Inspiration from the Art Supply Store / Girls in Calligraphy Pen

Some new sketches I did last night. I've been thinking a lot lately (even more than always) about developing more of a personal style. I've been working on my new portfolio site with my amazing graphic designer friend Belinda Love Lee. Launching in 2 weeks (fingers crossed!)!

I feel like I draw things everyday but when I look at it all together I just feel like it's not as good as I want it to be and lately I've just been making things that are really pretty and cute and rather safe, things that just don't really excite me. That's okay too, but when I saw it all together I just realized that's not who I want to be.

Last night I went to the stationery store near my place and bought a few new pens and I always feel so inspired after I get new materials. I spent a few hours before bed making these in my sketchbook, I'm excited about, I feel like they're more me. Kind of back to basics as I used to be only like drawing with markers when I was in university. I made these using a new calligraphy pen I just bought and then added colour with gouache.

If you're interested, these prints are all available for sale on my Society 6 Shop.

Sketches: Pastel Creamsicle Girls

Creamsicle girls.

A quick sketch I did yesterday with pencil and gouache. I've been doing a lot of these little drawings on pieces of cardboard I find to de-stress. Art therapy! Sort of.

Updated with better photos! Until I can figure out how to scan things better taking photos is still the best way to capture the details of my illustrations. Maybe I'll make a lot of money one day and buy the Epson Expression 10000XL, which is the scanner illustrator Richard Kilory recommends for pencil work.

The Artsy Guide to Hong Kong: Fotanian 2013

When you move to a new city it can be hard to find pockets of cool creative people and fun alternative things to do. When I first moved to Hong Kong two years ago I thought it was a cultural wasteland, I hung out in Lan Kwai Fong and I was so unhappy.

Obviously I was wrong, Hong Kong isn't a cultural wasteland it actually has a very vibrant creative scene, you just have to look a bit deeper and I was about to get a taste when a Couchsurfing friend suggested I visit the Fotanian Open Studios.

This January the studio will again open to the public during the weekends of the 5th to the 20th (2pm to 7pm). You should go and get inspired, especially if your New Years resolution is to live a more creative life, who knows you just might make a few new analog camera toting hipster pals.
 

Nestled between the lush hills of the New Territories, Fotan is mostly an industrial area but with many factories moving north to China the buildings have been reconverted to spacious studios to local artists. While not technically legal, a lot of the artist also make their studios their home sweet home, so in addition to seeing some cool art it's also a real treat to check out the artists' living spaces as well.

After visiting all the printmakers, painters and artists, I'm sure you'll be feeling most inspired, but more urgently really hungry, so grab some dinner at the Dai Pai Dong down on Shan Mei St. and fill up on chicken congee, octopus mouths, Tsing Tao beer and fried oyster pancake.

There are over 250 studios open this year, it'd be insane to see them all (or maybe you're just insane enough to try) so in order to make your visit more enjoyable I've compiled a list of some must see artists for FOTANIAN 2013:

·  Wilson Shieh
Wilson Shieh is a painter whom often works in a modern reinterpretation of gongbi. This year the artist is giving out an extremely cool free posters for visitors to his studio featuring costumes worn by the late Hong Kong music superstar Anita Mui in the 1980s.

·  Au Hoi Lam and Qiang Studio
Qiang is a multidisciplinary studio featuring 5 women artists. This year they have also invited artist Carment Ho (何寶容) to exhibit alongside them.

·  Rental United

·  Drawing installations by Cath Brophy

·  Painter Wong Chun Hei, Steven

Special thanks to artist Sarah Lai for helping me with this list.
Photos 1-4 taken by me on a Minolta SRT-303.
Photos 5-7 are courtesy of the respective artists.

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