Depending on the complexity, a work can take a week to several months. [Photo by Gao Shan/Xinhua]

"We have a chat group on WeChat with more than 500 members fascinated by leather crafting," Cai says. More than a thousand people have mastered the skill nationwide.

Most early Chinese leather crafts were in American or Japanese styles. Cai hopes to realize the aesthetic imagery of ancient Chinese paintings "full of Chinese flavor".

Cai's family fully supports his art, "otherwise, they would not let me do this fulltime".

Cai studied traditional Chinese painting and sketching at school and dreamed of becoming an artist. "Now my dream is realized," he says.

His next project is an exhibition of his work.