The Versatile Master Artist-Chapter 66 - 58: Tools That Arouse Desire

Miss Anna’s fingertips carefully brushed over the surface of the illustration.

Her blue eyes gazed longingly at the paper in her hand.

Except for the occasional blink and the gentle motion of her fingertips, it made the audience wonder if she had become a perfect ice sculpture.

No one spoke in the studio, and the photographer gave Anna a silent long shot, occasionally switching to a close-up of her profile.

Such camera work is rarely used in short videos.

Nowadays, self-media videos catering to fans and audiences watching in fragmented time emphasize that every moment is precious.

Each second needs a new highlight, the more exaggerated the better.

After all, people are too busy in today’s society, and even watching a popcorn movie, many want to see online explanations like "pay attention, this man..." series.

The process of appreciating oil painting itself isn’t actually interesting.

Viewers come in to seek excitement, and if you present an art film-style long shot, everyone will surely complain and shut off the video.

However, in his new video that cost one million dollars, Mr. Hibernian, the world’s top internet celebrity, insisted on doing just that.

Thomas seemed quite confident about what the audience liked to watch.

There was no BGM, no inserted dialogue, and it wasn’t like those typical segments on YouTube where you would insert a [2000 years later.] subtitle and then cut away.

Time quietly ticked by, second by second.

The rate of real-time comment updates in the discussion chat room on the right slowed down at this moment.

It wasn’t because the audience was dwindling, but because the iceberg girl in the wheelchair seemed to exude a kind of solemn power as she admired the artwork, silencing the audience all at once.

They feared their rash words might shatter this goddess statue forged from ice.

Her beauty carried an oppressive aura, making people instinctively hold their breath.

The breathtakingly beautiful girl—this imagery truly held a power that transcended gender and cultures.

If someone hated this scene, it was only because she wasn’t beautiful enough.

Not only did Koshiba Tarou and Yakai Gangchang, who were watching the video, seem entranced and unable to control their emotions.

Even beauties like the mother and daughter of Sakai gazed at the video with appreciative eyes.

"If I could invite her to be my model, I’m sure I could create a great piece of work," Koizumi Katsuko said slowly.

"This young girl has a fairy-tale kind of beauty."

Mrs. Sakai thought for a moment and finally found the right metaphor.

An old mansion covered in green vines, an ancient and serene old-school studio, and a beautiful girl with a veiled crown.

Everything before them had a dream-like, unreal fairy tale quality, as if ripped from a page of "Grimm’s Fairy Tales" and fallen to earth.

The cameraman’s lens zoomed in on Anna’s profile.

As she spent more time admiring the artwork, the ice sculpture began to melt, and her expression became more vivid than ever.

The girl would sometimes press her lips together, eyelashes fluttering, as if she saw a scene that delighted her.

At times, she would inexplicably frown, her face reverting to frostiness, not the kind that pushes people away, but seemingly frustrated at its unfortunate incompetence.

She lightly bit her teeth, seeming to want to say something, but ultimately only let out an exclamation from between her lips and teeth.

"What a hopeless fool!"

Anna finally put down the magnifying glass and carefully placed the drawing into a frame.

Thus, many of the audience members, who were clueless, couldn’t accept it at once.

"Wow, this girl just looked so charmingly cold."

"Can someone explain to me what happened to this young lady?"

"Is this good or bad ahh!!?"

"At this point, do you really still care if the painting is good? It’s just a painting, why does she look like she’s heartbroken?"

"I can’t accept this, I hate this painter."

...

Thomas watched as Anna carefully put away the frame, collected the magnifying glass and other tools, and removed the silk gloves on her hands.

"Miss Elina, can we continue filming, or do you need more time to look at the other paintings?"

Thomas indicated that he was not in a hurry.

"No need."

Anna had no further interest in the other works. After putting the paper back into the frame, she quickly returned to a cold, icy demeanor.

The frost refroze.

It was as if the rich expressions on her face just now were all an illusion.

"I chose the fourth from the last... Which avant-garde artist did you invite? Elton Burn, Jerry Dunstan, or Derong Fan Doorn?"

Anna casually tossed out a few names.

Thomas looked somewhat surprised and turned to his staff beside him.

"Uh... How did you know? Sorry. Miss Elina, according to our agreed terms..."

"According to the agreement, I shouldn’t have known the specific artist before the final result was revealed."

Anna interrupted Thomas.

"Don’t worry, no one privately told me the artist’s identity. It’s just that there are only a few artists with exquisite skills in today’s illustration scene who favor such ephemeral styles. Guessing their identity is as easy as identifying a color code for me."

"It’s the artist Mr. Derong Fan Doorn."

"I’m not surprised."

Anna handed Thomas one of the illustrations from the four framed paintings.

It was a charred hand with six fingers, the theme composed of chaotic torn paper pieces, with the rest of the paper outside the hand being a heap of letters stacked together.

It might be "Hyperion store.com," but it was completely unrecognizable.

Not only were the colors of the letters varying from yellow to bright purple, but they also looked dizzying.

Moreover, the letters were skewed and had a unique design flair.

One letter P was not only very large, but its upper arc tilted and twisted, forming a small top and large bottom figure 8, with the lower line skewed diagonally across the picture.

If a vagrant’s doodle elicited a bittersweet sense of humor,

then the greatest visual impact of this painting was its void, its chaos, its regular overlapping of meaningless lines.

The whole picture presented an art style that was awe-inspiring yet bewildering.

"What is this... Why can’t I understand it at all."

"Uh, did Mr. Hibernian really not mess up the images? Were the previous ones truly the same theme? I felt dizzy after a while."

"Wow, it’s so cool, this painting is amazing. Haven’t you heard of Van Doorn? I love the fashion designs he creates; I have a 500-euro branded coat of his."

The comment section quickly erupted into new debates centered around the painting.

Some people found it incomprehensible, while others thought it was really cool.

Anna seemed uninterested in appreciating the painting. She just glanced at it briefly and commented with disinterest.

"Many people think Van Doorn is a gifted painter, a genius of color composition. This painting is also classic Van Doorn style, with rich colors, designed visuals, well-drawn lines, but..."

"But you don’t like him, right? You’re biased against him? I knew it."

The safety officer, who hadn’t been active throughout the shooting, suddenly interjected.

Thomas looked curiously at this bearded fellow, "What are you talking about?" 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝙚𝔀𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝒐𝒎

"I really like Mr. Van Doorn’s trendy fashion sense."

The bearded fellow seemed to be a fanboy of Van Doorn.

Hearing that this was actually Van Doorn’s work, he was too eager to express his delight.

Yet, Miss Anna had already eliminated the art master in his mind so soon, which the safety officer found hard to accept.

"But I know some art critics despise Van Doorn, slandering him for some unproven..."

"Because of the rumor he once said at a party—" Anna didn’t mind the bearded man’s attack, she turned her head to the camera and explained, "—Women are merely tools to stimulate his desire to paint."

"That’s right, I do detest him. What reason do I have to like him?"

Anna said coldly, "Who does he think he is—a James Bond on a mission? Sorry, he’s just a fat, ugly old white guy, and not even James Bond dares to speak that way nowadays."

"He said women are merely tools to stimulate his desire. In this, Van Doorn has a clear self-awareness. Because if it were reversed, looking at his face couldn’t evoke even a hint of desire in me, only a desire to vomit."

"But my choice to eliminate his painting has nothing to do with personal views, it’s only about the art."