Tokyo life starting with painting

Chapter 185 There seems to be no regrets (4000 words)

Higashinoji began to write.

Different from the random summer room background, Higashinoji painted the blank space very carefully this time.

First the rough composition, then the finer details.

All the art students in the studio behind him couldn't help but widen their eyes, and even Konoe Ryoka, who had always been reserved, couldn't help but freeze on the spot.

Because the scene in front of Higashinoji changed.

The sense of fragmentation is like being erased bit by bit with a brush, and the entire shaken picture is stabilized again by new colors.

Not only is it stable, but the calm painting style contrasts with the jumping zinc white background. The jumping feeling of the background color and the realistic feeling of the painting style

And it is the characters who appear in the blank spaces left by Higashinoji who erase these feelings of fragmentation.

This character Higashinoji has only drawn an outline, and has not yet begun to draw facial expressions.

This is probably a woman who is about to go for an interview.

She was wearing a neat suit and seemed to have taken a nap to get into a perfect mental state for the interview.

The palm of her left hand was obviously raised, covering her mouth and yawning, while the palm of her right hand was arranging the rectangular shoulder bag in front of her.

But this woman was obviously a little confused, and a lot of things fell from the zipper gap of the long shoulder bag.

Since it is a shoulder bag for preparing for a job interview, what should fall out of it should be materials for preparing for the interview.

At least that's what the art students at the Kita Gymnasium studio behind Higashinoji think so.

But looking at it now, I can’t feel any meaning from Higashinoji’s painting. The only one that could possibly come up top is the first theme of the Art Creation Awards, ‘Growth’.

But this is too mediocre, right?

Just a woman going for an interview

It's okay for them to fool Ryoko Okano with this kind of painting, but you have to know that Higashino Tsukasa is the head of the studio of Kitajuku, so it's not normal for his paintings to be so mediocre.

But soon, they were stunned again.

Because what slipped from the shoulder bag of the interviewing woman was not any interview materials.

It was a high school textbook full of notes and red lines, as well as a half-worn eraser and a utility knife used to sharpen pencils.

It was only now that the art student at the Kita Education Studio suddenly realized that the woman in the painting had mistaken the shoulder bag she had when she was a student with the shoulder bag she used for work.

Higashinoji rolled up the paint with his brush and began to quickly decorate the empty face of the woman.

The longer line thins out the eyebrows, the shorter line outlines the slightly sharp corners of the eyes, and smooth black bangs stick to the forehead.

Higashinoji painted the front very quickly, seemingly in one go, but in fact he slowed down while sculpting the eyes.

Eyes are the windows to the soul, and even more so in painting, they can express the emotions of the characters in the painting.

Thanks to Higashinoji's meticulous carving, the facial expressions of the women in suits in the painting are revealed.

The girls from the painting studio of Beiyi School next to them came over, and then someone whispered a question: "Why does she look a little melancholy?"

But this question was soon answered.

This woman was sitting on the edge of the bed, and her eyes clearly saw that the shoulder bag she was holding was not a shoulder bag for work, but the shoulder bag she had carried when she was a student.

Her eyes looked a little surprised and a little sad, and her eyebrows wrinkled, looking a little painful.

But the corners of his mouth were helplessly raised, as if he was sighing.

What is she sighing about?

The answer is self-evident.

The woman stares at the shoulder bag from her school days with a sighing, serious and sad expression. She seems to be caught up in the memories of her previous school days.

Time hurriedly took her to adulthood, just like many people.

Wake up from a long nap, get dressed, wash up, and get ready for work. However, I subconsciously picked up the shoulder bag from my school days. When I realized what I was doing, I suddenly remembered - 'Oh, it turns out I have grown up. ’

Growth is a process of loss and gain.

The woman has her back to the window, and the light behind her also causes her expression and body outline to be quite dark, which adds to the sense of contradiction in the picture.

At this time, the zinc white that Higashino used before was the best adjusting agent. This bold yet slightly yellow color makes the whole picture look less heavy. When paired with the woman in a suit with a light on her back, it gives people a A kind of trance, a feeling of time passing by.

The draft is finished.

