Of doodles

Jotting down for vanity reasons. 

I was at Parkway Parade on a Saturday a few weeks ago, seated on a bench within the mall, waiting for K to walk over from Eastgate building. 

I started doodling while listening to nice Chinese pop songs blasting from a nearby gelato shop. I was pretty immersed in what I was doing. Head bent down, right hand doodling, left hand bopping to the music. 

I'd briefly had the impression of 2 girls getting up from the bench on my right, and then moving away. 

Suddenly one of them stopped in front of me and said "I love your art!"

I looked up. It was a teenage Indian girl who spoke with a non-local, non-Indian accent. Can't place where she came from. I smiled and thanked her and she walked away with her younger sister. I applaud her courage though. At that age of 13/14/15, I'd not have the courage to tell a random stranger this...:)

Made my day! 

When in doubt, draw

Burst. Of happiness.

When your table and new table lamp have arrived. From Lazada and Shopee.
And you’re happy and thankful to finally have a desk of your own.

When what’s been bothering you has lifted.
And you’re happy and thankful things are so.

When you had a good session reconnecting with some colleagues online.
And you’re happy and thankful they have your back at work.

You draw. :)

Of flowers and ....parenting

The previous night, I drew flowers for Alyssa and she coloured them. 

Last night, Alyssa requested me to draw a garden of flowers for her again. 

And emphasised that she wanted them completely plain so she could fill them in with colours and decorations. She then ran off while I was drawing and never did come back to colour them.

Except to glance at the drawing and say "Good job Mama! So pretty!"

zzzzz I ended up colouring them myself....

Bookends

Back in December, I stumbled upon plain bookends in Daiso and fell in love with them.
I grabbed some of them and used them as simple canvases...

Ended up with this rather simple and amateurish set of 4 haha....Pic's a little pixellated though...

Uniball - laoniang like

I'm back to drawing, doodling and zentangling (or whatever you call it) these days.

I started out with the Sakura Sigma Micro pens a couple of years back. They were expensive but good to use for very fine lines and smaller details. I still have with me some 0.2mm pens, some in 0.3mm and I think a 0.5mm as well.

I wasn't that used to those pens to be honest. I've always liked broad pens. Used to call them "fat" pens till I finally learned the correct term is "broad" haha.

I'm using the Uniball Signo Broad UM153 1.0mm pen these days. I use the ones in black ink and black-blue ink. The black-blue ink is really nice. I've got one in white as well and am using it for corrections. This pen's much much broader with a 1.0mm nib and it gives a smooth, full finish to each stroke. The only thing is that being a 1.0mm, the ink runs out pretty fast. Luckily, this is a cheaper pen, easier to buy in retail stores and ink refills are easier to find as well.

I just finished a black one and the black-blue one I use at home is almost finished as well.
I think I need to run to Evergreen to stock up on ink refills soon.....

To more drawings!

of drawings and a little girl

Nadya recently saw me drawing and practising some Zentangle diagrams. She liked some of the patterns and designs and asked me to teach her.

So each night for the last few nights, she has come to me with a pencil and paper and said "Mama I want to draw. I want Mama to teach me..."

Quite happy that she likes drawing...:)

I started out showing her some simple designs and last night I showed her a more complicated pattern. She was able to follow it with some help...she also customised some of the stuff that I showed her with her own designs...which impressed me! I didn't say anything and she just went ahead with her own patterns...:)

Maybe I should refresh and relearn my repertoire of Zentangle patterns and teach her some of the more complicated ones...

This little girl seems to enjoy the arty stuff that her Mama likes haha....
Wonder if she will like plants...and terrariums and....bonsai?

Doodle haiku

It has been awhile
Since Pen touched Paper and then
The following came


2nd photo is one of a single unbroken line

Painting

Speaking of new hobby...Laoniang is recently into acrylic painting.

Started painting by numbers again and I’ve gotten like maybe 6 sets of 20X20cm canvas art with pre-pri ted designs on them. You just need to follow the numbers printed on the canvas, match it with the assigned palette colours and start painting.

I’m also going to try doing up my own paintings as well. I’ve ordered paints, new flat head brushes, 15x15cm stretched canvas pieces. Plus I’ve other 14x18cm canvas boards from Daiso from a long time back.

