Brush Pen and Watercolours

When I was at 47th floor at Marina Bay Sands, I could see Elgin Bridge over Singapore River and Clarke Quay very clearly.

Paper: Saunders Waterford
Size: 750 x 260 mm

Work in Progress at Marina Bay

Work in Progress. This time I used brush pen. Will add colours later.

Rob's in Town

Rob Sketcherman from Hong Kong is in town for a workshop under STAR of MOE, we met up with him on a regular sketchwalk by a small group of sketchers last Saturday at Yan Kit Road near Tanjong Pagar. It was a windy and cool day that we had fun chatting, sketching, catching up and lots of photos taking at a very cool cafe called Essen just next to Pinnacle.

The Same Lady

I sketch this same big lady for a few times at the same coffee shop. She is not wearing her glasses now so I think she must have been going through an eye operation recently. She was in my stories and sketches here and here.

This Afternoon Lunch at An Shun

Today's lunch at my favourite fish soup stall at Toa Payoh, also the meeting place for so many taxi drivers. The taxis will take up almost all the nearest parking lots near to the coffee shop that sells famous fish soup, yong tau foo, chicken rice and claypot laksa.

Chinese New Year decorations are easy to spot at heartland coffee shop like this one.

Simpang Bedok

Lunch at my favourite noodles shop at Simpang Bedok. This building called Bedok Market Place on the left in my sketch opposite the shop used to be an avant-garde building designed by local architect Tang Guan Bee for Far East Organisation. It is now slowly transformed into "creative culinary stalls" that are that your typical hawkers.

Heartland Seniors

Heartland seniors, also frequent customers at Hua Hua Eating House, Marine Parade.

Adding Tones

This was done earlier of the year but grey tones added later. Nothing changes for the cafe interior except the people and perhaps the menu. I will be going for my cataract surgery on Wednesday, not sure my sense of tonal values and colour intensities will change after that.

new brush pen

Bought a few coloured brush pens at my favourite stationery shop on the upper level of Funan Mall. Can't wait to try out the black brush pen immediately at the Japanese restaurant on the ground floor.

my childhood place

Stirling Rd is not just a road where I worked 20 years ago when Temasek Poly first started at the current MDIS site. The type of 2-storey house block from 44 to 47 is also the same type that I stayed at Margaret Drive during the 1964 riot in Singapore. It was also quite close to Hock Lee Bus Depot where the riot started in 1955. Two separate riots but I only remember going through one. Now you know my growing up story. Happening!

I sketched the hospital where I was born here.

I sketched the flat where I first stayed although it was very short period of time, then we moved to Margaret Drive in the 2-storey house like this at Stirling road in this sketch. The first flat I stayed was here, which I believe is was around Dawson Road.

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.

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.

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?