Self Portrait

I don't remember I have ever done a self portrait. This is ME.

my colleagues of twenty years

Three of my colleagues for twenty years - that is a very long time! Rosli, Phek Gek and Kee Jan.

sketchwalk result

We had a great turn out last Saturday, 27 Mar2010 sketchwalk at Tiong Bahru Estate, one of the oldest neighbourhood in Singapore. We started around 9am after a hearty breakfast at the famous Tiong Bahru Food Center and ended at around 1pm at the same place for lunch. I did four sketches and they are all posted here.

Here are more pictures, enjoy!

lunch time sketch

This was done during lunch time under the indoor comfort of Dome, my favourite lunch place whenever I go to Singapore River for a field trip with the students. The coffee stain was on the postcard size watercolour paper already. Taking advantage of the coffee stain, I put the Supreme Court Building aka the flying saucer and the Victoria Concert Hall next to each other although they were at quite a distance apart with each other.

iPhone Art

First attempt using iPhone applications. Original watercolour of Singapore River Done at home on top taken with iPhone camera and photo of Botero's bird also taken on iPhone on the bottom right. On the bottom left, both images were put together with apps by Autodesk's Sketchbook and Photogene.

Nagore Durgha Shrine at Boon Tat Street

Singapore is a big melting pot and in this Chinatown area at the corner of Boon Tat Street and Telok Ayer Street, you will not only find the oldest Chinese temple which I did a sketch here but also a mosque, a Methodist church and an Indian shrine which I visited this week after work.

The shrine was built by the Muslims of southern India in 1828–1830 at Telok Ayer Street which was then a sandy beach crowded with sailing craft. The Nagore Durgha Shrine was gazetted a National Monument in 1974. The architectural features of the building blends classical and Indian Muslim motifs.

The weather was so hot and humid that I had two big icy apple smoothie drinks and sat outside the drink stall comfortably while experimenting with watercolours, brush pen and watercolour paper that already collaged with gesso, colour tissue papers, paper pulp and blue acrylic paint. Using a brush pen to draw on a collage was a new technique for me and I found it very liberating and refreshing.

To simplify the motifs, I find it very therapeutic to add so many dots on the building with the brush pen.

Sketching Symposium in Portland, Oregon

***Press Release****




[March 22, 2010]

Urban Sketching Symposium promises to be a big draw

The city of Portland, Oregon, becomes the canvas for drawing enthusiasts from around the world this summer as Pacific Northwest College of Art (PNCA) and Urban Sketchers (USK), a nonprofit dedicated to fostering the art of on-location drawing, host the 1st International Urban Sketching Symposium.

This unique Symposium will feature a blend of lectures, panels, exhibits and sketch outings led by a dozen of instructors, including, among others, renown author of architectural drawing books Frank Ching, Professor Emeritus at the University of Washington, Tia Boon Sim, an architect and design educator at Temasek Polytechnic in Singapore; Simonetta Capecchi, curator of “In Viaggio Col Taccuino” sketchbook exhibits in Naples; Gabriel Campanario, a staff artist at The Seattle Times and founder of Urban Sketchers; Veronica Lawlor, an illustrator and teacher at NYC’s Parsons School of Design, Pratt Institute and the Dalvero Academy; and Lapin, a French illustrator based in Barcelona.

Guided by the symposium's presenters and instructors, participants will take to the streets of pedestrian-friendly Portland to sharpen their drawing skills and get one-on-one feedback. “Drawing is often a solitary endeavour,” says Campanario, “but I find that the energy and inspiration you get from sketching with others goes a long way when you are trying to develop as an artist.” The three-day event (July 29-31) is perfect for illustrators, architects, designers and other professionals who use freehand drawing as a communication tool. Symposium participation is open to everyone with an interest in drawing the urban environment on location.

Sketching sites include Portland's renowned Chinese, Japanese and Rose Gardens, the scenic waterfront and bustling city center of downtown Portland, as well as the vibrant cultural district in Oldtown and the Pearl District, where PNCA is located. Field groups focus on specific techniques —pencil, ink, watercolor— and subject matter —sketching people in movement, architecture. Expect to draw the boating activity along the Willamette River with interesting drawbridges as a backdrop, eclectic downtown architecture, public gardens and fountains, theater performances and Portland's wonderful indoor and outdoor night-life scenes.

Lectures will cover all aspects of sketching. Instructors will share first hand advice about drawing in public, tools, materials, techniques and composition, as well as how to share artwork on the web or get it published. An exhibit of sketchbooks and other original work by presenters will be on display at PNCA during the Symposium.

Participants are encouraged to register early due to limited availability. To register, check PNCA’s website.

