Charting your Morning

I feel that there is no need to venture far to indulge in a bit of observing and recording; be it in photography or sketching. Paris or London would be good sketching destinations to aspire to but with time and money on a tight leash; your own 'backyard' often springs a few nice surprises.
I put this to the test recently when in KL. After a morning run with my 'unit' at KLCC Park, I bought a thin sketch pad and decided to chart the morning in sketches. Simply recording whatever catches my eye with the simple objective of filling the entire sketch pad. I took the LRT to Masjid Jamek; got out with a vague idea of heading towards Petaling Street. I like  buildings which are a little aged and falling down - the trace of time adds character to their neighbourhood. This was to be a spartan exercise in sketching; cheap pad, 2B pencil and a sharpener - a departure from the usual pen sketches - I realized immediately that the pencil gave me more freedom, speed and varying line weights.

coffee at O'Briens

At noon, I happened upon this new steel roof structure next to the Pasar Seni (Art Market) - it is obviously based on the frame of the 'wau' or moon kite (from the east coast of Peninsular Malaysia). They should stop making such literal translations from local traditional forms - this design would not pass a second year crit.

Finally at 2 p.m., the morning of sketching ended when I completed this last sketch as I took the MRT home to PJ.