last page

Last page of my sketchbook, I sketched the Nissan GTR at the showroom when I took a day off and sent my car for servicing. Mix feeling about saying goodbye to the old sketchbook.

pens and pencils

Last week, before I could find time to do more sketches, I took a few pictures on the pencil holders that I collected. The latest acquisition was the most expensive of all - Mont Blanc Leonardo Sketch Pen shown here on the far right. I always wanted to buy it but hestitated. Last week, I went to a very nice pen shop to buy the ink catridges for my fountain pen, Jimmy, the shop owner told me the sketch pen will be discontinued soon and I was visibly upset. I went back to the shop to buy it after thinking through over a cup of coffee at the near-by coffee shop.

From left to right - Lamy Safari, Hero M86 Calligraphy Pen, AA Waterman c.1910, Architect Pencil, Lamy Clutch Pencil, Broker Pencil, Faber Castell E Motion Pencil, Cretacolor Lead Holder, Polumbus, Wecle Japan, Koh-I-Noor Hardtmuth chalk /lead holder and Mont Blanc Leonardo Pencil.

Some details on my flickr site.

at the studio

Students are drawing twigs in the studio.

Oleh Oleh - my favourite cafe at Parkway Parade

"Oleh Oleh" means "present" in Malay. it is the name of the small open cafe known for its local Malay pastries and deserts especially my favourite "lopez". Lopez is a glutinous rice topped with grated coconut and sweet syrup. Together with black coffee, the combination is just heavenly. The two couples were discussing on an interior project over the laptop directly in front of my table. The near-by HSBC bank was still open when I left at about 8pm.

ball point pen sketch

click to enlarge

A sketch done with the ball pen and paper provided by Grand Mercure Roxy Hotel, the venue for our company retreat. First day we were out in a group of 8 visiting a small company producing herbal drinks and second day we had a fabulous time at the seminar room of the hotel. Great food, fine wine and fantastic company. There were a few presentations like this one by the top management team.

company visit

As part of the activities for our company retreat, we visited a very small firm set up by two young brothers. One of the brothers was on the phone in the middle of the discussion. The other brother was standing on the right behind the ladies. They were explaining to us the process of tranforming the traditional herbs into bottled herbal drinks you see here on the table. Today, there are 19 flavours compared to the humble 5 flavours of herbal drinks when they first set-up during the SARS epidemic in 2003.

a very hot afternoon

091011_syedalwiroad, originally uploaded by tiastudio.

Done with my new Hero M86 Calligraphy Pen.

The afternoon heat was unbearable so I sat in the air-cond car and sketched the street - Syed Alwi Road. I had a sketch done for the row of shophouse with oval windows on the left early this year. This was the second car that blocked my view for the whole period I was sketching. The first one drove away. This one also parked for like 5 minutes and I had to scramble with the outline of the car when I saw the driver came back from nowhere with lunch packages. A big van very quickly filled in the parking lot and blocked my view totally. I moved my car a little in order to finish the sketch. That was the situation a sketcher has to deal with when you are sketching 'moving targets'.

national monument

The heat was still unbearable although I sat under the big shade on a Sunday afternoon.

I sketched the famous clock tower building of the Chinese High School on one Sunday. The Chinese High School, also the first Chinese secondary school in Singapore was constructed in 1919 and completed in 1925. The clock tower building was gazetted as a national monument on 19 Mar 1999. This year the School celebrates its 90th anniversary.

The building was used by the Allied defenders during the Battle of Singapore, as well as during the Japanese Occupation of Singapore from 1942 to 1945. It was occupied by the Imperial Japanese Army for the purpose of surveillance. The building's history is synonym to the history of our country.

