Shanghainese man creates 10-meter-long painting themed on Year of the Tiger using traditional electric iron techniques

A folk artist has painted 100 tigers in different postures using iron painting techniques on a huge piece of Xuan paper, a material specially made for traditional Chinese painting, with the artwork conveying a message of strength and bravery in the Year of the Tiger.

Photo shows an iron painting created by Jiao Yongxing from Shanghai in east China. (Photo provided by the Jinshan district of Shanghai)

In the painting, which has a total length of 10 meters and a width of 0.4 meters, no two tigers are identical, and the postures adopted by the tigers carry different meanings. For instance, a tiger ascending a mountain is associated with growth, auspiciousness and safety, a tiger going down a mountainside is associated with unstoppable strength, and a tiger lying on the ground is regarded as sign of wealth and good fortune.

“It has become a routine for me to create a picture themed on the animal signs of the Chinese zodiac to greet every New Year,” said the artist named Jiao Yongxing from the Jinshan district of Shanghai.

Photo shows a section of an iron painting created by Jiao Yongxing from Shanghai in east China. (Photo provided by the Jinshan district of Shanghai)

Iron painting, as the name suggests, is a craft of creating pictures using iron products. A genre in the long tradition of Chinese painting, the craft of iron painting enjoys a history of more than 2,000 years.

Jiao, who has been in the business for more than 10 years, produced nearly 1,000 iron paintings based on different themes. The man introduced that to create pictures on Xuan paper, which is very thin, he has to precisely control the temperature of the electric iron because if the temperature gets too high, the paper can be burnt, while if the temperature is lower than required, the color of the painting will not be strong enough. He also said that the strength he applies when using the iron and the speed he adopts have to be just right as well. “It takes me about three to four hours to finish an iron painting,” said Jiao.

Photo shows a section of an iron painting created by Jiao Yongxing from Shanghai in east China. (Photo provided by the Jinshan district of Shanghai)

Photo shows Jiao Yongxing creating an iron painting inspired by the Year of the Tiger. (Photo provided by the Jinshan district of Shanghai)