Fort Canning Park

I used to do big format location watercolor paintings. Now I like to travel light with either a A5 sketchbook or a A6 blackbook and my favorite Lamy fountain pen. Here is one rare watercolor and two other pen sketches of Fort Canning Park at different times and different views.

Fort Canning Park has been a landmark in Singapore's early history evolving from the 14th century since Majapahit era to the British colonial days. The two white cupolas, designed by George Coleman, were probably places of rest. The word 'cupola' means a small dome-shaped roof or ceiling. Coleman was a prolific architect who left his mark on the urban landscape of Singapore. His tombstone can be found at the park.

The majestic banyan tree with its exposed roots on the ground and the aerial roots dangling down from the tree provides a unique backdrop for the two white cupolas. The contrast between soft landscape and the hard structure compliments with the rich colors, interesting shapes and fascinating textures. I love this particular view but I did not neglect other beautiful corners of the park. I have a sketch of the cluster of old tombs. The park was once a graveyard for some 600 Christian graves until 1865. Today, the park is a popular spot for outdoor concerts and big events.

back lane, Penang

On our last day in Penang, we walked from the famous 120-year-old Eastern & Oriental Hotel to the Sunday art market towards Penang Road. We found this back lane off Penang Road with a long line at an Indian food stall. The food was delicious but the coffee was too sweet for me. The name card read "Nasi Kandar Line Clear since 1930". Address "Beside 177 Penang Road, Penang". What an unique address!

Penang again

Golden Sands Resort was the resort hotel where we stayed last weekend near the Feringgi Beach at Penang, Malaysia. The first sketch I did on Penang was here. On the second day after our late breakfast, my husband returned to the hotel room to work on his laptop and I had time to explore the hotel with my sketchbook.

It was not the peak holiday season, so there were mainly friendly silver hair American, European or Australian tourists around the many pools and occassionally young children at the pool slide on the right of my sketch. A lifeguard was sitting there chatting with another hotel employee. The two gentlemen in their late 30s or early 40s on the left were having some drinks at the poolside bar. They might be there for a while already when I started my sketch. The interesting thing was that these two gentlemen did not utter a word for as long as I was there.

They are true holiday makers who are practising "the art of doing nothing".....

Weekend trip to Penang, Malaysia

I did a sketch at the Singapore Changi Airport last weekend when I was on a short trip to Penang, Malaysia. I took a local bus from the hotel to World Heritage Site George Town after my very late breakfast. I followed the flower stalls along the road that led me to a beautiful temple.

Goddess of Mercy Temple is the oldest Chinese temple in Penang and was built in the 1800s by the early Chinese settlers. The temple is also called "Kuan Yin Teng" with a roof adorned with colourful dragons and flowers. The first thing that struck me was the smoke from the countless bundles of joss sticks and incense burning inside and outside the temple. I felt a little uncomfortable as I entered the temple as no way I was going to avoid inhaling the smoke. However, I was immediately distracted by the bustling and hustling atmosphere created by the faithful worshippers. The sizes of joss sticks varied from the usual size of 12" long skinny ones to 6' to 7' long, 4" diameter giant joss sticks which were placed on the granite-paved square outside the temple. Two huge burners on wheels were placed near the stone lion statues for worshipers to burn fake banknotes for wealth and fortune. Pigeons roamed freely to pick on scraps of food.

As I was sketching the beautiful decorative roof, people around me suddenly rushed towards the square to crowd around a man distributing lunch boxes from a big box. The crowd had morphed to an orderly queue for the free lunch. The same scene was repeated for the distribution of bottled water by another man who had arrived in a big car. I was touched by the simple gesture of giving and sharing that these few charitable men had displayed. Some of the men who received the food and water were also seen offering to share their food with those who came later. There was even one backpacker in the line and he told the Indian man next to him that he would be returning tomorrow. He had trendy dark glasses and left shortly after his meal. You can see the lunch box behind me in the photo above. People were milling around me and some stood to watch quietly. I managed to get a picture with these friendly folks and it was another satisfying sketching adventure for me.

Singapore Airlines

As far as I can remember, I have never sketched any airport before. So this sketch of Singapore Airlines SQ198 to Penang from Changi Airport could be the first.

trying something new today

I tried something new today and it worked beatifully. In this photo, I was in the final touching up stage for this piece of work. Everything from clay to subject matter to designer to artist is "Made in Singapore".

Park Guell

Prompted by Lapin's Park Guell. These are two quick impressions of park Guell in pen and crayon. The top one must be drawn from the same spot as Lapin's. I love Barcelona and I love Gaudi's playfulness in his works. The lines also became playful as I drew.

