For critiques, most were usually conveyed in brief text descriptions, which had become an unwritten rule.
However, that rule was broken today by one individual.
"Incredible, truly incredible!"
"Strange, so strange!"
Yang Fen herself was also dumbfounded. Before she could feel nervous, her right hand had already moved the mouse and clicked the play button for [Start Writing].
As the triangle pause icon turned into two vertical lines, a pair of hands holding a brush immediately appeared on the video. What followed was a voice that had been altered by a voice changer, speaking in a smooth flow.
"This early spring landscape painting’s strokes are not bad, but there are still flaws..."
In the video, just with a few words, She Yu Yu outlined Yang Fen’s landscape painting in general terms. He especially elaborated on several deficiencies when making the strokes and even taught by example, modifying a few points of application.
Outside the video, Yang Fen’s facial expression gradually shifted from shock to deep thought, and finally to an expression of sudden realization.
"Is it possible to do it this way? Wow~~~ It feels like the mountain has come to life; it looks so much better now. Is this still my painting?"
The previous nine judges had indeed analyzed the strengths and weaknesses of the contestants, but they just pointed them out simply, without ever suggesting how to improve.
In the video, however, She Yu Yu used different techniques to display all the inadequacies and introduced the subtle differences between each stroke, bringing a moment of epiphany to the viewers.
"Damn, I feel like I get it too!"
In the dormitory, the Northeastern girl who had originally gathered around to watch the excitement suddenly got excited, cried out "Give me a pen," and felt incredibly motivated!
The others echoed, "It looks pretty simple, huh! Why do my hands itch to try?"
"I feel like I have artistic talent, really!"
"I guess it’s one of those ’easy-to-watch, hard-to-do’ series, but... even if it doesn’t work out the first time, with a bit more practice it’s definitely doable!"
They were top students, right?
Surely they could manage to draw this much.
At that moment, sitting in front of her laptop, Yang Fen was utterly oblivious to her roommates’ murmuring. She had fully immersed herself in quite a mystical atmosphere.
When the first three-minute video tutorial came to an end, she swiftly clicked on the second one, reentering her state of intense focus.
What she didn’t know was that at this moment, every other contestant in the Imperial Capital was in almost exactly the same state!
Especially those who had signed up for the calligraphy competition, their expressions of shock were not enough to describe their bewildered faces.
"No way, so She Yu Yu doesn’t only do Cursive Script, but writes such great Zanhua Xiao Kai too???"
"Damn, this hand in Clerical Script has even more momentum than our department’s Professor Wei!"
"emmmm~~~ No wonder they said my brushstrokes were weak, compared to this Running Script it really is lacking force."
——This was the mad adoration from the high-scoring participants.
"Damn it, giving me the lowest score in history is bad enough, but to make a video to rub it in!"
"What is this? It feels like I’m being rubbed into the ground harshly!"
"Brutal, utterly brutal, not a shred of mercy, sob sob sob my self-esteem~~~"
"No martial ethics at all!"
——This was the frustrated venting from the low-scoring contestants.
Of course, complaints aside, it was undeniable that once they saw the contents of the video, they had to accept one fact.
And that was, they were thoroughly convinced, both in spirit and vocally.
Moreover, they felt an enlightening sensation as if their governor and conception vessels had been suddenly cleared!