Margarita looked at Lu Shi blankly,

"Painting? What to draw? ”

Eyes full of curiosity.

Lu Shi is embarrassed,

He just said the phrase, "We can draw!" In fact, there is a little regret,

It is true that comics ushered in a golden age with the development of the newspaper industry, but it was also the twenties and thirties when printing technology was booming, and although newspapers can publish comics today, there is no precedent for long-form serialization.

Now it's 100% veneer comics.

Lu Shi waved his hand,

"I'll think about it first."

He frowned, lost in thought.

Margarita was anxious, and she didn't say anything to urge, but waited quietly.

Time just passed minute by minute,

Suddenly, Lu Shi began to rummage on his desk, took a few copies of the "Illustrated London News", and read them carefully.

Her Royal Highness the princess on the side also understood,

"Professor Lu, are you trying to ...... Comics? ”

Lu Shi did not pick up the stubble,

It's been so long, and he hasn't carefully read the comics of this year, and he doesn't know what level it is.

As a result, after reading it, I found that it was really not good.

At the beginning of the 20th century, comics were more like illustrations, so they were mainly single-board comics, and there were not even four-panel comics, let alone six-panel, eight-panel, and modern comic stories.

Lu Shi couldn't help but continue to ponder.

After a while, he raised his head as if he remembered something,

"Your Highness, you actually know about comics?"

In the English context, "comics" is actually a foreign word.

In 1814, Katsushika Hokusai, a famous painter of the Edo period in Japan, coined a new word -

Manga，

This is called "comics", which is used to refer to a group of paintings with random brushwork, concise lines, highlighting the main characteristics of the characters, and focusing on mythology, history and daily life.

Don't look at the word has been born for almost a hundred years,

But for Europeans, it would be almost impossible to come across the term without a career in something like the newspaper or the arts.

Margarita nodded,

"I know."

Lu Shi asked, "Where did you hear that?" ”

Margarita replied with a smile: "My father has received gifts from the Japanese~ Moreover, the British royal family also collects a lot of these things." I also know that Zen paintings and ukiyo-e were also given by the Japanese, and there are many warehouses in Buckingham Palace. ”

When Her Royal Highness said this, her tone was full of reason.

Lu Shi: "......"

What else can be said?

Only in my heart silently say "Niu X!" ”。

Margarita said, "Professor Lu, what do you mean by Kan Ling, do you want me to draw comics?" But I can't draw......"

Don't say her,

Even Lu Shi, a traverser who has eaten and seen, can't draw,

The so-called "interlaced is like separated mountains".

But according to Lu Shi's understanding, comics don't have to be done by one person.

He said: "It can be done in a division of labor, someone is responsible for the original work and is responsible for the plot, someone is responsible for painting, someone is responsible for assisting, painting some backgrounds and so on." ”

Margarita's eyes widened,

"This ......"

Lu Shi nodded,

"I know, I know, it's complicated for me to think."

As he spoke, his gaze shifted to the Illustrated London News,

Now the situation is that comics ≈ veneers,

So, what's the plot?

After getting the subject matter, it's all over the place.

Margarita was curious: "Professor Lu, according to your ideas, how should the plot be presented?" ”

Lu Shi took the paper and gestured at it.

As a result, Margarita still had a confused expression, not knowing what to do.

Lu Shi was helpless, so he took the pen again and divided it into four grids.

Unexpectedly, before he could open his mouth to explain, Margarita clapped her hands first and said, "I know!" ”

Land Hours: ???

"You know again?"

Margarita nodded again and again and said, "Divide the paper into four grids, and then create a painting grid~ I've seen it!" The British Museum has a book called ...... Well...... Forehead...... I remember it was 'north' or something......"

Her Royal Highness blushed and felt a little embarrassed by her forgetfulness.

Lu Shi couldn't help but ponder,

"Hokusai Manga?"

Margarita nodded again and again, with adoration in her eyes,

"That's right! Yeah! That's it! ”

Lu Shi didn't expect that the British Museum also had a collection of "Hokusai Comics",

Come to think of it, given the European preference for gold, jade, bronze, stone statues and porcelain, they should not have paid much attention to the protection of paintings, calligraphy, and magazines, and eighty percent of Hokusai Manga was regarded as an unimportant museum collection, waiting in some dark corner.

Lu Shi was curious,

"I haven't read Hokusai manga either, do you already have a four-panel manga on it?"

Margarita said, "It turned out to be a 'four-panel comic.'" ”

Both are laymen,

If their conversation is heard by a cartoonist who really understands art history, eighty percent of them will be educated.

