Sketchwalk @ Little India

Becoming a new father for the second time means new and more things on my hands nowadays (I am not complaining though since my wife and I wanted this second joy for a long time now since our first born has just turned seven). But unfortunately, some things just had to be heading to the back seat in terms of priority. And I guess going out sketching became one of the casualties of this incident. I still sketched from time to time (since like many who practice the method, it is like a healing process personally), but missed the official Saturday outings of USK-SG for the past four months or so.

…No more.

Last Saturday I finally joined the group again -- at the Little India outing-- and glad that I did since doing so only showed me how much I missed sketching with this cluster.

And there’s something about sketching that differs from architectural and landscape drawings that I do. It’s simpler, yet deep and real. In a sketch I don’t have to worry so much about scale and precision, or put much attention on tiny details either or paid an extra effort to staying within the contours of figures when I created shadows or put in a darker value.
I began to realize that these outdoor sketches have become an antidote to the methodical drawings I do for a living. Weeks, sometimes months would be spent on the same composition, same drawing, trying to get it to that ever-unreachable state of perfection. Sketching requires none of that. Furthermore, to me, the beauty of sketches lies in their imperfections. Sketches can be as easily abandoned as they are started. They don't need rules in terms of clearness and vagueness. What are important are the interpretations made of the meaning and the story behind them. And seeing how other sketchers’ works (and the masters like Tia, Don, Asnee) motivate you to unlock that individual style of work that defines you as an artist.

Below are two of the sketches i managed during the Sketchwalk.

Sketchwalk at Telok Ayer

I always think of a drawing as a jigsaw puzzle, with dozens of different pieces demanding your attention. Unlike shooting a scene with a camera, sketching on the spot is harder because you cannot blur the background or use a fast-apertured lens to focus a subject and make it stand out. If you arrange all those pieces in the right order you'll end up with an organised, structured image that makes sense and (well, fingers crossed) looks good. While studying Architecture in college, my old teacher always reminded me that pretty pictures is not much about detail and vibrant colors. That there’s only two factors that will make or break your pictures—composition and tonal value. If you put them together any other way, without a definite picture first in your mind, the end result will be a muddled mess of shapes, colours and details that's difficult to make sense of. Though sometimes spontaneity can be good too. Maybe that’s what they say about “breaking the rule”. Until now I still struggle with compositions and tonal value. And maybe I will forever. But what’s important is I like drawing and I enjoy every minute of it—and that’s what make it every inch satisfying—even more so doing it with people who share the same passion in drawing as I do. Who cares if the end result wasn’t as good as I strived for? I put my feelings into it. And at the end of the day that’s what really art is about—heart.

Below are some pictures of the sketch I did while participating the Telok Ayer Sketchwalk with USK-SG.

Old Supreme Court Facade

Had a chance to be around City Hall area yesterday, and happened to bring along my a4 sketchbook so I sneaked time to went to the front of the old Supreme court building and sketch it. Took me around 30 minutes to draw this one since I wanted to capture more details of the structure. I resisted to put a grey wash on it since I thought with all the inked details, it is better that way-- just plain ink on paper, and a dab of warm and cool copic on the shadows. (click on image to view the large file)

Sketchabout

There’s something about sketching with a group of people who impart the same passion as you. People who might not be on the same field of work as you, but share that bond that artists (professional and hobbyist alike) have with their peers. Maybe it’s the excitement of sharing techniques, or exploring other artist’s work and style. Maybe it’s the smell of new crisp drawing paper, or the flapping pages of sketchbooks around, or the hues of watercolors and other art mediums. The gentle squeaks of fountain pens and drawing pens scrubbing into paper turning ink into forms, wet brushes gentle and gracefully dancing, splashing on raw blank sheet, forming shapes and consequently metamorphosing into a representation of an object from a single person’s vantage point. An artist’s poignant illustrative manifestation, and his own interpretation of a structure, a scene or a life form—materializing into a different appearance. And the sketch itself becomes one’s own signature. A window to something that sometimes some people (especially artists) struggle to say in words but so freely expressing on ink- blotted, colour- stained doodles and artworks. The only instance in which other people can take a peep into one’s soul. An intimate revelation of your own personality in visual manner. Putting across what you feel, for a moment— in pigment and tint— immortalized into a blank sheet of paper… A graphic diary of a moment, buried, but forever encapsulated within the volumes of our ol’ trusty sketchbooks.