July 31 Sketchwalk @ Joo Chiat

Sketchwalk July 31 Results

Hot day! Sweltering heat. But that did not deter the determined sketchers. We started off from Paya Lebar MRT Station and began sketching along Joo Chiat Road.A little scattered this time but it was ok. Lost a few sketchers here and there but the majority of us managed to reach the adhoc finishing point at Koon Seng Road. Had lunch and continued our journey to the Singapore Watercolor Society by Marvin's invitation. After which a pocket of us continued sketching at one of the coffeeshop around the corner along Telok Kurau Road while having a drink to cool off.

Overall a great crowd, a great day out and a great trip to Joo Chiat.

More pictures on my Facebook Album or on my Flickr.

Looking forward to the next one, and remember to post your sketches here or on FB group!

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playground and two room

Was on leave and drawing my house . interesting to see the 2 doors.. one leading to my kitchen. and the other to my bedroom


Playground below my house. with 3 kids

Sketchwalk July 31 (SAT)

The upcoming sketchwalk with OIC and Urbansketchers will be at Joo Chiat - which is a residential conservation area in the eastern part of Singapore - its shophouses and bungalows are reflecting the typical architectural styles of the turn of the twentieth century, as well as many unique and straits eclectic style Chinese shophouses are also preserved, these give the area its unique flavour. The area is also known for Peranakan delicacies.

We will meet at Paya Lebar MRT control station this Saturday at 9am, and start walking toward Joo Chiat at 9am sharp. It is quite a fair distance to walk so be prepared for it. See posted map. I am equally new to the place so be prepared to get lost a little. If that happens we would just stop and have coffee and sketch at the same time. Let's do this free and easy. I have a map drawn out but we need not stick to it, however it serves as a rough guide especially for those who are joining us later in the day or whoever got lost along the way.

By 1130am, we would stop for makan. If you have any question, you may call me (Don) @ 84183032 or Drew @ 91070735.

Coincidentally, the 28th Worldwide Sketchcrawl is also held on Jul 31 the same day we are having the sketchwalk. So beware, the whole world is sketching on that day!

Bell Street Pier 66, Seattle

Last Sunday sketching with USK-Seattle group here in Seattle was exciting. We met at the iconic Bell Street Pier 66 and the view at this overhead pedestrian bridge was breathtaking. The view was nice but it was hot standing on the bridge to sketch so I chose a shady spot next to the Anthony's restaurant and did this piece.

I omitted the people in this sketch but the place was crowded with the holiday makers waiting to board the cruise ship 'Norwegian Pearl' docked at Pier 66 heading to Alaska on a bright Sunday morning. It is gone by now so the view is quite rare for Seattle sketchers more so for me, a Singaporean sketcher. You can see the sketch of the cruise ship here.

My sketch on the last day of the Tiong Bahru Gallery Show

Great memory, great experience, and great party!! More sketches here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/thedesignlanguage/

my sketch on the last day of our exhibition

Thanks Paul for posting the community sketch walk at Tiong Bahru last Saturday to mark the last day of our exhibition. Here is one of the three watercolour sketches I did on that day. If you want to see the other two sketches, visit my blog or flickr.

Tiong Bahru community sketchwalk, 17 July 2010, Singapore

We had a lovely afternoon sketching together with the community. Thank you all for coming and supporting this event and our exhibition. You can see more of the Sketches of Tiong Bahru held at WhiteCanvas Gallery here.

carpark at flat

Carpark downstairs at my flat.

interesting people at Earshot

Last Tuesday, I brought my class to Boat Quay for a drawing trip again. Some of us also visited the Asian Civilization Museum as the entry fee was now FREE for staff and students from Schools, Junior Colleges and the Polytechnics. I later went to the nearby cafe called Earshot at Art House for coffee. The cafe was preparing for a writers' night with two technicians setting up of microphones and projector next to my table. A lady came to tell the technicians to lower the volume as she was conducting an interview. It caught my attention that I put down my book and looked at the lady. She was Irene Ng, our lady MP! I was curious who was she interviewing so I moved to another seat and realized she was interviewing our ex-Permanent Secretary - Mr Ngiam Tong Dow. Don't ask me about their conversation because I did not pay attention to that since I was more concerned about finishing the sketch and leaving as soon as possible so as not to incur more parking charges for my car which was parked about 1km away at Golden Shoe; a public car park. The parking fee was $17 this time. The last time I brought the students out, the parking fee was $28. 'Ouch!'

Black Coffee & Dessert Bar @ Triple One (PUB building)

Lazy Sunday afternoon chilling out over iced mocha. Old antiques like televisions and radios are everywhere and you really feel you are sitting in an antique shop.

Walking and Sketching Again

Dried food produce found within Eunos market.

It's back to walking and sketching again as the thrill of the Tiong Bahru exhibition simmer down. It is great to simply walk down a street in search for interesting sketch-worthy subjects. As I entered the market, I found dried produce a very common sight. There are almost 5 other stalls selling the same things; dried shrimps, dried fishes, salted preserved fishes, dried chilli, ikan bilis and so forth. I love the smell of these combined together as I stood nearby to sketch. I chose this particular stall because of the variety of dried produce it has, and how the stall keeper has arranged them in a very attractive way. The stream of customers is relentless. I was wondering why would anyone want to purchase something like this. I am always eating out, and in addition I don't see my parents using so many such dried produce before.

cold crab for father's day lunch

My son who works in Hong Kong returned to Singapore and spent a few days with the family during the father's day weekend. We went to Lee Do Restaurant for lunch before he flew off in the evening. One of their specialities is the Fuzhou Cold Crab. We ordered one to try before the main course and it was really good with its firm texture best enjoyed in chilled condition. It was so delicious that we had to order another bigger cold crab to satisfy our quest. We were all having a 3-quarter full stomach when the main dishes arrived, we had to ask for the last dish to be packed and taken away.

The cost for the two cold crabs took up half of the entire bill but it was an memorable gastronomic experience.

Celebrating a Milestone

This is taken from a post from TIA's Facebook post. Thanks Tia for scanning and cropping the most important part of the article. It is indeed a celebration of a milestone, the fruit of exposing ourselves under the sun and the elements, sweating alongside with each other, enduring bites from bugs, and having food communion together. I am most happy that Tia has started the Singapore chapter with her initiatives, and out of her love and passion to sketch. Besides, I am even happier to find so many like minded artists participating in Sketchwalks and immersing themselves in what they love to do, even as a group. From now on, growing as an "artist" or "sketchers" need not be a lonely process anymore. :P

Thanks again to Tia, Paul and Miel, for your patience, counsel and advise!! I love you guys!

Two views of the sculpture called "Agriculture" on the facade of the KTM

Artists' Talk @ WhiteCanvas Gallery - 3rd July

Don giving his concluding talk about his growing up years, education, career and urbansketcher experience. Really a gem waiting to be discovered!

This is TIA being filmed and interviewed at the gallery after the talk. Very pro and animated in front of the camera! You will probably see her appearing on some Channel News Asia documentary about Tiong Bahru very soon! Stay tuned.......

Thank You

Thank you all for coming down to the exhibition "Outside-In: Sketches of Tiong Bahru" on Wednesday, 30 Jun. You can find more pictures on our individual blogs.