Many visitors to Singapore's Zoological Gardens have flocked to visit Inuka at his enclosure when news of his ailing health spread in the city state. For many, this is a sad news. Inuka has been the icon of the Singapore Zoo for 27 years. He is the first polar bear in the world to be born in the tropics. Most polar bear has an average life span of 10 years. "Recent physical examinations on Inuka revealed that he had been suffering from arthritis, dental issues and ear infections. Weakening limbs also hindered the aging bear's ability to walk" (BBC). It was a hard decision for the zoo to put him down in order to shorten his suffering.

Han Sai Por (Chinese: 韩少芙; pinyin: Hán Shàofú;[1] born 19 July 1943) is a Singaporean sculptor. A graduate of the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts (NAFA), East Ham College of Art, Wolverhampton College of Art (now the School of Art and Design of the University of Wolverhampton) and Lincoln University, New Zealand, she worked as a teacher and later as a part-time lecturer at NAFA, the LASALLE-SIA College of the Arts, and the National Institute of Education, Nanyang Technological University, before becoming a full-time artist in 1997. (Wikipedia)

At the sculpting symposium 2014, I happened to sketch Han Sai Por while she was at work on her sculpture using trees trunks and branches. It was a giant piece and it required her to use a ladder to work on it.

Sketching the master sculptor at work

Sketching the master sculptor at work

Meeting Ms Han at her studio at Goodman Arts Center

 Pentel Brush Pen on copy paper.

Pun intended. We open our presents and gifts on boxing day, a day after Christmas Day. (Done with Pentel brush pen and colorised in Photoshop).

Parallel pen, gouache and watercolor. I am testing my parallel pen with Platinum carbon ink.

Kat using her laptop and surfing the net on the bed. Hero pen and Shinhan TOUCH markers.


Compilation of all the doodles done this evening.

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="715"] Drawing with Conte Pencil[/caption]

Is it "illegal" to draw from reference photos? Well it depends. If you are posting your sketches on Urban Sketchers blog or FB wall, it is :D). Drawing from secondary sources is not bad at all, but you must not be caught copying straight out instead of reconstructing from it.

Besides, a photo is also not a 3D representation of the actual location or object, or in other words, the photo is a flattened version of your subject. So drawing from it does not help you to train yourself to see and organize the 3D space onto a 2D plane. So flat out copying does not benefit you if you are trying to grow as an artist.

But it is not a waste of time drawing from a photo. As there are many things you can learn, unlearn and relearn at the same time: simplifying shapes, organizing tones, reconstruct chiaroscuro, shifting focal point, redesigning composition and so forth... I could go on and on....

Here's one I draw from a photo my wife took just before dinner. I sketch with a Pentel brush pen on Fabriano sketchpad... there is some tooth on the paper surface so the brush strokes have some textural quality to them.

[caption id="attachment_2239" align="alignnone" width="584"] Pentel Brush Pen on Canson Sketchbook[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_2240" align="alignnone" width="584"] Pentel Brush Pen on Canson Sketchbook[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_2241" align="alignnone" width="584"] Photoshop[/caption]

Recently I have been doodling random stuff, to put in more mileage into my pen.

 

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="577"] Hot Scooter[/caption]

Drawing hot chick on scooter before bedtime... have a good nite!! (with reference).

Dip pen with hero ink on Canson sketchbook.

Normally I don't use pencil when I sketch because I really like to draw direct with a pen. For this I sketched with a pencil lightly and then inked with a French dip pen.... not French dip. :D

Tonight's the night I exercise my Wacom and Stylus... Painter 12 and Intuos 4 with 1024 sensitivity, and iMac 27". The ideal combination for digital painting. You may have to match the proportion of your screen size with your tablet size. I feel that a large tablet would match a screen size of 27". Any smaller your cursor would be moving too fast ahead of you.



As I was doodling this I was thinking if any artist who could accomplish very good brushwork and brush lines. I thought of Paul Pope and his book PulpHope. His inked lines are constantly filled with energy and confidence and boldness. I could feel the lines dance and move on the pages. Anyway I got a few images from his book that I got from the internet:


Impressive right? I was really impressed and still is.

For more of his work we can visit: http://pulphope.blogspot.com/ or Google for Paul Pope. Well if you are reading this and is interested to purchase the book that I have mentioned, you may click on the link provided here.

And I thought we just celebrated Christmas not long ago.
The world is chaotic, economy is not doing very well but we would always find out place in Christmas when everyone stops to find that badly needed peace in our lives. Whatever happens around me, I find my peace in my all loving God in heaven and in the LOVE and COMPANY I find in my wife, Kat.

Blessed Christmas everyone!!

[caption id="attachment_1924" align="alignnone" width="662" caption="Self Portrait Christmas Theme"][/caption]

Click to enlarge.

 

It has been a long time since I updated my blog with my commissioned work. Here's the on going illustration job that I have been working on since I came back from the US after my studies and work. I got hold of the most current issue and took pictures of the illustrations together with the rest of the book layout. I am privileged to be contributing to the magazine I enjoyed reading.

You should have noticed that I have changed the theme for my blog to adopt a cleaner style and design. The theme is developed by Wordpress and is named "Twenty Eleven"-  a easily customized theme that allows user to make changes with widgets.

Anyway here's another drawing I did referencing from a photo taken by Yuen Mun Kit, who has been following the Urban Sketchers around and taking beautiful shots of the sketchers. I chose this image particularly because of how Chanel was curling up like a cat while she was sketching, and looking up as if she was about to pound onto her subject.


The above drawing was done with Hero fountain pen, scanned and colored in Photoshop.
Hope you like it.

Parka took some nice pictures of the sketchers who participated in a sketchwalk held at Tiong Bahru during mid July. I selected some to draw with subtle exaggeration to make them look less realistic and more cartoony.








:P

[caption id="attachment_1710" align="alignnone" width="540" caption="My Sketching outfit and new pair of Crocs"][/caption]

I would rarely wear a pair of flip flop out if not for Crocs. For that reason, I finally wore a pair of bermudas out for a session of location sketching at Tiong Bahru. Now I am cool!