Lighting a Candle of Hope...

To my dear mentor, teacher and friend,

May be it's destined that you become my teacher,
I remembered how awe-struck I was...
looking at your paintings of street scenes and villages
Impressed... I've made up my mind to learn from you;,

May be it's destined that I become your student,
I still remembered the very first painting I did with your guidance,
A simple shophouse along a narrow street,
Encouraged... I've made up my mind to learn more from you;

May be it's destined that you become my mentor,
I remember how you'd tell us tales of righteousness and values,
Oh yes... with that mahjong painting, and your teaching of morality,
Humbled... You've taught me to be a better human being;

May be it's destined that we become good friends,
We'd chat over coffee or tea, of fine art and stuff,
You advised me to work hard, to paint, and paint some more,
Motivated... I strived to improve and paint as well as I can...

Today, I'm lighting a candle of hope...
For you to be brave, be positive and be strong...
Mr Loy, thank you for being all of above and more.


献给我亲爱的辅导者、老师和朋友,

或许是注定要您成为我的老师,
记得当时的我是多么的欣赏,
您画的街景，村庄,
钦佩... 我做出决定向您学画;

或许是注定要我成为您的学生,
我仍然记得在您教导下的首张绘画,
沿著一条狭窄街道的一间简单店屋,
鼓励... 我做出决定多向您学习；

或许是注定要您成为我人生的辅导者,
记住您怎么告诉我们正义和价值的传说,
哦，对了... 那副以麻将作画, 和您教的道德观念,
谦虚... 您教我成为更好的人;

或许是注定我们成为好朋友,
我们在一起喝咖啡喝茶的当儿畅谈艺术,
您劝导我努力作画, 作画再作画，
推动... 我更求取进步

今天, 我点燃一根蜡烛，希望...
您是勇敢的, 乐观的和坚强的...
黎老师, 谢谢您所做的一切和更多更多。

Outdoor Painting - Mohamed Sultan Road, Singapore

I went out for plein air painting this morning with a few artist friends. It's been months since I joined them as I've been busy with work and family commitments so it was great to be able to paint en plein air today.

The subject of today's painting is the old shophouses along Mohamed Sultan Road. The area is now famous of its bustling clubbing scene where many of these shophouses are renovated and converted to pubs and nightclubs.

Here's the building I'm painting...


There are renovation workers currently working on dismantling the interiors of the run-down building covered with greens and bushes... one of the workers actually came over to watch us paint, and told me they'll knock down the whole interior of the building but will keep the front facade as this area is marked for heritage preservation. Hopefully, they'll do a good job in keeping this beautiful building.

Mohamed Sultan Road, Singapore (11" x 15")
SOLD

Well, I don't really like this painting as I think I rushed to finish it. There were too many messy lines and I'm to blame for poor planning of colours and execution of paint... especially the shaded areas where it has started to get muddy.... may be the only two things I liked about it is the roofs and the building on the extreme left as it's not in focus and I painted very very loosely.

Oh well, now you've seen a bad painting from me...

Anyway, here are some close-up shots.




Comments and critiques are most welcomed. :-)

Doing OK on eBay...

I had my two wisdom teeth on my left as well a badly decayed tooth - 3 in total - extracted on Tuesday, my left cheek is swelling and it's uncomfortable... but hopefully after it heals, I can enjoy cold drinks and ice-creams again without any pain!

I have been trying to sell my smaller paintings through eBay since a few years back but have not been very successful. I put down my distance away from the USA and Europe where the majority of eBay art buyers are located as one of the main reasons why my eBay business has not been doing well. Another reason could be the subject matters that I paint. Street scenes and landscapes of Singapore, Malaysia and South East Asia may not exactly attract buyers from Western countries.

However, I gave it another shot towards the end of last year and have been listing most of my quarter sheet sized plein air paintings. To my delight and surprise, they are selling well. Almost all my paintings were sold either on the first listing or relist. I wouldn't say they are selling like hot cakes yet, but at least they are moving out of my studio and off to someone else's walls.

So, what makes the difference? Perhaps my painting skill has improved leaps and bounds compared to two or three years ago, which I honestly hope so. Distance may not be a problem after all since a registered article from Singapore could generally reach any distance worldwide within two weeks of mailing... and I now realized there are many people who are mesmerized by the simplicity and beauty of South East Asia.... or may be it's just my persistence that paying off now! :-)

Here are two other paintings that I've just listed on eBay... wish me luck!

Emerald Hill, Singapore (11" x 15")
SOLD

Chew Jetty, Penang (11" x 15")
SOLD

Gift of Love - Part 2

I managed to carry on with the mural painting over the weekend and finally finished it off last night. Of course, It was tiring, it was tough work... but I enjoyed every bit of it! But one thing is for sure.... It was a mammoth task not to be repeated in the foreseeable future. Ha! Ha! Give me back my watercolours anytime!

Well, here are more pictures of the painting in stages... (sorry for the reflections due to camera flash, as most pictures are taken at night)

I added a tree at the distant, some bushes around the house, painted more texture to the grasses and painted the roof tiles... and then, I decided to change the colour of the road from light blue/gray to a more earthy mud colour.

Argh! Something is not right with the roof tile.
It just looks weird to me...

Next, I painted the mushroom and added more light green leaves to the main tree. Everything is well taken care of, the house is there, the tree is done, I just needed to add a little more details to complete it... but

I still do not like that roof tiles!

So, I mixed some brown and covered it up even though I spent almost an hour painting it! Well, I guess it takes bold decision like this to paint a perfect picture.

There! It blended better with the rest of the painting now.

By this stage, I added the details to the whole paintings, and had more or less painted everything I wanted to be in the painting.... except for one last things.... FLOWERS!

Oh... there's the ladder again :P


So I painted many flowers, in white, pink, red, yellow... you name it, there're all there! I also made some changes to the windows .... and to finish it off... I inked the outlines of the main subjects like the tree, the houses, potted plants, etc.

This is how it looked like after I completed the painting.

Do you like to live in such lovely village? I do!

.... and here are some of the Winnie The Pooh stickers... these fellows are going to live in that painting permanently!


Alas, I sticked them onto the mural wall... and they looked as if they'd really come alive! I'm glad they feel very much at home! Ha! Ha!

Cost of House Paints $50
Cost of Acrylic Paints $100
Cost of ladder $30 (although I already had it for many years)
Cost of knowing that you did something that will put a big grin on your kid's face.... PRICELESS!