Sketch 4/30 - Tiong Bahru (November 2010)

Tiong Bahru Estate was primarily a Chinese area so I thought the use of Chinese ink for the tree was appropriate.

This is Tiong Bahru - the venue of a new friendship formed one evening in 2010 over hawker food. I-Jin introduced to Kok Ming who kindly brought me to the neighbourhood where he grew up. Most of it has changed and road names altered but the Streamline Moderne flats with the rounded balconies and flat roofs are still there. So are the Straits Settlement shop-houses - I liked what I saw, so I went back the next morning to sketch.

The Importance of Details

These sketches describe the work carried out by NUS students under the tutelage of Kok Ming in a restored shop house in Malacca; other than the skill in the details - I also like how the series of small sketches explain the logic and craft behind each piece of work.

Hero Drawings

These are Kok Ming's recent ink drawings; done with a Hero drawing pen. 

He says these sketches remind him of wood cuts. I used to do wood cuts in high school; I wonder if I still have the tools (and skills) to do them again. Have to find some lino; they are an easier and more accessible  material - meanwhile, here is my favourite woodcut, Escher's self portrait.