OUTside Italy

            I did decide I wanted to just focus my sketches on Italy. But at times I just get seduced. It is so much more amazing to sketch outdoors, looking at the actual thing. I also get to interact with more people who are usually curious and they stop to watch.

13.08.2012

            I could not resist seeing what I can get out of the windmill when I visited Kinderdijk. Sitting in the gentle breeze and warm sunshine after a light drizzle, it was such a joy taking a good spot and capturing it on pen and paper. The Italians are truly in tuned with art. Even outside Italy, the groups of people who stop to watch me were mostly Italians. So there was this Italian family and we were having a jovial conversation and one of them asked if they can take a look at my sketchbook. They realized most of my sketches are about Florence and asked why I didn't draw any monuments of Japan. Well, that's because I'm not Japanese. Then the gentleman asked... ah, where am I from. Singapore. Ah, isn't Singapore part of Japan? No, Signore. Japan is up north. Singapore is far away lying on the equator. Nevertheless, it was interesting interacting with different people, telling them a little about my world and learning more about theirs. I finally finished after 2 hours.

14.08.2012

           Amsterdam is not just about prostitutes and smoking pot. It is a much much more sophisticated city. It boasts of many world class museums. I had only a day in Amsterdam, so I chose the Rijksmuseum over the Van Gogh museum. I had such a wonderful few hours admiring the works of Flemish artists in the Golden Age. Works of Vermeer and Rembrandt. Their ability to capture light and shadow with the oil technique. I never knew I could be so mesmerized by a still-life painting of objects like dinnerware. Each object is reflected into another - a glass jar, pewterware. The lustre and the reflection is captured to such details it seemed like I was looking at a photograph.

www.rijksmuseum.nl

         Before I ventured into the museum, of course I needed my afternoon coffee. I was sitting in the cafe, a real coffeeshop, not the famed ones in Amsterdam where people smoke pot and this was the scene that greeted me. The historical Dutch houses along the canal. My coffee break took 1.5 hours before I completed this.

05.10.2012

              I made it to Switzerland finally. My plans were deterred in August when I had to return home due to emergency. In October, I was having some trouble getting train tickets due to my bad habit of doing things at the last minute. But I finally made it to Engelberg (after a stressful trip of having to change four trains from Florence to Milan to Arth-Goldau to Lucern and finally Engelberg) and able to grace a good friend's wedding. Such a perfect place for such a beautiful occasion. Of course, I cannot resisit taking this traditional Swiss house down in my sketch book, surrounded by the crisp autumn air, majestic alps and the dingling of cowbells.

              So I was honoured to witness the holy matrimony of my good friend Peiling and Martin. I was also really pleased to have the chance to contribute a little to this happy occasion. They asked if I could prepare the guest book for them by drawing their silhouettes with the mountains at Engelberg as the backdrop. They got the idea from http://www.etsy.com/listing/74660916/custom-silhouette-wedding-guest-book

                I think it's really brilliant, and special for the couple that the guests leave their imprints on their big day. But Peiling's idea was more brilliant, to customize the background to a place that means so much to her and Martin. And it's all hand-drawn! From everything to the words. At first we weren't so sure how to make the balloons fit into the landscape. Should we have them flying around the air? Should we change into hot-air balloons? etc. But it helps that Peiling always have a clear idea what she wants.

                Here's what it looks before the guests left their fingerprints. It was the first time I used a brown sketch pencil, and first time I tried sketching landscapes. I was thinking of how I could try achieving different texture of the pastures, the rocks, the snow capped tops. But I guess it will take a bit of imagination my someone looking at my sketch. Most importantly, the couple is the main objective, and I hope I was able to capture the characteristics of Peiling and Martin here. Peiling's was easier with her ponytail. Martin was a little more challenging. But if they could see it as themselves, that's what matters.  And so I guarded this with my life until I reached Engelberg and handed it safely into Peiling's hands.

            Here's the finished product, hanging in the newly-weds home! I selected a font named "Snell Roundhand Black" from Microsoft Word and drew it accordingly.