"Unlike many professional artists, I am not too focused on techniques when I paint. I try to look at a painting with an outsider's perspective, and often bear in my mind questions like what the painting can bring to me, to others, and to the world," he says.

According to Lin, his style changes according to the themes, but the principle is that he has sympathy and a soft heart when painting, and tries to deliver that feeling to viewers.

Lin, who grew up in a rural family in the coastal city Zhanjiang, has loved calligraphy and painting since he was a child.

When he was little, the family was too poor to afford regular art education, so he taught himself.

He used to spend his pocket money to buy books and magazines from recycling centers, and copy the paintings from them.

To cut costs, he learned to use a minimum palate and the simplest materials.