Sketching at Pulau Ubin

A honest me sketching at Pulau Ubin, no plagiarism following my last post, *grin*, two drawings from life here.

Shepard Fairey and Plagiarism

My Position :

Here is one more reason for me to think architects, designers, artists and illustrators from urbansketchers are as original as they can be having a common belief in drawing from everyday life through honest observation.

Personally I am not too hot about taking a direct interpretation of someone's work and spin it into something else. I like to think we should create from life observation and our understanding of a topic with references from life that we know no matter how rich or small. But then again, every master goes through the same process as Fairey, even in architecture, in literature, in music (after so and so), in theatre and of course in art.

For me, I have also created work after Picasso and Le Corbusier but I am not proud about it. The titles are always "after so and so". They are my study pieces.

It is really a personal choice and I have made my choice.

The Background:

We have a lively discussion in the office among some colleagues on the latest news about this article on Shepard Fairey which I had a post here.

Thanks to Jeffrey Ang, my colleague who sent me an email with these links:

Critique on Shepard Faireys earlier works by artist Mark Vallen:



Left: Political power comes from the barrel of a gun - Artist unknown. 1968. Chinese poster from the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution period. The title of this poster quotes the famous pronouncement made by Mao Tse-Tung. Right: Fairey's plagiarized version titled, Guns and Roses. The Chinese poster's central motif of hands bearing machine guns was plainly digitally scanned without any alteration. Fairey, or his assistants, then applied a modified sun-burst background, placed clip-art roses in the gun barrels, and released the imitation in 2006 as a supposed original work.

Source: http://www.art-for-a-change.com/Obey/index.htm



Left: Fairey's derivative poster, Greetings from Iraq, printed in 2005. Right: Ranger Naturalist Service: Yellowstone National Park - Artist unknown. Silkscreen. Circa late 1930s. Created for the Works Progress Administration (WPA) in order to promote travel to America's national parks.

Source: http://www.art-for-a-change.com/Obey/index.htm

sketch at a forum

Sketches at the meetings on urbansketchers blog prompted me to post this sketch I did last Thursday at a forum. I went to the "President's Design Award Forum" presented by winners from the award 2008. The first two speakers were inspiring but the following presentatations by the representatives from the big corporate companies were less animated, so I sketched to keep myself awake. I showed it to the gentleman in the sketch, he was almost half asleep but smiled at me while pointing at his shoe and shook my hand. He left before the forum ended.

The Wall at Lucca

This is the drawing of The Wall which is above the mediaval fortress or city wall. The Wall, erected in the 16th - 17th centuries, never served as protection against enemy attack - rather, it is instrucmental in preventing the Serchio River from flooding and conserved medieval Lucca virtually intact for three hundred years. A pleasant way to tour the city is to walk along the approximately four-km long tree shaded avenue which runs around the city.

I often use this drawing to explain to my friends and students how do I make a simple view interesting by applying different tones into three layers of foreground, mid-ground and background. With the three layers of tones and shapes of darker tones for the shadows, you are already working towards capturing the mood of the place.

Lucca

I hope I have a chance to visit Tuscany again but it is getting harder for me to return. When I see urbansketchers posting sketches on Tuscany, I got really excited. There is an urge to post this sketch on Lucca where I attended a summer programme for about six weeks. I visited most of the major cities in Tuscany except Sienna till today I am still regretting. You can see my other sketches on Lucca at my flickr Please feel free to leave your comments there.

dice art

Just for fun.

CNY_liondance

View On Black
Chinese New Year celebrations last for 15 days. There are lots of excitements and fun. Today we greet the arrival of the lion dance troupe once again to bless the neighbourhood for the year of the OX. I was not ready for a sketch but I decided to go for it to give myself a challenge. With all that greetings from my neighbours and kids it was really difficult to concentrate before the lion dance ended. Lion Dance requires skill and training, and is often taught at martial arts schools. As part of the dance, the lion peels the mandarin oranges and makes a auspicous chinese character on the floor with the fruits. The kids are thrilled so as the adults.

I did the quick sketch and it was messy, so I came home added the grey colourpencil shading. The lion is red which is a lucky colour for Chinese and I also highlight the mandarin oranges. I post this imediately when I am done. The entire process from sketching to uploading plus a quick coffee in between takes me about 2 hours in a hot Saturday afternoon here from our sunny island. I am happy with the result.

Happy Lunar New Year 2009

CNY09, originally uploaded by tiastudio.

