Paintings / Pink Lady

Pink Lady, 2015.
Gouache and pencil on paper.
55 cm x 39 cm.

One of the super awesome things I've been enjoying about New York is the endless live figure drawings sessions that are happening all the time in the city. Last night we had one at the School of Visual Arts and I'm so happy I went (Sorry homework!).

It was my first time doing a really long pose, when they announced the next pose was going to be two hours I initially thought "What am I going to do for two hours???" but I ran upstairs to my desk and grabbed my gouache palette and I was so happy with this piece which I finished during the two hour session.

Check out the WIP shot on my Instagram.

Streetstyle and Snapshots From Art Basel 2015

 A cool attendee dressed down in pink sequins with cuffed jeans and spiky sneakers.

Ok! Art Basel is probably the funnest month here in Hong Kong, there are a gazillion events everywhere in the city and hot graffiti artists for you to swipe and meet on Tinder, not to mention the show itself. Here are the streetstyle illustrations and photos spotted from my day there.  

I drew a boy! Even though my Twitter bio says I don't know how to draw boys. The stylish visitor was wearing a Topman peacock tee-shirt against a giant swirling Sterling Ruby canvas at Gagosian - and you know I can't resist a good pattern or two.

Tracey Emin at Lehmann Maupin.

Click through for some [IMG HEAVY] coverage from the show this year.

Painting / Botanist

The Unhappy Botanist, 2015.
Gouache, acrylic, pencil and paper collage.
39cm x 54cm

I always paint ladies but I'm really into the idea of painting some feminine fellas these days. I like how this portrait turned out a little bit androgynous. I was also inspired by this photo and from the anthurium flowers I took home after attending 'poon choi', a traditional Chinese New Year eating feast, at my friend's home village. Those flowers with their phallic baby corn stems always reminds me of Japanese minimalism in the 80's - my mom had all those flower arranging books in our basement.

And now let us zoom up and in enjoy his chic and high as a kite expression for a second (that fitting description thanks to DK!).

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Live Drawing / TST + My First Video!

A few weeks ago in an effort to challenge myself I decided to set myself up in, Tsim Sha Tsui, a super busy part of Hong Kong near the harbour and try doing live portraits on the streets for the first time. It was terrifying but also really rewarding and fun.

Doing street portraits is something I've always wanted to try, but was terrified of. I had discussed the idea quietly to a few of my close friends and even mentioned it to my mom. They all thought it was a great idea and encouraged me to go for it. But I still wasn't sure. Wouldn't it be weird? No one invited me to do it? Can I really just set up on the street? What if I invite everyone to come and then I get kicked out or questioned by the police?
 

I've always been really into this idea of artists that took advantage of whatever small circumstances around them at the time and used it to bring their work out on to the street and use it as a chance to continually work on their craft. For example, I love the story of Jean-Michel Basquiat who as a young man sold painted t-shirts and postcards on the streets of Manhattan in order to make money. 

I wanted to do something like that!

Why not take advantage of Hong Kong's lack of busking regulations, I've seen lots of young people setting up in Mong Kok either doing caricatures or playing music. Why shouldn't I do it? While I'm still young and living in the city.

The older I get the more I realize that opportunity is not something that is given, you have to take it.

"Many people have the perception that you have to be granted power, when in reality, you just have to claim it. Power isn’t limited to the possession or command over others. Power is the currency of making $%!^ happen." -- Denna Varshavskaya

So I mustered up my courage and made a Facebook event to let my friends know and posted to my Instagram to tell my followers what I would be up to. I knew I would feel so much more comfortable if even a handful of my friends were around.

My friend Jessica and three super stylish girls who are studying at SCAD, they had seen my invite on Instagram and came out to support! Thanks so much girls for stopping by, you are all so wonderful.

As the night progressed, the more portraits I did, the more confident I became and it was evident (at least to me) that I was getting better. Throughout the day lots of beautiful stylish friends stopped by, including blogger Sybil Kot, aka The Style Voyager. Can you spot her? Hint: look for the signature hair flip!

Polaroids from street photographer Dicky Lai.

