Queenstown Library

Part of the Queenstown Library nestling in lush greenery. I love this library.

Reconstructing my backyard

Bit by bit I will fill up the blank spaces. Today, in a spurt of inspiration I drew my crinium lily (on the right) and the fast-growing pandan plant that had sacrificed many of its leaves for my home-cooked barley drink every now and then. The small plant in the middle is the Indian borage plant and the plant in the pot is my peach-coloured hibiscus plant.

West Coast Park

At West Coast Park, the breeze was blowing at my face and the smell of cut grass was in the air. The sea had no clear horizon because the steely structures of the shipyard, the port, the oil refineries and the gigantic container ships as well as the little fishing boats have taken over the meeting place of the sky and the sea. The view at that level is congested to say the least. So I take in the wide expanse of the sky with the massive display of billowy clouds drifting by powered by the gentle breath of the wind and the scene was beautiful because of that.

Still it lacked humanity until these two schoolgirls with identical backpacks and canned drinks in hand walked into the picture. Playing truant? I guess not for school's out today for the one-week September break next week and I am glad they had chosen to spend their time here than in a shopping mall.

It was a change to quickly capture their forms and then fill in the rest of the scene. Without them I had no motivation to draw what was before my eyes.

Ten minutes

How did I consume ten minutes of spare time? I could have sat and observed (Boring). I could have read a few pages of the book I had in my handbag (No fun ). I could have chatted with a friend on my mobile (Expensive). I could have ordered a cup of coffee(Already had a cuppa in the morning). So I took out my little sketch pad and drew the couple eating noodles from where I sat. Ten minutes just went and I did not even miss them.

Windows on Ann Siang Hill

I took several photos in the area of Ann Siang Hill, Singapore. I do not have the time to upload the better ones. I rather like the photo of this pair of windows on a white-washed building and used it to do some experimenting with brush and ink to produce this piece.

Bauhina Kockiana

Bauhinia Kockiana drawing at West Coast Park.

Sketched over breakfast at a coffee shop located at one corner of Fifth Avenue and Bukit Timah Road.

Kent Ridge Park

The same scene but never exactly the same.

Boat at West Coast Park

One boat at a time. There were so many that I would like to draw.

Pasir Panjang Road shophouses

Where Pasir Panjang road meets South Buona Vista Road there is a row of old shophouses. In the semi-darkness, I made this sketch to pass some time. The carpark lighting was dim but the facade of the shophouses were illuminated by street lights throwing harsh shadows beneath the semi-circular canopies over each window.

Not

Joo Chiat drawings

This was the first sketch I made in Joo Chiat. Actually I was not able to complete it because I was late and people were moving on to another part of Joo Chiat. I did not want to be left behind and conveniently too a shot for completion at home.

I did not have much time to do a proper sketch on the spot. This drawing was touched up at home with an ink pen and and 8B pencil that I used to do some light shading so that the windows stand out. I particularly like the creeper draping over one part of the window.

I wanted to make a colourful sketch as aI felt that using black ink would not bring out the character of this building with two green dragons facing each other on the roof. So I used my magic pencil - the one with the multi-coloured lead. Rather childish in rendition but I wanted to look at this building by doing a sketch I enjoy.

I was sitting at a coffee shop opposite and was fascinated by the large tree.
I used an 8B pencil just to try out a different way of drawing. The lead was very soft and the drawing smudged easily. No matter, it was a new experience.

Marking time

What is time? Is it just a convenient invention to trap us into believing that we do not live forever? Or is it the belief that we do not live forever in whatever form that time is demarcated by stages in our lives from birth to teenage to middle age to old age? Whatever the reason we are tied to time for life and we have no choice but to let time unfurl the events in our lives. This sketch is about how I mark my time with an ink pen whenever I am in this kind of mood and whenever time does not unload anything else that demands my immediate attention and devotion. There are too many things that I want to do and 24 hours is a miserly portion discounting the time needed for sleep and rest.

Palm tree

I have seen countless palm trees like this one with drooping leaves amidst thick growth of new ones. Sometimes I noticed flowers and sometimes the fruits stopping by to take photos of them. It is only when I take the time to get to know this tree in greater detail that I see ferns growing on them as well.

Tiong Bahru charm

Four sketches in a day - it has been ages since I was able to devote an afternoon entirely to sketching outdoors.

Two artists sketching away while I made do with whatever was before me having secured a comfortable place to sit down. Luckily the day was not hot or humid because of the rain in the morning. In fact, it was an ideal day to be outdoors. I was enjoying this sketch until I realised that I had made a glaring mistake in the placement of the Singapore flag. I could have kicked myself real hard for this stupid error. As I had used an ink pen to do this drawing there was no way I could eliminate the flaw.

This second drawing was made at the corner of a small park facing a road that runs between these two buildings. The strokes were freer and faster because I was standing in the open with nothing to protect me from the UV rays.

Next I walked around and found this space between two sets of flats with the signature rounded balconies of Tiong Bahru. Under the lowest of these balconies were bicycles and push carts. A clump of MacArthur Palms rose a few storeys high and a rusty disused oil-drum that probaby served as an incense paper burner completed this interesting scene.

My last drawing turned out to be my best effort for the day. It shows the artist doing a painting sitting on a low stool with people watching her from behind. In the background is a 7-Eleven outlet and a sign that tells you that the row of shops belong to block 58. I guess I am better at drawing people than buildings even though I had enjoyed drawing both.

Just for laughs

This year's UOB Painting of the year was won by a young girl who did a photographic representation of herself in acrylic, as a frustrated artist holding a blank canvas in front of her. In the last two years, the top prize was given to submissions that were photographs instead of paintings. So this year the best part of the pie went to a real painting of what could have been a photograph. What would the critics say this time I wonder for they had been infuriated when a photograph was chosen as a Painting of the Year. This time it's not a photograph but a painting that was so realistically executed that it could have passed off as a photograph. I wonder if this painting could have taken away the top prize in a major photographic competition.

My entry - if I had thought about it carefully - would have been one of these photos of my hat on the Hortpark bag that I had painted on using fabric paints. This submission shows that while I really want to paint like an artist, I do not have the courage to start always ending up walking the parks and taking pictures of the flowers that I would like to paint and dabbling in small-scale and not totally original productions.

Presents

Two of my friends have birthdays this month and I bought two ceramic pieces from the shop at the Singapore Botanic Garden that came with plain white pouches. I wanted to give my friends a surprise that instead of just gifts that were purchased, I put in my time and effort to paint these frangipani flowers using Pelikan fabric paints.

With the leftover paints I decided to paint this last piece on paper.

I've decided to use colour pencils more often for it is the easiest medium to use. This means that I will be more inclined to draw and colour instead of always giving myself the excuse that it is too much of a problem to paint using oil or acrylic. Colour pencils are easy to carry around and I shall seriously explore this medium from now on.

What I like about drawing and painting is that I can eliminate ugly contraptions and things that do not fit into my idea of what is beautiful by simply not including them in my picture. Compare my drawing with the photo of the scene at West Coast Park.

At home, I used the 6-colour pencil to capture what I think my plant should look like. The picture looks nothing like the real plant but this is how I feel about art - that it should not be what you see or think it to be sometimes.