Looking forward to more fun painting!

===============
As with any new hobby, you read up and slowly start learning about the tools needed, the techniques used and the different terms used as well.

Never knew there was such a thing as Tempera paint but now I know.
Never knew too that people could paint with metal knives specially designed for art purposes.

Hope my creative juices (if any) can flow properly and I can make some swee swee art pieces. Hahahah ;p

Of colours and inspirations

Feeling blessed.

On Monday, Kah Hui gifted me with a sketchbook. She'd gotten it from Denmark when she was on her course a month ago. She finally had the time to sort out her trip stuff and had the chance to bring it to office to pass to me.

It's a lovely sketchbook with a plain cover for you to design your own front and back covers. I don't think she realised it but the front and back covers are actually made with special watercolour paper. Haha...she only thought it was some unique rough or meshed paper. :)

I've not opened the book yet because I don't have any inspiration as yet on how to utilise it or what to fill it up with....and I don't have an inkling what to paint on the cover too...:) Will keep it aside till I find my inspiration!

===============
Spent 30-40mins colouring last night. Not sure what came over me but it's been a long long time since I coloured. Finished up a 3/4 coloured mandala last night and did up half of another mandala.

Maybe I might have some time tonight to finish the second mandala up.


Felt somewhat refreshed

===============
Still very much in love with my 48-colour Stabilo colour pencils.
Since it's been so long since I last coloured, I'd also forgotten how much I actually love those pencils!

I keep them hidden from the girls...I do get possessive over my special (and separate) stash of art supplies. I draw the line at things that are just solely for myself. :)

There aren't many of them though...Just 2 colouring books, my Stabilo 48 piece colour pencil set, my watercolour brushes and my watercolour special paper. :)

The rest of the stuff like coloured paper, coloured cards, origami paper, yarn, googly eyes, ice-cream sticks, watercolour paints, poster colour paints, finger paints, palettes, brushes, etc....are free for those two little girls to use (and abuse) hahaha.....

Of crocheting and Granny....

Once I successfully crochet a coaster using normal yarn...I want to start learning how to make doilies. 

Back to being Granny's girl...

Granny used to do some simple doilies when I was young and in primary school. I couldn't yet handle those at that point in time and so she only taught me basic crochet stitches and how to make a pouch. By the time I grew older and could probably master doilie-making tecniques, she was getting old and her fingers would not cooperate with her anymore. By then, she'd also stopped sewing her own blouses and even simple things like fixing buttons. I'd also been more occupied with friends and school and didn't learn it from her.....

Come to think of it, my mum didn't teach me much sewing, I think I learnt most things from Granny. Even my basic cross-stitch skills were taught by Granny....

Now that I've picked up my crochet needles again (and bought new ones of different sizes too), I can't help but remember some of those special moments with her when she taught me all these things....

Guess some of these crafts remind me of her alot. 

School Projects

Alyssa had to do a fruit hat and she chose to do a strawberry....:)

Nadya had a challenging project. To do up a lion or mouse costume. She chose lion. (Which meant alot more work for the parents). K did an excellent job of thinking about the structural design of the costume....And this Mama was in charge of execution and making it happen...lol. 

p/s: I'm starting to hate all these projects.....argh........3 more years of pre-school for Alyssa and 1 more year for Nadya. I hope primary school will have less of such things!

Watercolouring

I like many things and I am also interested in various things. Some of my interests require in-depth training and learning, which I either cannot afford the money on or I can't accord the time to.
Some other interests like colouring, and gardening, is more accessible to me...

I'd been interested in watercolours for some time but never really dabbled in it. The girls were doing painting over the weekend and I had a sudden inspiration to try playing with it too.

So there I was, huddled over the girls' small IKEA plastic table, armed with a cheapo Popular house brand paintbrush (which was getting matted and damaged already) and drawing paper, flanked by a cheapo watercolour tray from Daiso and accompanied by a small plastic cup of water.

Took me several strokes before I got the hang of it...And here is my first watercolour piece....more like a trial piece haha...

Gerberas....or at least my interpretation of them. The colour of the picture doesn't do much justice to the actual work though. :) I think it looked much nicer in real life haha. Nothing fantastic, but still, it was a good virgin attempt.

