Late autumn is a bleak season with fallen leaves in the eyes of some; in the eyes of others. However, it provides gorgeous views with golden leaves. The autumn leaves mean more at DNUI. Three DNUI students have drawn the campus scenery on fallen sycamore leaves recently and received thumbs-up from all after they posted on the new media platform the pictures of the drawings with bright colors and ingenious designs. The original leaves have been covered by the local TV, Tencent News and other media.

The leaf drawings feature such distinctive landmarks as the stone logo of Neusoft, the locomotive, the clock tower and the university library. The views were depicted by Xu Jialing from Class 16001 who majors in visual communication design, Li Yujie from Class 17002 who majors in human resources management and Dong Yaqi from Class 17001 who specializes in the Russian language. The artists finished the works in their free time within one week.

When asked about the inspiration, Xu Jialing, the girl in charge of the job, said, “the idea was brought up at the meeting for projects of DNUI News Association. Our department holds freehand painting competitions regularly. Since we found this year’s leaves exceptionally beautiful, we were inspired to draw something on them.” Romantic as the idea was, the job posed difficulties the moment they started to materialize it. The first difficulty was what brush to use. “The common marker doesn’t draw easily and its color doesn’t appear bright; gouache dries too fast and peels off,” remarked Xu, “then we thought of the acrylic paints that were recommended by one of our teachers before. We decided on this type of paint after trial since it dries more slowly and holds fast to the surface of the leaves, a perfect paint that combines the advantages of the other two.”

After dozens of trails, the girls completed nearly twenty leaf paintings. To Li Yujie, the one with the clock tower was her favorite in that it presented the structure’s beauty in a fresh fashion with a view from the library.

“It was only a passing idea at the project selection meeting. To my surprise, the students should have turned it into reality within so short a time. It surprises me all the more that their works have been so well-received after the students extended their works on the new media platform,” said Li Shining, the students’ instructor from the Branding Development Department of DNUI.