Higashino took out a breath, stopped writing, took two steps back, and looked at the work.

The black suit is slightly white due to the reflection of sunlight.

In her hand is a student shoulder bag full of memories.

The white and yellow light shines into the room through the window frame, which can only illuminate a corner, but cannot illuminate the woman's lost youth.

Everything is in a trance, as if the youthful days before were just pure illusions.

The old electric fan squeaked and rotated, as if it was whispering anxiously——

It’s over! It’s over! It's all over! you have grown up!

Time in the painting seems to have stopped——

The woman in the suit sighed, frowned, felt sad, and was surprised that Higashino was captured, and will remain on the screen forever.

A sense of youthful escape and vitality.

A woman’s hazy sense of maturity as she grows up

The regretful feeling of missing youth.

These have been restored.

very nice.

Higashino nodded with satisfaction.

With divergent thinking and nimble hands and feet, it is true that collecting inspiration is the best way for art creators to inspire.

Although it was only a rough draft and needed further refinement, he was very satisfied.

Because this painting perfectly fits the two themes on the first floor of Yamauchi.

‘Growing up’, ‘regret the passing of good things’.

Why pick and choose? I want both themes - this is Higashinoji's idea.

He was just about to take a step back to see the overall feeling, but when he just took a step back, he heard a low voice coming from behind.

Higashinoji turned around and realized that a group of girls were huddled in the small space behind him.

The space at the back was originally small, and they were already in a hurry with so many people stuck together. Higashino took another step back, leaving them with no way to retreat at all.

"Sorry." Higashino apologized with a smile, and simply stepped aside to give them a detailed look at the entire painting.

Anyway, this is just a draft, and it will be refined later. If they want to see it, let them see it, it doesn’t matter.

Moreover, Konoe Ryoka was also among these little girls, so of course Tonoji couldn't stop her from looking at her.

Just now, Higashinoji was painting, and they were too embarrassed to disturb him, so they just looked at it with little understanding. At this time, with Higashinoji's permission, they would certainly not let it go when they could see the whole picture.

It wasn't until they actually saw the overall picture that the little girls in the studio couldn't help but let out a little exclamation.

This painting is so good.

Higashino Tsukasa's work this time does not have a virtuosic feel like the previous "Tokyo Sunset·Impression" and "Tokyo".

This time it mainly showed Higashinoji's good basic skills.

The main thing is the depiction of the women in the picture.

The eyebrows are slightly frowned, and the small knots can be clearly seen in them. The corners of the eyebrows are pressed down, showing a sense of sadness.

The sculpting of the eyes is the real finishing touch!

To be honest, if they hadn't seen it with their own eyes, these art students from Kita University would not have known that a person's expression on the canvas could express so many complex emotions so vividly.

They were entranced as they watched.

The most serious one among them is Konoe Ryoka.

This was her boyfriend's painting, so of course she had to look at it carefully.

Then she felt as if she had fallen into an inexplicable trance.

The chirping of cicadas seemed to be ringing in her ears. Although it was winter, she felt as if she had turned into the woman in a suit in the painting.

The squeaking electric fan made a harsh sound, and Konoe Ryoka came to her senses in a daze.

"This is"

Konoe Ryoka looked around and then at the suit she was wearing.

In front of her were textbooks scattered on the ground, half-used erasers fell to the ground, including her student ID card.

Everything looked dilapidated, and an indescribable feeling of helplessness and regret filled my heart.

Have you grown up now? Obviously nothing has been done yet

Konoe Ryoka was unwilling to give in, but she could only accept it.

Because growth itself is an irreversible process.

Even if she had hopes for the future before, now she can only fall into the sea of ​​mediocrity.

The unspeakable, hard-to-conceal feeling of regret, accompanied by the electric fan and the noisy chirping of cicadas at the end of summer, all came to an end.

Konoe Ryoka came back to her senses and looked around with a stunned expression.

Then she looked at the painting with a slightly complicated expression, and a thought came to her mind - 'Will I become like this in the future? ’

Konoe Ryoka thought she would have this idea, but soon she heard a girl next to her suddenly shout: "No! I can't live such a ridiculous life! I have to work hard! Even if I can't get into Musashino University , we must also win over other good art universities!”

