10 min read

This is sort of a reflection entry in this blog creation. I wanted to highlight 2 main issues: Art and Blog (this website) and how I can better myself to not only consistently produce work but to create Art that truly captures my style.

1. Art

I recently embarked on this idea of regularly going on urban sketching trips to visit well known architecture in Singapore and sharing these sketches that were completed in situ. Some of them included sketches completed at National Gallery, Wheelock Place and Sultan Mosque – linked to their respective articles. 

When sketching, I find it natural to use this expressive and experimental way that creates this raw image upon completion. This is how I would describe sketching – or my style of sketching.

But when finding appreciation in the completed work, I naturally am more drawn towards realistically completed drawings in graphite pencils like the Dr Martens and Volkswagen Beetle I completed. I just love the detail and in fact often find myself reminiscing the entire process of drawing – it was a cathartic experience, away from the crowd and noise and focusing on my my work. Even though it took me months to finish each piece, the longer wait was rewarded with this feeling that I can’t seem to achieve through other techniques. 

I figured I could use sketching as a way to mark the proportions of a certain building or use it as a method of note taking, recording interesting features of the building. Then I would create a drawing of the building but in two unique angles: 

• Building Facade: from a street view that captures the building best.

• Exploded Axonometric: This one is new, but I really love this idea. It is just an exploded axonometric drawing (image below for example) of the particular architecture. I figured it would be much more intellectually stimulating and mind-blowing to engineers, architects or any viewer alike. Pairing it together with the Building Facade and I get a ‘set’ of realistic drawings capturing my favourite architecture. 

Right now I am a few days into the Building Facade drawing for the National Gallery, it’s looking great and most importantly, it feels great to be patiently drawing the piece. The plan afterwards is to head over to National Gallery upon completion to understand its layout and then create my own Exploded Axonometric drawing of the piece. 

2. Blog

I initially wanted to use this blog as a record consisting of thoughts, events and moments in my life. I write a lot, just in my own notepad, on paper or on pages. But because my website is structured based on Urban Sketching and Opinions (which until now kind of shares ‘major’ thoughts), it has made me realise that I should just be sharing these day-to-day thoughts instead, no matter how small they may be. 

My choice of a written blog was to get used to the idea of publicly sharing these thoughts before making videos etc. I plan on writing a post on a weekly basis with a video sharing at the end of the month of a particular highlight/idea/process of making something to conclude. I doubt a short monthly video would be that demanding and hopefully would eventually yield impressive results and experience editing videos/animations on the various programs.

Mostly my thoughts moving forward. Urban Sketching has been a good ride with definitely no regrets. Because of my interest and belief in this initial idea , it has grown into this concept of making a blog in which I figured (at this point in life) the style that interests me and one that I will continue to passionately pursue. 

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