fashion inspired~michellechoongkhoo's "2011 Project A Painting A Day"

Stila Persson ~ another great fashion blog inspiration made me wanna imagine and go with the flow of where my palette and brushes take me~

very enjoyable exercise ;)

doodling with my watercolor brush ~michellechoongkhoo

I just cant concentrate with the ruckus that the tiling contractors are making at my yard!
aaaaaaah…..so am just doodling around this morning!

riding my imaginary bike~michellechoongkhoo's "2011 Project, A Painting A Day"

came across this fabulous article at Write a Bike on the Behance Network
I fell in love with the idea and  couldnt get novelty out of my head…… and so this is the next best thing?
I sure hope the bicycle designer Juri Jaech brings his product onto the assembly line soooooon…..its utterly awsome to own a customised bicycle with one's own name….WOW WOW!

I sure hope

picking seashells~ michellechoongkhoo's "Project 2011 A Painting A Day"

Here's my rendition of more beach nostalgia at Port Dickson….Jon being fascinated by the tiny seashells pinpointed by his uncle Sean :)

Happy memories always perk me up, even without any caffeine involved , hahaha

I cant believe I am still painting and sketching Day 10 into the project…..and its all thanks to apple's iPad technology which makes the photos (even those scanned from old archives) with colors so vivid for referencing!

Aaaaaaah, the marvel of new age tools~ 

aren't we just so lucky nowadays and don't you just love it?

sketching outline~michellechoongkhoo "Project 2011 A Painting A Day"

I see a sweet muse sitting by the pool……. do u share my vision?

do tell me what it looks like to you :P

Blossom into prosperity, day 8 "Project 2011(renamed) A Painting a Day"

hahahaha, at the rate I am experimenting…..my 2011 project has runaway to become more than a sketch a day~ so I shall rename it "A Painting A Day" LOL~

It all started with a G/F, bless her heart presenting me with some Papua New Guinea coffee beans and their local Nescafe (she says seriously its not the same as KL's taste, really? ) mmmmm so am sitting  and enjoying the aroma of my Starbucks xmas blend ,  thinking  ~ awww the packaging is so charming , almost a shame to open it up ~that I shall try niugini blend tomorrow!

Then reading the mainstream newspapers,  obviously with thoughts all about coffee…of coz my eyes was inadvertently drawn to the ads of Nescafe girl…. in red….and following that flow of thought, onto Metrojaya's beautiful china doll also in a profusion of red ~ it was eureka for the day!

Forget about linking up my iPad, syncing my photos, getting the FX photos of Tiger, printing out the tonal values in B/W, monochromatic and adjusting the strokes , cropping…….aaaaaah, it can wait for another day!

Today, my Nescafe Girl was just the right stimuli for this morning's art exercise and mmmmm, with that inspiration , it got me gobbling my Portuguese tart so quickly that I almost forgot to savor its deliciousness~ so that I could immediately set up the easel! Ah, the price one pays for ART, heh2.

As I wanted to mesh the 2 ads together and planned the background of a profusion of blossoms …….just as well I paint the outline direct, remembering what I read about always starting with the darkest tonal value…..

Chinese New Year Mood is already in the air here in KL…..

I am pretty sure I will soooon be inspired by great photos of beautiful ladies in their gorgeous qipaos ❤

sketching on newsprints~ Day6 into 2011 Project A Sketch A Day by michellechoongkhoo

“Art is in the doing. It isn’t important how it turns out. The process is where the pleasure, the learning and the experience take place. A day without some sort of creative endeavor is a wasted day.”
—Myrna Wacknov, from “Splendid Over 60” in the March 2008 issue of The Artist’s Magazine.


And with the above in mind, I continued to experiment this morning….I was very particular on the messages and adverts when choosing my newsprint for sketching~

 a) on black and white newsprint…..watercoloring was really easy, quick and nifty
I think my rememberance of Roxy looks rather swell~
it seemed so appropriate to remember my beloved with the SCB tagline,
"here for good" :)

b) on colored newsprint….the watercolor pigments wouldnt stay and so its more dramatic and strokes work best to use a broad black artline permanent marker pen

And here's my rendition of our beloved Max at his prime , much loved and hugs from his forever best pal….Justin, then aged 13 ….

I had a chuckle reading Bio cell's tagline " Building it green" and the ensuing description

 " colourful personalities do make it happen….you are enthusiastic, creative and have a colorful personality, here's yur chance to be part of the dynamic team…." 

