BXBX NOVEL Chapter 422 Fine Arts Competition Finals (3)
The eyes of the people in the gallery were all widening in shock and nervousness.
In Anna's hand was actually an earth spell activated in her hand, and she was about to shoot her very own painting with it!
"Heavens! Student Anna! What are you about to do with such intricate work?!"
The judges shouted in alarm as they could not believe their eyes seeing Anna on the verge of destroying such an intricate painting of a cherry blossom tree in full bloom.
The setting of the painting was that the cherry blossom tree stood grandiose and proud among all the plants in such a beautiful garden.
The reason why this caught the judges was because of Anna's unusual technique. Unlike most of the painters in the gallery, Anna used the impressionism style of painting.
The entire picture was painted through small and seemingly random brushstrokes and yet it was able to create such lovely scenery.
"Calm down dear jury. What I am doing is not destroying the painting but actually showing you another facade of it."
Anna smiled as she suspended the earth spell on her hand making the judges shudder in nervousness.
"A new facade?" The judges were taken aback, hearing the calm explanation of the lady.
"Yes, this painting of mine, just like my fellow Student Raphael actually had more facades other than what you initially see." Anna replied.
"This painting's name is called 'Four Seasons' and the reason for this, I will demonstrate in front of you."
Then with her words, she waited to see if the judges signaled if they were already ready before she put her spell once again.
"This painting is actually painted not on an ordinary canvas. But was actually a canvas inlaid with retired mana stones.
The inspiration behind this was to make use of those that have been discarded and bring beauty into it once again.
The retired mana stone I used were of four types, fire, wind, water and earth elements.
What's more, the paint that I used was also made by yours truly and so even if one would use normal paint on top of the mana stone, it will not achieve the same effect that this painting was able to achieve."
Then without delaying any further, she activated the earth magic and the magic circle was absorbed by the canvas.
The next moment their eyes widened in disbelief! The picture actually changed!
The cherry blossom tree's bloom changed into its respective colors in autumn and its luster was overwhelmed by the tone of orange as well as the other shrubs surrounding it.
The clouds about it also changed and the scenery became desolate and chilly, however seeing it would still make the onlookers sign on how beautiful the work was.
"Using earth magic, the layer of painting I have drawn on top of the earth crystals emerged and became visible. This situation will all happen when one uses the fire spell, which denotes summer, water spell will denote winter, and the wind spring."
Then she encouraged the judges to try embedding their mana on the respective elements one by one and they were amazed by what they saw.
"So you are saying that you have actually painted four additional scenes in one canvas?!" The judges exclaimed in astonishment.
"Indeed, moreover, my technique of painting - Impressionism will be the best style to use because the fine strokes will also put all the colors to not fight with each other in their normal, unactivated state.
In your eyes it would look like there was a separate picture being shown in the picture, but actually, what the spell activation was doing was to just make the colors painted on the mana fibers pop more."
"Unbelievable! To hear its process, how are you able to make this within three days? That was also my question when I saw student Raphael's work!"
"They are monsters…" One student painter had his confidence shattered upon seeing Anna and Raphael's work.
This painter's words also reflected the thoughts of the other painters in the room. They suddenly felt like they had wasted so much time only to be trampled by these two unseemingly painters with such power.
The judges felt the mood in the room and could only sigh in regret.
Although it was such a joy to see two unbelievable arts, the cost of this was too much for the rest of the aspiring painters who fought with them. They would not blame these young kids if they suddenly went home in their respective hometowns and decided to abandon painting again.
It is too much of a loss!
"Isn't art finding your own way to express oneself in the best and most impactful way possible? Student Raphael and Your's truly, only stayed true to one goal, develop a technique that could make our creativity become enjoyable with other people as well.
We may be the first one to find this, and that we can wholeheartedly credit to the guidance of our mentor, Her Highness Princess Consort Airelle.
But I am sure that in the future, it would not only be us who would be able to create awestricking paintings such as this."
Anna felt the dejection too and felt like she had to say something.
"Besides, there's beauty in every painting. One's technique is not superior towards the other… why would we compare each other's technique when each was incomparable in the first place?" Raphael also stepped forward and gave his thoughts.
Anna and Him only wanted to show their sincerest gratitude to Eli and their mentor Princess Arielle. Never did they intend to cause a wave of massive confidence destruction towards their fellow student painters.
"Good words! Good words! Not only you two were good artists, but also sensible young ones!"
"Alright… you heard them right. All of you must not feel inferior just because of this. Instead, use them as an inspiration for all of you to find your own technique in expressing ourselves through the brush and canvas!"
The head judge casted a grateful glance towards Raphael and Anna, before he reinforced the two's words with encouragement.
This effectively turns the mood in the room into something positive.
Anna being the last painter to be evaluated, the judges then instructed everyone to vacate the gallery for deliberation.
After the deliberation, three paintings will be transferred into the center of the gallery, marking the top three winners. Then the other paintings will also be arranged according to their ranking.
It was a hard deliberation between Raphael and Anna on who would be the one to receive the top rank.
The strength of Anna's painting was the effort in painting five scenes in one canvas and they were all intricately painted. This was the evidence on how Anna visualized what she had in mind and was able to create her own world and have the people accept her style of painting too.
But compared to the meaning behind Raphael's work, being beauty after the light, Raphael's work has more depth, the transformation from being ugly to something so beautiful and enchanting was the evidence of Raphael's mastery in using the brush.
One was industrious and creative, the other was expressive and talented, the jury did not have an easy time to award who would be the champion.
In the end the voting became a tie and they had no choice but to invite the juries from fine arts events to scrutinize the two paintings without giving information as to who were its painters.
In the end, the collective decision of the judges from the entire fine arts department was to award Raphael's work as the champion, with Anna as the second and Gifford coming in third.
Princess Arielle and Dean Athena were crying in tears, not only because of the two's win but also because they were also taken in awe by the paintings done by the two.
They never imagined that Raphael and Anna would be able to produce such out of this world painting!
Soon after the awarding, the gallery was temporarily closed to create a designated spot for Anna and Raphael's works to be viewed, they prepared separate rooms for them and a tight security was installed in place to preserve the first paintings using new techniques.
They announced that the gallery will be opened to the public in two days so that everyone will have the chance to see the painting division's extraordinary works.
Although Raphael and Anna were lethargic for staying up for three days straight in order to finish their work, their hearts were satisfied.
"Next time, I'll defeat you…" Anna looked at Raphael with a teasing smile.
"Hehehe… try again. Maybe add one more scene on top of another five… maybe it will be able to beat me…" Raphael stuck his tongue out playfully making Anna pout.
"Says you who only knows how to draw beautiful girls!" Anna retaliated.
"What's wrong with painting beautiful girls?!" Raphael snorted proudly.
"Pfft! The two of you are still fighting when I am about to collapse in exhaustion…" Suddenly Max's voice interrupted them.
Only then did they notice Max, Eli and Randel approaching.
"Max, how's your match?" Dean Athena asked with anticipation.
Max flashed a wide triumphant smile and said,
"Of course, Dean! I got first place!!! Hehehehe!"