Monday Jan 26 was first day of Chinese New Year or Lunar New Year. At this time of the year, Chinese homes are decorated with green pomelos, mandarin oranges, gold paper crafts, red paper calligraphy and tall pussy willow plants placed in a big vase. It is also our custom to put money inside a red envelope which we call 'hong bao' and give it to children and unmarried young adults for good luck and to ward off evil spirits. In the Chinese culture red is a lucky color while gold represents wealth.

I woke up very early on the first day of Chinese New Year to do this drawing. I like to hang 'hong bao' on the tall pussy willows and stick some of them on the containers of cookies and candies. I also like to craft fish from the red envelope as fish in Chinese sounds like 'abundance'. Happy Lunar New Year to all especially to my Asian friends.

Campus Care Network Day

Campus Care Network Day, originally uploaded by tiastudio.

This sketch brings back fond memories. My colleagues cooked and sold food to raise fund for needy students on campus and the sale was very good!

Botanical Garden

botanicgarden, originally uploaded by tiastudio.

Happy Chinese New Year! Before I have time to scan some sketches I did over the CNY holidays, here is one sketch from my little black book on Botanical Garden in Singapore. As I was drawing, I felt calm and peaceful.

Forum from my Travel Sketchbooks

Orginally posted at urbansketchers

A stunning city indeed. Especially an ancient city that is 6226 miles or 10020 kilometers away from where I live. Different from my fellow urbansketchers who posted earlier, I did a sketch right inside the heart of Roman Forum. There were people around me walking, talking and peeping into my sketches with such warm smiles I would never forget.

I saw other sketchers too.....one of them might be you! *smile*.

In the queue

Rome05, originally uploaded by tiastudio.

While waiting in the queue to get into Colosseum, I had a very short time to do this sketch as the queue was moving quite fast under the hot sun in the summer. I like the white space a lot.

Colosseum from my Travel Sketchbooks

Colosseum, originally uploaded by tiastudio.

Inspired by Liz's post from urbansketchers, this is a sketch I did inside the Colosseum under the shade next to a huge coloumn in the summer. Rapid lines are best for travelling sketches when you don't want your travelling partners to wait too long.

St. Peter from my Travel Sketchbook

Vatican City, originally uploaded by tiastudio.

I wish I can go back to Europe and fill up another sketchbook but the distance from Singapore to Rome is 6226 miles or 10020 kilometers and a typical flight between Singapore and Rome is easily 15 to 18 hours. So, I am happy I'd done a sketch on St. Peter, Vatican City in one of my travel sketchbooks.

also blog at urbansketchers

Palazzo Vecchio, Florence

Palazzo Vecchio, originally uploaded by tiastudio.

Palazzo Vecchio - before going to Uffizi Gallery, Florence. With its copy of Michelangelo's David statue as well the gallery of statues in the open space, the plaza was full of people in the summer.

Symbol of Political Change

Three Barack Obama presidential campaign posters, by LA based street artist Shepard Fairey, became the iconic images in the US history when Obama won the election on Nov 4, 2008. More posters inspired by Fairey's style here but should it be encouraged? Taking reference from a photographer's work?

Spanish Steps, Rome

Rome, originally uploaded by tiastudio.

This quick sketch took me about 5 minutes as I suddenly found myself in a crowd when Rome had just won the football match that day. The street was begining to fill with people waving big and small flags plus sound from the car horns as I stood opposite and added very quick lines for the steps.

concert poster

The poster i did for a 1994 concert which my elder son was performing.

Andrew Wyeth (1917 - 2009)

American artist Andrew Wyeth aged 91, died on Friday, 16 Jan 2009. Read more about him inThe New York Times. Here is one of his famous paintings - Christina's World (1948)

people around me this week

Holiday is over, it is back to office and GCE 'O' level result was released on Monday. Here is a sketch on people around me this week for Joint Admission Exercise; a one-week event for the school leavers to have course adivsements and decide what to do in their next course of studies. Good Luck!

Pantheon, Rome

Pantheon, originally uploaded by tiastudio.

I remember this took me a little longer to draw as there was distraction from the conversations, tourists, movements around me at this manificient building. About 30 minutes. When I was to add the details to the cupola, it was about 4pm in the afternoon and the sun light was already moving upward so I had to make some 'adjustments'. This had resulted in a darker shades on top. Hmmmm, go ahead if you want to call it a mistake! HA!