♥♥♥

and today I chanced onto an artist who does such great works of art on newsprint Gabriel Vormstein

Justin~my quiet Angel…..our rock of Gibralter

it was kinda difficult to find dramatic photos to reference Justin's sketch……
but thats so typical of my laid back angel, who is the perfect tandem in the family to balance his 2 brothers' oft Doraemon episodes ;)…..

Today, going into day 4 of my "a sketch a day project"……I thought I wanted to try some shapes~

 mmmmmmmmm is it more interesting how Justin's unassuming pose was enhanced by the background? 

Yea, his biased mum's eyes definitely think so….hahahaha!

Stenciling is fun after all…..heh2, time to scout for more materials to experiment with…..

2011, so far jolly good……

looks like the year ahead is gonna be really adventure ~ Artwise ♪♪

and me say hurray and 3 cheers for that!!!

wishing everyone and me "Another great year ahead"  

Julian~ my sunshine , the bringer of laughter

hee3, this empty nester mum who only quite recently self declared herself no longer a helicopter anxious parent, nevertheless cant help but still  always think in threes when it comes to her kids , artwise included :)
  (and yup the realization that hoho hoho no matter their ages,  they'll always be that….my kids!)


Going into day 3 of my "2011 a sketch a day"…..its no brainer that naturally I have to complete yet another of my sons' triptych sketches…..

Here's a sketch from a favourite photo taken of Julian standing at Gurney Drive last year, drinking in the renewed beauty of the place….we were giddy with the beauty of the evening!
Gurney Drive, with new mangroves planted, with thousands of eco mud balls augmented by good bacteria to rid the awful ping during low tides….in early 2010 , it was becoming pleasant to walk on its boulevard again ~

And I had to bring my babe to experience what was my favourite haunting ground in my teens.

And I think this pose befittingly reflected that Gurney will once again become our favourite place to revisit and fall all over in love tenderly!

Did I already mention too that I so love Julian's Korean pop star pose?
 ❥❥

my firstborn, the light, the joy of my life~michellechoongkhoo

no wonder I'm having insomnia since all kinds of ideas are popping all over my head at any odd hours ….especially at night!
This is on account of the book which I bought recently: "200 Projects to strengthen yr art skills" by Valerie Colston!

The opening page says >>>"welcome to an art school in a book"…..now tell me who wouldnt buy the book in an instant? And it is so wonderfully motivating… insomnia notwithstanding, hahahaha

Anyway, here's my own output for "2011-a sketch a day 2"…..subject is always my muse, my Jon.

project 2011~ a sketch a day by michellechoongkhoo

now that the festivities are over, celebrations and bingeing done with……today i will start my project 2011 "a sketch a day" …..
And who better than Elmo my little beagle monster to start the ball rolling?

i think i manage to capture the essence of a little of his adorableness  here?
we just love that little rascal sooooooo much…..

2010 was the year of the Tiger~michellechoongkhoo

my Tiger does look like a ferocious Tiger cub in this sketch when he is really such a little sweet pussycat~
here's saying bye to the fearsome Chinese calender year of the Tiger for 2010…..
now to scout for my rabbit icon to sketch for the Chinese New Year Feb 2011

art and my iPad~ michellechoongkhoo

i think it is so cool to have so many gadgets available to help our creativity along…..

This morning, I wanted to continue with my experimentation of the portable watercolor sketch box ……
It was pouring dogs and cats~ how appropriate to sketch my Tobie ;)
And with the aid of my iPad and caffeine induced energy….i set up the stuff on the coffee table and got to work~
Wooooo, its such a breeze~ sketch, paint , photograph, upload and blog all within 15 mins…..
Wow Very very handy indeed…..I'm loving it ♬

wooooh I think pretty soon I may become addicted to doing this quickie sketching stuff , hahahaha

sketch~boy @ Gurney Drive Penang~michellechoongkhoo

it feels good to hv the creative juices flowing~

testing pocket field sketch box~ michellechoongkhoo

I bought this portable watercolor set w reusable waterbrush a few months back….
After a self imposed hiatus of inactivity, today I just decided to test it out !

aaaaah, pretty satisfying…..easy to manipulate the waterbrush and watercolor palette.
okay, am going to bring this along with me whenever I travel from now on…..

sketching for relaxation and just for fun~

art teacher

art student

cyclist

dancer

A truly happy person is one who can enjoy the scenery on a detour

I threw away one hour's work of drawing Max in disgust….OMG, it was impossible to draw so much fur~

Poor Max after my rendition looked more like a monkey than a proud gladiator-like German Shepherd from pure breed stock of distinction~ aaaargh.

And as I listened to Steve Jobs 2005 Stanford Commencement Address over and over again while drawing….btw I really love his motivational messages to the new graduates even though the message was more than 5 yrs old…fast forward to 2010, in its entirety the address was still relevant and truly inspirational !