There are four clocks on the clock tower. This historical building is a powerful landmark along a major road in a low rise, high class residential area.

at burger king

The day I spent the morning at Burger King while waiting for my husband who is attending a meeting in the same building. The man was reading a Chinese book on face reading (physiognomy or personology) and he sat so still that I could draw him without much difficulty. The lady must be studying for some kind of examination that she was highlighting the English texts with a highlighter. If you think they are a couple preparing for examination you are wrong. They were studying their books and papers intensely next to each other but they left separately.

These are things you notice when you draw.

two cars

Found this sketch under a pile of files in my office. It was done with ball point pen not with my usual fountain pen. I don't sketch cars that often, may be it is a guy's thing. Inspired by Stephen's post on Urbansketchers, I decided to post this sketch of cars. I was at a carpark at the Fort Canning Park waiting for my son's art class to end. I guess it was waiting time well spent looking at a Volvo and a Suzuki Swift.

at Haagen Dazs

After filling up the car with petrol at around 10pm, Lip Jiang - my son and I went to the nearby Haagen Dazs - his favourite ice cream cafe. The table next to us were having ice cream fondue. Before I could finish the sketch, a waitress took the fondue set away. By then, I had already done with the people and moved on to the ice cream counter. I added the waiter with the mask and he was moving all the times. My son reminded me we had the same ice cream fondue some years back at the same cafe but I had no recollection at all! This sketch will definitely help me to remember that in the future, I hope.

family karaoke session

090929_karaoke_grey, originally uploaded by tiastudio.

My brother was the national talentime winner for a Chinese TV singing competition in 1990. We were listening to him singing most of the time at a family karaoke session last sunday.

Pinkie, by Lip Jiang

Pinkie, by Lip Jiang, originally uploaded by lipjin.

This is done by Lee Lip Jiang, my 14-year old son. Acrylic on 1m canvas. I now have paints on his bedroom floor and sofa set. Pinkie is the name of our pet dog.

on sketchcrawl day

Busy with work in the past two weeks and I felt really guilty for not able to arrange or go out for a sketchcrawl. So, I decided to sketch at home on 24th world sketchcrawl day. Yes, I have a grand piano at home but I can't play. It's for my talented children. I like the zip light on the left, it can be tranformed into two flat sheets of plastic and leather after unzipping the zips at the back. They can be kept in a A2 folio. Great design. While sketching, I can also remove the cluttered items which cannot be done if I were to take a photograph.

Plus, I have a horseshoe on the main door on the right so my home is blessed and happy.

a different potter's studio

I spend most of my Saturdays at Thow Kwang Pottery Jungle to work on my clay pieces and meet other potter friends. I did this sketch while waiting for my friends to leave together in my car. The pool side shed in this sketch used to be a big aviary cage in the past and it is now Steven Low's pottery studio which is complete with a kitchen, sleeping quarter and lots of interesting new and old fixed and loose furniture.

Let me know if you are interested to visit Thow Kwang Pottery Jungle. Steven Low, the famed potter will also be more than happy to give you a tour of his studio that is built entirely by him and his workers. It is going to be a great place to hang out in the future!

campus food

I was so busy with end of semester assessment that I was unable to organise a sketchcrawl activity last Saturday. It was marking, marking and more marking. However, we still need to eat and drink so I did a quick sketch during the lunch break today. Mensa - one of the many canteens on the campus was so crowded. There was a great satisfaction when I managed to sketch these people before they finished their food and drink. The noodle stall was very popular with a constant stream of customers.

shamisen

It is public holiday here in Singapore and salamat Hari Raya to all my Muslim friends.

I did not go out and sketch as I needed to spend my long weekend doing assessment at home. I also spent some time listening to shamisen on the Youtube. All the memories from the good old days kept surfacing in my thoughts. I was part of the Chinese Orchestra playing sanxian in the group of about 20 players.

Japanese shamisen derived from sanshin which has its roots in the Chinese sanxian. I was astonished how shamisen has modernised and flourished in Japan as compared to sanxian in China. Pipa, the instrument I am picking up now is definitely more popular than sanxian. Another significant difference is that cat or dog skin is used to cover its resonator in shamisen whilst snakeskin is used to cover its resonator in sanxian.

