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Wednesday, June 1, 2011

its raining cats and dogs in our household :)

When one is surrounded by pets who demand much of your time~ its only natural that they in turn become much of one's art inspirations….

a quick A4 size sketch and 20 mins watercolor of Kerbi (my sons name) 
or Tiger (my choice of name for this wild spirited feline) 
Don't you just love those fearsome mesmerizing eyes?




It seems so unfair to sketch Tiger without also completing one of Tobie and so I had to hurriedly attempt an A4 sized watercolor to try to capture the essence of his scaredity cat eyes~ but we know better than to be fooled by him! The vet can bear testament to the fact by the scars on her arms when she made a house call to give Tobie his injections!


Sunday, April 3, 2011

experimenting with textures

many layerings of masking liquid to create the hair curls, contrast and highlights

experimenting with salt to create a more 3 D effect for the tuna fish


after which both paintings were created into a magazine cover using bighugelabs effects

This has been a fun weekend indeed <3

Friday, March 4, 2011

borrowing a page from posh, charles & Keith~

I think Victoria's latest collection of clothes are awsome~ but not the weird "swimming cap" thingy the models were wearing!
So I substituted it with pixie haircut and sunglasses~


but looking back , I think I should have stopped and left the illustration undone ~
would have been more dramatic?


and dont you just love the new range of gladiator heels that is the current rage?
I think Charles & Keith deserves a pat for their latest collection too ;)

Wednesday, March 2, 2011

painting is only as good as the photo referencing~

Indeed I would make a most horrible commercial artist (not that I am good enough yet hee hee)

Time is so precious to me that I have so little to spare …therefore I only want to use it to paint something that I have affinity for or that tugs at my heartstrings….
thats why my favourite subject matters are my sons, my pets, sceneries that has nostalgia for me, something that I wanna do e.g diving or traveling …
in short, I only want to make the investment of time to do the art piece IF it speaks to me~

And I find that apart from being passionate about the painting subject, good photos are essential as references…
Luckily I have loads of archive photos that will not make me lack subject matter and I do envisage myself very very occupied for a long long long time, hahahaha.

That said, while photographs make good reference ….to really see tiny details, the photos if printed has to be of high quality…
If space does not permit, then I prefer to work direct from photos straight from the camera but my ultimate choice is I love to reference photos using the fantastic lighting from my iPad's screen!
Mac's technology is awsome to bring the photos alive in such vivid colors and thats what makes the difference between making the painting more realistic, in my personal opinion!

Here's Elmo done from my ipad photo reference ~



                              
                                      A4 hotpressed 220gms acid free paper
                                 and all framed up with app from bighugelabs~

all framed up~

loving what bighugelabs mat app does to photos ~
If only I wasn't so paranoid about doing online payment….I really should support them by subscribing…maybe I should just take the plunge?





Monday, February 28, 2011

Today I'd rather be at the beach~


some days are better spent imagining…..especially Mondays….
looking at archive photos of Maldives and remembering the fun we had when we tried to wild goose chase for the hundreds of manta rays promised to be Halfungu during the monsoons of 2010~
but luckily we were blessed to see a couple at Male….
I shall try to paint some the manta shots sometime soon~

Meanwhile I can't wait to be at Sipadan again~
10 days can't come fast enough !!!

                                 a set of small watercolors on beach @ Maldives
                                           2.5" x 3.5" on 300gsm paper

Sunday, February 27, 2011

my first watercolor on uw critters~

I hv been itching to paint some of the wonders from underwater~ it was in fact this idea that made me go back to art in the first place~

I am quite happy and excited about outcome on today's experimenting with my seahorse….


A4 watercolor on 300gsm paper

inspiration for a lazy Feb's last Sunday~

Youtube video from Anders Anderson painting landscape with one brush is quite an inspiration!
Landscape is not my favourite nor my forte but I definitely learnt a thing or two from how he wielded his brush.

On such a lovely sunday, I'd rather be riding than working….and if not, then I'd rather be painting….:) and this I could!

I wish I could use only one brush because that would solve alot of washing of my art utensils .. heheh but for now, I am quite happy with this output from just using 2 brushes !



                                 watercolor on A4 sized 300gsm paper

routine is important~

coming back from Club Med, I havent had much chances to complete much painting, sketching ….and I know why!
I needed to get back into my breakfast routine again….and to stop logging onto the PC until I have done at least one piece of ART~
FB, google reader, flickr….are nice social networking platforms and fun fun way to interact/check info but unfortunately for me….they are huge time wasters!
yup….gotta do all those stuff only late at night otherwise, ooooops half the day is gone before I know it!

Today's inspiration of curry laksa because yummy, I am gonna be back Penang soon for a food crawl~

Wednesday, February 23, 2011

Personal style vs artistic style~michellechoongkhoo




Does your personal style reflect your artistic style?

To me one can’t live without the other. —Carlos Aponte

Read some responses from other artists at gallery hanahou

And hence I am almost always drawn to female faces whereas for males I like to do their physiques and profiles~

quick watercolor shadings
an inspiration from Estee Lauder's new commercial


                                                  quick midnight charcoal pencil sketching
                                       an inspiration of hubby @Archery , Club Med Bintan



Tuesday, February 8, 2011

quick sketches of the male forms~michellechoongkhoo

Does your personal style reflect your artistic style?

