From Dunhuang to global recognition

Xue's artwork Asian Heart. [Photo provided to China Daily]

Xue, who was born into a family of artists, started learning Chinese calligraphy at 5, painting at 8, carving at 12 and seal carving at 16.

In 1988, he joined the then Central Academy of Arts and Design, which is now part of the Academy of Arts and Design of Tsinghua University.

Xue then learned Western oil painting at the prompting of his teachers and began to combine the techniques of traditional Chinese painting with Western oil painting.

In 2007, he went to the Repin Academy of Fine Arts in St. Petersburg, Russia, for further studies.

And, since then, Xue has been developing his own painting styles and skills. Each of his paintings has a distinctive style.

In one of his ultrarealistic paintings called Tears of First Love, the girl's strands of hair, eyebrows and eyelashes, wrinkles on her forehead, as well as the drops of tears in her eyes and also on her face, can be seen distinctly.

The piece, which took Xue two and half months to complete, is now with a national gallery in Italy.