Chinese artist creates incredible drawings of 13 cat species in China using nail gun

Qingchuan, a young Chinese artist, recently completed the last piece of a series of impressive drawings of 13 wild species of the felidae family, generally known as the cat family, living in China, using a pneumatic nail gun and nails, in the hope of raising public awareness of protecting these animals.

Born after 1980 in Beijing, the artist created 13 drawings, each representing one species of the cat family, by shooting nails onto PVC boards with the nail gun, a tool generally used by builders, over eight months since early this year. These species are the tiger, leopard, snow leopard, clouded leopard, lynx, golden cat, leopard cat, fishing cat, Pallas's cat, marbled cat, desert cat, Asiatic wildcat, and jungle cat.

Photo shows drawings of 13 wild species of the cat family created by Qingchun with a pneumatic nail gun and nails. (Photo provided by the interviewee)

"I want to combine a feeling of power and the beauty of natural species by 'painting' with a pneumatic nail gun and integrating my ideas into my artworks to create a marvelous visual effect," the artist said.

Qingchuan explained that she drew inspiration from a Russian artist who used a nail gun to create drawings of animals including a giraffe, elephant and bear.

"Believing that it is a nice art form, I thought that I could use it to create drawings of animals that live in China," the artist said, adding that her idea got encouragement from her teacher Zeng Xiaolian, a famous Chinese botanical illustrator.

"Mr. Zeng who is in his 80s, told me that an artist should not be confined to painting with paintbrushes and papers," she recalled.

Photo shows a drawing featuring a snow leopard created by Qingchun with a pneumatic nail gun and nails. (Photo provided by the interviewee)

As 2022 is the Year of the Tiger according to the Chinese Zodiac, Qingchuan planned to use a nail gun to create a drawing of a tiger. When she collected information about Siberian tigers, she found that China is home to 13 wild species of the cat family.

"People are familiar with the Siberian tiger, but may not have even heard of other species of the cat family. So I decided to create a series of drawings on the theme of the cat family in China to let more people learn about these wild animals and do something for them," she said.

To fully showcase the unique markings of each of the 13 species of the cat family, she researched a great deal of material about them and consulted with experts on the cat family.

According to Qingchuan, her artworks featuring the cat family are different in size, with each piece using about 20,000 to 50,000 nails. She meticulously arranged nails on the boards to form fine lines and delicate shadows to show the animals' fur, stripes, and dots. She also used a hammer to adjust the flatness of the nails.

Photo shows a drawing featuring a North China leopard created by Qingchun with a pneumatic nail gun and nails. (Photo provided by the interviewee)

"I hope to showcase the beauty of species and inspire more people to think about how to co-exist with nature by creating artworks about nature with a pneumatic nail gun," said the artist.

Qingchuan learned traditional Chinese bird-and-flower painting when she was a child, and has developed a habit of observing animals or plants ever since, which has a huge influence on her artistic creations.

However, Qingchuan majored in Chinese language and literature in college and never had a job related to painting after graduation.

In 2014, she began to paint again, focusing on themes including flowers, birds, insects and fish. She later taught herself how to draw with painting materials she had never used before, including colored pencils. In 2017, she became Zeng's apprentice.

In recent years, her artworks have been put on display at exhibitions including the 19th International Botanical Congress Botanical Art Exhibition and the Ultimate Hand-drawing Exhibition on Arts of Nature and Science.

Photo shows a drawing featuring a desert cat created by Qingchun with a pneumatic nail gun and nails. (Photo provided by the interviewee)