Ukrainian artist Meinychuk Ihor donates one of his paintings drawn based on Songxi village in Zhejiang's Jinhua city to local government on Aug 19. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

Meinychuk Ihor, a Ukrainian artist, donated one of his paintings of Songxi village in Zhejiang's Jinhua city to the local government on Aug 19, as part of the Songxi session of Homestay in Jinhua's Historical Villages, a series of activities set up for visitors to come and experience authentic local life.

The painting was created along with the village's local artist Xu Xiaofeng.

Ihor says that Songxi's stunning scenery was a massive source of inspiration for his painting, and as the brightness of the town reminds him of the sun, he applied lots of bright oil paint to his picture of the village.

Before putting their paintbrushes to paper, the two artists toured the ancient village first to gather ideas for the work of art.

Then, they started their creation at the village's Shao Family's Ancestral Hall, which enjoys a history of more than 300 years. Xu drew out a basic structure before Ihor filled in specific buildings, mountains and rivers.

The painting was not created completely based on Songxi and the two artists just selected some of its representative buildings and monuments, including square and round gates at the entrance of the village, Guandi Temple, a temple built in the Three Kingdoms period (220-280) and several bridges, according to the two painters.

The painter is now working on another work which depicts a local grandmother embroidering.