Because the real four-panel manga was born in Japan in 1902, although the previous manga was also created in four-frame, but it was either no typesetting, or no dialogue, and it was not a mature work.

Margarita asked, "Why 'four squares'?" ”

This question is not professional, but Lu Shi, as a layman, can still answer it.

He said: "Because you want to cover the whole event: the beginning, the development, the climax, the end, it's like a structure, so it's four squares. Of course, this is a policy due to the limitations of current printing technology, and if the cost can be reduced, there is actually no limit to the number of comics. ”

Margarita was puzzled,

"The cost? Is it costly now? ”

If you don't know how expensive firewood and rice are,

Lu Shi didn't have a concept of this kind of thing before, but he didn't understand it until he ran the "Mirror".

"Buckingham Palace should subscribe to the New York World in the United States, so you may have seen a color cartoon called The Yellow Child," he said. ”

Margarita nodded,

"Mickey, that kid by nature."

Mickey Dugan, who is the main character of the comics, "Yellow Kid",

He was bald, bucktoothed, and always haunted the slum alleys in an oversized yellow pajamas.

Lu Shi continued: "'Yellow Kid' is a single-board comic, and it only appears in the newspaper's Sunday supplement, occupying one page. And "Mirror" is a daily newspaper, if it is serialized every day, the cost will definitely explode. ”

Margarita understood, picked up the pen and wrote on each of the four squares:

——

Beginning development

Climax Ending

——

In just four squares, it covers the occurrence, plot twist and ending of an event.

This shows that four-panel comics focus on creativity, the graphics cannot be too complex, there is no room for a few characters, and the dialogue must be concise and easy to read.

Margarita's brow furrowed,

"Will this work? Draw Jane Eyre with a four-panel comic. ”

"Poof!"

Lu Shi sprayed,

"What did you just say!? You said you wanted to paint Jane Eyre!? ”

Margarita looked at Lu Shi in surprise and asked, "Isn't that what Professor Lu meant?" What you just said was that I was in charge of the plot of the original work, didn't you? ”

Lu Shi felt that his head was going bald,

"Isn't there an original ...... Jane Eyre? Ms. Charlotte Brontë......"

Margarita asked, "Are you worried about copyright?" ”

Lu Shi shook his head,

"No, I mean...... Alas......"

A thousand words turned into sighs.

He didn't think about Jane Eyre at all, and ended up getting caught up in Margarita.

In that case, let's listen to Margarita's thoughts,

Anyway, it doesn't cost money to listen to it.

Lu Shi continued the topic just now and said: "Jane Eyre has an original work, what else do you need to do?" ”

Margarita chuckled,

"Professor Lu, you must have read Jane Eyre, why bother me so much? Jane, for example, confessed earnestly and fervently to her sweetheart before Mr. Rochester had made a clear statement to her, saying, 'Do you think I'm an emotionless machine?' Do you think that if I am poor, lowly, not beautiful, and thin, I will have no soul and no heart? You're thinking wrong! ……’”

More than 100 words have been omitted since then.

This paragraph is very long, and Her Royal Highness the princess actually memorized it word for word.

Lu Shi said: "This passage is really resonant. ”

Margarita spreads her hands,

"How do you put more than 100 words in a comic? The size of the frame is limited. ”

Lu Shi was instantly asked,

"This ......"

Margarita said: "So, it takes a person who is proficient in the original work to adapt, on the one hand, it can't lose the essence of the original work; On the other hand, make it more suitable for caricature. ”

Lu Shi actually had a feeling of being persuaded,

He asked, "What are you going to do?" ”

Margarita laughed, "I can adapt, but I'm not good at drawing, so I'm going to ask someone from the Academy of Arts and Entertainment to help." ”

The College of Arts and Recreation was later known as Goldsmiths, or Goldsmiths.

In modern times, the QS World University Rankings are highly ranked for art and design, and the Department of Fine Arts has produced many young artists, and its graduates have been nominated for more than 30 Turner Prizes and produced nine winners.

Lu Shi nodded,

"It's really an idea to try."

That's right, but I'm not optimistic about it.

Because the comics of the early 20th century still lacked an extremely important element -

Storyboarding.

The storyboard is Osamu Tezuka's innovation of the manga,

He incorporated a variety of film expressions such as zoom, wide angle, and top-down into the comics, giving the comics a cinematic sense of movement.

The emergence of storyboards brought comics into a new period of development and laid the foundation for the take-off of the comics industry.

A long story like Jane Eyre has no storyboard......

Lu Shi could not have imagined.

