The Great Painter

The Great Painter is an urban-life novel by the web author Quan Shi, serialized on Qidian Chinese Network from March to December 2014, with about 561 chapters and 1.83 million characters. The story follows the high school student Fang Yi: after collapsing in an accident, he wakes to find something related to painting has appeared in his mind (readers usually call it the painting system). This assistive mechanism, which rewards him based on his works, leads Fang Yi to pick up the brush again, and through trial and error he strengthens his resolve to pursue a life in art. The novel begins with Fang Yi's final year of high school, depicting his diligent practice for the entrance exam of the Central Academy of Fine Arts and the everyday life of his art class, studio, teachers, and classmates. The story then gradually opens onto the wider art world: exhibitions, galleries, criticism, and the market. His skills keep improving, and he also encounters setbacks and doubts. The novel sets the words of Western painters such as Van Gogh and Matisse against Fang Yi's own artistic views; he refuses to repeat those tragic dreams, seeking instead to push technique to heights few can reach and to depict only the moments that stir his heart. The book portrays his career growth in a warm tone, with a single, unwavering romantic line, yet its ending extends beyond the protagonist's life, looking back on a painter's whole life through an epitaph. It should be noted that this is a serialized web work with no record of a formally published print edition; versions in circulation are mostly polished online compilations.