Escape

Autodesk SketchBook

2021

. . .

Purely an exercise. I came across this cold landscape image online and I felt like painting it. This time around, I got myself to use paint brushes instead of the usual chalk pastel - the latter has been my default go-to mostly because it is quite easy to control. Now having gotten comfortable with the chalk pastel, I felt like I needed a new challenge, hence the paint brushes.

I still used the chalk pastel to help in some places like the tree textures. Otherwise, most everything else have been done using paint brushes and the occasional airbrush.

p e a c h y

a u t o d e s k   s k e t c h b o o k

2 0 2 1

. . .

trying something new. a little bokeh for depth & distance.

EMERGING

 

Autodesk SketchBook

2021

GIANT WAVES

 

Autodesk SketchBook

2021

. . .

Something I cooked up while recovering from vaccination symptoms. And yes, I had my first dose. 

LOW TIDE

 Autodesk SketchBook

2021

. . . 

Something creepy. 

AKIMBO

 Autodesk Sketchbook

2021

. . .

Objective and positive. 

Troubled Waters

 Autodesk SketchBook
2021

. . .

Felt a little moody last night. 

A Little Abstract Thing - "Shimmering"

Autodesk SketchBook

2021

. . .

Wasn't really going for anything, started with red, then the whites and peaches and oranges, followed by the blue, then all the decorations went in and then voila! An abstract... thing. Looks like the shimmering surface of a lake.  

MAGIC HOUR

Autodesk SketchBook

2021

. . .

There is always something magical about conversations that last through the night, even more so when it's with the people who are special.

Portrait of AXEL FLÓVENT

 

Pencil portrait of Icelandic singer, Axel Flóvent

2021

. . .

'Years' is a pretty cool song. I love it very much. 'Sea Creatures' & 'Youthful Hearts' too. 

. . .

A LITTLE ANECDOTE

I first came to know about this singer when I was heavily using SoundCloud for a time (mostly because the company I work at had their network upgraded at the time and somehow, Spotify would not work after that) and it was here that I came across Axel Flóvent's song 'Youthful Hearts' which became an instant favourite, and from there, I followed the artist on social media, and after that, the rest was history. 

CONTRAILS

 

Autodesk SketchBook

2021

. . .

Something before bed.

B E A C H

 

Autodesk SketchBook

2021

. . .

I like beaches and clear skies.

PASTEL REFLECTIONS

~ Pastel Reflections ~

Autodesk SketchBook

2021

. . .

Something much lighter and softer. Happy weekend!

DOUBLE FEATURE

 A double feature today. Here is the first:

'The Cross Bleeds'

This is the second:

'Lightning Strikes The Sea'

What I Found Out...

I suck at managing my energy in conversations. I can generally manage a one-to-one conversation just fine, because I can align fully immerse and align myself with the one other person I am talking to. Another individual would still be quite manageable, but from there on out, it will be a gamble; and the odds are hardly ever in my favour. My attention gets stretched pretty thinly and I will get overwhelmed, and soon I will have lost the plot of the conversation and tuned out completely.

While I am aware that it is probably not anything new at this point, I realised that drawing during these conversations helps. I have been doing it for sometime now, but have yet to say anything about it because I needed to do enough of it first before I could be sure. It doesn't necessarily refocus all of my attention to the conversation -- I'd most likely still lose parts of the plot if it is a topic which I am not normally engaged in -- but I don't get easily tuned out. I would still be able to pay attention to the vibe of the conversation and keep to the pace, listening in for cues, in case I would be summoned for an opinion or response.

Just a little something I would like to note -- a little something to explain the double feature today. *wink wink*

The Sadness Has Lifted... But The Heaviness Remains.

Autodesk SketchBook

1024 x 768 cm

. . .

I am still clearly not over the film yet. I guess I'll just let this energy ride till it fades away. I don't feel all that sad anymore, but the heaviness left behind by the film still lingers.

I'm Still Not Over 'A Hidden Life'

'Back to Sankt Radegund', Acrylic on paper, 2021.

It has been two days since I watched Terrence Malick's 'A Hidden Life', and I have still not completely recovered from it, so in my process of trying to get over it, I came across this screencap of the film on Google Image that then motivated me to paint.

Source: https://film-grab.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/A-Hidden-Life-008.jpg

I love the way the mountains and the woods look in this picture and I wanted to learn how to capture that at least, especially with how the mountains in the far distance disappear into the light.

