Hello sketching friends!
Summer is here and half of 2024 is almost over! There is still so much that I want to do and learn. On an exciting note, I will be in Hong Kong in 2 weeks to teach a few workshops and also attend a Daniel Smith event. My last visit was in 2017 and I am looking forward to return and catch up with my sketching family.
Some may already know that I am a lover of oddities and abnormalities. I am always on a lookout for messy things/spaces in my own backyard and more so when I travel. Hong Kong is definitely a city full of these oddities. Looking for what is ‘out-of-tune’ in the environment is a key skill that I have learnt from hanging out with my Urbansketchers’ family for the last 14 years. These out-of-tune moments make perfect sketching subjects and elevates your visual stories.
Our minds get bored quickly when everything is highly ordered, balanced and symmetrical. See how the regular block of Lego bricks is easily recognized and we quickly dismiss it and move on to the next more exciting thing. But once you know how to look, you can hone in and quickly find the out-of-tuned bits in the chaos. This makes my sketching process way more exciting.
I was first drawn to the big black bag full of black seaweed and made that my starting point. I have also decided to focus on the verticality of the scene, hone in and compose/sketch in a portrait format to emphasize the flowing of products. My drawing zig-zagged from the big black shape and slowly moved down south.
This design concept of looking for an abnormal break in landscape can also be used for urban-sketching and landscape painting.
Hope this post has been helpful and I will be sharing more design concepts in my future posts. Adding these fun concepts and simple techniques of composing can add much more play and oomph to your future paintings. Love to hear your thoughts and see your experiments too.
2025 VIETNAM art-food-culture retreat is now live!
Date: January 26th-February 4th, 2025 (Elevated)
Venue: Hoi An, Central Vietnam
Highlights:
Celebrate TET (Lunar New Year) with me in Vietnam. TET is just like Christmas, Hoi An will be decked out with flowers and lanterns to welcome the new year. Super festive!
Stay at one of the best hotel in Hoi An and dine at some of our favourite restaurants.
8 carefully curated workshops taught at picturesque locations over 10days.
KUN JI dried goods store (Chinatown Market)