Rangoon Road Night Sketch-- The Shophouse cleaner posing for me

More seats at Jurong East Regional Library

I visit the Jurong East Regional Library often. It seems that there are now more seats added. The old double seater sofas are mostly replaced by table and chairs like the one shown above. Even the activity rooms are now filled with tables. Now, students don't have to sit on the floor and use the sofa as their "tables".

Good move.

Night Sketch @ Rangoon Road

It was a very different experience indeed. I only manage to do 2 but the whole night I was more interested in looking at how others execute their sketches. I was fortunate to sit next to Drew and Tia on several occasions to take a peep at their processes. Very cool!

This was my second sketch for the night. Used the Hero fountain pen and watercolor. I experimented with splashes and drips but made a mess out of it, but I kinda like it. I touched up the color a little this morning to increase the contrast between the night sky and the building.

We came home that night just to find ourselves heading out to a Malay coffeshop for some pratas and Roti Johns for supper. I sketched another while having my fav lime juice.

VivoCity Sketches (August 23)

A Quick Get-Away Sketching Trip to Malacca (August 28-29)

I woke up on saturday morning (August 28) with just this one thought in mind: Malacca. So, I gathered my passport, a tee-shirt and my sketching tools and hied off to the nearest bus station. No premeditation, just the needling desire to sketch.

Sketchwalk 27 August, Friday at Rangoon Road

Last Friday night sketch walk was a blast, thanks all for coming and I think we have the record number of people. Let me know if you wish to join this blog to upload your sketches. Otherwise, you can post your sketches on our facebook group.

Thanks Don, Shyue Chou and Parka for the photos here.

Yellow Ribbon Prison Run 2010

These are participants for the Yellow Ribbon Prison Run 2010. They are collecting their Race Pack at the Bugis library.

The queue was moving faster than I can draw the people.

Sketchwalk at Rangoon Rd

This sketchwalk was really fun. There were much more people than I expected.

night sketchwalk sketches

Night sketchwalk. Rangoon Rd. Ink on paper with photoshop colour enhancements.
So we didn't make it to race course rd in the end. And we didn't see a wayang. But it was great to see what we ended up with from just a simple street corner that wouldn't have stood out as fascinating on any normal day or night.

Result of night Sketchwalk at Rangoon Road

I pre-splashed some black and salt on the watercolour papers for the night sketch. We gathered at Heartroom Gallery at Block 44, Owen Road. Mei Ho, gallery owner invited us for a sumptuous meal with famous hokkien mee and home made chicken porridge before our sketch walk. We had a great time. I did two 250x250mm format in ink, watercolours and white gouache.

a packed foodcourt

I work in the east so I have not been to central business district for a long time. Last wednesday, I parked my car at the Market Street multi storey carpark and when I got off the elevator, the entire ground floor was packed with people during the lunch hours. It's a Koufu food court decorated with local Peranakan style!

Here I found executives with business attire except this 'tourist' in the middle of my sketch who was obviously having trouble with the chopsticks. The place was so crowded and I noticed packets of tissue paper on almost every single empty seat - a unique culture here for people to 'reserve' the seats while queing for your food at the stalls.

Greetings from Hong Kong

I sketched this charming Old shop that sells all kinds of oil at Central, Hongkong island. Slowly adapting to life here in HK and I look forward to seeing all the wonderful sketches from your next night sketchwalk.

Sketches and random sketches

Hero Fountain Pen


Copic Marker 0.8


Lamy Fountain Pen (F)


Lamy Fountain Pen (F)

These were done with different tools. I have been alternating between fountain pens, markers and ink washes too, and I also realized my style changes as I used different materials. In general I have been experimenting and trying out different methods and ways to sketch. It is hard for me to stick to something consistent. :P

Recent sketches in my sketchbook

Calligraphic pen and brush ink.

NIGHT SKETCHWALK this friday

Calling all sketchers! OIC and USK is holding a night sketchwalk on August 27, this friday night. Our meeting point will be at  Heartroom Gallery, Block 44 Owen Road, #01-311. Please arrive at 6.30pm for light refreshments hosted by the gallery owner. At around 7.30pm, we will sketch along race course road and hopefully to sketch a chinese opera happening around that time. We will conclude the sketchwalk with a supper meal at 9pm at the hawker center along Owen Rd. Please call Andrew 91070735 or Tia 96968080 if you get lost or need more information. If you are planning on arriving late, please look for us at the opera stage around the area or just call us.

ps: tips for sketching at night: Bring black ink brush or thick marker, a midtone colour (eg. grey, red, blue, or diluted ink. line hatching will also do.), and opaque white (liquid paper or white colour pencil or pen will do. This is extremely helpful for dotting windows or street lamps at night.). Draw a simple outline of what you see. Squint your eyes. See the scene only though those three shades - Black, midtone, and white. And fill in the shapes on paper. Keep it simple.

