Roy Wang, a Chinese light artist, is putting a modern twist to the ancient lantern tradition, by "drawing" with electric light in a long-exposure photo. And he's even created a piece specially for CGTN on the Lantern Festival.

This self-taught artist used to be a professional rugby player. When he discovered Picasso's light drawings, he decided to do something that brings in his own understanding of Chinese culture. In his latest series, Wang made mythical creatures from The Classics of Mountains and Seas strolling down the streets of metropolises across China.

"China has more than 5,000 years of civilizations, and there's a lot of content like dragons, phoenix and ancient stories that I can put into my works," Wang told CGTN during an exclusive interview.

Although he had to abandon a career as a professional rugby player, Wang said that his time as professional athlete helps with his light painting.

"As a professional sportsman you have to do a lot of basic training and you develop that muscle memory," Wang said. He added that because you wouldn't get to see what the final results when you're painting, muscle memory is also important in light painting.  

"Practice makes perfect," he joked. 

Wang also encourages more people, whether professional or amateur, to explore the medium of light painting, saying it's easy to pick up and a lot of fun. 

In the future, Wang hopes to take his series of The Classics of Mountains and Seas to more cities in China and even overseas. "The art form is so versatile that there can be infinite possibilities with light painting," he said.