刚巧

阿弥陀佛

 Virgin Colours, gouache, A4

My first attempt at painting, super excited!! about having colours at looong last. I always feel that colours are like having music during a party. Surprisingly, painting turns out to be so much less messy than charcoal. But trying to control the colours is just like outdoor photo-taking, you can only pray for good weather. I got the image reference from make it easy and is supposedly from Them Thangs, though I can't find it on the site. Drew it off my iPhone.

Sea of Black & White, Marina Bay, from my ongoing project 365

mai tanaka

 make it easy

 Damon Kim (wonder if that is a real cat haha...)

 d e s i g n s q u i s h

Soichi Noguchi & Douglas H. Wheelock (simply love this shot!!!!)

Thx to Subtle Day for posting this amazing paint-like photo (it's actually the coast line of S.Africa) above, for I landed on make it easy, if you like what you see above then make it easy. Happy exploring!

sketch on a sunday

Can't shake this image off my mind, by Allison Marie Low via Culturepush.

Why does it always rain when you feel like going out?

谢谢你，对不起，希望你现在是开心的:)

Take 2

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by sei-ji rakugaki

Discovered another interesting blog, My sketchbook. How aptly put... Haha... sometimes it's really a wonder how we can be so advanced economically but so backward in other areas. I guess we are positioned in a good time to do something more for our home.

Sketch: Bag

2B

Couldn't sleep last night, and attempted to draw a street scene off a photo. Didn't realise it's actually so difficult, now I have a deeper appreciation for all the sketches I see on Urban Sketchers. Ended up "colouring" with my pencils (above). It's really fun especially after I have pen-knife sharpen my pencils. And also realise drawing is not a good alternative when you can't get to sleep, coz you get more awake as you draw...

Diego de Almeida

All drawings by Diego de Almeida

Stumbled upon these amazing charcoal drawings by Diego de Almeida on DeviantArt. The proportions, shadings and tones are amazing! Do check out this gallery as he also has some very neat fantasy drawings and oil painting.

Sketch: 瑞恩

Rui en is one of my more preferred TCS actress, having a strong style of her own. Decided on drawing this poster of her as she look so unlike her (the image of her in my mind lah) except for the characteristic frown. Had much trouble with this 2nd charcoal drawing, as I couldn't capture her frown and slightly angry and distance eyes. Ended up correcting and re-correcting. Also, must get a fixative soon, the charcoal seems to have a life of it's own. I wonder if anyone has tried collecting the charcoal powder scattered around after drawing? Think that can be used as an interesting medium too.

Sketch: Potato

The title reminds me of couch potato which should be more interesting to sketch haha... (ok not funny at all)

Pick up a good technique for improving my drawing today, which is sharpening my pencils with pen-knife. Haha... yea saying something so simple makes me pai-sei. But it's a really useful technique and it helps to expose the pencil lead more so it's easier for shading. Notice how you can shape it accordingly to better suit your drawing technique (see my pen-knife sharpen pencils below?), like sharpening it more chisel-like so that shading can be enhanced.

I finally got my hands on charcoal, been wanting to try it for quite a while. This is my first sketch using charcoal of various sizes, stump and kneading eraser. Super excited! as this is also my first time using all these materials. Using charcoal is messy but that adds to the freedom and therapeutic feel of doodling with it. Think I'm in love with charcoal :)

The photo reference I got was from "L'Autre" by Jean Baudrillard, which I picked up from the library only because it has many potraits that I can use. But upon returning home and reading the write up in the book, it turn out to be a hidden gem.  

"I stole these photographs between '95 and '97 in the Paris metro. 'Stole' because it is against the law to take them, it's forbidden. The law states that everyone owns their own image. But our image, the worthless alias of ourselves, is everywhere without us knowing it. How and why can it be said to belong to us? But, more importantly, there's another rule, that non-agression pact we all subscribe to: the prohibition against looking at others. Apart from the odd illicit glance, you keep staring at the wall. We are very much alone in these public places and there's violence in this calm acceptance of a closed world. I am sitting in front of someone to record his image, the form of evidence, but just like him I too stare into the distance and feign absence. I try to be like him. It's all a sham, a necessary lie lasting long enough to take a picture. If to look is to be free, the same holds true for photographing: I hold my breath and let the shutter go."

