The Versatile Master Artist

Chapter 266 - 157: Otherworldly

The Little Prince’s illustration is not very beautiful,

but its composition has a peculiar and deeply resonant charm, unique to this lonely fairy tale.

Vellein’s illustration is of course very beautiful,

it is an excellent illustration, with a composition that is so standard it could be in art class textbooks.

The problem is it’s too standard,

completely following rigorous art theory, like models produced on an industrial assembly line according to some mold.

Kelly examined the two illustrations in front of her.

She suddenly felt that the Little Prince under Mr. Vellein’s pen had a smile that was overly sweet, just like the Korean wave cosmetic stars who were once extremely popular in Europe.

Beautifully unreal, and beautifully hollow.

Moreover, the Saint-Exupéry version is the original work’s author himself creating the accompanying illustrations, which is a clear bonus point.

If she could only choose one book, even as a fan of Mr. Vellein, Kelly would still lean towards choosing Townesman’s classic version.

"By the way, the budget on the task card is forty pounds."

Kelly suddenly remembered something.

The budget column on the task card is drawn randomly for each volunteer, with slight differences in each volunteer’s budget, some high, some low.

To buy a fairy tale book for forty pounds is quite generous.

Both books in front of her are paperback editions,

Townesman’s classic edition of "The Little Prince" is priced at 19 pounds, Vellein’s new edition of "The Little Prince" has a handwritten price tag that is just one pound cheaper, at 18 pounds.

And if she remembered correctly, the hardcover edition of Townesman’s "The Little Prince" on the market should be priced at 32 pounds.

If her budget were 20 pounds, she might hesitate between the two books.

With the current budget,

when giving someone a gift, the more expensive and exquisite hardcover version is clearly the better choice.

Kelly stood up, bypassed this shelf, and indeed found Townesman’s hardcover edition of "The Little Prince" gift box with a more splendid copperplate paper cover on another shelf.

The area of the [Bookstore] is not small, yet many people have already gathered in front of this side’s bookshelf, at least a dozen people surrounding a shelf.

"Is everyone here to take the hardcover edition of ’The Little Prince’?"

Kelly walked forward a few steps.

Huh?

She suddenly discovered that the volunteers were not surrounding the hardcover edition of "The Little Prince."

The focus of their discussion was another set of "The Little Prince" placed on the right side of the hardcover edition, a style Kelly had never seen before.

"So beautiful."

"It makes one’s heart skip a beat."

"Wow, this painting style is so unique, I’ve never seen such ethereal and dreamy colors."

People were discussing fervently.

"This is... Painting Knife Painting, a very niche technique." Kelly squinted her eyes slightly and muttered softly.

She navigated through the crowd and picked up this edition of "The Little Prince" from the shelf.

The labeling on the cover is similar to the previous Vellein’s version, with the only difference being the illustrator’s column changed from Vellein to—

[Illustrator: Detective Cat (Algeria)]

This painting...

has a very special ethereal feeling.

It uses almost the same composition as Saint-Exupéry, subtly retaining the original author’s faint Zen-like quality.

And it’s done much better.

Not only much better than Saint-Exupéry’s amateurish attempt, but also better than the artist Vellein.

In principle, art works of different styles cannot be compared.

But this is Kelly’s current subjective impression.

Endless yellow sand, the vast desert sky,

a blurry crescent, twinkling starlight, a boy sitting side-saddle on a high sand dune, as if he might turn and smile at you at any moment.

Upon seeing this illustration, Kelly felt it was suspended above a hydrogen balloon, ready to drift away into the sky or shatter in her hands at any moment.

This illustration is absolutely beautiful, a perfect work that doesn’t seem of this world.