Ansel was deeply frustrated because Agnes now had a boyfriend, making him feel like anything he did was too late. “Once you win the award and with that accolade, successfully enter the university to become a teacher, and secure your job, then Agnes will regard you more highly,” Mr. Johnson spoke bluntly. “Currently, she outshines you in every aspect; are you aware of this?”
Unwilling to accept this, Ansel couldn’t stand the thought of Agnes being taken away from him. He was truly desperate. He stood up and said, “Father, may I show you my work?” He needed to focus and improve himself-to win back the girl he loved.
“Of course,” his father nodded.
Ansel turned and left, returning shortly with two paintings he had recently created for a competition. His father took them and began examining one of the landscape paintings for a full five minutes.
Standing by his father’s side during those five minutes allowed Ansel to reflect deeply. He looked at his own work; although previously satisfied, he now noticed several areas needing improvement. It had been a long time since Ansel had analyzed his paintings so thoroughly, but those five minutes brought him a sense of inner peace.
The longer his father remained silent, the higher Ansel felt the likelihood of failure was… His emotions were akin to those felt as a child when called into the office to watch his teacher grade his papers-nervous and uneasy.
Finally, his father spoke gravely, “The sky in the painting is like a stage for expressing various emotions, which is crucial. Your technique is correct, I won’t deny that, but it’s slightly overdone. The sky is too blue, and there are issues with how the clouds are depicted. An oil painting should have the texture of an oil painting; the texture of your work is quite ordinary.”
Ansel felt disheartened; he agreed with his father’s critique but was deeply affected as these were pieces he had worked on for an entire week only to receive such feedback. “The massing in your painting isn’t done well enough; there’s much room for improvement. The sense of depth in your painting is too weak. I suggest that in future paintings you should prefer a bit of messiness over cleanliness; your paintings are too clean, sometimes cleaner than photographs which isn’t appealing,” his father advised while looking up at him.
Ansel agreed with his father’s opinions since his father’s achievements in painting were superior to his own. “Yes,” he nodded humbly in acceptance.
His father continued, “You need to create powerful paintings that cannot be captured by a camera to be close to successful. This is difficult for any painter, but difficult does not mean impossible.”
With those words, his father handed back the paintings. “Redo them.”
Taking them back with both hands, Ansel responded, “I understand. I will make improvements and recreate them.”
“I suggest you clear your mind now and focus on creating works that satisfy you, then compete and win an award to stabilize your job,” his father advised sternly yet kindly, adding a glance that combined strictness with affection. “That way both parents in the Campell family will like you more. Stop focusing all your energy on love; a man must urgently focus on his career.”
Motivated by his father’s words like an injection of adrenaline, Ansel began to work diligently and settle down; he swore to achieve something notable.
Today, there was also news in the media about Spencer and Summer’s drama series “Noodle Couple,” which had passed review and would premiere its first episode tomorrow. It would continue filming while airing subsequent episodes. Some behind-the-scenes footage and clips released online today had skyrocketed viewers’ expectations.
The filming pace had increased significantly, promising an imminent completion.