This magic pencil that has different colours in its lead enabled me to make these drawings. I like the colours it produces when I turn the pencil nib in various directions. These colours remind me of some of Van Gogh's paintings.
The first character I drew was an old lady wearing a hat and she was holding a water bottle with her left hand. She stood long enough for me to complete the drawing. The next two drawings of a lady at the counter had to be done very quickly because she was moving about a lot.
Lastly a customer came to the counter to fill out a form and that gave me time to focus on that unique hairstyle of hers. I would have drawn the rest of her if not for a small boy who came next to me to watch me draw. I gave him my sketch pad and pencil and demonstrated how the pencil worked and he did the squiggle at the bottom right-hand corner of the paper. He then went on, at my urging, to draw his favourite subjects - a hovering helicopter with a soldier suspended on a rope dangling from it, an army tank and a soldier and an aeroplane.
I really enjoyed using this very entertaining pencil that was given to me by my artist friend. This pencil can be purchased at Bras Basah Centre at the shops selling art materials. The pencil given to me by my friend was invaluable and she gave me two such pencils. I observed that the little boy really loved to draw and was truly fascinated by what the pencil could do. In the end, I gave him the pencil because I have two of them. The pencil's value comes from usage and it is better used than stored and every time I use the same pencil in my possession I will think of my friend and of a little boy whom I hope will have many happy hours drawing what he likes most because of the gift he received from a total stranger.
