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.

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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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.

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.

Sketchbook Girls / Vincent Van Girl

Kitty N. Wong, 2014.
Vincent Van Girl. Gouache and pencil on paper.
27 cm x 19 cm.

I've been working on this the last two nights, I had planned the background as simple polka dots and then it morphed into a sort of turtle shell pattern and then finally into a sort of homage to Starry Night.

Speaking of Van Gogh, I've been to this very cafe which he painted in Arles when I cycled through the little provincial town with an ex-boyfriend many years ago on bicycle trip through southern France.

Prints of this painting are now available on my Etsy shop.

Recent Work / Food x Fashion Illustrations for Hong Kong Tatler

I just finished the latest illustration for the Food Pulse series for Hong Kong Tatler Dining. All about where fashion and food intersect, I was commissioned to illustrate the series featuring food trends in the city. This week's it's all about craft breweries in the city and the last one, on the rise of the 'bao' appeared in the January print issue of Hong Kong Tatler magazine.

There's more baos to be had, 3 more to be exact. Head on over to the Tatler website to see the rest of the illustrations. Click here for The Food Pulse: Bao. And here to read The Food Pulse: Craft Beer.

Thank you so much to the editor Charmaine!

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!