during the Kangxi and Qianlong periods of the Qing Dynasty. It is now treasured in the collection of the Palace Museum.

Before Lang Shining came to China to preach, it was the nascent period of European neoclassicism, so his oil painting style is in the same vein as that of Yam..."

Shang Yan continued clicking the mouse: "Look at this one again!"

It's also a landscape on paper, painted by Jiao Bingzhen, a court painter from the Kangxi and Qianlong eras. The center piece is "Bo Gu Tu," also depicting a porcelain pot, also meticulously painted with rich colors.

But compared with the previous one, the painting as a whole is more three-dimensional, and the application of perspective and light and dark space is more realistic.

But from the overall perspective, the unique "freehand" style of Chinese painting is no less than the previous one?
The key point is that the basic composition of the work has many levels, as if it were rendered in more than ten layers.

Subconsciously, Li Zhen thought of Lin Sicheng's three pictures: I wouldn't say they were exactly the same, but they were at least 80% similar.

It’s not about shape and appearance, but the intention and structure, as well as the design before composition.

"Is it more like that?"

Li Zhen nodded vigorously.

Jiao Bingzhen, a student of Lang Shining and a fellow court painter, possessed a deeper understanding and appreciation of traditional Chinese painting. He was also a director of the Imperial Astronomical Observatory and was familiar with mathematics and science.

Therefore, from the perspective of the integration of Chinese and Western art, he is at a higher level than Lang Shining."

Li Zhen suddenly realized: "What Lin Sicheng's paintings embody is Jiao Bingzhen's artistic characteristics and style?"

"Not only that, he must have systematically studied Western oil painting techniques, including Lang Shining's painting style. Otherwise, he wouldn't give people a feeling of 'very similar'... Then you look again!"

Shang Yan first processed the picture into perspective, then moved in a photo of a copybook of Banqiao style calligraphy that she had found from somewhere, and then stacked it up.

Li Zhen's pupils shrank and she leaned back: Aren't these the three pictures drawn by Lin Sicheng?

This time it not only refers to the concept and structure, but also includes the overall layout and artistic style.

"Do you understand?"

Li Zhen moved her lips and nodded woodenly.

Traditional Chinese painting and arts and crafts, including Western oil painting, are required courses for the ceramic restoration major. Li Zhen may not be able to paint so well, but that doesn't stop her from understanding:

Lin Sicheng's understanding and application of traditional Chinese painting and arts and crafts were far superior to hers. He was even able to integrate and innovate, blending Chinese calligraphy with them.

So, those three sketches were designed by him himself, and the so-called teaching by Professor Lin was just an excuse.

Thinking about the report card I saw before, I find it extremely absurd: someone who failed the course last semester cannot draw three pictures like that.

No, I can't even imagine it.

In astonishment, Li Zhen suddenly realized: "He wants to use Han Dynasty tiles to assemble the pot instead of re-molding it?"

"Yes, otherwise we wouldn't have to go through the trouble of redesigning and recomposing the tiles. However, there is a technical difficulty: the tiles adhere to the clay, and re-firing them in the kiln will cause shrinkage and expansion. If this is not resolved, the tiles will either be scrapped or deformed."

"Difficult to solve?"

"Of course, if we can solve the problem, we can immediately apply for a national patent. I can't say it's national-level, but it's more than enough to win a ministerial-level science and technology innovation award.

So I guess he didn't re-fire it, but instead used chemical adhesives to splice it together. But the fact that he was able to design it is already remarkable: with just those three sketches, he would have no problem applying for a design patent for the 'Lin's Han Dynasty Clay Pot.'

Apply for a patent?

Ministerial and provincial awards?
Subconsciously, Li Zhen thought of the report card she had seen before: Fail, Fail, or Fail?

The sense of separation was too strong, and she really couldn't connect the two Lin Sichengs together.

"Don't be surprised. Those who are familiar with Professor Lin know that he has a beloved grandson who refuses to go to Xi'an University and has been arguing with him since his freshman year...

So I suspect Lin Sicheng deliberately failed the exam. Just like the three subjects I just showed you: without systematic and sustained study and practice, he wouldn't have been able to copy those sketches, let alone design them.

Besides, if he is really hopelessly stupid, how could he get 685 in the college entrance examination? "

"So high?" Li Zhen was surprised. "Is it high enough to get into Peking University?"

"The cutoff score was relatively high that year. He missed Peking University by four points, but barely made it to Tsinghua University. So, we can't blame him entirely... But don't worry too much about it. Just know that he has a strong learning ability. So..."

Shang Yan paused, trying to formulate her words. "Find a chance to ask him if he's willing to study as my graduate student."

"what?"

(End of this chapter)