And what I hear , I also see connection to my dismal failure of attempting to draw Max:
"Dont lose faith…."
Yes, I shall keep looking….

For now, I will surrender but I will keep trying some time soon….

For now, I will hv to be satisfied that the best I can sketch my beloved GSDs is this illustration of my darling Roxy ♥♥♥

sketch on natural charcoal

title: beloved ROXY

Ⓒmichellechoongkhoo

and then I received this in my email

* Accept that some days you're the pigeon,
And some days you're the statue.*

~~

*A truly happy person is one who can enjoy the scenery on a detour*.

Happy Mother's Day 2010

capturing the likeness of Elmo~graphite and charcoals

continuing the study of JD Hillberry's book "Drawing Realistic Textures in Pencils"~
FUR : At first glance, drawing fur looks intimidating….

Absolutely!
Elmo's cutie pie face has been staring at me from my desktop wallpaper for months now….each time I see it, I wanted to draw him .
but somehow I kept proscastinating because I wanted to draw my darling well and I didnt hv the confidence yet ~

Today, as I walked into my room and saw the beautiful filing cabinet that my carpentar has made for me…..which was despite my designer's doubts that the contrasting veneers I selected might work ….tho' I was quietly adamant that I wanted it done the way I envisoned it and I trusted my eye. Looking at my beautiful cabinet sitting in my master bedroom looking so beautiful was a great feeling~

That confidence of being proven right and perhaps partly also the effects of the caffein from the iced Kemaman coffee that I drank during "yum cha" (Cantonese word for drinking tea) with the girls after lessons and shopping ~ made me decide today to plunge headlong to sketch Elmo.
Preparing the table and art supplies…...

Dont you think Elmo looks absolutely handsome in his photos?

Now u see why I absolutely must attempt to capture his likeness?

partial work done , took a break for dinner

5½" x 8¼", graphite n charcoals

160gsm, acid free cartridge paper

title: ELMO

Ⓒmichellechoongkhoo

experimenting with mixed mediums

playing with my new prima color pens and tinted charcoals to see how they blend for sketching.

drawing THE BABY~ from J D Hillberry's book

Yesterday when art class was cancelled, we went to the art supplies shop again~
Females set loose in any environment where all it takes is a credit card to achieve self gratification is what keeps the economy moving along! Especially when all the items are innocently priced at less than RM10 (about usd 3) …..ayeiiiiii thats when my innate shopoholic instincts gets full arousal and I've lost "it" (my senses that is) one more time~~~~~shopping won , I admitted defeat with glee .

Today I unwrapped all the stuff I bought …..so many kinds of pencils , new watercolors, acrylic paints, brushes, sketch books ….decision decisions decisions….the dilemma of:
what to draw,
what to paint,
what to sketch ??????

Then my eyes fell to a book "Drawing Realistic Textures in Pencil" by J D Hillberry.
Many a times, I had been flipping the pages and then closed it back.
Today I saw a detailed instruction of how to draw a baby's head….now that was a challenge I had battled previously without success , my baby looked like a miniature old man…..
today however, I was drawn to the intensity of those gorgeous eyes of the baby.

A quick checklist of the tools needed, made me realized very quickly that I dont have :
F graphite ,
6H pencil,
3B pencil,
HB charcoal,
frisket
treaded eraser , had bought it, cant find it now ;(((
and perhaps most crucial of whats lacking…..
last but not least, the know how….hahaha~

What I do have are lots of 2B, 4H, 6B , 9B, light/medium/dark charcoals, a chamois, a full set of tortillons for blending….so is it gonna stop me from drawing those eyes?
Noooo, of coz not ;) I am well known for improvising after all o.O
Isnt it wonderful being an adult art student?
The beauty of not having to stick to assignments and modules….
the flexibility of going whatever art directions wherever our fancies of the day take us~~~~~>♫♬♪♥

First I had to get hubby to chase away 2 fruit bats hanging on my fragrant coconut trees, destroy a bee's nest that was almost reaching full construction …..
and amidst all the adrenalin of all these 2 flurried activities ….
when I could finally sit at my art space without fear….
then only could I get to the task of tackling to the best of my ability to draw my baby with the most gorgeous eyes ;)

160gsm acid free* A5 cartridge paper

title: Gorgeous Eyes of Baby

ⓒmichellechoongkhoo

if and shld I decide to focus on portraiture , I will definitely want to take another look at the online workshops of JD Hillberry.

And a big thank you goes to Andrea Boult , the best best classmate EVER~for loaning me a gem of a book.