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.

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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!

May TMI / This Month I: Was a Dream Girl in a Dream City

Month of May it's a violent thing! I can't believe May has come and gone again. May was indeed a bit violent at least for my schedule. I had three live-drawing gigs booked! One of which was for Lane Crawford, and the second was during Art Basel at the Chai Wan Mei Village event for Tangram x Spottly. This mirror I painted was part of my booth and mini-exhibition where I sat and painted large watercolour portraits for the price of a deep dark secret from my subject.

My illustration for Tatler Hong Kong art month's The Great Debate: Can Art Still Shock? Read the article here. As always thanks to the editor Charmaine.

Sketches at the Xu Bing exhibition at Asia Society. Read more about it on my blog post. 

As I was getting ready for my upcoming trip to London, I found a new use for those watercolour scraps that have no use but are too cute to throw away. I used the paper to pin all my earrings together so they're organized when I'm travelling. I hope people noticed that I wore these very location appropriate Big Ben earrings all throughout my London trip, just like Miss Frizzle would do. Dee. Eye. Why?

My first sketch in London made on the tube from Heathrow to my hostel in Holborn. The Tube, so expensive and so rickety! During my trip, I mostly ended up taking the bus or walking. And since being back in Hong Kong, I have gained back all the weight I lost while walking everywhere in London since being able to afford public transportation again.

First stop in LDN: National Portrait Gallery. NPG! NPG! NPG! This gorgeous mosaic floor was taken at the neighboring National Gallery, dope!

Last month was so special, not only did I get to visit a new country for the first time, but I also got to witness my very special friend designer and illustrator Belinda Love Lee get married in Wales.  During the ceremony inside a beautiful marquee decked out in white and the most delicate shade of grlue (green + blue) I snapped a pic with my pretty university pal Katelyn Bishop, who is also a talented graphic designer.

Sketching Henry Wessel photographs at Tate Modern.

I did a lot of walking when I was in London and during my walks I pretty much stopped at every single charity shop I came across. Retromania by Fara was my favourite, not only are they a really well curated vintage shop but all the proceeds go to charity. I got this super sick 70's white and blue printed batwing dress, can't wait to show you guys!

Sketching Robert Mapplethorpe photos while waiting for my time slot to the Matisse: The Cut-Outs to start. Overlooking St. Paul and the Millennium Bridge, Tate Modern really is a magical space in a magical city.

Love you so much London!
Follow my daily adventures on Instagram - @kittynwong.

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.