Last Saturday, 13 May, the sketching location was around Xiao Nan Men (小南门), which is not too far from my home. We have sketched here in the past but not this year so far. As per Tōnis’ (@vanishing.shanghai) observation, this part of the Old Town stands out as the most “green” with plenty of plants, foliage, trees, and vines hanging down electricity lines. It was great that I decided to venture out early that morning for sketching was a delightful experience, as it allowed me to take in the vibrant energy of the locality. From delivery men in electric bikes deftly maneuvering their way around the narrow lanes to vans…
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A lot has happened in the last few weeks since the previous post (more on that later…). One of the significant pieces of news I’ve wanted to share is the upcoming Virtual Art Summit 2023!!! Let’s Play! Are you ready to have fun and let your creativity flow? The Summit is open to everyone, regardless of skill level or artistic ability. Whether you’re a beginner or an experienced artist, this year’s Summit is so worth attending. You’ll receive valuable tips, inspiration, and techniques from the lineup of guest artists that will help you relax and spark your creative spirit. I am thrilled to announce that I have been invited to participate…
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All done! I reached the finished line even though it took longer than it should. In the end, I made more than 100 sketches (probably my OCD) that felt like I needed to finish up the sketchbook even of that meant going over the 100 “limit”. The sketching locations with Drawing Shanghai took us to various parts of the city, though some repeats to the Laoximen area is not uncommon. When December came, we all got hit with COVID which meant being house-bound for almost all of December. We were fortunate enough to have still managed to get our exhibit at the UNO Gallery push through right after everyone had…
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The recently concluded Drawing Shanghai exhibit showcasing select sketches of Shanghai’s local life that is slowly vanishing as the city is rapidly modernizing and “upgrading” the standard of living of locals. Soon, longtangs or communities that are quintessential Shanghai will be long gone. We hoped with this exhibit we can at least immortalize the local lifestyle through our sketches. “A picture is worth a thousand words.” Thank you for stopping by.
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GRATEFUL! That’s the only word that somehow keeps popping up in my head while I was finishing up my 2022 Project Life album. Honestly, there had been so many events that happened during 2022 that just made me feel so angry and frustrated and overwhelmed. But as I was going through our life in photos, I cannot help feel rather ashamed for letting all the negativity overshadow ALL the goodness of the past year. It had been an emotional rollercoaster to say the least. You can read some more via this post. We had the most strict (to say the least) lockdown which was initially slated for 4-5 days that…
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The past few weeks have been humbling and overwhelming to say the least. Seeing a lot of posts and feedback from students about the class I did for Everything Art UK’s Wanderlust 2023 was so amazing. So many emotions going through me as I see each and everyone’s art journal pages. So I am dedicating this post to my students’ work. Click on an image for a bigger view and the name of the artist. What is shown here is just a few of the amazing work from students. I’m truly inspired by all these different take on the lessons.
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Indulge me a little with this post as I walk down memory lane… I’m reminiscing about the 6 months I spent in Tianjin, China, as a student. This was back in 1994 when China was not open and as modernized as now. Much to my dad’s anger, I enrolled myself in the Spring semester of Traditional Chinese Painting at the Nankai University’s East China Art College, which had opened under the guidance of the famous contemporary Chinese painter Fan Zeng. I was the first foreign student they had ever accepted and was placed with the senior class because that semester, the curriculum was best suited for a “newbie” like me.…
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What can I say? December turned out so completely different from what I had envisioned to be and what I had hoped it to be. Things that were part of our everyday almost since 2020 like scanning QR codes, PCR testing at least every 72 hrs, checking of green codes in public places and other restrictions, were suddenly lifted. Suddenly, the COVID virus spread like wildfire and once again, Shanghai buckled down from COVID infections, everything (at least almost everything) went upside down fast. I was feeling like another lockdown (like what happened in March/April of 2022) was happening as the city suddenly went silent by mid-December. Schools had already…
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Belated Happy New Year! So, typically, I hardly record my painting process because it always is on the spur of the moment when I paint. This one, I was more intentional, as I was inspired to seeing my process and understand how long it actually took me to “finish”. This below is before I added the birds. So I am sharing the process video of how I painted an abstract landscape for Week 2 lesson of Wanderlust 2023 using chalk pastels (I only have a few) with clear and regular gesso. On top of that, I also used a bit of NeoColors water-soluble pastels and translucent texture paste. This abstract…
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One (1) part calendar + one (1) part inspiration = a whole LOT of collage material. Nineteen (19) talented artists bring you 365 daily collage-able artsy bits of paper, an entire year’s worth! You can tear each day’s calendar page to reveal an artwork from one of 19 artists. Use it in your daily planner as a date indicator or daily inspiration. Each page would also work great as collage material in your art journal. It can’t get any cooler and more awesome than that! The calendar can be used beyond 2023! Checks off a lot of possible uses like: The pure definition of WIN WIN! Check out the other…
