Lin Dongfu, the creator of these portraits, was born in Shanghai in 1957. He is well known for his early experience as a voice actor for translated films and hosts for TV show later, as well as the characters he shaped on TV. He showed a passion for painting since his childhood, and kept self-taught drawing when he was young. In 2013, he started working on painting again in the themes of blues and jazz under the instruction of the Italian painter Matteo Massagrande. Lin Dongfu, who dotes upon jazz, paid several visits to the United States, Canada and other countries,  to scout the source of jazz and experience the vibe and humanistic pathos that gave rise to blues in the early days along the Mississippi River. He also collected black-white photos of blues and jazz legends of the old times all around, and by identifying their skin color against the black and white hues, reinterpret the charm of the old days in paintings.

Lin Dongfu knows every detail about the music works and life experiences of the characters he paints. He devoted himself to depicting both the manner and souls of these jazz masters, as if having dialogues with them that touched the soul every time he picked up the paintbrush. And he puts it this way - these jazz masters represent the habitat of my soul, and with that spiritual power they instill in me, I try to tell their stories by picturing their faces weathered in time and tide.