Contacts:

Gabriel Campanario
Urban Sketchers
Executive Director
gabicampanario at gmail dot com
or 425.686.2398

Patrick Forster
Pacific Northwest College of Art
Director of Continuing Education
pforster at pnca edu
or 503.821.7864

More details at Urbansketchers

Sketchwalk 27 March, Saturday 9am

The upcoming sketchwalk will be around Tiong Bahru, one of the older neighbourhoods in Singapore and also a place where good food abound! Meeting point will be Tiong Bahru Market (a short walk from Tiong Bahru MRT station). Starting off time will be 9am sharp! Those interested in joining us for a leisurely breakfast, please meet at 8:15am instead. Please call Andrew 91070735 if you can’t find us. No need to sign up, just show up if you are attending.

at a meeting

A meeting held on 5 March 2010 that I did not contribute much, but at least I got an opportunity to sketch people.

Boat Quay field trip with students

At today's field trip, I was so inspired by students' enthusiasm that I completed two pieces of watercolour pieces on location to illustrate different techniques and tools.

Top piece was done with coffee stains, salts and watercolours. Second piece was done with watercolour on watercolour paper prepared with paper pulp, gesso and acrylic colours here and there. I was also impressed with the outcome by students' effort too. I am looking forward to tomorrow's class which will be a visual treat.

The sculpture is Botero's big bird at Singapore River, I did an earlier piece here

Little India Sketches on map

View Sketches of Singapore in a larger map

I started putting all my sketches done at the last group sketchwalk on the map and wow, I am so impressed with myslef.

Sketchcrawl Results

The top is my sketch at the 5th location at the corner of Rowell Road and Kampong Kapor Road. Next are sketches at Norris Road (6th location) and Verdun Road (2nd location) near Mustafa. The pictures above were taken at the first location and the last location.

We had a great turn out on our very first 'organised' sketchscrawl on Saturday, 27 Feb 2010 to coincide with the 26th world sketchcrawl day. I had done sketch walk, sketch weekend, sketch trip, sketch tour but never sketch crawl. I was happy to see so many new faces. We started around 9am from a relatively new shopping complex called City Square Mall for breakfast and ended at around 1pm for a laksa lunch. We braved the extremely hot and humid weather, armed with sketchbooks and pens, combed the busy streets in Little India area. I did seven sketches and you can visit them on my flickr site here.

More sketch results from Singapore sketchers here.

Here are more pictures, enjoy!

Sketchscrawl 27th feb 2010 Saturday, 9AM-2PM

In conjuction with the 26th world wide sketchcrawl, and together with organisation of illustrators council, we will be doing a sketchwalk around little india area. Moving off time is at 9am (sharp!). Location is City Square Mall’s toastbox (just outside Farrer Park MRT). People who want to join us for breakfast can meet us at 8.30am at toastbox. Travel light and breezy. There will be walking, sketching, sweating, chatting, and lots of fun. We will conclude the sketchwalk with lunch. Just show up if attending. invitation open to everyone with an interest in outdoor sketching.

memories

Almost forgot, I taught a class at the High School of Art and Design at NYC in 2002, this picture was prepared for a sharing session cum talk that never took place when I came back to work in 2003.

I wonder how are Ms Mary Ann Denino, the Assistant Principal and Mr Paul Chinelli, the art teacher?

Sultan Mosque on a hot day

I did a black and white sketch on Sultan Mosque last Jan here. Last Saturday I did another quick postcard size watercolour piece as I arrived late at the Mosque. When the bird shit landed on the top left corner of the watercolour piece, we had to leave and find a place to rest as the weather was unbearably hot and humid. We went to chill at the near-by cafe called FIKA, a halal Swedish cafe. We were eating, chatting, drinking and sketching for another 2 to 3 hours. Oh yes, let me introduce the new sketching team formed by the ex-students of mine - from the left in the picture outside the Mosque - Zaihan, Nori, Ridwan, and Lawrence. Shu Shen, also an ex-student, joined later. Gus, a friend of the group was seen here in blue T-shirt also joined in the fun. We were very proud of the last photo with all the sketchbooks placed on the table and we called them 'fruits of labour'.

Card Games during Chinese New Year

Chinese New Year (CNY) or Lunar New Year this year starts with a reunion dinner on the eve of CNY. This is when family members return home from cities all over the world and get together for dinner. After dinner, family members will chat, play cards and mahjong. In the old days, firecrackers and fireworks would mark the official beginning of CNY at 12am sharp. However nowadays, firecrackers and fireworks are banned in many countries because of fire hazards.

On the first and second days of Chinese New Year, we visited relatives and friends especially the elders. The married adults will give children the red packets or 'ang bao'. Inside the red packets, they will be money to symbolize wealth and abundance for the children. Friendly gambling sessions are common during CNY and this sketch depicts one of these sessions among my relatives after some good foods and drinks including free flow of wines, beers and sake. After my last attempt on coffee ink which appeared as brown stains here, I used red wine for the patterns on the walls. Hope you like it as much as I do.

Last CNY, I did a sketch on lion dance.

Happy Lunar New Year 2010

coffee, china and noodler's ink

I enjoy pouring coffee on paper and observe how it flows. It dries very fast under our hot and humid weather. I did two outdoor pieces on Temasek Polytechnic yesterday. The top piece was coffee and china ink on normal A3 size catridge paper while the bottom piece was noodler's ink on moleskine. Which one do you like?