Chapter 29: Crisis
"Like this, if you add some patterns..."
In the classroom in the afternoon, Reiner thought of the painting skills in the memory of the original body owner while instructing the girl in front of him.
Sharon was holding a pen at this time, drawing little by little on the canvas.
After studying alchemy, Reiner relied on his body's remaining artistic qualities to guide Sharon's painting studies. Although not as good as those masters of painting, it was enough as an introductory tutor.
Sharon sketched a vivid image of a rabbit in just a few strokes. As a student who had just studied systematically for less than a week, she has made rapid progress.
From Sharon, Reiner knew about roughly the girl's childhood.
Since she was a child, Sharon has been interested in painting and was very talented. But in this era, painting was a thankless act. Various painting tools and paints were very expensive, unless they were high-ranking nobles or famous artists. Otherwise, it would be impossible to sell their paintings.
Yes, there was no such profession as designers in this world. The main income of a painter was to sell their paintings or be a teacher for the children of nobles. Unless they were talented, they could not make ends meet.
It was because of this, Sharon's father immediately threw all painting tools out of the house after learning that she wanted to learn to paint, trying to nip it in the bud.
The sensible Sharon naturally understood the reason and has not mentioned it again all these years.
But when Reiner came to her with the note about her wishes that she had handed in, Sharon was surprised.
On the note, it was written in the graceful font: I want to learn to paint and become a painter.
Sharon thought Reiner was just joking, but the principal found her with painting tools and books.
"The label you designed before seems very popular, Sharon, it seems that you are indeed gifted in painting."
Reiner said that the label on the Luna Nova Cola bottle was very eye-catching. To be able to make people recognize it quickly and create a deep impression in people's mind, naturally, the designer Sharon deserved a lot of credit for it.
"I still have a lot to learn."
Sharon was not complacent. She knew that she was only an entry-level apprentice and must continue to learn from the masters in order to grow rapidly.
"By the way, have you ever tried to draw portraits?"
Thinking of some plans that have not yet been concretely formed, Reiner asked.
"Portrait? I have tried it before."
Nodding her head, Sharon took out her sketchbook.
It was an ordinary notebook. When she opened it, there were pencil sketches of fruits and vegetables and various magic utensils. Although it could not be said to be lifelike, it was above the average level.
"I secretly painted those after I came to school."
Explaining, Sharon turned to one of the pages, and there was a picture of a woman in a robe on it. Reiner took a closer look and realized that it was Claire.
Since Sharon did not have a teacher, she relied entirely on her own exploration, so her style was completely different from those portrait painters. For example, the portrait of Claire in front of her was more like a cartoon image than a sketch, highlighting Claire's characteristics. Although there was still a big difference from the real person, by identifying the characteristics, one could quickly recognize that this was the dean.
"What a genius."
Reiner couldn't help but marvel. This technique of symbolizing features was the core technique in comics that were popular all over the world on earth. The young girl in front of him was in such a world where entertainment culture was still underdeveloped, but she could still master such a technique.
"Uh, I didn't paint it well. It doesn't look like Professor Claire at all."
Sharon thought that Reiner was being polite. She suddenly closed the sketchbook a little shyly.
"No, no, your means of portraying characters will be the mainstream in the future, to be precise, the mainstream of commercialization."
Reiner explained that in mass industrial production, the more complex and realistic the design was, the higher the cost would be. In addition, it would be difficult to give customers an intuitive impression in a short time of browsing the goods. On contrary, the design with obvious symbolic characteristics would be more impressive in people's minds. It would receive higher recognition and the cost of maintaining the design was relatively low.
Complex and realistic characters had too much information that the human brain could not remember for a short time, and the incomplete parts were easily discarded as invalid information. Simple and intuitive symbols were just the opposite. This was also one of the reasons why the logos of the famous brands on the earth were very simple.
Of course, Reiner didn't mean to let Sharon draw cartoons, but he did need a painter who could draw portraits. Originally, he wanted to ask Oliana if she knew anyone, but he didn't expect that he would find one here.
Kata, kata, kata...
There was a signature sound of footsteps in the hallway. Reiner raised his head and saw Claire, who was wearing a maid costume, puffed her cheeks and trotted with her skirt toward him.
"Why are you so flustered?"
Reiner took out the handkerchief from his pocket and handed it to Claire. The dean took the handkerchief and wiped the sweat from her forehead without even thinking about it. Only after a while did she finally realize it,
"Uh, I will wash it and return it to you."
Claire was a little embarrassed, seemingly didn't want to owe Reiner a favor, she put away the handkerchief and continued.
"It's bad, Piram really started to act."
"What happened?"
Reiner was not in a hurry, and was not surprised by Claire's words.
"They imitated Cola, and now in the streets and alleys of Prester, all the shops related to the Piram Alchemy Workshop are selling this kind of drink called Piram Cola."
Claire took out a bottle of black drink from her pocket. The bottle of this drink was decorated with exaggerated posters, but no iconic bubbles came out of the bottle.
"I have drunk a little, it tastes similar to my sugar water, but..."
Claire, who hadn't finished speaking, watched in a daze as Reiner took the bottle of Cola from her hand and took a sip.
"But there is no gas injected, or the gas cannot be mixed with the sugar water."
Reiner quickly confirmed the composition of this "Cola". Although the taste was similar, it still lacked charm.
Glancing at the text on the label, Reiner quickly discovered Piram's marketing methods.
"Is it sold at half price? Although it is a little worse than buying one get one free, it seems that Piram isn't an impotent businessman, but it seems difficult to profit."
Although it happened faster than what Reiner had imagined, everything was still under his control. Probably Piram did not even know that he was stepping into the trap set by Reiner and becoming the first victim.
"Professor Claire, let's get ready to go to the Antoine Alchemy Workshop."
Reiner said, but found Claire staring at the Piram Cola in his hand, her cheeks flushed.
She had also drunk it!
She shouted silently in her mind, and subconsciously touched her lips, having mixed feelings