So to begin, I had some sketches made in my small sketchbook:

 

After that, I transferred the lines over to my larger sketchbook. 

I then started with the tone shading, using blue, to help me visualize the picture roughly. 

Once I have that mapped out, I start with my painting process, starting from the furthest distance way in the back and then slowly making my way to the foreground.

The figures were especially hard to paint and I realised I still lacked practice on human figures, especially when it came to painting. Something to consider in the future.

But regardless I thought it was overall still alright. Then I was about to stop here but then I noticed that the main figure herself, isn't really standing out, so I redid her a little bit, with a bit more white on her shirt -- and this is where I must remind myself to purchase more whites because I am running out already.

So after 6 hours working on this piece, here is 'Back to Sankt Radegund', inspired/motivated by my still ongoing recovery from Terrence Malick's 'A Hidden Life'. 

#20

A room

A table

Chairs

Windows

A priest

His lawyer

A soldier

His wife.

As they sit him down,

Still in chains,

They implore,

That he see reason.

The paper,

Is just a paper.

The same paper,

He had so vehemently,

Detested.

"Sign it or my practice will be ruined!" cries the lawyer;

"Nobody cares for such pointless protests!" cries the soldier;

"The Lord only looks within; the paper means nothing" cries the priest.

"Save us the trouble!" they cry.

But,

They do not see,

They do not understand,

The ache that stirred within his heart,

The truth that he allows himself to suffer for.

His heart is his truth;

The paper his lie.

Better to suffer the truth,

Than the lie.

He turns at last,

To his wife.

His wife.

O, how she has suffered;

Exiled, abused, tired.

What have I done?

Her hands;

They squeeze so gently.

He looks at her;

"Do you understand?"

In her own quiet way,

She nods.

"I love you;

In whatever you do."

And that is all he needs.

---

I have just come from watching Terrence Malick’s ‘A Hidden Life’, and let me just say, this film ripped me to complete shreds and the scene above was what destroyed me in the end. 

Selamat Ari Gawai! Gayu Guru Gerai Nyamai!

Iban Longhouse Interior
Acrylic on brown paper, 20cm x 14cm

2021

. . .

Today is Gawai here in Sarawak. For those who are new or unfamiliar with this holiday, it is the harvest festival of the Dayaks (local indigenous people of Borneo Island), and it is celebrated every year on 1st June. This is normally the time when our Dayak brothers and sisters would take a trip back to their respective villages to be with their families and ngabang, as they laugh and cheer over a bountiful feast and a sea of tuak (local rice wine). This year, things had to be a bit different, given the current state of the pandemic here in Sarawak.

But regardless, the Gawai spirit lives on as friends and colleagues take to social media and other online means like ZOOM calls to reconnect. I like to think of it as virtual ngabang.

And in keeping with that spirit, I thought I’d do a painting to celebrate together, albeit in a small way.

I have planned this since yesterday, though I wasn’t sure what I was going to draw. All I knew was that I had this urge to draw something for the occasion. I initially thought of doing something similar to the ‘Stavkirke’ painting, where I would have the Iban longhouse shrouded in mist and our little character as a silhouette in the foreground looking up at it. I thought it was okay, so I went over to Google to look for reference photos, but couldn’t find anything that ‘spoke’ to me.

And then I found this:

Source: https://www.experiencetravelgroup.com/borneo/hotel/iban-longhouse

I thought it was quite an interesting photograph to study (especially in terms of lighting and shadows) so I decided, instead of that landscape picture I had in mind, I’d make a painting of this instead.

So I began with a simple sketch. I then added a figure in the center to populate it, because I just love adding little subjects to paintings.

Then, I transferred this over to a bigger sketchbook with brown paper in it. 

I can't exactly say what my reason for using brown paper is, except that I felt like I should. Then I started marking in the shadows and lights. 

Once I have the general shadows and lights laid out, I started to add in the details. The following pictures will show the process. 

I ended up using mostly phthalo blue, burnt sienna, yellow ochre and white for the painting, with a little bit of brilliant red in places. I avoided using blacks mostly because I wanted to try playing around warm and cool tones to depict light and dark in the picture.

And it turned out better than I thought. For much of I focused mostly on what were illuminated by the light and did not fixate so much on what lingered in the shadows; those received maybe a few random strokes at best.

Overall, I am quite happy to have work on this painting. I have learnt quite a fair few things, especially when it came to disregarding things hidden in shadows, focusing instead of shaping what the light touches.

Selamat Ari Gawai. Gaya Guru Gerai Nyamai.