And without further ado, the video! Check it out for all the action that day as filmed by the super talented Josh Tam at Josh Takes Photos. He did a beautiful job of capturing the energy of the day. We started at 3pm and as the sun set and evening came around the pier was buzzing with lots of pedestrians and a handful of young local street musicians. It felt great to be sketching in that environment and to be a part of a group who were bring more art and creativity to the streets and people of Hong Kong, however transient.

 

The video and screenshots were all filmed by Josh Tam of Josh Takes Photos, get in touch with him here.

And some more link karma! Ann from Kremb de la Kremb stopped by to get a livesketch that day and wrote a really sweet post with lots of great photos, go check it out on her blog.

And as always, make sure you subscribe, and if you loved this post please share it with your friends using the social media buttons below!

Painting / Inky Beauties on Cheap Paper

Beauty #1, #2, #3, 2014.
Gouache on paper.
30 cm x 21 cm.

Experimenting with a liner brush on cheap cheap paper the other night. Sometimes I go to events and I end up coming home with a huge stack of press releases, that stresses me out because I'm always trying to be as environmentally friendly as I can. The other night I was practicing brush lettering on my back side of the old press releases (reuse! reduce! recycle!) and saw this gorgeous photo of Natalia Vodianova in fur and felt an irresistible urge to paint her pretty face.

But then I was like no it wouldn't look good, not with just a paintbrush and some ink. It's not going to look good! But what's the harm? I've got all this paper. I did one, it was terrible so I made another one, and another and another. Here are three of my favourites from my stack that evening.

Beauty #1 is available as a print or iPhone, Samsung phone case on my Society6 Shop now! You buy one and look so chic while you chat on your phone with all your friends because you're so popular!

Painting / Pick Up Stix

Pick Up Stix, 2014.
Gouache and pencil on paper.
25 cm x 18 cm.

The events of last evening night unfolded exactly like the plotline of How Stella Got Her Groove Back, but by that I mean if painting was my Taye Diggs and my desk was Jamaica, sadly. I've been in a work funk ever since I got back form my holiday in England. As a freelancer it's easy to slide off the rails with no boss, co-workers and regular office hours to keep you in check.

Before I left I had my routine down pat, with a to-do list with time slots written out each night before I went to bed (it really helps!). But since I've been back I've been finding it almost impossible to get back on track and into painting regularly again.

I've been slowly working on my London zine, but haven't been feeling super inspired. Thankfully there's Pinterest, I was scrolling through it last night and came across an image I really like from Zimmerman's Resort 2015 lookbook and used it as a starting point for this new painting.

Metamorphosis / Xu Bing at Asia Society

Before I left for my holiday in England I was lucky enough to be invited to preview 'It Begins with Metamorphosis' by the acclaimed Chinese artist Xu Bing at Asia Society. Acclaimed usually sounds like some frou-frou word which you use to describe someone who you know nothing about except that they're really famous. But in his case, Xu was rewarded the MacArthur Fellowship in 1999 (yes, the 'Genius Grant'!), so you know he's legit (bow down).

As you walk into the exhibition you are greeted by a large vase of mulberry cuttings, upon closer inspection you see that the stems are covered in small white silkworms feeding on the green leaves. As the show continues, the worms continue to devour the leaves leaving behind nothing but brown stems and the cocoons of the themselves entwined in silk.

I had never been to Asia Society until I went to see the Caravaggio exhibition a few months before, I had only seen pictures and it seemed like a magical secret place hidden amongst the trees high up in Admiralty with an illuminated walkway and peaceful Buddha sculptures. It didn't seem like a real place you could go to in Hong Kong, but alas love is a place and spring was in the air.

CLICK THROUGH to see more photos, sketches and what I wore from my luscious day at Xu Bing's 'It Begins with Metamorphosis' at Asia Society.

Sketchbook Girls / Chloe

Kitty N. Wong, 2014.
Chloe. Gouache and pencil on paper.
27 cm x 19 cm.

A new sketchbook girl I've been working on these last few nights. Inspired by Amanda Seyfried's Givenchy ad. I always think Amanda Seyfried's name is Chloe for some reason, probably from that one weird Canadian movie she made and all us Torontonians got really excited because it's the only movie that's filmed in Toronto that is actually set in Toronto (see also: Scott Pilgrim).

In other news I went to see Caravaggio at Asia Society today, the film screening and the exhibition which closed today, what a perfect movie seen in a beautiful setting.