To me one can’t live without the other. —Carlos Aponte at gallery hanahou

I think Carlos' answer is what I will subscribe to…..

because  generally speaking without any specific theme in mind and left to my own resources, I always prefer to draw the  female forms ….
but since I wanted to complement my previous posting and scouring online for male images…..heh heh, without a doubt, any artists would find the male physique presents  interestingness in many new ways ~
                                                   the family man
                                                      the hunk
the casual man
                                                   a fresh faced Adonis

                                                      the team player
                                                      "Mr Cool"
                                                        metroman
                                                         Mr Outdoor
                                              a man focused on winning

And with this, I think I am ready to go on to drawing diving photos~

Sunday, February 6, 2011

a hobbyist's quick sketches of the female forms~michellechoongkhoo


"Hobbyist, Amateur, or Professional


The first thing to understand is the difference between being a hobby artist, an amateur artist, and a professional artist." quote Aletta de Wal in Art Business Advise 


At last I know now how to define my interest in Art….heh heh, I sure love being a hobbist because by Aletta's defination….Hobby artists may spend years, decades or even an entire lifetime making art strictly for personal pleasure….to enjoy, whenever they feel like it!
I dont mind looking forward to the rest of my life, exploring art for myself :D, what a pleasure that will be!

After 5 days of celebrating food and family time, today I was just itching to put some watercolor to paper~
And so on this lovely cool sunday, this hobbyist in a spurt of frenzy decided to try out quick sketches visualizing the different representations of the female form in my mind..


                                              "maternal" from own stock photo 1984
                                      "wild" adapted from photo by Mor.gan at flickr
                                       "beguiling" adapted from photo by Mor.gan at flickr
                                       "chic" adapted from art of Vincent Bakkum at ArtOdyssey
                                    "graceful" adapted from art of Vincent Bakkum at ArtOdyssey
                                        "sultry" adapted from Dior ad, Jadore Charlize Theron
                                   "Kinky" adapted from photos from HerWorld Dec 2007 copy
                                    "Trendy" adapted from photos from HerWorld Dec 2007 copy
"independent"
                                       "feminine" adapted from perfume ad
                                       
                               "career minded" adpated from Vincci shoe ad
Transformers~ n this shld need no introduction?


I kinda fancy how these watercolor sketches turned out onto my new recycled 8"x5" sketchbook…..but because the paper is really very water absorbent paper , there's a need to work really fast with bold strokes~ fantastic for silhouettes and monochromatic shadings!
mmmmm, I guess its only logical that next experiments will be on the male forms?
heh heh,,,,,,,this hobbyist certainly pray to be able to enjoy her art experimentations for many many years to come :)

Tuesday, February 1, 2011

Study of Proportions with William L Maughan~ michellechoongkhoo

Very interesting and after checking it out…….oooooh, it does compute….heh heh heh



My understanding of his writings on pgs 60-64 as summarized:
1. placement of the eye is ½ way measurement from top of head to chin
2. the distance from chin to bottom of nose, distance from nose to brow, distance from brow to hairline are all equally spaced 1/3rd of the face


armed with that guideline…..I just had to draw a profile of eddie reading his newspapers….not sure he liked my faithful renditions of all his lines but hahahaha he wouldnt know anyway that the photo is based on him ~

For trying to get the facial anatomical proportions right is one thing, getting the realism correct,,,,,hahahahaha, now that is entirely another long journey ….

" ……Often it has been noted that the more a person does a particular task, the easier that task becomes. This is not because the task becomes any less difficult but because the person's ability to do more increases……" William L Maughan in his book THE ARTIST'S COMPLETE GUIDE TO DRAWING THE HEAD on chapter putting it all together, pg 121

So I will drink to that cheerful optimistic advise~ and plod along into the 2nd month of my 2011 Project……still going strong, hee hee


Happy City Day to KLites and Malaysians…..

next is to study anatomical proportions of nudes….daddy darling, dont worry I wont attempt frontal shots….too shy for that, hahahahahah





here is where I had some fun fooling around with a dear fren Poh Ai's funny FB photo shot where supposedly her darling Hugo was the star….but as she pointed out, I certainly didnt draw Hugo at all well…..
I mean dont blame me, who can when there is this perfect tush buttock to focus on ?

a prelude of new found joyful adventure to discover over the chinese new year….heh heh heh

Monday, January 31, 2011

Happy New Year 2011~michellechoongkhoo

Wishing everyone a Happy, Prosperous and Loving Year ahead

❤ ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤


                                        
                                            A3 x 200 gsm watercolor paper
                                                    starring Jon & Carrie 

Sunday, January 30, 2011

Nothing is original?~ michellechoongkhoo

“Nothing is original. Steal from anywhere that resonates with inspiration or fuels your imagination. Devour old films, new films, music, books, paintings, photos, poems, dreams, random conversations, architecture, bridges, street signs, trees, clouds, bodies of water, light and shadows. Select only things to steal from that speak directly to your soul. If you do this, your work (and theft) will be authentic. Authenticity is invaluable; originality is non-existent. And don’t bother concealing your thievery—celebrate it if you feel like it. In any case, always remember what Jean-Luc Godard said: ‘It’s not where you take things from—it’s where you take them to.”

And so on such a rainy cool Sunday, what is the best thing to do?
Copy from H EDWARD BROOKS'S SHORT POSES, CHARCOAL ON TONED PAPER
and back study with drapery….. huge thanks indeed for his detailed instruction~
An excellent and generous artist ……..If he is here in Msia, I would jump at the chance to study with him~





After all the exercises above, what is the next step?
Of course some dramatic self portrait….hahahaha
Note to self, always choose a photo that is a side profile or 2/3rd turn for pencil work!


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