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Monday, December 23, 2013

Preparing for Angkor

In just over a couple of weeks, I will be heading up to Siem Reap with some Urban Sketcher friends to visit Angkor. It is my first trip to Cambodia, and from what I've read, the 6 days (inclusive of 2 traveling days) there will certainly not be enough to sketch all (or even half!) the temples of ancient Angkor. A second trip would certainly be needed, and maybe more.

In an earlier post, I documented some of the tools I was planning on bringing. I already tried to cut down. That was until we met for a trip planning gathering with local artist Tungtong.


Tungtong has been to Angkor many, many times over the years. He draws on 1m x 1m sheets of paper (huge!) and has made many friends with the locals. His sharing really opened our eyes to many things, including how to approach our art. He challenged us to think bigger, and perhaps draw bigger, and not try to stinge on materials, extra baggage costs, etc. If art is what we are going for, art should be our priority. Who knows, sometime down the road, somebody may want to pay top dollar for a sketch we did there, but if we compromised on materials, quality, etc., it would just devalue our work.

So much for trying to pack lighter...

Tungtong won an award with the Singapore Art Society this year. He is a very experienced artist and photographer. I should take his advice seriously.

On another note, I just acquired a tube of Quinacridone Gold. This pigment is no longer being produced, and it appears that Daniel Smith is the only art materials supplier that makes watercolours with the original PO49 pigment (other brands have since substituted the pigment for others). I've reshuffled a couple of half-pans in my travel kit, swapping a Raw Sienna for Quin Gold, and changing my Cerulean Blue to Daler-Rowney's Aquafine's Cerulean Blue (Hue). The Aquafines are actually student grade, but one of my artist friends said it was one of the better ones he has tried. I did a quick test comparing it with Winsor & Newton's and Rembrandt's, and found I liked the Aquafine's shade better.

#20 is Permanent Green, I think. I meant to check before taking the photo, but forgot.

Thursday, December 19, 2013

I'm Featured on Parka Blogs!

My friend who runs the famous Parka Blogs, which reviews art books and posts lots of arts-related writeups, is currently doing a series of articles on art tools. Today, he has given me the honour of featuring some of my tools!

You can visit the post at http://www.parkablogs.com/content/art-tools-of-favian-ee


http://www.parkablogs.com/content/art-tools-of-favian-ee

Be sure to bookmark his page. He updates it practically every day.

Oh, and one more thing, I'll be travelling with him to Siem Reap next month with a few Urban Sketcher friends to sketch Angkor! So stay tuned!