If you watch the performance by the Yoshida Brothers, you may think shamisen is way cooler than the electric guitar which is one of the most popular dream musical instruments of every modern youth. However, Hiromitsu Agatsuma is still my favourite.

coffee, coffee and more coffee

I have been too busy going out and sketch under the hot sun but I managed to get two done during my coffee breaks last few days. I only take either special brew or black coffee. Long black from Coffee Bean proven to be good antidote for the sketching bug I caught last evening and I soon recovered after a satisfying sketch.

Elgin Bridge at Singapore River

It was a productive day for me. I completed two watercolours in the morning during the field trip to Singapore River and a sketch of the cafe interior at night when I visited the exhibition on "The Dead Sea Scrolls" at the Arts House. This was done in my sketchbook which is small enough for me to apply colours directly without any outlines.

Botero's big bird

We do not have high mountains and big rivers but we certainly are very proud of the one and only Singapore River flowing through the historical landmarks along the river. I had an earlier post on one of the landmarks Boat Quay . This morning, I completed a watercolour piece on another landmark - Botero's big bird sculpture standing quietly along the river observing the hustle and bustle of city life.

The black cloud was added deliberately over the new Supreme Court Building completed in 2005. This new glass building with its flying saucer on top is really out of character among the refurnished colonial buildings with stone claddings, copper-domed roof and majestic pillars. The locals are questioning the reason for selecting a foreign architect for the new Supreme Court Building without a public forum. The public had no opportunity to voice our opinions about the design until it was already approved for construction.

Well, we just have to get used to the flying saucer building.

I was in NYC on Sep 11, 2001

090909

This is fresh. Done one hour ago. Just got out of class this morning with this quick sketch done during the morning lesson. Yumita is her name. "Get the gesture and the feeling right, never mind the details" - this is what I told the class. I wish this was done on 090909@0909hour. Nope. it was done around 090909@1139hour local time.

posing for student

It does look like me, ink drawing by Sharmian, a student in the class. Asmine is posing with me with her ink drawing of me. I wish they all loosen up during this ink drawing exercise. Well done!

fat chips or new containers?

source : archinnovations inhabitat

A big sigh for Singapore architecture! What new residential typology?
I would prefer Ken Yeang's Eddit Tower

where are my stamps?

When I was a kid, my father introduced me to stamp collecting and I was very much excited about the hobby that I had about four to five stamp albums as a kid. I also started collecting first day covers and other related philatelic items when I was older. Although I did not continue with my childhood hobby, I kept the precious stamp albums in the closet and some of the stamps could be very valuable in today's market. The hobby satisfied my curiosity about the world and helped to introduce art, design and stamp illustration when I was young. So last Friday, when I visited the Singapore Philatelic Museum , I was very familiar with some of the displays on old local stamps from the 50s to 70s. Here is a sketch of the museum that will remind me of the stamp albums in the closet waiting patiently for me to take them out and do something.

the coffee connoisseur

I had a few drinks at the opening show at Sculpture Square so I needed a place to get sober before I pick up my car. I went to tcc - The Coffee Connoisseur at Nanyang Academy of Fine Art to chill out. Not sure whether this sketch was under the influence of the drinks at the show or the coffee that I ordered. I went home safely.

Matter-Proofs

Last Thursday I was at this exhibition to support two friends, Teo Huey Ling and Tay Swee Siong. Tay's work is in the picture and I can also name a few people in the picture - from the left is Zaihan (we went to the show after work), Steven Low (will be exhibiting at dragon kiln this Sunday with me), Tan Yen Peng (Yeo Chee Kiong must be around somewhere) and Leong Chye Chye who is a brilliant watercolour artist whom I have lost contact for about 30 years. We both used to draw and paint together in the 70s with a group of friends at a rented studio space at Lavendar Road. Now it brought back fond memories with that chapter of my life.

all are welcome

Flashpoint 2 is the second exhibition for the pots and sculptural pieces collected recently from the belly of the dragon kiln after the wood firing session on 7 to 9 Aug 2009. The first exhibition was here.

