Great artworks sometimes come in an unexpected form. A Chinese university professor has created a series of vivid portraits of well-known figures using tiny pieces of jeans, reported the People's Daily Online. The largest of all, an image of a Buddha, measures two metres (6.6ft) in height and comprises more than 10,000 pieces of denim. Wang Xiaolei, an associate professor at Wuhan Textile University, started creating what he calls ‘denim paintings’ after visiting a town in China in 2007 which specialised in processing off-cut cloth pieces but had a terrible effect on the surrounding environment in doing so. Creativity: Wang Xiaolei, working on a portrait of Audrey Hepburn, embarked on the unusual endeavour of 'painting' with unwanted denim after witnessing how scrap cloth factories destroy the environment. Variety: Mr Wang's paintings cover a wide range of figures from Chairman Mao to David Beckham (centre) Vividness: The professor's interpretation of Zhang Yimo (left), a famous Chinese film director, and Mo Yan (right), a Nobel Prize-winning Chinese author. His interest was strengthen after an academic visit to the University of Manchester in 2008, during which he learned more ways of recycling scrap cloth. Since then, Mr Wang has collected tens of thousands of old jeans for experimenting with his art. He says denim has a three-dimensional quality so it is easy to make shapes with. To make a portrait, he first cuts jeans into large pieces and separates these pieces into different colour shadings. Then he goes into a trail-and-error stage of setting out the outlines and establishing the different shades of colours of the particular picture, and this could take more than 100 alterations to get right. Fashion: Mr Wang's unique style has created a trend among his students at Wuhan Textile University who regularly paint with him in the studio. In this picture, he is holding a portrait of Andy Lau, a renowned singer and actor from Hong Kong. Process: The professor first cuts jeans into large pieces and separates these pieces into different colour shadings, before creating artworks of figures such as Leonardo DiCaprio (left) Effort: To set the correct outlines and colour tones of a painting sometimes takes more than 100 alterations. Mr Wang creates portraits of a range of Chinese and international figures, including Chairman Mao, Fan Bingbing, David Beckham, Michael Jackson, Audrey Hepburn and Leonardo Dicaprio. His wife Taohui, who also collaborates on him with his ‘denim painting’, says Mr Wang is so absorbed in his work that he spent one New Year’s eve in his studio. Extended periods of concentration on these denim collages, separating the cloth into almost identical shades of colour, has also resulted in his eyes almost always being bloodshot. Mr Wang’s hard work finally paid off when his paintings attracted the attention of a director of the Cultural University of Japan, who invited the denim warrior to hold an exhibition in Japan. He has also produced portraits for the eight invited guest speakers at the World Textile Conference last November. Devotion: Mr Wang's wife says her husband is so absorbed in his work that he spent one New Year's Eve in his studio. Landscape: Apart from portraits, Mr Wang also creates landscape pictures with denim such as the one pictured above. Home decor: Chairs have also had the denim treatment from Mr Wang.
What are the important parts of this article?
Wang Xiaolei started ‘denim paintings’ in hope of protecting environment.
His interest was strengthened after visiting the University of Manchester.
Subjects range from Audrey Hepburn to David Beckham.
A painting could contain 10,000 pieces of denim and take 6 months to make.
Stora konstverk kommer ibland i en oväntad form. En kinesisk universitetsprofessor har skapat en rad levande porträtt av välkända figurer med hjälp av små bitar av jeans, rapporterade People's Daily Online. Den största av alla, en bild av en Buddha, mäter två meter (6,6ft) i höjd och omfattar mer än 10 000 bitar denim. Wang Xiaolei, docent vid Wuhan Textile University, började skapa vad han kallar ‘denim målningar’ efter att ha besökt en stad i Kina 2007 som specialiserade sig på att bearbeta avklippta tygbitar men hade en fruktansvärd effekt på den omgivande miljön i att göra det. Kreativitet: Wang Xiaolei, som arbetar med ett porträtt av Audrey Hepburn, inledde den ovanliga strävan att "måla" med oönskad denim efter att ha bevittnat hur skrotfabriker förstör miljön. Mångfald: Mr Wangs målningar täcker ett brett spektrum av figurer från ordförande Mao till David Beckham (centrum) Vividness: Professorns tolkning av Zhang Yimo (vänster), en känd kinesisk filmregissör, och Mo Yan (höger), en nobelprisbelönad kinesisk författare. Hans intresse stärktes efter ett akademiskt besök vid University of Manchester 2008, under vilket han lärde sig fler sätt att återvinna tygskrot. Sedan dess har Mr Wang samlat tiotusentals gamla jeans för att experimentera med sin konst. Han säger att denim har en tredimensionell kvalitet så det är lätt att göra former med. För att göra ett porträtt klipper han först jeans i stora bitar och separerar dessa stycken i olika färgskuggningar. Sedan går han in i ett led-och-felstadium där han beskriver konturerna och fastställer de olika färgnyanserna i den enskilda bilden, och detta kan kräva mer än 100 ändringar för att komma till rätta. Mode: Mr Wangs unika stil har skapat en trend bland hans studenter vid Wuhan Textile University som regelbundet