Buy a print of the Chloe painting on my Etsy shop.

#theartassignment / EYE GIF

Kitty N. Wong, 2014.
It Makes Me Feel Good to Look at You. Pencil and gouache on paper.
Animated GIF.

I made this GIF for PBS's The Art Assignment, it's my new favourite Youtube show and I feel so happy to be living in a time that something like that is being made and distributed. Making this GIF feels super relevant as I just went to see 'Her' last night, what a beautiful melancholy movie. I absolutely loved the art direction and the video games in the movie, "Perfect Mom"!

Are these eyes not unnerving you a bit? I like how after she blinks a little bit of mascara is left behind on her lower lid. It makes it feel so lifelike, the paper on the whites of the eye gives an allusion of depth and with 'Her' fresh in my mind, maybe even adds a sense of artificial intelligence to them. 

The theme this week was the 'Intimate, Indispensable GIF'. My eyes are probably my most indispensable body part and what I think about most when I think about me. Apart from the obvious visually dominated world I live in as an artist and illustrator, my eyes are especially important because they represent a journey of change and self acceptance. Having gone through and still dealing with hyperthyroid Grave's disease, one of the most obvious symptoms for me were the protruding of the eyes which at the beginning I was so very very self-conscious about. But now after 3 years, on a good day I can sometime say that my eyes are one of my favourite features about myself.


What is your most indispensable body part? Take a look at the video to see artist Toyin Odutola's GIF of her most essential body part.

Paintings / Lindsay Lohan

Kitty N. Wong, 2013.
Lindsay. Gouache, pencil, acrylic and gold leaf on paper.
39cm x 27cm.

Another one from the Women I've Wanted to Be series. Although I'm not sure I would actually want to be Lindsay Lohan, I do find her to be a beautiful and enigmatic figure of our current pop-scape, from child star to those tumultous months she spent with Samantha Ronson and now as the 27 year old we are all rooting for to make a comeback.

I had a lot of fun experimenting with gold leaf for this piece, it was the first time I ever used it. I'm always fascinated by videos of artisans applying the tissue thin sheets and this time I got to try it. My desk is still covered with little specks and it's kind of magical.

Lindsay was sent off for the Fixation exhibition at Town Hall Gallery which opens tomorrow!

Fashion Illustrations for Tangram x Suki Cohen Lingerie Goes to Australia

Strawberry Milk, 2014.
Kitty N. Wong
Watercolour, gouache, pencil and ink on paper.

Turkish Bath, 2014.
Kitty N. Wong
Watercolour, pencil, ink on paper and acrylic on acetate overlay.

As Dorothy Parker once wrote, “I hate writing, I love having written.”
That's sometimes how I feel about making art, I love the process of painting, but what feels so good is having painted, something good hopefully.

Last year I made a series of illustrations for Hong Kong clothing brand Tangram's lingerie collaboration with Colombian designer Suki Cohen. The digital copies had been sent to the designers months ago and the original ink drawings sat mostly forgotten in my avalanche-like paper cupboard. I've been cleaning up and organizing in preparation for my the upcoming group exhibition, Fixation at Town Hall Gallery in Australia and I found these old ink drawings from the collaboration and decided to fix them up with some new coloured backgrounds and the dotted star pattern I've been really into painting lately.

When I was in design school, I used to have this feeling whenever I made a piece I really liked, I  was always afraid that was the best thing I would ever make, that I wouldn't be able to make anything so good ever again. I know now that's not the case, that the more I make the better I will get. But looking at these two paintings I made almost a year ago I can't help but wonder how I made these little light brushstrokes.

And so now Strawberry Milk and Turkish Bath are off to Australia for the Fixation exhibition, along with 16 other pieces. My Cat Marnell painting was even selected to be included in the event invitation! The show will be a part Virgin Australia Melbourne Fashion Festival, I'm so excited and honored to be a part of it. Thank you so much for the opportunity to be included by the very wonderful curator Mardi Nowak.

Painting / Women I've Wanted to Be: Marilyn Monroe

Marilyn, 2014.

Kitty N. Wong
Gouache, pencil and ink on paper.

A new painting I just finished last night from my series "Women I've Wanted to Be".