Two Water Cities, China and Italy

In Aug 2006, I took a one-day trip to Zhou Zhuang from Shanghai where I was on an official trip. Zhou Zhuang is the Venice of China, one of the ancient water cities in Jiangsu Province. I sat on one of the many steps and sketched for about 20 minutes under the hot sun. The second drawing was done in Jun 2001 while I was crossing one of the many canals in Venice with my friends. It got to be real quick and it was done like in 5 minutes on a crowded narrow bridge. It was amazing how much a few rapid lines can depict a city and how different are these two sketches after a good interval of 5 years. In my view, the 'differentiation factors' are the locations, moods, type of drawing instruments, time durations and company! What do you think? Send your comments to urbanskechers

St. Mark's Basilica, Venice

Interior of St. Mark's Basilica. I sketched since we were not allowed to take picture. Got to be real quick since I did not want my friends to wait too long for me. Probably done in less than 5 minutes.

Venice from my travel sketchbooks

St. Mark's Square, Venice. I like this drawing a lot. It was done very quickly and I can still remember how I added the birds last in a few strokes!

I went to Venice with a small group of American classmates on a summer programme in 2001. It was such an unique 'back to college' experience for me. We stayed at a local camp site outside Venice and the journey to the city took us almost one hour by local bus. I was the only 'matured' Asian student then but I wanted to follow my younger friends so we stayed at this simple, far away camp site for less than US$10 per head and ate pizzas or hot dogs with water. I must be 20 years older than my American classmates but I probably did not look my age then to the Americans. When I told them my elder son was already 17, they all fell off their chairs....

Kampong Lumut, Malaysia

kampong, Malaysia, originally uploaded by tiastudio.

Abstract version of Kampong Lumut, Malaysia

Lumut, Malaysia

In July 2000, I brought a group of 12 IAD (Interior Architecture and Design) students to Lumut, Malaysia. I did a few drawings and two A3 size watercolour pieces of different expressions.

Pulau Ubin, the great escape

It was such a wonderful idea to spend a cool Saturday outside the cosmopolitan Singapore to sketch and take some cool pictures. Pulau Ubin is a small island only 10.19 sq km located in the north east of Singapore accessible by bumboats at S$2.50 (US$2) per ride. There are many bicycles on rental at only S$2.00 per day for visitors to explore the island. Pulau Ubin literally means 'Granite Island' in Malay. Granite quarrying supported a few thousand settlers on the small island in the past and now, the island is very popular with nature lovers, trekkers and cyclists because of its unspoilt marine wildlife and kampong (village) lifestyle.

Also blog at urbanskechers

not for the faint hearted

The famous Cheng Mun Chee Kee Pig Organ Soup at Beatty Lane near Lavendar Road. The soup itself usually contains a mix of pig intestines, stomach, pork slices, strips of salted vegetables and some Chinese lettuce. I must say it is an acquired taste and a popular local dish. Just count the numbers of serving bowls with various sizes stack together you can tell the shop is very popular during lunch hours. Opposite the shop there is a very colourful Tibetan temple which I will love to sketch one day.

Sultan Mosque and Kampong Glam

I had always wanted to explore Kampong Glam area but I could never find a parking lot. It was my luck on 23 Dec 2008 that I managed to get a parking lot so I decided to order a cup of coffee and sat outside the coffee shop and started drawing. My lamy pen ran out of ink after a few lines! I was contemplating whether to buy a cheap pen at the near-by shop or to stop drawing. It was pure luck that I met Dr Suriani, a potter friend and she loaned me her S$2.70 pilot pen G-2-07 that I managed to complete the drawing. Since it was my lucky day, I was reluctant to go home after drawing so I explored the area around Sultan Mosque and found Sasha - the first teddy bear boutique in Singapore. I bought two Christmas bears - Spencer and Zora for my daughter and my younger son.


click to enlarge

Sultan Mosque was built in 1928 and was gazetted as a national monument. Kampong Glam - the area around the mosque has developed into a popular day and night spot for both tourists and the locals with shophouses occupied by boutiques, shops and cafes. Some of the coolest, grooviest shopping finds are around these busy streets near the mosque. You can also find people sitting on a carpet along the five-foot-way (corridor) and smoke sheesha in the near-by tiny street called Haji Lane.

Also blog at urbanskechers

colours for a better 2009

60 club street, originally uploaded by tiastudio.

I rarely do small format watercolour sketches on locaiton. I used to do large format. I did four small A4 size watercolour sketches along the five foot way outside an interior design shop. The old uncles who were playing majong game in the rich-man-club nearby came out to watch and say hello to me. To see other 3, click here

we will miss you Idzwan....

What a sad start for 2009, Idzwan who is holding the cutting knife here in the picture, met up with a fatal road accident in Johor Bahru, Malaysia and passed away just before noon. I am grieved....