Post-95s girl shares hand-painted drawings of clouds for 1,000 days

After Li Yaqian, a post-95s girl from central China's Hubei province shared her paintings about clouds on the Internet for over 1,000 days, she was followed by millions of fans from all over the country impressed by the healing power of her drawings.

Photo shows Li painting clouds by a lake. (Photo provided by the interviewee)

Li dubbed herself as a “cloud-catcher.” The girl disclosed that she takes great delight in capturing beautiful clouds in the sky and illustrating the fascinating scenery with paint brushes.

Li's artworks, which have been shared on social media platforms such as Douyin, Weibo and Xiaohongshu, have received millions of likes from online users. “So beautiful, she depicts my dream,” some commented below one of her posts, while others commented “I like your style of drawing, so soothing.”

Photo shows Li's artworks. (Photo provided by the interviewee)

“I reckon that clouds are the liveliest element in the universe because of their fascinating uncertainty,” Li recalled while reflecting on her creative motivation. While many viewers consider her artworks to be healing, she has sensed a greater sense of satisfaction in these paintings. This satisfaction comes from the process of recreating the beauty of life with her own hands, she said.

In order to collect more source materials for her themed paintings, Li also set up a cloud-sharing online community for like-minded people to exchange their photographs of the skies or the clouds above. “Happy” and “soothing” are possibly some of the most common words used there to describe the images.

Li sits in front of her painting. (Photo provided by the interviewee)

Back in 2017, when Li first released her replicated versions of movie scenes on the Internet, some netizens expressed doubt as to whether these illustrations were in fact printed copies. However, Li dispelled these doubts by making public her whole creative process.

During university, Li's persistence and enthusiasm allowed her to come out with her first independent publication of paintings in 2016, with monthly sales reaching over 2,000 copies. The painting and clay courses launched by her and another blogger have also been well-received. These experiences encouraged her to embark on a career track towards becoming an illustrator.

Currently, as an illustrator and social medial personality, Li has continuously posted her artworks on live-streaming social media. Feelings of happiness can be doubled when you can share it, Li believes. 

Photo shows Li painting clouds. (Photo provided by the interviewee)