Experience Shanghai through my eyes with early morning urban sketching during the "Golden Week."
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08:45 am | Saturday My sketching adventure last Saturday was at the Zhenru Temple (真如寺) in Putuo District. When my friend, Lily, suggested this place to visit instead of the venue designated by Drawing Shanghai / Shanghai Urban Sketchers, my curiosity was perked. So good that we went to the historic Zhenru Temple, I don’t know why I did not know about this temple before. Originally built in the Song Dynasty (960-1276), the temple has undergone several changes throughout history between the Taiping Revolution to the Cultural Revolution where a lot of relics were destroyed. There is one temple within that is the original structure but most are rebuilt due…
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So great to be back into painting with watercolours are spending lots of time with other medium in my art journal. I joined Ohn Mar Win (@ohn_mar_win) and Clare Therese (@claretheresegray) on Instagram with their #7DaysofAutumnFlowers. I used a Fabriano Leporello Accordion Journal because of the size and I wanted to try this format of journal again. My watercolours are a mixed of Daniel Smith, Schmincke and Holbein. Finally, I decided to purchase a couple of local brands of watercolour brushes to see how they are against the international brands. Honestly, I am loving them! In the photo below (in the foreground) you will see 2 types of mop brushes…
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Time… where did it all go? Last year’s Messy May, we were house-bound due to COVID lockdown in Shanghai. We were on our second month then and creating my pages in a mini outdated diary was the one of the things that was keeping my mind busy. This year’s Messy May crept up on me and fortunately I had an empty mini bound journal I made for Wanderlust. I found it was a fantastic size to work on. If you are following me on Instagram, you would have seen these. I’m sharing some of my favourite pages from this challenge. And you can check out the flip-thru of the entire…
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07:45 am | Sunday My friend, Tõnis, and I decided on another early morning meet up to sketch around the Xiaonanmen (小南门) area. Tõnis dropped a pin to where we are meeting up, and I walked to Xitangjia Alley (西塘家弄) from my home. Along the way, the streets feel so empty… deserted… feels like a ghost town with pretty much the houses in this neighbourhood has been boarded up. Most of the locals have moved out while there are a very rare few who are still holding out for as long as they can. Seeing this sight as I walk through the narrow streets, I cannot help wonder – is…
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It’s time to book your spot at next year’s Wanderlust! The team of Teachers for Wanderlust 2024 has been announced, and I am thrilled to tell you that I am one of them; my second year. Wanderlust 2024 is 49 mixed-media lessons, all downloadable and yours to keep forever. Plus handouts, a creative community, and a whole bunch of bonuses which are available as soon as you sign up. All this for only $99 US (making each lesson only $2!). It starts on the 5th of January, but it’s worth signing up now as we have this special price only for the first 2,000 Adventurers. Head to the website to…
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It’s 6:15 am when I finally got to The Bund. I’ve wanted to go out early to Shanghai’s iconic Bund to sketch the skyline of Lujiazui (the other side of the Huangpu River) ever since I saw @envy4lens share some early morning photos on his Instagram. And finally, Tõnis @vanishing.shanghai and I made it there this morning. Typically, this place would be jampacked with tourists. And going there that early, it’s just fantastic to see this area without them, to savour in the sights of the boats plying the river, the early morning sun (after rainy mornings), kite flyers, a group of young dancers, and a sprinkling of tourists. We were mesmerized by the…
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Lots going on all around between my tweens going off to uni next year, still grieving for my mum’s passing, treading water through this economic downturn, to finding enough time in between to make art. Through all these, I’m reminding myself my OLW (one little word) for 2023… Breathe. Life is an adventure.
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Mark your calendars – 1-3 September!!! I’m super excited to be a part of the big FREE Wanderlust Live event this year, to bring you a rounded taste of what’s in store on Everything Art’s big year long course in mixed-media art journaling: Wanderlust 2024. Join me and an exciting line up of Wanderlust 2024 teachers for 19 live streams, plus interviews, inspirational videos and more in this brilliant 3-day event. Everyone is welcome! We’d LOVE to see you there! Join me LIVE as I share with you how I use tags as instant focal point in my art journal. I’ve used this simple element in my art journal and wanted…
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For Saturday’s (20 May) outing, we went to sketch No. 543 Guangdong Road, at what was formerly known as the Central Hotel (中央旅社), built around 1929 and owned by the Chief Inspector of the Police Force in the International Concession, Lu Liankui （陸連奎）. It was also known to be the gangsters’ den. Lu Liankui’s story was he was rural area and escaped to Shanghai getting caught defrauding people during his stint as an orderly. When he arrived in Shanghai, he saved a rich man who in turn wrote him a recommendation letter which he used to his advantage, signed up with Huang Jinrong’s gang, and then rose up to his…
