Local painters capture beautiful hometown with brush pens

Painters in Xiepu town of Ningbo paint rivers, mountains and trees on painting boards on Oct 11. [Photo/zjol.com.cn]

Approximately 100 non-professional farmer painters in Xiepu town of Ningbo, Zhejiang province worked closely on drawing a 19-meter-long painting of nature in their hometown on Oct 11 to welcome the upcoming 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China.

"The painting was completely designed and drawn by locals," said Jiang Yong, deputy director of the town's culture department. At first, participants did their drawings separately; all painting boards were then spliced together into a large artwork.

It will be a highlight of an approaching painting exhibition featuring drawings by local painters and is expected to be followed by others reflecting the great changes of their hometown.

The tradition of farmer painting in Xiepu town, a grassroots art form presented by local farmers can be traced back to the 1980s. Over the past 30 years, it has become famous nationwide for the vivid depiction of rural life and won the town a name as the "home of farmer painting".

By gathering talented painters together and building exchange platforms, Xiepu now has a team of more than 150.

Farmer painting is also being utilized to develop a new industry here. Printed on phone cases, cups, bed sheets, cushions and clothes, farmers' drawings add special warmth to urban life.