I got inspired and as usual, acting on my whim, I bought watercolour paper and a fresh set of better quality paintbrushes from Popular the next day. I also watched 2 videos on watercolour painting....

And voila...the works I did yesterday...

Nothing fantastic BUT, you can definitely see the improvement in the ombres, gradients and textures. :)

And again, the paintings look much better in real like....I'm not a good photographer and somehow always ends up taking dull photos of the paintings....not sure why though....

Hope to find some time again to paint a little...am thinking of using these to make cards for friends and family...:)

Wannabe

Wannabe "artist".

I don't have much artistic talent. I don't have nice penmanship. And I don't have much artistic flair.
I am not that creative either. I doodle the same stuff over and over again.

But...I still like doodling abit here and there. And recently started watching some beginner videos on how to sketch.

Some initial sketches for posterity.
And it's my first time drawing a hand. It's looks like a hairy, wrinkly, old  and slightly misshapen hand though haha.

Reminds me of a young kid learning how to draw and shade. Like when I was in Sec 1 and my art teacher Mr Ling tried to get us to appreciate art....to no avail. Sir, I am more interested in it now than 25 years ago...not too late right?

Happy!

I had an appointment with a bank rep and then walked around abit after bao-ing my lunch.

I'm happy! I bought some stuff...My spoils are...

1. A small A5-sized sketchbook
2. 2B graphite pencils
3. An eraser
4. A sharpener
5. A black ink broad-tipped pen
6. 2 small storybooks
7. A doodlebook

Besides my terrarium stuff, my interest in sketching and doodling has recently been woken again. 

Learning how to sketch from whatever sources I can find both online and offline. The sketchbook, pencils and doodlebook will likely stay in the office for awhile as I don't think I can find time to indulge in any sketching while at home. At least in the office, I can spend some of my lunch time to do it. :) 

The storybooks will be with me in my bag. :)

Onward to more learning and sketching and terrarium-ing!

Buzz

I've not had the inspiration to doodle for a long long time. For some reason, today happened to be a day when I decided to pick up my pen. My work PC was undergoing a huge Microsoft Windows 10 update and I couldn't do any work. So I decided to doodle...

The concept? A single-line drawing. The entire piece is made up of a single unbroken line.
Done in 30mins or so?

I don't usually name my doodles. But this one's called Buzz.
Because it's the first word that popped into my mind when I saw it in its finished state.

Hope I get a chance to pick up my pen again soon...

Ribbon roses hairties!

All I wanted was a very quiet day at home on my birthday. I settled some chores and cleared some work emails. 

 

I was supposed to be drawing but ended up crafting instead. 

What started out as a simple experiment to try out a hack for making ribbon roses and I ended up making 6 roses. 

Which led me to bunching them up in groups of 3....

Which led me to making hair ties instead. 

That's what I like about crafting. One thing leads to another. You start out with a simple premise and more often than not, end up with something different and more brilliant than what you originally intended. 

Will probably end up giving one each to each of the girls. But I like it a lot myself hahaha...

Drawing

Currently working on a piece that is taking quite long to finish up. 

Partly because there are many details, partly because I'm squeezing my brain cells for more creativity, partly because I can't find the chance to sit down and draw...

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Just bought a new thick black ink pen from Pilot. Looking forward to drawing on canvas soon. 

Need to try drawing on new mediums....can't wait!

But oh ya, need to wait for some inspiration first lol. 

Let the black pen dance

Recent pieces over the last 1.5 months.

Each piece is about A5 in size. 

I like the last one. It's actually made up of many many different triangles to get this "pointy sea-shell" shaped pattern. 

没这个天分。。。没这个天赋

I think....I'm an artist wannabe.

I'd like to think I can draw a little. But truth be told, I can't really do so....

Without Youtube tutorials, without Google Images, I won't have enough creative juices to come up with good enough mandala pieces or doodle designs or Zentangle designs.

:(

Even after several months of looking at some of these tutorials and designs, and various trials and errors, I still struggle to come up with something unique or passable.

:(

Guess I'll just....

Try again...

At the most, I'll keep watching and looking at other designs online....