Bottling up their talent

It was Xue Jingwan, a master painter, who invented the special bamboo pen in the 1950s and introduced the techniques of hooking, cross-hatching, rubbing, dotting, and coloring from traditional Chinese painting into inside-painted art.

This breakthrough improved the diversity of interior painting expressions, Zhang says.

As the country is paying more attention to its traditional crafts and has stepped up its intangible cultural heritage protection efforts, interior painting has been given a new lease on life and infused with modern elements.

In the past, the painting was done with ceramic pigments, which were fired. This presented a relatively rough glazed texture, says Li.

"Today, we use more vibrant and delicate traditional Chinese painting pigments instead," she adds.

Eight years of practice have seen Li get all the demanding skills down to a fine art, literally.

"The key during the creation is to keep a peaceful mind," Li says.

Li was exposed to the charm of the art since childhood under her father, Li Huitong, a master of interior painting with more than three decades of experience.

She showed a great interest in painting, from initial doodling to advanced sketching. Dedicated training then gave her a sensitivity to shape, size and methods of graphically depicting spatial relationships.