Couple caricature done from photographs.

A4 size caricature of a graduating couple.
Medium used: Colour pencil on white paper.
Type:Face only.
Client's purpose: Graduation cum birthday gift.

Whenever I describe the type of caricature as 'face only',it doesn't mean I would draw only the face for my clients.Usually I would draw down a little lower,around the chest level just to complete the picture.To enhance it, I would normally throw in a hand gesture like the peace,thumbs-up,etc.

Individual caricature done from photograph.

A4 size caricature of a girl playing floor ball.
Medium used: Colour-marker on white paper.
Type:Face with cartoon body.
Client's purpose:Birthday gift.

My most loyal customer.

Introducing Mr Wilson Long,a swimming instructor,my most loyal customer so far.This guy has a unique surname which makes people remember him easily.Mr Looong started to use my portrait sketching service since day one when I started my business in Far East Plaza since 1998.Come December,it has been almost a decade,a looong time already.He does an average of 5 pencil portraits per year.A total of around 50 portraits to date. The interesting part is that all those portraits were meant as gifts for his family,relatives & friends but he has never done any for himself.The reason why he sticks to me till now is b'cos in the past he had tried almost all the portrait artists available in Singapore but couldn't find any whom he think was good enough to draw up to his high expectation.
He is very demanding & would not accept anything less than a 90% resemblance level.Whenever he makes an order,I would feel pressurised to ensure that he will give me a smile upon collection.Perhaps I should give him the most loyal customer award for his looong support...(laugh)

Corporate caricature for Citibank.

A4 size caricatures for Citibank.
Medium used: Colour-marker on white paper.
Type: Face with cartoon body & background/theme.
Client's purpose: Corporate gift for Citibank's Marketing Planning & Analytics Conference.
Quantity: 12 pieces.

This was a tough job as I was given the time frame at just around 10 days to complete all 12 pieces of these caricatures.The client did a lot of home work just to get all the necessary information about every body's character as well as their nature of jobs.The difficult part was all the subjects were from different countries,therefore plenty of emails were sent & received throughout the process.Many drafts were submitted for the client's comments & approvals.
At the end of the project,it was worth the effort as I was at least handsomely rewarded with a 4 figure amount.Ever since the completion of this project,Citibank has been my regular client.The latest order came 1 week ago & i'm still busy working on a 15-person A2 size art work that's worth a 4 figure amount too.

Individual sketch of an angel.

A3 size of a sketch of an angelic character.
Medium used: Pencil/graphite on white paper.
Client's purpose: For tattooing use.


As Far East Plaza has quite a number of tattoo shops,their clients are usually recommended to me for sketches that involved human faces.I've done many of such requests but never have I done any to be tattooed on my own body.I'm sure that will never happen simply b'cos it's not my cup of tea.!-)
The client actually provided me with a reference picture of the angelic body as well as a photo of the girl to be superimposed.I believed she might be his wife otherwise how to erase if the relationship doesn't work, right?.
As the space available for me to draw the face was rather small,it was extremely difficult to capture the resemblance of the girl.However,I've got no idea whether it looks like her.I just tried my best but he didn't complain about the resemblance upon collection of the artwork.I guess I've got it right.

Individual caricature done from photograph.

A4 caricature of a classy lady.
Medium used: Color-marker on white paper.
Type: Face with cartoon body & background.
Client's purpose: Birthday gift.

Family caricature done from photographs.

A4 size caricature of an Indian family.
Medium used: Colour-pencil on white paper.
Type: Face with cartoon body.
Client's purpose: Birthday gift for their mother.
Theme: Matrix.


Cool right? The clients' mum must be a fan of Matrix as I was required to caricature them this way.What a great idea...

Comic strip for Singapore Air Force

A3 size comic strip for SAF.
Medium used: Colour-pencil on white paper.
Client's purpose: Print on poster.

Group caricature done from photographs.

A3 size caricature of golf enthusiasts.
Medium: Colour-marker on white paper.
Type: Face with cartoon body.
Client's purpose: Farewell gift.

Couple caricature with pet dogs done from photographs.

A3 size caricature of a dog lover & his wife.
Medium used: Colour-marker on white paper.
Type: Face only.
Client's purpose: Birthday gift.

The lady client requested me to draw her in the background simply b'cos she wanted to send a message to her husband that he had been neglecting her ever since he got hold of the 2 pet dogs.There was no place for her anymore.Wonder if the relationship has improved after the caricature was presented...

Picture taken as a hobby.

My photographic skill is somewhat progressing.I've been exploring my Sony DSC-H7 camera & managed to snap quite a few pictures which I enjoy looking at.

This picture was taken while I was having my supper and at the same time waiting to watch a midnight movie at Jurong Point with my girlfriend recently.I noticed a group of Bangladeshi construction workers hanging around & chatting in front of their container.I shot from quite a distance away,around 20m.To my surprise,the result really gave me some satisfaction.It looks like some artistic movie scene.


While still seated at the same spot,I turned around & shot this nasi-lemak stall.What interested me was the person wiping the glass panel.


