Wanggongzhuang · Henan
One painter.
One brush.
Every tiger by hand.
TigerVow · Quanxi paints tigers in the traditional gongbi technique — first-class painter, member of the Henan Artists and Calligraphers Associations, and painter of the 2010 Guinness World Record tiger scroll.
30+
Years painting
First-class
Painter grade
2
Association memberships
2010
Guinness record scroll
The artist
TigerVow · Quanxi
Born in 1988 in Henan, he grew up in Wanggongzhuang — the village the Chinese press calls the tiger painting village, where hundreds of households have painted tigers for generations. He began as a boy under the old masters and has worked in gongbi ever since.
His tigers are built the slow way: white outlines first, then strand after strand of hair-fine strokes, wash over wash, until the coat carries real weight and the eyes hold a gaze. A single large painting can take eighty hours.
Today he is a senior artist and first-class painter, a member of the Henan Artists Association and the Henan Calligraphers Association, a councillor of the China Celebrity Association, and a professor of painting. His works have been selected for national exhibitions and awards since 2007.
The craft
How a tiger is painted
Four stages. Thirty to eighty hours. Nothing rushed, nothing printed.
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1
Paper & ink
Xuan paper from Anhui, Chinese ink and mineral pigments — cinnabar, ochre, azurite. Colours that will not fade or yellow with time.
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2
The white outline
The whole composition is drawn first in fine ink: the tiger's structure, the rocks, the pines. Structure before colour, always.
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3
Fur and gaze
Layer after layer of hair-fine strokes build the coat, the whiskers and the eyes. This is the stage that takes the longest and cannot be hurried.
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4
Inscription & seals
The title, the date and the artist's seals go on last. Then the paper is mounted by hand — a hanging scroll, a hand scroll, or framed.
In the studio
Watch the brush
Two minutes of the slow work — sound on for his own commentary.
Recognition
Awards & records
Exhibition awards, association memberships and institutional collections collected over two decades of painting.
Commission
Commission a tiger
Choose a painting and a size, and he begins as soon as the order arrives. Every piece ships signed, sealed and numbered, with a certificate of authenticity.