Exhibition period 6 to 30 Sep 2009. All are welcome

Yeo Chee Kiong

Although I did want to use this blog to showcase my work, there is just too many good things happening in Singapore art scene that I want to share and make a note to myself. Especially when my talented friends are involved.

Yeo Chee Kiong - how do i describe him? well, a sculptor that is so passionate about art making, he deserves all the attentions from the material world.

"Making art is an exclusive experience to explore new answers and new questions. That is a fantastic way to observe this material world and have a better understanding towards I myself."

It is a honour to have known Yeo Chee Kiong. It is a privilage to have him as part of the teaching team.

meeting room

The meeting room was filled with people in the afternoon. I was sitting at the back so sketching is a way to keep myself busy. Don't get me wrong, I was listening and very attentive indeed. I have to say, I am not impressed with the room interior which is furnished with 'interesting features' such as hanging ceiling canvas and pendant lights, not to mention curved cabinets that restrict the layout of the room.

temple without nails

This 169 years old temple built from 1839 to 1842 is the oldest and the most prominent temple in the old days frequented by the Chinese immigrants giving thanks to Ma Zu, the Goddess of the Sea for their safe voyage. Thian Hock Keng Temple is now managed by the rich and powerful Hokkien Clan and it is still visited by local devotees, scholars and tourists. It is located right in the heart of the central business district.

The fascinating part about this temple of southern Chinese architectural style is that the entire structure including the pagoda was assembled without nails. The roof eaves and roof parapets are heavily adorned with dragons and phoenixes which are traditional animals symbolic of auspiciousness. Wu lu or a big gourd on top of the roof of the pagoda on the right side of my sketch symbolizes longevity and the ability to ward off evil spirits.

Inside the temple hall, there is a plaque inscribed with the words 波靖南溟(Gentle Waves over the South Seas) presented by Qing Dynasty Emperor Guang Xu in 1907, evidence of the temple's stature.

The time that I was sketching at the corridor opposite the temple, there must be at least 4 to 5 big tour coaches carrying tourists from different countries visiting the temple. These big coaches often blocked my view so it took me a little longer than expected to finish the sketch. I did it in one hour.

The Evolution of Story

Redefining Sketchy Neighborhoods: Urban Sketchers Draw The World - Jawbone.tv - The Evolution of Story.

Great article about USk by marketing professor Freddy J. Nager

Shared via AddThis

Dhoby Ghaut District

'Dhoby' is an Anglo-Indian word refers to laundrymen and 'Ghaut' means 'beside the river'. In our early history, it was a place where laundries were done and dried in a big field by the Indians who immigrated to Singapore. Dhoby Ghaut is today a name for a major Mass Rapid Transit Station in a fascinating district located at the end of the famous Orchard Road, our major retail and entertainment hub like the Rodeo Drive in LA, Ginza in Tokyo and Oxford Street in London.

This is the row of old buildings opposite the Dhoby Ghuat MRT station, on the left, the red brick building is MacDonald House which was built as the largest office building in 1949 of a Neo-Georgian style during the post-war era. The building was named after Malcolm MacDonald who was the British Governor-General for Southeast Asia from 1948 to 1955. A bomb exploded and killed 3 people and injured 33 others in 1965 during the Indonesia confrontation period. The 'spiky' building on the extreme right used to be the big car assembly factory called Malayan Motors till late 70s and it is now occupied by a private commerical school.

The buildings in between are of different colonial styles with great characters. I was the architect for the renovation work in one of the buildings in the 80s. I had fond memories of the place when bats were found all over the deserted building during my first site visit. However, I was also intrigued by the various spaces and beautiful detailings within.

