Happy New Year Urban Sketchers!

Dear Urban Sketchers & Sketchwalkers,

The beginning of the new year in 2011 sees a great start for Urban Sketchers Singapore. First we had a blast in our first sketchwalk @ Keong Siak Street, then Discovery broadcast a documentary titled "Living Cities- Singapore" in which USKSG was part of the feature for City Hall. Thank you all (on behalf of Tia) for your participation, relentless passion, and enthusiasm. We look forward to more sketching in the year to come.

We too have a new Facebook PAGE. If you have not "Liked" it, please do so at the following address:
http://www.facebook.com/UrbansketchersSG

Once you clicked "LIKE", you would be able to add photos of the sketches you made during the sketchwalks. We look forward to seeing your sketches! At the meantime, enjoy a iPhone recorded video of the documentary.



Happy New Year to all!!

Urban Sketchers Sketch Mission @ Keong Saik Street

Great turn out as usual. More fresh faces and better artists! Stronger passion and greater enthusiasm. Here are the highlights of the monthly event.

Sketchcrawl Keong Siak Road on 29 Jan 2011

Tong Ah Building Kopi tiam at the other end of Keong Siak Road

Keong Saik Road seen from Neil Road

The little things Keong Saik Road is

sketches on 290111

SKETCHWALK AT KEONG SIAK ROAD. This saturday, 29 jan 2011

You are invited to join us for our upcoming sketchwalk happening this saturday, 29th Jan. We will be meeting at the Dong Ya(東亞) building (Junction of Keong Saik Road/Teck Lim Road) at 9am, you may have your breakfast there and then spread out in any direction around the area to draw. At 12.30pm, we will have our "show and tell" at a sweet couple’s home at the nearby New Bridge Road! Thanks to Minju and Jeff for their hospitality. If you recall, both of them were at our recent special sketchwalk at Margaret Drive. Please call Tia 96968080 if you can't find us or need more information. See you there! 

Here is a MAP. The closest MRT to the area is Outram Park station.

art deco style old factory

Along Serangoon Road next to Kallang River, National Aerated Water Co. Ltd. occupied this factory building since 1950s that produced old brand soft drinks such as Sinalco, Kickapoo and Royal Crown (RC) Cola - all my favourite soft drinks when I was a little girl. The building is now vacant and there is no sign of any new development. I love the proportion of this building, its side oval window, brick parapet wall and distinctive linear, geometric shaped decorative spire as the typical art deco vertical element.

colour game

A few of us were meeting for dinner at Scape and very soon, we were all sketching each other. I then remember a workshop in Portland where Jason Das and his group members notably Kumi Matsukawa exchanging sketchbook and started colouring on another sketcher's line drawing. I asked Andrew on the left to colour for me. I learned something new in the process and I am so going to get a tube of his green colour!

Jason Das called it the colour game.

Mango Tree and New colors

For the first time after living in this house (my parents in law's house)for almost more than a year, I sketched the backyard sitting at the front porch on a stone chair. Incidentally, my grandma walked out to the porch and sat at the same table. She fell asleep soon after. I took about 15mins to finish this without the intention to color on location. I was planning to paint it in the comfort of my room, maybe with the new colors I bought. See below.

Today was International Sketchcrawl day. I was at Joo Chiat along East Coast Road having breakfast and sketching in the late morning. So I sketched a total of 3 sketches. Not bad. I need to catch up in sketching.
"D

Life has been busy but fulfilling....

When the countdown ended with a big bang, it dawned on me that 2010 was over, while a new year has arrived. Just recently, I heard CNY music playing over our heads when we were shopping for groceries, and we exclaimed, "So soon?" I wasn't even aware that this year is the year of the Rabbit. For the last 2 weeks, I have been hearing CNY music everywhere... I used to hate those CNY songs, but somehow this year I love them.....

2010 has been a blast!! What I love about it was to get to know more and more people who love Urban Sketching! Since we had the gallery show in June last year, Urban Sketchers Singapore has grown so much. I remembered in the beginning of the year, it was just a small interest group, but now it has grown to a considerable size with about 30 people attending the monthly end-of-month sketchwalk event. Up to now we have already visited 14 locations in our sketchwalks, and not forgetting those adhoc last minute spur of the moment sessions. We have the participants to blame - their passion and hunger for more with their love for the community has pushed them to do more, sketch more and eat more. Now I am always looking forward to the monthly sketchwalk to meet up with these like minded people to sketch and chat!

It was really a fulfilling year and I am hoping to do more this year!  

Some sketches

queenstown sketches

I decided to go for a comic style this time. Since I was doing a sketchbook that captured my daily happenings, I added sketchwalk as part of it. It also allowed me to draw small. And faster. Used here is a signo gel pen and poster colour.

Plein Air @ Keong Saik Street and Lim Teck Road

Great mosaic from Joyce!!! I love this, she captured the participants of today's Plein Air session so well... thanks Joyce. I was so delighted that I hurried to post this up over here, so to make anyone who has not attended this session drools with envy. :O

I love today's turnout. Not as big as the monthly sketchwalk but it showed the spirit of those who turned up. I was glad I came because the weather was terrific... the lighting was marvelous though I couldn't really capture it well enough, and the ambience was pleasant. We were relaxed and everyone was east going, taking in all the good vibes together. I enjoyed catching up with everyone because I have not seen them for like 2 months since missing 2 sketchwalks altogether.

Well... hey where are the girls?? Anyway it has been a wonderful experience... I love Urban Sketchers!!:D

And here's a group photo!  (Taken by Joyce! Thanks!)

Razor.tv coverage on Queenstown sketchwalk (2011)

Title: Sketches of a much-loved hawker centre (Margaret Drive closes Pt 1)


Source: razor.tv

Cool!

Looks like there's going to be a part 2?

Wedding at CHIJMES

CHIJMES near City Hall is very nice place to sketch. There are lots of clubs inside and during the afternoon, there aren't much people. And it's pretty shady with all the tress and tables with big umbrellas. The architecture of the buildings is also very nice.

I was a helper at my friends' wedding and managed to sketch these before people started streaming in.




FYI, it cost $6000 to book the hall for the night.


The bride eating Bah Chor Mee during the setup and preparation.


This is the dressing room.


Some tables, props and decoration.


Table number 1.

Some sketches from last few weeks of 2010 and 2011

Things around me while I was having coffee


Lone kid at playground


3 bathers at east coast park


Eating KFC, jurong point

Waiting for chicken rice

Not been drawing so much for dec/jan as I was still busy working..;( trying to meet KPIs..

Rest of sketches are on my blog for those who are interested

Result of the special Sketchwalk at Queenstown

I have always wanted to sketch my old homes or places that down my memory lane before they were demolished and gone forever. Some of them were here and here. We went to Margaret Drive to sketch because the hawker centre will be demolished to make way for new housing flats by end of Jan. Block 38 with its parabolic roof will be retained but the food centre or block 40A (sketch above), the cinema block and the rest of the old tall flats will be demolished.

Block 38 with its parabolic roof used to be a wet market in the 60s and 70s. You can see the sketch here.

Queenstown Sketchwalk (8 Jan 2010)

Click for more

Queenstown Sketches, January 8, 2011