Zhang Changsuo began his creative career as an artist drawing cartoons. His cartoons were first published when he was only 13 years old. Two years later, he became the youngest member of Chinese Artists' Association in Xi'an, Northwest China's Shaanxi Province.
    Then Zhang studied from famed painter Shi Lu and was greatly influenced by the ink painting style in Northwest China of which lines are fluid and vigorous, revealing a relaxed and free painting style. Later he was admitted to the Decorative Painting Department of the Central Institute of Arts and Crafts in Beijing. One of his teachers was Han Meilin, a well-known artist in China.
    Zhang gradually developed his own style by blending the exaggeration of cartoon, distortion of decorative paintings and vigour of ink painting.
    Most of Zhang's works were inspired by his beloved daughter and her cat. No wonder, he has focused his brush on a variety of cats -- kitties playing alone in the garden, old cats catching rats and lonely cats enjoying the moonlight.
    The artist produces a clean and simple sketch that has adequate likeness to the cat's face yet, in a kind of way, also employs some fun with exaggeration. He also expresses his understanding of life and art in his works, such as ``Cats From the City Don't Recognize Rats.'' The picture -- a chubby cat which is surrounded by dozens of rats looks confused and helpless -- is exaggerative yet impressive.