And the ambiance at the food court was pleasant too.

Beautiful window display by CK Tang.

While walking back to Far East Plaza after my gym session in Paragon Orchard last week,I came across this beautiful 'summer sales' window display in front of CK Tang departmental store.Couldn't resist the temptation,I drew out immediately my ever-ready Sony DSC-W30 camera to start shooting what I think was a nice art piece.These pictures would be added to my photography collection.

On-site caricature service at IMM Jurong.

Date of event: 4 July 2008 Fri.
Venue: Crystal Jade Dining Place Restaurant,IMM,Jurong Singapore.
Duration: 1 hour (7.45pm to 8.45pm).

This was the first time I did an event that required me to draw only one person on the spot in colour.The purpose of the caricature was meant as a surprise retirement gift for a senior staff of Exxonmobil Singapore.A 3-table dinner was attended by colleagues from his dept.When I reached the private room,everybody has been seated.I looked around & felt that it was extremely difficult to draw as he was chatting happily with everybody & kept moving about.So I suggested to the client that it's better for me to take a picture of the subject & draw from my laptop screen at a separate table as I've come prepared.My suggestion was also to let him continue to enjoy himself without disruption.The caricature took a longer time than usual for me to complete simply b'cos I was not used to the arrangement & environment.
After completion of the artwork,the client handed me with a picture frame which she brought along.Together,we put everything in place before being officially presented to him,the retiring man.

The restaurant entrance.


The subject.He told me to draw him with more black hair.


The photo which I took.


Work just started in black & white.


The colouring process.


Everybody was waiting for the food to be served.


The finished artwork before framming.Somebody commented it looked 10 years younger than his age...(laugh).




















Last of all,the presentation.

Group caricature for Citibank,Singapore.

A2 size group caricature done from photographs.
Medium used: Colour-marker on white paper.
Type: Face with cartoon body & background/theme.
Client's purpose: Retirement gift.

Over 1000 visitors

While Dr Mahathir's blogsite has attracted 1,000,000 visitors in his 1st. month of blogging,mine has hit more than 1000 visitors worldwide today since I set up the Neo Counter on 18th May 2008 to keep track of the number.This average up to about 13 visitors per day.Hmmm... not bad for a small fly like me.
Cheers

Individual portrait done from photograph.

A4 size portrait of an old Indian man.
Medium used: Soft-pastel on black paper.
Client's purpose: For memory's sake.


This portrait was done 9 years ago not long after I opened my shop in Far East Plaza.The interesting part is that it was drawn from a black & white photo given to me by the client into a coloured portrait.That was what she wanted.After studying the photo,I used a black paper to bring out the subject using the overlapping technique. The result was stunning.

Portrait sketching for magazine.

A4 size portrait sketching.
Medium used: Pencil/graphite on white paper.
Client's purpose: Publish in Banter magazine.

I've got no idea who these 2 guys were.The reason why the client wanted them to be hand drawn instead of using their photos was due to some kind of copyright issues.This was not the first time my clients had used my drawings for such purpose.A few years ago,Yahoo.com.sg used a couple of my similar drawings of people like MM Lee,SM Goh,Jack Neo,etc for the public to vote for The Singaporean Of The Year in their front page.Unfortunately I'm not allowed to display or reuse them without their permission.That was the agreement I've committed.

Pictures taken at Beach Road.

My photographic interest has taken me further.After sending my mother to catch a bus back to Malaysia recently,I looked around the area & drew out my Sony camera to snap a few shots of the lunch time activities before collecting my car from the Golden Mile Tower carpark.

A shot of Golden Mile Complex.According to my memory,the building is still the same as it was 20 years ago.No major upgrading work has been done.


A moving DHL van's motion being freezed using a high shutter speed.The depth of field is visible too.


Under the shade of trees,people walking to have their lunch.


Security talk. The guard on the left was looking at me & he might be wondering what purpose of my snapping at them.Luckily they didn't seize my camera thinking that I might be a terrorist planning to blow up the place...(laugh)


The classic Golden Mile Tower's architectural design from the 80s era.


Finally,a bird's eye view of people enjoying their food.I like this shot 'cos there isn't any hard & dark shadow on the floor especially under the tables.

My 1st. & 2nd. Soft-pastel portraits.

This was my very 1st. coloured portrait of Ronald Reagan when I started to explore on soft-pastel medium way back in 1987 as a hobby.Ronald was still alive then if I'm not wrong.It was done on an A2 size paper.Of course I'd been doing pencil & charcoal portraits before that.For your info.,I became a full professional portrait artist only a decade ago.The technique of using this medium is totally different form those 2 types as my fingers are my tools.Using them to blend the colours was another experience.Too much of rubbing would result in my loss of finger prints & my identity would be gone...(laugh).





















This was my 2nd piece. The portrait of Robert Redford was done immediately after that. It was in A3 size.Both art works are framed up & being kept in my home town Ipoh till now. Maybe they will fetch a high price at the auction table in future,who knows...!-)