Li Shaoyue's painted snuff bottles feature themes such as human images and landscapes. CHINA DAILY

With surgical precision artist produces fantastic images inside a tiny vial, Yang Feiyue reports.

Seen from afar, Li Shaoyue wields a thin bamboo stick up and down inside a tiny glass vessel secured steadily in her left hand, as if trying to fish something out of it.

It is not until one gets close and sees the delicate patterns emerging from within the translucent glass, that the mystery reveals itself. It turns out there's method in all her seemingly random moves.

The air is still in her workshop in Zibo, East China's Shandong province, as the artist, who just turned 30, sits still behind a desk and concentrates on the glass bottle before her, from which vivid landscape scenery, animal and human images emerge from the inside.

Her stunning delivery of neihua (interior painting) with local characteristics that was named a national intangible cultural heritage in 2014 recently roused a wave of public attention, with more than 8 million views online.

"It's a bit beyond my expectation, but I'm glad so many people appreciate the beauty of the art," Li says.

The craft requires artists to use a special bamboo pen with a hook-tipped brush inside a glass container that usually features a very small opening.

"The inner wall of those containers is often frosted, providing a rough surface for coloring, as a smooth surface cannot hold the pigments effectively," Li explains.

Traditional snuff bottles were most popular for the art, but any glass items of the same texture can be used.

"The old-fashioned snuff bottles with interior paintings are now sought after as collectibles and gifts, while colored glazed beads featuring the art can be accessories," Li says.

Compared with working on the paper, interior painting is much more complex.

"One needs to plan and conceptualize in advance, taking into account the curvature of the inner wall of the bottle. The process is intricate and requires dexterity and skill," she adds.

All the lines and outlines in the art form require absolute precision.

"When drawing the lines, you need to go slowly without bending them. It requires a delicate touch and extensive practice," Li says.

The mouth of a snuff bottle is usually not big enough for a soybean to pass through. Consequently, the complex patterns drawn inside represent an extraordinary feat.

An artist has to apply sketching, stippling, cross-hatching (an artistic technique used to add shadow and dimension to drawn objects) and coloring to present the art.