"So you said you can draw, what subject do you normally sketch?" Natasha appeared to be making small talk, fiddling with her fishing line while she spoke.
"I sketch whatever catches my eye, but majority of my work are charcoal and pencil sketches. It's less hassle than clearing up paints that's why I prefer leaving large areas of my sketch blank."
Natasha nodded, then Shiller went on to say, "I happened to have brought sketch pads and charcoal, would you do me the honour of becoming my model?"
"Don't expect me to sit still for a long period of time." Natasha shook her head and said, "I've long past the age where I give up eating, drinking, and sleeping for the sake of romance. Do I sound like an old lady now?"
"As I said before, we are all shadows of the past. Just hold this position and try not to move as much as possible. It will only take ten minutes."
Shiller took out a sketchbook from his bag and began to draw with a piece of charcoal wrapped in tissue paper.
Natasha looked surprised when Shiller handed over the sketchings before even ten minutes had passed. She said, "That was quick!"
Natasha didn't expect much of the quality of the painting due to Shiller's speed. Since, in her layman's eyes, the longer time spent on a painting, the more detailed it is and the higher the quality. A sketch done in just ten minutes, consequently, would unavoidably seem sloppy.
Yet, when she laid eyes on the portrait, she was stunned. The beautifully contoured face of a woman was anything but sloppy. The thick black hair set off the brightness of the cheeks. Shadows were smeared charcoal powder, initially thick, but ultimately displaying a gray transparency that mimicked shadows under the light.
The colored parts were kept to a minimum, and there was a lot of white space. But with the high-contrast light and shadow, the rendering of light was intensified.
"My God," Natasha said, in an awed whisper, "you draw incredibly well!"
"It's a great way to fool non-experts." Shiller's word caused Natasha to look at him. He laughed and continued, "The details are far from perfect. I use strong contrast to create a voluminous impact. Most laymen without professional knowledge can only perceive the visual impact of the painting."
"It's certainly impactful." Natasha glanced at the painting again. Even though she scrutinized it, she could not tell where the lack of detail was, as she had no formal art training and the memory of artwork seen in exhibitions was not very clear.
The first impression the painting gave her was "likeness", followed by "beauty." These two sentiments are enough for ordinary people without professional knowledge to judge this as a masterful work.
"Have a look at this." Strange flipped through a draft and handed it to Stark. At the sight of the painting, Stark's pupils contracted as if he was exposed to bright light.
That was a strong light rendering of a woman's portrait, where the large areas of charcoal shadow set off a midday beauty's face in the white space. The facial features were vague and details were not clear, but it was quite atmospheric.
"Shiller couldn't possibly sketch well, could he?" Although Stark posed a question, he spoke in an affirmative tone, recalling briefly before speaking, "He couldn't even sketch auxiliary lines for my component drawing without bending them."
"Don't you do technical drawing?" Strange glanced at Stark while looking at the painting, "What do you think of the level of this painting?"
"Technical drawing and artistic sketching are completely different matters." Stark shook his head and said, "Or rather, they are at the two extremes. Technical drawing requires absolute precision, quite similar to mathematics, while art revolves around creating an atmosphere, the vaguer the better."
Yet, Stark looked at the painting and said, "As far as I am concerned, this piece has achieved both. Even though it didn't have a clear representation of facial features, it still gives the impression that the model is a beauty."
Strange flipped through a few more sketches, each depicting a similar figure from different angles. The sketches all had powerful light rendering, a hazy portrait, and oozing of aesthetic atmosphere, but it's impossible to determine who the model was.
"These should have been sketched by the original Shiller. His dream lover, maybe?" Stark sat on the floor, flipping through the sketches one after the other, "Didn't he commit suicide over a love affair?"
But at that moment, Strange uncovered an unusual test report at the side of the box. He glanced at it and said, "Brain scan... A preinspection for schizophrenia? Did the original Shiller have schizophrenia?"
Strange rummaged through the box again, finding more sketches. However, the style of these sketches was alarmingly eerie.
Initially what stood out was the black background or the model's pitch-dark hair, setting off the pristine white facial features, making the model appear exceptionally sacred. But the folded sketch in Strange's hands displayed the opposite: sparse strokes were used for the hair, the face features meticulously sketched, and each organ was covered in a dense shadow with only a tiny bit of white left.
"Who is this?" Stark squinted at the sketch in Strange's hands. He could tell that the woman in the sketch wasn't black, but her face was covered in so much ink that it was completely hidden in shadow.