When I was really little I thought Madonna was Marilyn Monroe but then in middle school when I grew up and discovered the joys of old movies, I wanted nothing more than to be Marilyn Monroe (not Madonna), I memorized all of her movies, took extensive notes of her outfits and tried in vain to cultivate a breathy trans-Atlantic accent.

I think Marilyn Monroe hasn't the hardest face to draw, it's like her features are all too porportional no one can make an accurate representation, or maybe we see too many images of her so we all of such a clear idea of what it should look like. Like hands, hands are so hard to draw because they are so familiar to us and our taste level for what hands should look like are set really high.

Painting / Women I've Wanted to Be: Cat Marnell

Cat Marnell, 2013.
Kitty N. Wong
Gouache, pencil and ink on paper.

WRITER/EDITOR/PREDATOR/DOWNTOWN DISASTER

New year; new series.
I've been working on a series of portraits about women and pop-culture
that I'm cheekily calling "Women I've Wanted to Be". Whenever I try to name something it always ends up sounding a little clunky. But whatever, you know what they say, your weakness will become your signature. Maybe clunky sounding titles are my signature, I'm like a clunky dadist poet, you never know.

I love working on series, it's such an incredible chance to improve and experiment. I can literally see myself improving with each piece, the latest one always feels the most precious because it feels like the best thing I've ever done and usually I'm tempted to stop there, admire it, to "quit while I'm ahead". But since it's a series I'm forced to keep going and keep creating and this year I've realized that is my greatest ally in my quest to make better work. The series of fashion week sketches from earlier this year is a really good example of this, make work daily and you will be rewarded. 

From working on these, I've also realized how much I enjoy painting hair and things that are an abstract pattern, like the hairs on the fur coat.

Here's to another artful year where we will push ourselves to become the person we want to be.
Happy 2014!

August Inspiration Collage / Soft and Loose like Cy Twombly

I made an collage of art and things I've inspired by this last while, I'm going to print this out and look at it everyday this month and hope all this genius inspiration soaks into what I make by osmosis. I get so lost with my work sometimes and I don't know where I want it to go so let's see if putting up a sort of visual map will help.  Or maybe it'll just make me crazy and I'll end up spending the month screaming at my sketchbook "you can't be ugly, be pretty, be pretty!".

Clockwise from the top.

1. Basquiat. Crazy, free and exagerated like Jean-Michel.
2. Tina Berning's 100 Girls on Cheap Paper project. I like this idea of doing/drawing one thing until you develope your style and find what it is that works best for you.
3. Agnes Martin. I threw this in because I've been reading Art & Fear and they talk about seeing the first piece of art that inspires you to want to make art. When I first saw Martin's work in person a few years ago something about it really resonated with me and it's the first peice I remember feeling so moved by. It drew me in, so pale and full of depth.
4. Walasse Ting. Exaggerated proportions, carefree colours and paint strokes. Walasse Ting forever and ever.
5. Picasso. Exaggerated proportions. Draw from life, draw it so often that the way you put down a line becomes a habit and your habit becomes your style.
6. Matisse. Colour, pattern, sincerity, naivety.
7. Cy Twombly. Loose brush strokes and pencil scribbles.

Drawings / Shoes I Never Wear

Some new drawings I've been working on that I really like, sketched from life all the shoes in my closet that I buy for whatever reason but hardly ever wear. In some ways these feel like a continuation from these other shoe drawings and these portrait experiments. 

This Month I've Been: All Art Everything Month of May Edition

Can you believe it's already June? It's even more ridiculous when you think how 2013 is halfway over.

Maybe it's because I'm 25 but this year just feels pivotal. I feel like I've done a lot these last few months, or at least more than I have other years. But at the same time I also feel like I've done nothing at all, maybe because I've been sick and recovering at home without going out much it feels like my life has been put on hold. Or maybe because for the first time in a long time I'm enjoying my job so time is just gliding by.

Well anyway, here's what I've been up to this month.

This was a really exciting month, as you might have heard Art | Basel was in town for the first time ever. And the lovely couple Paola and Ignacio of Tangram studio were organizing a pop-up shop during Basel and invited me to send over a few drawings to sell. These were the drawings I sent them. If you're ever interested in buying some originals of the drawings I make, email me! They're really reasonably priced artworks that will make your home extra lovely, promise.

