Video on Special Sketchwalk last Saturday

F1 Night Race in Singapore

As urban sketchers, we had the privilege to tour the back of house of our National Gallery on a Saturday morning. Just 17 of us on a special tour guided by Mr Loke Chee Meng, also my schoolmate for over 50 years! So happy to reconnect with him after so many years. He had such wealth of knowledge on our National Gallery. We could only use pencils to sketch the court room in a very dark lighting upper gallery due to the huge historical British royal family portraiture paintings on the wall.

I was early for the tour so I sketched the city view from the famous steps of National Gallery. The view was blocked by the big screen and the steel pillars, lighting grids, barricades etc etc for the biggest event in town next week from 13 to 19 Sep - the F1 night race!

F1 night race started in Singapore in 2008 for 21 times up to last year.
F1 details at https://singaporegp.sg/en

June Sketchwalk at Singapore River

We are heading to the National Gallery on 24th June (Sat). USkSG will be collaborating with the Gallery for their Wellness Festival 2023.

If you’d like to join a short 30min tour by NGS, meet at the main entrance (St Andrew’s Cathedral side) at 9:20am to sign-up for the tour.

Each tour is limited to 20pax per session. The Gallery will be distributing goodie bags to sketchers at the 9:30am briefing. Limited availability while stocks last.

There will be group tours. The first at 9:30am and subsequent tours from 10:30am. The Gallery will be exploring a few paintings revolving around the Singapore River.

Once your tour ends, you can head down to the Raffles Landing Site to sketch. Location: https://goo.gl/maps/jERQfyGvxnZP9AAG6

Optional places to sketch nearby:
- The Sir Stamford Raffles Statue
- Victoria Concert Hall
- Various angles of the Singapore River
- Asian Civilisation Museum

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In light of the COVID situation, mask wearing is optional. We urge everyone to remain cautious. Let's all play a part to stay safe!
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Time: 9:30AM - 12.30PM
Nearest MRT station: City Hall (NS25/EW13) Exit B
Meeting point: Entrance at National Gallery (St Andrew’s Cathedral side)

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𝑰𝒎𝒑𝒐𝒓𝒕𝒂𝒏𝒕 𝑵𝒐𝒕𝒆:
In compliance to Government Covid safety guidelines, be safe!

Please strictly comply. USkSG (and our sketch leaders) will not be held responsible for any flouting of the above guidelines. Thank you.

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Timeline for the day:

9.20am: All to meet at the Entrance of the National Gallery (Coleman Street, St Andrew’s Cathedral side, near Gallery Souvenir Shop)

9:30am: Tour for Group 1 begins
10:00am: Tour ends for group 1, Group 1 heads to Sir Stamford Raffles Statue to sketch

12:15pm: Those already sketching, start packing your things and make your way for Show & Tell

12.20-12.30pm: Sir Stamford Raffles Statue (Raffles also wants to see our work.) Location: https://goo.gl/maps/jERQfyGvxnZP9AAG6

*Only pencil sketching is allowed inside NGS. No other wet or dry media are allowed. Note that location of Short briefing and Show and Tell are subjected to change, depending on the weather for the day. If it rains, we will head to Level 6 for the sketching instead.

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Instructions for the day:

1. Make your way to the location, be aware of surroundings, and maintain necessary distancing.
2. Challenge yourself to explore hidden corners that hasn't been seen/drawn yet; this will also help prevent too many of us crowding the same perching points.
3. Post your sketches, snapshots and videos online — 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐡𝐚𝐬𝐡𝐭𝐚𝐠𝐬 #𝐮𝐬𝐤𝐬𝐠 #gallerywellnessfestival #gwf2023 & @nationalgallerysingapore — so everyone can easily find the day's artistic output.
4. Some sketch leaders will go around to catch you in action for posts on Facebook and Instagram, so look out for them!
5. Happy sketching!!

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Credits:
Event banner by Alvin Mark Tan 

First completed sketch in 2020

My first completed sketch on first day of 2020 but I did the 30-min black and white version while waiting for husband to pick me up after an office retreat at the National Gallery on 10 Dec 2019. Then I went back to complete the colouring and added the Marina Bay Sands on the left on the first day of new year 2020. Just make it for this first post on first day of 2020 after scanning. Happy New Year 2020 everyone!

A Sketch Outside National Gallery

Colour washes were added later to a sketch I did on location on the steps outside National Gallery on 18 May. On that day I did the sketch, there was no more ink and no more pages to sketch and I did not bring any colours and brushes.

I don't always go to the city area but that day, the weather was good and the view captivating. The iconic Marina Bay Sands on the left is designed by Moshe Safdie with the sky park straddling three hotel towers. In the last decade, the skyscrapers were sprouting out like mushrooms behind the classic orange tiled roof Cricket Club Singapore which was built in the 1860s. The contrasting horizontal classic building and the vertical towers together with the green Padang (the big lawn) in the front forming the beautiful skyline of Central Business District of Singapore.