When he was in elementary school and saw a tiger for the first time at the circus, Lin discovered that real tigers were quite unlike the unfired clay figurines he saw at the temples. He went back to the circus day after day to observe them carefully and draw them.
打從國小時候，看見馬戲團裡的真老虎，林玉山發現與他平日寺廟中所見泥虎塑像大不相同，因而接連幾天都到馬戲團報到，仔細觀察、素描。