sketches on the walls

Thanks Paul for the photo. This was taken on the day we viewed our artwork with the frames on the gallery walls for the very first time on the last Saturday, 26 Jun 2010, before the opening on 30 Jun.

Tanjong Pagar Railway Station

On 24 May, 2010, the leaders of Singapore and Malaysia agreed to move the Tanjong Pagar Railway Station from Tanjong Pagar to Woodlands, near the border by the 1 July 2011. It is a significant news because the land occupied by the Railway Station and the long railway tracks belong to Malaysia on Singapore soil. The sensitive talk about swapping the land parcels between two countries is once again in the media again but this time in a more positive tone. Read here.

Since the announcement, many photographers flocked to this place trying to capture the mood and feeling of the place. We, the sketchers were there on last Saturday morning making our presence felt with our pens and brushes. Tanjong Pagar Railway Station was built in 1932, the architecture is said to be influenced by the architect of Finland's Helsinki Station, Eliel Saarinen. On this station's entrance and waiting hall shows four reliefs of white marble, allegories of Agriculture, Industry, Commerce and Transport. They are works by Rudolfo Nolli.

These were drawn on folded watercolour paper of 200gm/sqm and fountain pen with Noodler's ink. Below are some photos on the sketchwalk which caught the attention of the public in the station main hall.

Exhibition on media

The exhibition "Tiong Bahru Sketches: Outside-In" featuring works by me and three other sketchers is posted on local paper Straits Times and also on TimeOut Singapore online.

Sketchwalk this June

The upcoming sketchwalk with OIC and Urbansketchers will be at KTM, Tanjong Pagar Railway Station which will be relocating to Woodlands soon. This will be a good chance to sketch this historic landmark inside and out, trains included.

Tia, the organiser, says that they have famous Teh Tarik for tea break finish with Bak Kut Teh lunch at Tai Wah opposite at PSA/HDB block.

We will meet at Tanjong Pagar MRT control station this Saturday at 9am. And start walking toward the old train station at 9am sharp. Please call Tia at 96968080 if you have any questions.

Exhibition at White Canvas Gallery

my second video clip

This second video I made is the collection of still images taken by Carol, Paul, Don and TIA on the sketchwalk on 27 Mar and sketching adventures over a few weekends from 22 May to 12 June, 2010. It is timely to do this in conjunction with our exhibition "Outside-In" at White Canvas Gallery on sketches of Tiong Bahru.

I made my first video clip

The secret is out. My friends and students are circulating the first video clip that I made today using iMovie with the raw files taken by Carol - my friend who followed us to most of the sketching adventures with her camera. Enjoy!

Note : This video received a lot of attention and I have been asked about the tools that I used. I was using China Hero M86 calligraphy fountain pen with American waterproof Noodler's ink. The tool for watercolour is Pentel Japan Aquash water brush. It is quite global when you come to tools. HA!

Ikebana at the Pottery Jungle

We all had so much fun at our first Ikebana lesson last Sunday at the Dragon Kiln aka the Pottery Jungle. We used our wood fired pots as the containers and took Linda's advice on the type of flowers and leaves. With the photographers' help, they sure look professional.

Corner 57

Last Saturday, I wanted to try something new so I decided to use the paper and pastels from Paul, one of the sketchers whom I will be exhibiting my sketches with from 30 Jun to 17 Jul. I had to use his palette and that was a new challenge on location when you were using unfamiliar art materials and tools. I quite enjoyed the process of this new experience.

Clothes 82

Block 82, corner of Tiong Poh Road and Eng Watt Street at Tiong Bahru. This view with the clothes drying outside the window has been a common feature opposite the corner coffee shop selling the famous porridge. The splashed sepia tone was the black coffee I ordered from the shop. The act of pouring coffee on the spot caught the attention of a family of four sitting directly next to my table - a mother with 3 children who were throwing abusive words at each others. The mother was brave enough not to cause further distraught but repeatedly urging the children to stop talking. At one point, the two girls - one teenager and the other in primary school level almost got off their seats and started to throw the food at each other, oh dear, why it had to come to this stage?

What a relief when the children stopped the noise and looked towards my direction as I splashed the coffee on the paper. They left before I completed the piece as a happy family.

Row 81

Row 81 - the sky was still bright so I drove down to sketch after the conference ended at around 6pm at the near-by Grand Copthorne Waterfront Hotel. It was a quiet neighbourhood.

Splashes 82

This is a wild piece with bold splashes done before the ink line work. More splashes were added after the line work. I quite like the heavy background at the top in contrast with the light white cars at the bottom.

Inside 83

Inside Tiong Bahru market and food court. This place is the landmark of the estate. The famous rice cake (chwee kuey) and other delicacies have been synonymous with the area.

Corner 71

I call this piece "Corner 71". I agree to display these Tiong Bahru sketches at an exhibition on 30 Jun with 3 other urban sketchers at White Canvas Gallery at Tiong Bahru. This long format of size 45cm x 15cm was done on a new sketchbook CACHET by Daler Rowney. Click here to see the first sketch on this new sketchbook.

Another Night Sketch

We call ourselves splashers.
I was splashing the colours on the cement paved floor after dinner.
Spontaneous but unglamorous.

Flat 46

Flat 46 - the name given to this piece simply because the flat with the semi-circular staircase landing is number 46. It is along Seng Poh Road and they are HDB flats. Across the road are private flats with different architectural features unmistakenly 1930s art deco style. The 1989 convertible red VW belongs to Chin KK, an architect friend who is also the proud resident of Tiong Bahru. He was seen attending to his beauty on a lazy Sunday afternoon.

Night 64 - Night Sketching

This was done at night so the sky is really dark. Night sketching is very suitable for us in the tropic with hot and humid weather in the day. Night sketching was fun especially when you are with like-minded people complete with the yummy food and drink. I hope we won't grow fatter with all the eating and drinking. The folks in the Tiong Bahru neighbourhood are so friendly, wherever we go, they will be people coming up to us and chat.

This piece together with other Tiong Bahru sketches will be on sale in the upcoming exhibition from 30 June to 17 July 2010 at White Canvas Gallery located within the neighbourhood. Please contact the gallery at ricky@whitecanvas-gallery.com if you are interested to purchase.

new and old skyline from Tiong Bahru

Paul, Don, Miel and yours truly are planning for a joint exhibition on Tiong Bahru, one of the oldest estates in Singapore. So, we have been combing the neighbourhood for the past weeks and met many interesting people and discovered the cultural and historical aspects of the place. The view of this watercolour piece was taken from Kelvin Ang's house on the second storey. I love how the new and the old skyline come together harmoniously in this view and I try to capture it by manipulating the light and shadow in the midground and background.

a drawing trip at Boat Quay

On Tuesday, we had our drawing class at Boat Quay, Singapore River. I did this sketch during my lunch hour at a local cafe / restaurant called DOME. The two ladies were so engrossed in a conversation that they did not notice me sitting diagonally across their table. I was using the new aquired ink called 'Perankan Brown' specially made for the local market by Noodler's Ink of America. The coffee stain was from the last few drops of the black coffee that I ordered. At the restaurant, I also met Colin,the gallery owner whom I just talked to on Sunday. What a small world!

The weather was hot but great as it was raining on Monday and Wednesday. The weather was with us! Students never failed to impress me with their attitude and enthusiasm, many had also improved so much considering this was their tenth day into the drawing class with me. Great job guys!

Here are some photos on the drawing trip. I really love their sketches, well done!