Tourist in my Own City / Ah Fong Shanghai Wonton Dumplings

Yesterday I had lunch at a really cozy spot near my house with a big Matisse print on the wall-- a little dumpling restaurant staffed by women where during the after lunch rush was full of lone diners like myself.

I had the "light meal" set which comes with a bowl of dumplings, your choice of side dish and a glass of soy milk for $39HKD. I opted for a comforting mug of hot Ovaltine for an extra 2 bucks since I'm trying to have less soy due to my thyroid. For the side, I chose the sweet vinegar ribs which were so delicious; tangy, savoury and sweet which went perfectly with the rice cake that came in the dumpling soup.

I read the new National Geographic about the world's first skiers. Since being back in Hong Kong I always ask for a Nat Geo subscription for my birthday, it's like getting a really informative present each month. 

阿芳餛飩
Ah Fong Shanghai Wonton
G/F, 40  Sung Kit Street, Hung Hom. Kowloon.

Where to find Cool Vintage Glasses in Hong Kong? Mei Yick Spectacles

Having nice glasses are my favourite thing, they tell people you are really artsy and smart and that you aren't like everyone else and they also help you see things. Also, contacts terrify me. I was about to blow my life saving's on these pair of Andy Wolf's but my goal before 2013 ends is to start a retirement fund so I had to reconsider my priorities.

So it was off to the Shum Shui Po and Mong Kong, Hong Kong's older districts to search for some affordable and unique frames, where I discovered Mei Yick Spectacles which specialize in deadstock frames.

 Photo: Think-silly.com

They have tons of interesting styles lining the tiny shop and the helpful owner brought down all the styles which might suit me. I ended up choosing a pair of clear cat eye frames with a bit of turquoise detailing which are also a bit bedazzled! I got Transition™ lenses put in, so I can always feel pretty and prepared whenever I go outside, but kind of douchey when I come to meet important people indoors and my glasses haven't Transition™ed back into normal from the sunlight.

The whole thing came out to under $1000 HKD, that's like $150 CAD for frames and lenses which is basically unheard of in Canada.

Mei Yick Spectacles
28 Tung Choi Street, Mongkok, Kowloon, Hong Kong.
It's on the "Ladies Market" street, behind the streetstalls.

Another place I love for eyeglass shopping in Hong Kong, not vintage and if you want to spend the big bucks and you already have a retirement fund is Pui Yi Optical.

Sketches / Kate Moss at the Beach with Two Cigs in Gouache and Pencil

Made some sketches while pursuing Tumblr the other night from a photo of Kate Moss on the beach.
Gouache and pencil on extremely shitty paper that I bought on vacation in Beijing.

Here's a detail shot, I like the texture. I always like to draw everyone with very Asian looking eyes.

This little beauty is for sale: $100 CAD. She's about 10" x 7", pencil and gouache on paper. Original painting.
Email me if you're interested: kitty.n.wong (at) gmail (dot) com

I have two weddings to go to next year, and they're both so far away. So I'm going to be selling some more drawings and paintings soon to try to save up for them. Keep your eyes out for originals on my Etsy shop. And the signed framed prints from the Shoes / Off shows are listed there too.

www.etsy.com/shop/themarrow

Tutorial / How to Fake that Chalkboard Look on Photoshop + Champagne Blending Illustration for Tatler HK

How to get a realistic chalk effect on Photoshop.
This trick looks more like chalk than CaCO₃, I learned it from a Jessica Hische talk. Speaking of which, talks and podcasts by creative people are the only way I survive while working since I spend 8+ hours drawing by myself, my sanity is just hanging on by threads. My absolute favourite lately is Your Dreams My Nightmares by artist / educator Sam Weber, he interviews illustrators and art directors and it fulfils all my podcast listening fantasies: weird music, cool people, talking about minute things only illustrators care about, NYC!

Anyways back to this tutorial, it really is super easy.

- Using a 2B or darker pencil draw the words or pictures you want on a piece of paper (bond paper is fine).
- Smudge it all around with your hands, that's why you need a 2B pencil, any harder and it ain't messy enough.
- Touch all your belongings and make everything dirty. 
- Scan the paper and open it up on Photoshop.
- Invert the image so the white part becomes black and voila! Finally play around with the levels until you're happy with the black to white ratio.

Here's one of my latest illustrations for HongKongTatler.com for their article on champagne blending where I used this chalkboard technique. Uh huh huh, I had a tres bien time drawing that French man.

Thanks to the editor Charmaine and the writer Esther.

If Fashion Week was a Horror Film / My Halloween Fashion Comic for Dazed & Confused

It feels surreal but my very first illustration feature with Dazed Digital is out now, they're the online companion to Dazed & Confused magazine. I used to buy secondhand copies of i-D and Dazed magazines at the huge BMV bookstore in downtown Toronto during 1st year university and I used to leaf through them thinking how cooool are all these people? And then I'd carefully cut out my favourite pages and save them for collaging, but after 1st year university I ran out of money and stopped buying magazines and just bought food instead.

So needless to say I'm super excited to be working with Dazed for this Halloween feature, "If Fashion Week was a Horror Film". 

There are 5 storyboards, with each image being it’s own story about the designer and their dark S/S 2014 collection:

1. Rei Kawakubo and her Commes des Garcons girl gang.
2. Marc Jacobs's Louis Vuitton circus.
3. The Maison Martin Marigela laboratory.
4. Meadham Kirchhoff's heaven and hell.
5. Thom Browne's mental asylum.

You can read more about the story and the illustrations on DazedDigital.com.

Click through after the jump to see my drafts and process for the project.