Speaking of Basel I went to the Vernissage night with my mom, thank you so much to my friend Venus for the ticket. Basel was really huge and international and felt very glamourous. How exciting to have such a world class art event in our fair port city. Wearing a secondhand DVF dress and my comfy new Sseko sandals.

I also made some sketches from the streetstyle looks I saw during Art | Basel Vernissage night which were published by TheWanderlister+.

My current favourite art supply store is CN Square which is a 4 floor stationery Mecca on Nathan Rd., with one whole floor dedicated to art supplies. That trip I got some Chinese ink paper, watercolour, acrylic and other bits and bobs. Made this sketch when I got home, I think it looks rather like my idea of Daisy Buchanan in The Great Gatsby book.

Finally set up a Society 6 store, I'll be updating the store each week with new ZigWisdom sketches as I make them. If you would like any iPhone cases, cards or prints please get them here, I would be ever grateful for your support.

Making birthday portraits, a few of my really good friends have birthday in May so I made them little portraits as gifts.

Here's another birthday portrait I did of my very wonderful friend Kaitlyn, she is much more beautiful in real life than my drawing here.

Getting back into yogurt making, we have a really simple machine where you sprinkle in starter culture into your milk carton and then leave overnight. Here I'm having it with some blueberries and honey, nectar of the gods.

Another wonderful art event going on this month, the M+ Inflation Sculpture Garden is ridiculously good. If you don't go you are missing out on some joyous, gigantic, international inflatable artworks. On until June 9, 2013, run!

Picked up this Louise Fili book on British Modern graphic design and type. I'm such a huge fan of her work and of the Hong Kong Public Library. They actually bought in two books I suggested and then emailed me to tell me, Bad Girls Go Everywhere and The Best of Everything, but someone took them both out before I had a chance to, rude.

Worked on a few new commissions this month! Super excited to share them with you in some new posts to come in the pipeline.

Eating onigiri, this delicious specimen was filled with salmon and made me feel like an anime character while I ate it.

Wearing hippie clothes, my new Sseko sandals and deadstock crochet bag while waiting to get my passport and then to the newly renovated Kubrick Bookshop and Cafe. Beautifully curated books on art, literature, design all with the best book covers. Lots of amazing Hong Kong published books there as well.

Who says Hong Kong isn't creative! Thank you for a wonderful month of May universe. Happy half 2013 everyone!

Follow me on Instagram for more updates @kittynwong.

Streetstyle Sketches from Art | Basel HK on TheWanderlister+

Really excited to announce my collaborative post with TheWanderlister+ on streetstyle at Art | Basel HK 2013! The post is up now so make sure you head over to theWanderlister.com to see my post and the latest art, style and design news in Asia.

Much of the art fair is spent calling friends who you have lost along the way. Why not do it chicer than thou in gold sandals, white jeans and long bouclé jacket and a matching quilted Chanel.

Every year there is a one most magical night in Hong Kong for style watching and that night is called Art Basel Vernissage (formally known as ARTHK).

Every year I go camera in hand to get inspired by the art and also by the stylish people in attendance. That's how I met theWanderlister, JJ.Acuna, two years ago, he was wearing the Cambridge satchel that my friends and I had been coveting that month so I introduced myself for a snap. But pro photographer I am not, I get nervous, the most beautiful people always sneak away and the resulting photos never capturing what I was looking for.

So this year I decided to try something different and to try sketching instead. Here are some of my favourite looks from the preview night in watercolour and pencil, enjoy!

A sleek leopard column dress in front of a neon green abstract at Booth 1B03.

Nervous about taking photos I usually try to sneak shots but Elle of ElleIconLee was kind enough to pose for me wearing an elegant purple jumpsuit. 

A stylish expectant mother in front of the Swire Design Booth wearing a billowing Arts and Crafts kimono and converse sneakers. 

There were red dresses a plenty this year, myself included. Here it's paired with fringed platform booties and an ombre blonde bob.

A gallery assistant with big tortoise shell frames.

So, what do you think of our collaboration? Should we do more? I've got more posts to come from Hong Kong's very first Art | Basel on here very soon.
And finally a huge thank you to JJ, the editor of TheWanderlister+ for having me on his site!