Fishing Village 6 (9in by 11in, watercolour) - Sungai Besar
I revisited this place today, along the west coast of the country. This is in Sungai Besar, a Chinese fishing village. This is a typical coastal trawler owned by the fishermen in this area. I did purposely left out the registration numbers of the boats because if you have seen the Chinese owned fishing boats along the west coast o the country, you wil...

l know that they all look the same - even in colour scheme of red and blue. Here, I was trying to capture the feel of the morning. And yes, the water is brown - due to siltation from development upstream that is making the river bottom shallow. Soon, these fishermen may find trouble going out to sea. The house far back double are also fish landing bases that have now become seafood restaurants.

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Fishing Village 5 (watercolour, 9in by 11in)  Sekoci, the wave splitter.
Fisherfolk in Terengganu have been conquering the waves for centuries. Malay fishermen used a small skiff known as the sekoci. The boat is about 8ft long, some even shorter, seats only two persons. It has a deep hull and can slice through waves like hot knife through butter. The boatman uses a spade shaped oar to paddle this very versatile skiff.

Fishing Village 4 - Red Boat (Watercolour, 9in by 11in)
This is a picture of a typical fishing post in Sepang. A modern fiberglass fishing boat in red points to a fishermen's shack. Fishing posts are set up within river estuaries, safe from the elements. In this picture is a strip of green which is actually a mangrove swamp fronting the river, beyond which is the sea. Not many such mangroves are left because of development. Not many fishermen posts are around for the same reason, too.

Fishing VIllage 3 - Beached (Watercolour, 9in by 11in)

This is a picture of fishermen cleaning fishing boats of barnacles and other parasites that can destroy their livelihood, and also make repairs to damaged wood. They do this every six months or so, I recall, sometimes under the hot sun so that paints and resin used to plug holes in the wood will dry faster

Fishing Village 2 (Watercolour, 9in by 11in)
A typical fishing village in Malaysia. Only coconut trees grow luxuriantly here because they are able to bend with the wind. The house is on stilts because at certain times of the year, when the sea moves too deep in, the house remains dry.

Simple Tree

When you have nothing in mind, doodles help you keep in touch with the colours and techniques. Here I created an imaginary piece using ochre, vandyke brown, ultramarine blue and viridian.

Three Cows On A Hill

Did this doodle a week ago. Didn't have time to upload it then, so here it is. A very simple piece done imaginatively. And fast.

The Journey

This piece of painting was completed last night. Not a very big one, just 10in by 7in. It is done on 140lb Langton watercolour paper made by Daler Rowney.

The scenery shows a snowing mountain with storm approaching (or abating, depends on how you look at it) and four climbers making their way up (or down?) the cold terrain. The slant in the atmospheric skies mark strong winds familiar to climbers and the muted sunlight from right casts shadows on the white landscape. A cottage can be seen at left.

This painting is intended for a friend and former whom I am going to see this afternoon. I had intended to paint her a painting when she quit but never got to it because the idea was not there, then. Last night, it suddenly dawned upon me that it has been such a long while since we parted company in life's journey and while browsing through a book, I stumbled a similar scenery and hence this 'imaginative' piece.

We all go through life's journey somewhat similar to that of mountain climbers. Just when you think you have conquered one mountain, there is another to challenge you. Every day is a changing landscape and every step forward may not guarantee us the golden chalice we are looking for. But we have to plod on, step after step, painful or not, towards our goals in life, and hopefuly, we learn something about our journey in that station of life before another one begins.

On the way to Kuala Kubu - Ulu Yam Dam

This is a scenery of the Ulu Yam Dam, located in the outskirts of Kuala Lumpur. I cam across this while on the way to the Kuala Kubu Baru town. This piece is a study of the clouds and the misty hills beyond just after a storm.

Old Tree By The Lake

This was done of a particular spot at the National Zoo. I saw this old tree by the main lake in the heart of the zoo. There were herons, couple of flamingoes and painted storks around but I have chosen to exclude them to focus on the tree.

The style in this piece was adapted from John Lovett's techniques which I find incredibly fun and easy. I think watercolour should not be laborious simply because if it were, then it would have lost its mysticism. Best way is to let the colours do their work.

Clouds over the blue yonder

This piece was done very fast, very fluid, to capture the mood of the day. The sun was on top of the head. This scenery was taken by the sea, with some creepers seen in the middle ground. The sandy side of the beach is depicted very loosely with dips and crests done in blues, browns and purples. A fisherman's boat is partially visible.

Stormy Skies

I use a limited palette of burnt sienna, vermillion and ultramarine deep to create this atmospheric piece of stormy skies just after the rain. The dark clouds are just about to disperse - or are they? Caught in the eye of the storm is a little red dinghy.

Mountains

This is a picture fashioned in the style of David Bellamy. Bellamy is one of the foremost artists to check out when doing anything atmospheric. His paintingPublish Posts of mountains are exquisite. The colours are simply superb.

Back Alley

This is a picture of a back alley in Malacca. My 12 year old student Zhen painted this scene, based on a photograph we took on a hot Sunday afternoon.

Pantai Remis Late Morning

This is a painting of a coastal village on the west coast of the Peninsula Malaysia. It is a fishing enclave which has lost its prominence due to diminishing resources in the 80s. Today, it is more of a tourist district. The huts you see are actually pergolas of traders selling a variety of souvenirs and knick knacks. This was painted on a weekday where the crowd is sparse.

Red Mountain

This is an imaginary piece painted by a 12-year-old pupil of mine, Zhen. It is a scene of a mountain, painted very loosely with varying strokes and a good mix of warm and cool colours. The paper is a 300gm Chinese paper with heavy tooth. The paper has a slightly yellow tint because I have not used them for quite some time. As it turns out, the texture of the paper and the paint pigments complement each other really well. Done by a 12-year-old, this is a good piece. What do you think?

10-minute painting

This is a sketch of the Putrajaya bridge near the Wetlands lake. I did it in a very loose style, under 10 minutes. What I intended was to capture the form of the bridge. The foliage you see are actually quite a distance away. However, because of the heavy colours used, they appear up front - as if they are ornamental trees planted on the bridge itself. The coloured structures are the (at right) Putrajaya Mosque.

Sunday in Malacca

This is a painting of a shop in Malacca on a Sunday. Like most businesses, this one is also closed on Sunday. The lanterns you see have been there since the Chinese Lunar New Year early this year and have not been taken down yet. Gives this place a Chinatown-like feel.

Breakers

This is my second piece on oil and probably my last. I am not painting oils any more. Not that it is not a good medium, I just find it pretty daunting trying to come up with a piece - although I must admit oil is much easier to control and any mistakes can be easily painted over.

In terms of technique, if you have a good eye for detail, I think you can paint well in oil. Almost any texture can be emulated using oil, and any colour-shade can be put on canvas, if only you understand colour mixing well.

This was inspired from memory of a seaside somewhere in the East Coast. Hope I have done this piece justice.

Going Home

This is a sketch of what eventually became a piece in oil which I painted recently. It depicts the scene at the Sarawak river during sunset. The boat you see is the Sarawak water taxi, shaped like a floating hut and has a curved roof.