For my watercolor illustrations, once the painting has been scanned into the computer, I will make color corrections, some tweaking and occasionally I add a separate watercolor textured in the background. The watercolor backgrounds have been created separately by hand, then scanned and manipulated before being added to the paintings.  A video of this method will be easier to illustrate this process (available soon).

Personally, my preference lies with the original artwork as they do tend to look the best. However, it is difficult to show how the original paintings look without seeing them in person with the naked eye. I do work exceptionally hard to ensure that the digital versions look as close to the original paintings as possible. You can click on individual illustrations, paintings or photos in the galleries to learn more about them. 

WHEN I WAS JUST A WEE BOY

My relationship with art came at an early age. My mom has told me that I loved to draw from a very young age. I would draw all the time and on a lot of things including the walls in my house. That didn’t go down too well with my dad.  At the age of 11, I finished top 5 in a National Painting competition through my school and received a huge certificate, which at the time seemed bigger than me! I always achieved good grades in my art class at secondary school and by the time I finished school, I was advised by my teacher that I should go to an Architecture School.

TO BE YOUNG AND NAIVE

I went to the School of Architecture, Planning and Landscape at the University of Newcastle Upon Tyne, United Kingdom. At university, I learnt about a more structured and organized way of designing and drawing. I was educated to be sensitive about the environment and my surroundings. The idea of sustainable development was embedded into my beliefs. It was an eye opener. This is when I started to experiment with photography where I bought my first film SLR camera for a course at the university. I painted a lot less, only when I needed to for the course.

I graduated from the School of Architecture, Planning and Landscape, specializing in Urban Design.  During my years at university my interest lay predominantly in urban design. I continued on at university doing my research study. I was at the university for several more years doing research. I lived in the UK for about 13 years. When I finally came back to Penang, Malaysia, I went into the designing and building profession. After a few years I started to get back into painting and drawing again. I tried experimenting with charcoal (previous artwork) and at the end of 2015 I discovered watercolor.

..AN ARTIST AND PHOTOGRAPHER?.. REALLY?

I always thought watercolor was one of the hardest medium to work with, hard to control and requires time to master techniques in order to create a decent painting. I always used to stick with acrylic or watercolored pencils. I was always curious about watercolor and finally gave it a try, now I love it! Initially, I used student watercolor pans and when I switched to artist level paints and more branded pans and tubes, the result was second to none. However, I still like using water brushes, for me these are excellent, mixed with proper watercolor brushes as well. (check out Video Gallery). Now I use Horadam, Schmincke watercolor pans and tubes. (I’m not endorsed by Schmincke). In my opinion, they are the best watercolor on the market, they can be a bit pricey but it’s worth it.

Photography is another passion of mine. When I’m not painting, or when I’m taking a break from painting, I go out with my camera and explore the world around me. I learnt a bit about photography at university taking photos of buildings.  For a long time, I just used a point and shoot camera, however, several years ago I bought my first digital SLR and fell in love with photography again. I went on and bought a few lenses and a full frame DSLR body.

I’m not a fully-fledged photographer as I’m focusing more on illustrations and fine art, but it helps me with my creativity. Just to go out into the world and take photos, or sometimes just stay indoors and take photos of everyday things and my pets. Having good quality images without paying heaps of money for them helps with my art and marketing, like on this website, where all the images are mine.

I’m doing art full time now. The transition has been gradual; I was doing architectural visualization before I went full time on being an artist. Architectural visualization was more digital, precise and structured. The politics and the business of the built environment is too gruesome and ruthless, I was very concerned with the degradation of the environment and the lack of respect for nature in these professions, especially in Penang. So, I decided to do what I love the most, which is art.