Jean Baudrillard, L'Autre
Taking the train is a shared experience of city dwellers and we actually spend so much time in these small contained world where, as strangers, we are so close yet so far apart. Aptly portrayed in Postmodern Singapore that I'm currently reading:

"Why do you not look at each other's Faces? Is the scenery that arresting, One housing estate giving birth To yet another copy? Or the advertisements, read and re-read, As if behind a slogan's promise lay Hidden promises? Answer me:Is that consciousness rising in you, Dissolving your fatigue like a plastic sheet Warping in heat, or is that simply  Sleep, draining away from you Down to your soles, to the invisible tracks Where the dew is drying? Where electricity Is what pushes you to the borders Of your own loneliness, against The vulgar loneliness of crowds."

Alfian Bin Sa'at, Morning Train, Postmodern Singapore

Notice this when I was walking home today, report card for coming election?

黄昏

I'm contemplating doing a Project 365 where I take one photo a day.

Sketch: Kitchen Appliances

wth!!

Sketch: Cup

Drawn with 6B pencils and still suck at shading. One of the cups was done while I'm lying on my bed. Can you guess which one? The hatching of a good idea is really more difficult than drawing. At least to me. Recently, I'm intrigued by how and where artist gets their creative ideas? How do they know if that's a good idea and which path to tread down before deciding that is a dead end?

One must know that when deciding to become an artist - it is an irresistable attraction - that there are no guarantees of success, rewards, recognition, etc. One chooses or is drawn to a life of producing works that have no practical use in a largely indifferent world. The way is not easy or comfortable. To be an artist you must love art - and you must respect and find a haven for yourself in your work. It is important in life to find a basic pleasure - intellectual, sensual, kinetic, touch, smell, sight ... "the shape, the sense, the feel of things" (Hilda Doolittle). Life in general is a miraculous phenomenon full of contradiction for all.

Joan Jonas, Letters To A Young Artist

   

Some days you are lucky and you come across paintings that you wish you yourself can paint. That is what happened while I was trying to link my drawing to Illustration Friday (I failed to link to IF haha... ya i'm a 电脑白痴), but I chance upon kwerbeet by Stefanie Hess. She has another blog for IF where her Dessert(below) entry was what attracted me initially.

All images by Stefanie Hess

Sketch: Onion & Garlic

I know it's dumb but I always mix up garlic & onions. Anyway, I'm sketching away on this Thurs morning, really need to improve on the shading.

Illustration Friday: Dessert

This drawing is inspired by a documentary I watched last night where they showed this tiny primate which had eyes that can see in places with very little light. But their eyes are so big they cannot rotate in their sockets. They also have powerful hearing to pick up the slightest sound.

Can you guess who she is?

Well, I finally found a face I am attracted enough to draw. Can you recognise who she is? Cannot? Haha... who call her change hairstyle. Ahem... blog can use Singlish lah right. Anyway, have you figure out who she is? Harry Potter... Yea... smart, Emma Watson sure looks more spunky & sexy with her new pixie do. 
(the photo on the left is cut out from today's ST Life)

Did a sketch of Pokke but can't really capture the 帅气of Pokke though. *Meow meow Meow!

kitty's sky fr when skies are grey 

With the rain and overcast sky, my plans to get fit and exercise on a Sunday morning is cancelled. Haha... 老天给我的最好借口. But going back to bed is too wasteful so I ended up surfing the net and happen to scroll through my bookmark. Realise that time really flies, as some of the blogs I used to frequent were now talking about their wives, their children and had labels like parenting, a reminder that my 小肚腩 is a matter of age and my skin's fruitless resistance to gravity (another excuse for my love of food). While some blogs have last entries dated back 2008 and others simply vanished. 

Reading those blogs that are still "in business" gives me a warm feeling, like getting to see a friend again, seeing how their lives have changed. The nice kitty photo above is from one of my favourite blog when skies are grey, it has some of the most awesome clay figurines, which I always find glossy attractive, in a good way of course. Hoping that you have a lazy cloudy enjoyable Sunday!

Pokke

More of Pokke's life photos here

If you love cats and you have not seen this site then you are in for a BIG treat. Introducing Pokke (I'm guessing that's this adorable kitty's name, coz I don't read Jap) the cat!! I can imagine other cats looking with envy at Pokke's daily photos and the cool stuffs that Pokke has (even I envy!!). I especially love that kitty shaped house!! (can get in Spore?) The blog is in Jap so I tried turning on the Google translation and got things like "dishes are using Pocket" below Pokke's dishes haha...

Well enjoy the photos! The weekend is here yet again.....