Other than MacDonald House which is gazetted as a national monument, the other buildings are not. I really hope they will be there as long as they can as we are seeing too many ugly, fussy glass and steel modern buildings sprouting everywhere with the wrong proportion and scale not to mention total disregard of environmental design.

Club Street today

Also blog at urbansketchers-singapore.

I decided to go back to Club Street and sketched today. So much have changed. Most of the shops were closed on Sunday. The cafe at 60 Club Street was also closed but now it had a different name probably a different owner. Many shops were replaced with new occupants.

All my sketches on Club Street are here. I use Lamy foundation pens to draw and sometimes, in watercolors. This is the only colour piece I did in the same sketchbook filled with black and white sketches. Other colour pieces are done on loose watercolour papers and you can find them on my flickr site.

Hort Park Singapore

This is the event on 14 Aug 2009 for students to sell their work at the Hort Park. We sold quite a lot of clay pieces on behalf of the students in the morning when I was there with a colleague.

Top left : I took the picture when I was packing the kiln.
Top right : after firing, the pieces were left to cool in the early morning.
Middle : we rushed down to Hort Park and set up the stall.
Middle : the lady was looking at a piece and then it was sold!

Most of the pieces you see here such as the horse at the bottom left and the next sculpture piece were sold!

colouring after sketching

a successful wood firing

The wood firing at Thow Kwang Dragon Kiln went smoothly. The firing for the last and 4th stoke hole finished at about 6pm on 8 Aug 2009 - earlier than expected. Thanks to the help rendered by friends that I could go up to the wooden link bridge above the dragon kiln at about 5.30pm to sketch. It was a lively and beautiful sight up there.

More photos and day to day accounts at Thow Kwang Clay Artists.

Istana - the palace

To celebrate the National Day on 9 Aug, it is timely for me to post a sketch of the Istana on National Day eve. The Istana which means Palace in Malay is the official residence of the President of Singapore. The place is open for five occasions only in a year to the public on the Chinese Lunar New Year, Indian Deepavali, Malay Hari Raya Puasa, Labour Day and the National Day. Last Sunday I visited the place it was open to celebrate the upcoming National Day.

The main building or the government house, the national flag and the cannon are the main icons in this sprawling Istana compound of over 100 acres. I excluded the crowd to give the place its sense of saintliness and significance.

Happy 44th National Day Singapore!

Form + Reform

Form + Reform is an 3D art exhibition organised by Ngee Ann Cultural Centre. We managed to get a prominent display corner from the organiser for our students' work. The scupltors and potters invited are the who's who in the 3D Art scene in Singapore such as Jason Lim, Vicent Lim, Chew Sien Kuan, Eddie Goh, Wee Kong Chai, Sim Lian Huat, Jacqueline Ng just to name a few. This year it is not just ceramics and clay but also include stone, metal, wood and mixed media.

inside the dragon kiln

I have done quite a few sketches on the dragon kiln. Here is one sketch I did right inside the kiln showing final stage of packing. I spent my last weekends preparing for the up coming wood firing event on 7, 8 & 9 Aug. We need to finish the packing by this weekend before the owner of the wood kiln seals the entrance on Wednesday. You can find wood firing details here.

I am exhausted but happy!

meeting friends of OIC

Last Saturday I did this quick sketch when artists, designers and illustrators from Organisation of Illustrators Council led by Michael were having their portrait day at MAAD.

We went there when the portraiture session was about to end. We joined the group for a wonderful dinner at a tze char shop called Seng Kee at Keong Siak Street. Good food and good company!

downtown

This is a million dollar view!

Tuesday evening I went downtown to meet a friend. Her office was at 35th storey of Republic Plaza and the view was just spectacular. The circle on the left was the bright orange sun slowly descended into the horizontal as I watched in awe. I managed to do a sketch of the view from her office window before the sky became really dark. The tall building is the Singtel Building designed by Kenzo Tange Associates completed in 1986.