"That's right! Work hard! Come on! I think of the desolate appearance of the granddaughter's friend and cousin of the grandma next door."

"I don't want it to be like this, come on!"

As if they were crazy, these little girls ran directly to their drawing board, took down the oil painting that they had done casually before, and replaced it with a new canvas.

Konoe Ryoka looked a little surprised, but not too surprised.

Because Higashinoji's paintings are like this. When she went to a convenience store to buy "Cold", a person next to her who was watching "The Winner is Justice" suddenly shouted: "No! I really didn't kill anyone!" Don't arrest me!" Then he ran away with "Abominable Cold" in his hand, without even giving him any money.

Konoe Ryoka had seen her many times, so she was not surprised.

Besides, compared to that

A Si’s painting skills are too solid, right?

Konoe Ryoka half-raised her head and looked at the oil painting, feeling happy and a little melancholy.

She was happy because Higashinoji's painting skills once again exceeded her expectations.

She's sad because she won't be able to catch up with Higashinoji if she keeps going like this.

No, it’s not that I can’t catch up, it’s that I can’t even smell Higashinoji’s exhaust.

Her boyfriend is so powerful, and she wants to become powerful quickly.

Konoe Ryoka thought about it and peeked at Higashinoji secretly.

But what she didn't expect was that Toyoji was also looking at her.

When their eyes met, Konoe Ryoka hurriedly turned her head as if she had done something bad, and her beautiful white face turned red.

It's just that my heart seems to have overturned the sugar jar, and it feels inexplicably sweet.

This forced her to cover her mouth and force herself not to giggle.

but

"Why does this person look a bit like Aiko Kijo-senpai?" Although a little girl was fascinated by the sight, when she came back to her senses, she couldn't help but speak.

Yes, why does this person look so much like Aiko Kijo?

Especially the sharp corners of his eyes are almost made from the same mold.

Her words made everyone react.

They looked at it one after another, and then they realized that the character in the painting was indeed 50% similar to Kijo Aiko.

After all, Aiko Kijo is the student council president of Kita Yoijuku, so it is normal for them to know each other since she is a famous person in the school.

"Speaking of which, Aiko-senpai is going to college, right?"

Someone looked at it and turned his head and asked the person next to him.

She may have asked casually, but a senior girl next to her took it seriously: "Really? Didn't you hear she said she wanted to go to college?"

They chattered and discussed.

Higashikata listened to their discussion and did not explain much.

After all, spreading Aiko Kijo's story as news is disrespectful to Aiko Kijo.

So Tonoji didn't care about them, but packed up his things and left with Konoe Ryoka.

I'll just leave the manuscript there and wait for it to dry. I'll come back tomorrow to fix the details. After all, oil paint has a very strong coverage.

But what Higashinoji didn't expect was that even if he didn't spread it around, a group of people would suddenly start discussing the oil painting he painted.

Because compared to Aiko Kijo, he is currently the most discussed person in Kitajuku.

Many students stared at his topic.

He drew an oil painting similar to Aiko Kijo's, which naturally aroused the emotions of other students.

At first, it was just a discussion among students, but later on, someone asked Aiko Kijo.

Regarding these questions from her classmates, Kijo Aiko was a little speechless.

Although she knew that it was not the information revealed by Higashinoji on his own initiative, it painted a picture.

Originally, she wanted to leave peacefully, but she didn't expect that it would become known to everyone in the city.

Later, even the principal, Ryuichi Yoshimine, was alarmed by the students' actions. After all, according to rumors, Higashinoji was the leader?

As the principal of Kitajuku, he has always been a personal person. He felt that this was probably an opportunity to continue his relationship with Tonoji, so he took the initiative to approach Kijo Aiko and expressed his willingness to recommend her for admission, and also told Kijo Aiko actually has a scholarship when she goes to college. Even if she has no money now, as the principal of Kitajuku, he is willing to provide some financial assistance to her, the student council president.

This series of dreamlike developments in a novel made Kijo Aiko full of questions and her eyes widened——

It seems that for some reason, youth has no regrets?