I’ve always had the utmost respect for painters and nothing is quite as wondrous as watching them in action. While in China recently I had the opportunity to visit the oil painting village in Dafen and it was simply out of this world!

While the streets look like any other in the area, a peek into each shop shows a ton of paintings and many painters in action.

First up, my favourite photo taken with my handy iPhone. If I could paint, this is what I would want my painting corner to look like:

For those looking to have replicas made, this is probably one of the best places to go to. (The “official policy” is that replicas are clearly stated as such and that the artists have passed away more than 70 years ago and hence no copyright issues there…)

Painting was going on in alleys and in little tiny shops. And seeing this in the back of a tiny store just blew my mind.

The wooden stick in the centre of the canvas is used to balance their hands when painting I found out later.. I originally thought it was used do some ratio measurement oops.

And in case you were wondering, of course there are original creative works! Here’s a really colourful fun piece by a Chinese artist. Apparently he’s been commissioned to do quite a few works to be sold in Singapore so I guess I shouldn’t say too much :)

Finally, the framing. Several shops in the area specialize in framing and they get it done really quickly in the shops and on the streets.

This was definitely a very cool experience and a strong recommendation for anyone who’s in the area!