Global Sketchers

This is the group photo taken at the end of day 3 of the first Urban Sketching Symposium outside Pacific Northwest College of Art (PNCA) in Portland, Oregon. What a great assembly from all over the world.

Next year, the Symposium will go to Lisbon, Portugal!

coffee club outside borders

Selegie Road after JYOF

JYOF means Journey of Youth Olympic Flame. My 15-year old son was one of the torch bearers for the first Youth Olympic Games on the sixth and final day of the journey of the flame last Friday. I went downtown in the early evening at Selegie Road, one of the JYOF locations trying to witness his run but he was to start running at about 100m away from where I was standing. His schoolmates and passers-by were all cheering, screaming and trying to run with the torch bearers when they appeared. I could not run with them so when the crowd disappeared, I went to the nearby cafe to wait for my son's school bag to be delivered by his school's teacher. My son and the other torch bearers went to Marina Bay's floating platform to witness the lighting of the cauldron by MM Lee.

I did this sketch at the cafe called 'tcc' while waiting. I was at second level of POMO, a shopping centre looking at the junction of Selegie Road and Prinsep Street.

Mee Pok @ Tiong Bahru

I was introduced to this mee pok stall @ Tiong Bahru while I was preparing for the gallery show a couple of months ago, but didn't have the opportunity to try it until just recently when I visited Tiong Bahru again. The stall is well hidden from the main streets, tucked away along Moh Guan Terrace.

Everyone is happy with the mee pok except the person making the mee pok. Throughout my visit, I have not seen the husband and wife team smiled at all. They have been slogging their life away to make mee pok for a living. We love the mee pok but they may not love their life. I couldn't imagine myself making mee pok my whole life :P too.


Materials: Chinagraph marker (Drawn while waiting for my mee pok to arrive).

Greetings from Hongkong

This is my first sketch after arriving in HK. SOGO is a popular mall at Causewaybay. I am still getting used to the mob every weekend here in HK. More updates to come.

kite flying at west coast park

The wind was not that strong and it was hard to get the kite up



Macdonald at West coast before kite flying.You need energy to fly a kite

Pen info for sketchers

As sketchers, I suppose we are all experimenting with different pens and I came across a few blog/websites which shows other pen shops in Singapore beside the usual ones most of us go to .
Like an old pen shop at Upper cross street etc.

Take a look and maybe we can go for a pen urban sketch day;)
Always good to check out new pens to try

They sell hero pens at punggol plaza too and Mustafa


http://www.houseofpens.blogspot.com

http://www.strangeknight.wordpress.com/fountain-pens-in-singapore-faq/

I am back from Portland!

I went to Portland for a 3-day Urban Sketching Symposium.

My sketches of Portland are on three different types of format. One is the regular moleskine (A6 size), the other one is the special USK moleskine (A5 size). Finally the long watercolour format (400x200mm). Here is one of the long format, ink and watercolour.

More sketches and photos at my flickr.


Day 2 at Ire Keller Fountain, Urban Nature group

Sketching @ Sedona Red Rocks (10 months ago)

Great weather, great location to visit. Unforgettable and breathtaking experience!
:D

Sultan Mosque along North Bridge Road

I took a bus down North Bridge Road that morning just to see what I can sketch. I stopped by this attraction located along North Bridge Road. The area around it has been converted to a touristic attraction too, with shops selling souvenirs, clothes and exotic fabrics. It is a huge mosque with a golden dome. Everything else dwarfed beside it.

I felt kinda weird and silly sketching a touristic attraction too. (Sketched and painted on location with Lamy Fountain pen with Polar brown Noodler's ink, and watercolor).
:P

In train and a friend's father's funeral wake

Sketchwalk @ Joo Chiat

Thanks Drew and James for sharing your sketches from the sketchwalk. Here's one of mine.... the last one I did after the visit to the watercolor society along Telok Kurau Road. The rest can be seen here in my Flickr account: http://www.flickr.com/photos/thedesignlanguage/with/4848178968/

drew's joo chiat sketches

Sketches from the sketchwalk along Joo Chiat road on saturday morning.

Joo chiat results

Old dingy bicycle repair shop at joo chiat. I made a mess of this picture.. needs more practise
with poster colors!


Along a coffeshop at joo chiat



Joo chiat hotel.

Sketchwalk Rsults - Visit to the Watercolor Society

Finally we have a group picture -- though these were not every sketchers who have come for the sketchwalk, these were those who have stayed long enough to visit the Watercolor Society of Singapore. Photo courtesy from Edric - the man in blue on the extreme left.