The Versatile Master Artist-Chapter 65 - 57: One Person Too Many

This illustration only received a total of thirteen points from the four judges.

The judge sitting in the wheelchair gave three points, and among the other three, besides Thomas who gave four points, the other two judges also gave three points each.

"This total score is even worse than the previous vagabond, it’s too embarrassing. I reckon no matter who this painter is, they might have a hard time doing business in the future."

Mrs. Sakai lamented.

No matter what the reason, a carefully crafted work being trampled underfoot by a vagabond’s casual scribble is ultimately not something to be proud of.

"It’s a pity. Applying the standards of art pieces to evaluate internet illustrators’ works is unfair. From an illustration perspective, it has all the necessary content."

Yakai Ichiro sighed.

"What more can you ask from them?"

Compared to other countries, Japan has more small-time illustrators or comic artists.

Professor Yajima knows that with their level, being able to draw what the employer requires is already quite good.

One cannot expect their work to be highly realistic, especially in such small sizes.

In painting, internet anime illustrations and portrait paintings command completely different prices.

"Only practical value, no artistic value."

Koizumi Katsuko said softly: "That young lady in the wheelchair is appreciating this piece with the eye of someone evaluating serious art, three points is already quite generous."

For an illustration, it’s officially over once you hand it to the employer.

For an art piece, beyond practical use, there’s also collection and resale value.

Not only should you be able to buy this painting, but it should also be resellable, with the next collector willing to buy it.

In the art market, there are as many illustrations of this level as one could wish for.

Strictly speaking, the vagabond’s casual scribble, if you can properly fabricate a couple of stories about it, there’s always a chance of bumping into one or two curious buyers.

Being stylistically bad is also a type of characteristic.

However, if it’s a plain illustration without any highlights, it’s like a weed by the roadside, unnoticed by anyone.

This competition is quite unfriendly to internet illustrators.

To them, painting is more like a job than an artistic pursuit.

They aim for order volume, for revenue, but not artistic standards.

Wuling Hongguang racing a Ferrari is ultimately just a joke; their work starting points are entirely different.

Using an art critique’s sharp eye to dissect the flaws in these works is indeed somewhat cruel.

"Hurry up, there’s really nothing worth seeing in these online artists’ works, can they really compare with masters?"

Koshiba Tarou impatiently shook his head, he even wanted to fast-forward.

Yakai Gangchang said, "Three internet illustrators, one vagabond, once the lady judge eliminates another piece shortly, it’ll hit the interesting part."

Competing with masters, such an opportunity is rare for Lei, but for other internet illustrators, it’s a fate of being crushed.

Art is similar to sports.

Even with doping, to run faster than a world champion requires an athlete; if you send Uncle Sakai to race, even if he drinks doping like mineral water, all he would receive is ridicule.

"These internet illustrators who scrape by to make a living indeed aren’t qualified to compete alongside real artists; in a serious art exhibition, they wouldn’t even qualify to participate..."

Mrs. Sakai’s words halted suddenly.

Because she noticed, without any warning, the young lady in the wheelchair suddenly stopped judging.

The girl turned her head, staring at a piece in front of her for a long time.

Then, she gently rang the bell.

At the door, an attendant in a black vest entered upon hearing.

She whispered something in the attendant’s ear, who nodded and then turned to leave.

And this judging lady, crossed her hands under her chin, gazing at the four paintings in front, sinking into a prolonged silence.

The discussion area to the right of the iPad, synced in real time with the video progress, also noticed the abnormal scene.

A flood of questions and "wtf (what happened)?" started scrolling intensely.

"What’s going on? Is she feeling unwell, or is there an issue with the video recording?"

Yakai Gangchang realized something was amiss as soon as he spoke.

This wasn’t a live broadcast, but a pre-recorded video.

If there was an issue during recording, it would’ve been cut in post-editing.

Mr. Hibernian keeping this segment suggests it’s crucial to the video, and the audience will find it intriguing.

"Hi? Hi? What’s the situation? Are you alright?"

Thomas gestured to the cameraman at the side.

The camera wobbled, moving towards a blank wall, but the video itself didn’t stop and continued playing.

"No... I just think we need to pause the recording. To [bleep—], there’s something I must apologize to you for."

Anna’s voice continued through the footage.

This truly was an unexpected situation.

After her prolonged silence, the lady even forgot they were recording a program and called out the real name of this famous internet celebrity.

This super influencer kept a highly private personal life outside of work, never revealing their real name publicly.

To protect personal information, the post-production team had to bleep out the word "Thomas" in the audio.

This is the second time the video carried a prompt subtitle.

[There was a small interlude during recording. Quite interesting, and after consideration, I’ve decided to preserve this segment in its entirety for everyone to see — Mr. Hibernian]

A few seconds later, the video returned to normal.

"Alright, we’re resuming recording, just now Miss Elina spoke to me about something very interesting."

Thomas turned the camera to Anna.

"I once said, spending one million dollars on a commissioned illustration is unwise, I don’t think I could see any work that surprises me."

Anna pursed her lips, showing a hint of internal hesitation.

She’s always been neat and decisive, never wavering in judging an artwork’s quality.

But today...

Especially that painting.

"I still stand by my former opinion, but I must apologize for the latter conclusion. I shouldn’t have made a judgment before seeing the specific artwork. The remaining four illustrations are all very impressive, even qualifying as remarkably excellent."

"Any of the ones I eliminate afterward, it’s not because they’re not good enough, but because the others are even better."

"And..."

Anna prolonged her words, gently biting her lower lip.

"Among them, there’s even one that has left me truly surprised... a masterpiece, I need some time to carefully appreciate it before making a final judgment."

"About several minutes."

The attendant outside quickly delivered a set of hand tools.

Anna cleaned her hands and removed the Jaeger-LeCoultre moon phase watch from her wrist.

The attendant helped her roll up the sleeves of her dress, exposing her smooth forearms.

After ensuring her sleeves didn’t inadvertently stain the paper, she put on a pair of white silk gloves.

Anna rotated the securing pin on the back of the frame, dislodging one of the artwork pieces from its frame and extracting the painting inside.

She took out a magnifying glass to carefully scrutinize the painting’s details.

"Strange."

Koshiba Tarou slightly straightened his posture.

This appraisal technique is generally used for verifying the authenticity of large-scale oil paintings, commonly seen at auction houses.

Through the sequence of paint drying, brush stroke finesse revealing artistic style, and the texture of figures, authentic works of noted artists are distinguished from imitations.

This painting is so detailed that the lady needs to look at it with such attentiveness.

Masterpiece?

"Is it Jean Arnou’s, or Van Doorn’s, for her to be so meticulous, even calling it a masterpiece?"

Uncle Sakai stroked his chin.

Old-fashioned art critics are careful with their words.

Calling this work a masterpiece means the lady genuinely loves it deeply.

"At least seventy percent chance of being Jean Arnou’s."

Koizumi Katsuko thought, "The remaining twenty percent could be Miss Louis’s exceptionally well-done piece. Given ’Oil Painting’ magazine’s style, they probably don’t favor Dadaism, but still—"

The coffee table fell silent.

Everyone realized a question.

Jean Arnou, Van Doorn, Louis, each had a piece assigned, so whose painting is the last one?