May Sketchwalk: Lavender / Jalan Besar

USKSG - May Sketchwalk.
Hosted by Eve, Paul, Vincent & William.

For the month of May, we will be having our sketchwalk within the vicinity of the up-and-coming hipster place of Lavender/Jalan Besar area! We will meet at 9 in the morning, outside Lavender MRT Station, at the space outside of Wendy’s (the junk food joint) and thereafter, depart and commence on our own sketch trails at 9.30. After which, we shall meet for our customary show-and-tell in the afternoon at 12.30 under the shelter and outside Jalan Besar Sports Complex, opposite the shophouses along Horne Road.

Lavender, with its once-famous landmark of the Kallang Gasworks (if you are, ahem, grown-up enough to remember) used to be the sewage area of the island during its colonial past. A popular anecdote of how the place got its name, was the colonists, who simply could not withstand the pong around and in the area, so decided to christen the place ‘Lavender’ – a term associated with perfumery and laundry. Oh, how dry and ironic, the typical British wit.

Jalan Besar was part of Serangoon Road, the main transport artery of the island way back when expressways were unheard of (PIE-what?), and was the stretch what some of our grandparents might refer to as “三马路” [sah-bey-lor (Hokkien); sah-beh-lou (Teochew); sam-mah-lou (Cantonese)].

The place, though not earmarked as a heritage site or for conservation as extensively as Little India itself, has enough history of its own. Many of the area’s buildings have been given a new lease of life, conserving its façade through grassroot business projects and businesses. The most prominent cases in point would be Kam Leng Hotel and Chye Seng Huat Hardware.

Otherwise, the spot, which had seen its hey-day in the art-deco 1930s, when New World Amusement park was all the rage, has a brilliant collection of that modern, rectilinear-styled shophouses and buildings.

Now breezing in on the location’s second wind, is a whole parade of cafés, lifestyle stores and multi-label boutiques that have lend their hands in creating the quirky, hipster vibe of the place.

Summary:

Saturday, 31 May, meeting outside Wendy’s at Lavender Station (red marker, see picture attachment below), 9AM, commencing at 9.30AM and ending at 12.30PM, outside Jalan Besar Sports Complex (blue marker).

There are neither fees nor attendance taken. While there is no coaching or teaching involved, all drawing-skill levels are welcome. This sketchwalk (like all sketchwalks) is open to everyone and anyone. All you have to do is show up on time.

Lucky draw giveaway contest

Don't forget to join the lucky draw contest sponsored by Parka.

Dunlop Street

Two opposite corner-fruit stalls along Dunlop St in Little India.

Little India is a great place to capture because of its vibrancy and explosion of colors, and scents.

From Carver St to Oromo Coffee

These are the two sketches drawn yesterday at Carver St and Oromo Coffee.

I'm still evaluating the Saunders Waterford Coldpress watercolour paper. So far from what I've experienced, it dulls down the colours and the 100% cotton material really absorbs water too well.


This was coloured with Schmincke watercolours.


This was coloured with the new limited Winsor & Newton Desert Collection of watercolours. It's a predominantly warm set of colours that is very suitable for cafe sketching.

I applied the ink lines after the watercolours were added.

I've titled this piece "No inspiration at Oromo" because I had no inspiration of what to draw there. It turned out alright, I guess. Interesting thing to note is the two perspective planes for the table directly in front of me and the rest of the space.

Sketch with Technical Pens

These sketches are done on Magma Sketchbook with Pilot V Techpoint and Uni Pin Pens.

Sketched this at MBS theatre before the show.

MBS Rasapura Food Court

April Sketchwalk at Books Kinokuniya

Old Airport Road Hawker Centre

Video by Parka on "Journey to the West"

Beginner books on drawing

This is written for beginners who have just joined the group, especially those who wonder how they can start drawing, or draw better.

I'll recommend three drawing books which are great for beginners, and they can be found at NLB libraries.

In order of preference,


Keys to Drawing by Bert Dodson

The instructions are straightforward. Lessons are short and fun. Content is accessible and thorough. You'll improve instantly – no kidding.

Even after you have gone through the book, it's still a really nice book to flip through for ideas and inspiration.

Among the books mentioned here, if you can only buy one, buy Keys to Drawing


The Drawing Breakthrough Book by John Hastings

The teaching method is roughly similar to Keys to Drawing, just that it's taught by a different author with different examples.

There are lots of step-by-step tutorials to follow through.

Expect to improve instantly with this book as well.


The New Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain by Betty Edwards

Again, the drawing fundamentals taught is Betty Edward's book is similar as the other books mentioned, just that this book is more text heavy. But it also has many hands-on exercises.

Conclusion

Different people learn things differently. Some prefer hands-on, some like books, some like to observe other masters by standing beside them.

By the way, the improving-by-standing-beside-masters-looking-at-how-they-draw method actually works. I know of people who know nothing about drawing, after standing beside the masters for a few months, suddenly they can draw very well. On hindsight, they must have learned on their own time back at home.

Personally, I think it's faster to learn from books than getting a one or two tips here and there on Facebook. Those tips are useful for improving specific areas. To improve all around, and get the bigger picture, definitely grab a book — it's faster.

If you want constructive suggestions on how to improve your work, just post your work on the USK Singapore Facebook pool and ask for suggestions. If you don't ask for suggestions, most people will just click Like only and not say anything, well, because they don't know that you want them to say something.

At the opening of Journey to the West exhibition

Yesterday was the opening of the Journey to the West sketch exhibition at Jurong Regional Library. It was organised by NAC and NLB.

The exhibition will run from 3-24 May 2014 so head there to check it out.


More photos at www.parkablogs.com/picture/journey-west-exhibition

This is the video of the opening.


This is the time-lapse video of us setting up the exhibition.