målar med honom i studion. På den här bilden håller han ett porträtt av Andy Lau, en känd sångare och skådespelare från Hongkong. Process: Professorn skär först jeans i stora bitar och separerar dessa bitar i olika färgskuggningar, innan han skapar figurverk som Leonardo DiCaprio (vänster) Effort: Att ställa in rätt konturer och färgtoner på en målning kräver ibland mer än 100 ändringar. Wang skapar porträtt av en rad kinesiska och internationella personer, bland annat ordförande Mao, Fan Bingbing, David Beckham, Michael Jackson, Audrey Hepburn och Leonardo Dicaprio. Hans fru Taohui, som också samarbetar med honom med hans ”denimmåleri”, säger att Wang är så uppslukad av sitt arbete att han tillbringade en nyårsafton i sin ateljé. Utökade koncentrationsperioder på dessa denimcollage, som skiljer duken åt i nästan identiska färgnyanser, har också resulterat i att hans ögon nästan alltid blivit blodsprängda. Wangs hårda arbete lönade sig till slut när hans målningar väckte uppmärksamhet hos en direktör för Japans kulturuniversitet, som bjöd in denimkrigaren att hålla en utställning i Japan. Han har även producerat porträtt till de åtta inbjudna gästtalarna på World Textile Conference i november förra året. Vördnad: Mr Wangs fru säger att hennes man är så uppslukad av sitt arbete att han tillbringade en nyårsafton i sin ateljé. Landskap: Bortsett från porträtt skapar Mr Wang också landskapsbilder med denim som den som är avbildad ovan. Heminredning: Stolar har också fått denimbehandlingen från Mr Wang. Vilka är de viktiga delarna i den här artikeln?
Large works of art sometimes come in an unexpected form. A Chinese university professor has created a series of live portraits of well-known figures using small pieces of jeans, People's Daily Online reported. The largest of all, an image of a Buddha, measures two metres (6.6ft) in height and encompasses more than 10,000 pieces of denim. Wang Xiaolei, associate professor at Wuhan Textile University, began creating what he calls ‘denim paintings’ after visiting a city in China in 2007 that specialized in processing cut-off pieces of cloth but had a terrible effect on the surrounding environment in doing so. Creativity: Wang Xiaolei, working on a portrait of Audrey Hepburn, began the unusual effort to "paint" with unwanted denim after witnessing how scrap factories destroy the environment. Diversity: Mr. Wang's paintings cover a wide range of figures from Chairman Mao to David Beckham (centre) Vividness: The Professor's interpretation of Zhang Yimo (left), a famous Chinese film director, and Mo Yan (right), a Nobel Prize-winning Chinese writer. His interest strengthened after an academic visit to the University of Manchester in 2008, during which he learned more ways to recycle cloth scrap. Since then, Mr. Wang has collected tens of thousands of old jeans to experiment with his art. He says that denim has a three-dimensional quality so it's easy to make shapes with. To make a portrait, he first cuts jeans into large pieces and separates these pieces into different color shadows. Then he enters a stage of joint-and-wrongness where he describes the contours and determines the different shades of color in the individual image, and this may require more than 100 changes to be made. Fashion: Mr. Wang's unique style has created a trend among his students at Wuhan Textile University who regularly paint with him in the studio. In this picture, he holds a portrait of Andy Lau, a famous singer and actor from Hong Kong. Process: The professor first cuts jeans into large pieces and separates these pieces into different color shadows, before creating figure works such as Leonardo DiCaprio (left) Effort: Setting the right contours and hues on a painting sometimes requires more than 100 changes. Wang creates portraits of a range of Chinese and international figures, including Chairman Mao, Fan Bingbing, David Beckham, Michael Jackson, Audrey Hepburn and Leonardo Dicaprio. His wife Taohui, who also collaborates with him with his ‘denim painting', says Wang is so engulfed in his work that he spent a New Year's Eve in his studio. Extended periods of concentration on these denimcollage, which separate the canvas in almost identical color shades, have also resulted in his eyes almost always being bloodshot. Wang's hard work finally paid off when his paintings attracted the attention of a director of Japan's cultural university, who invited the denim warrior to hold an exhibition in Japan. He has also produced portraits for the eight invited guest speakers at the World Textile Conference last November. Venerable: Mr. Wang's wife says her husband is so engulfed in his work that he spent a New Year's Eve in his studio. Landscape: Apart from portraits, Mr. Wang also creates landscape images with denim as the one depicted above. Home decor: Chairs have also received the denim treatment from Mr. Wang. What are the key elements of this article?
Wang Xiaolei startade ‘denimmålningar’ i hopp om att skydda miljön. Hans intresse stärktes efter att ha besökt University of Manchester. Försökspersonerna sträcker sig från Audrey Hepburn till David Beckham. En målning kunde innehålla 10 000 bitar denim och ta 6 månader att göra.
Wang Xiaolei started ‘denim paintings’ in hopes of protecting the environment. His interest strengthened after visiting the University of Manchester. The subjects range from Audrey Hepburn to David Beckham. A painting could contain 10,000 pieces of denim and take 6 months to make.