But he decided to let Margarita try anyway,

After all, he just crossed over, and he didn't become an all-knowing and all-powerful god.

Cross-genre literary creation is already the limit,

Draw manga or something, let's leave it to real professionals.

Moreover, the "Mirror" really needs a comic version, and it can't be too homogeneous, overlapping with the "London News Illustrated" and "Berlin Pictorial" in the ecological niche, so it needs to innovate in content and form.

The four-panel comic is undoubtedly a good attempt.

The vast majority of people's childhood will have more or less the shadow of a few pages of four-panel comics,

Mr. Wang Ze's "Old Master",

Ao Youxiang's "Oolong Courtyard",

Abroad, there are "Garfield", "Snoopy", "Father and Son",

The success of these comics is a testament to this.

Lu Shi said: "In that case, let's follow what we just discussed." Hope you succeed. ”

What he didn't know was that he had inadvertently added another identity-

A leader in the comic revolution.

Margarita couldn't help but look excited, she didn't expect that she would come to the "Mirror" to contribute, but she would bring back such a new work.

Because she was happy, she bent down and rubbed her big face,

My generation: "Meow! ”

Helplessly ravaged.

Margarita smiled and patted the little one's brain, then went to the door and opened it, ready to leave.

At this time, her hand holding the doorknob paused,

"Professor Lu, your office is a mess."

When the land time looks around,

"Definitely. I'll pack up a little bit before leaving. ”

As soon as the words fell,

Bang –

Margarita closed the door.

She said, "Professor Lu, I'll help you!" ”

With the education of the nobles, Her Royal Highness the princess should not have done such an unruly thing,

But today's comic work made Margarita very excited, and she got a little carried away for a while, which is why she said such unreliable words.

Lu Shi looked at the other party in luxurious clothes, and he really didn't know how to complain.

Margarita also realized that after rummaging in the cupboard for a while, she pulled out a replacement curtain, and tied it like an apron, looking very dirty.

Lu Shi was shocked,

"Your Highness, did you really do it?"

Margarita smiled, "Don't look at me like this, I'm very good at cleaning." And your office is not large, as long as you plan it properly, it will take less than half an hour to clean it. ”

Lu Shi: "......"

Good at cleaning?

This advantage doesn't seem to be compatible with the identity of the princess.

He was about to speak, but was scolded back by Margarita with an instruction: "Professor Lu, you go and prepare a bucket and a towel." ”

Lu Shi looked at the generation next to him,

We also looked at him with a bewildered expression,

Neither a man nor a cat could understand Her Royal Highness's actions.

Margarita urged, "Professor Lu, go quickly." ”

Lu Shi had no choice but to go out and pick up a basin of water and a rag for cleaning up.

As soon as he returned to the office, he found Margarita moving a chair to the window, and she herself was standing on the chair, standing on tiptoe, squinting at the seams between the ceiling and the upper edge of the window.

I was looking up beside him, and my big eyes were full of question marks,

"Meow?"

As if to say, "What kind of human delusion is this?" ”

Lu Shi asked, "Your Highness, do you want to clean the ceiling?" ”

Margarita nodded,

"Well, the order of cleaning should be from top to bottom, inside to inside. Forget it, you don't understand, give me the towel. ”

Lu Shi raised his head,

I saw that there was indeed a thin layer of ash on the ceiling,

"Is there really a need to clean up there?"

Margarita turned back,

"Professor Lu, take action!"

Lu Shi was out of line, muttering: "Okay, good!" My esteemed Highness the Princess. ”

As he spoke, he leaned over with a water-soaked towel.

Margarita smiled satisfactorily at first, but then quickly remembered something, her face flushed, and she subconsciously suppressed the hem of her skirt.

Lu Shi didn't come and didn't think much about it,

But Margarita's movements were almost suggestive, and he couldn't help but think about it too much.

He quickly staggered his gaze and said silently in his heart:

"Don't look at indecent things!"

But this deviation made Margarita even more shy, and she didn't know where to put her hands.

She quickly jumped out of her chair,

"Professor Lu, I'm leaving!"

Lu Shi saw that the other party's face was so red that he seemed to be able to squeeze out ketchup, and quickly stopped: "You wait!" When you go out in this state now, people who don't know still think I'm ...... Thought I ......"

The words "workplace harassment" in the back could not be said after all.

Margarita stood for a while, and when she saw that Lu Shi couldn't say why, she flew to the door.

She put her hand on the doorknob and turned her head,

"Professor Lu, I heard that you are going to be knighted? Congratulations! ”

After speaking, Her Royal Highness the princess snatched the door out.

(End of chapter)