THE ARTIST: PAST LIFE ILLUSTRATED (Final Part)

This is the final torture I'm going to put you through. No more 'artist' stuff after this.

I also tried to draw other than people. I tried buildings & structures, but never became good at it. Few pieces came as acceptable but that was the end of it.

This is Metropolis in 3B, 4B

This is ToxiCity in 0.7 Artline marker. I was very attracted to the idea of dystopia when I was in a beautiful 'Lord-of-the-Rings' place. Now, braving the traffic at 7 am, the idea is no longer romantic or courageous to live through.

And this is the electricity pole in front of my room, a sight from my window on 122, Frederick Street, Dunedin, Otago, New Zealand.

And I planned to do a modern graphic novel version of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. I got as far as the main character sketch and found out that I enjoyed writing the STORY more. Words are easier and faster. Anyway, with words people can correct you. But these things you draw – you’re stuck with it as it first came out. No one ever had his/ her painting edited.

This is the monster. There are days I think of myself as the monster.

Victor Frankenstein. There are days when I think I am Frankenstein. But that is only creatively speaking.

This is the painting I made for my first creative/ fiction writing mentor, Gaynor Corkery, entitled The Storyteller. It is acrylic on a pre-primed painting board. so, it was a easy. Before I gave it to her, I smartly photocopied the painting. It was huge. Imagine the photocopy boy's dismay when he was given the task!

And this is a promotional poster I made for my first batch of students’ stage play ‘Merdekakan Cinta Ratna’ back in 2002. Those were good days.

So, what happens now? Drawing, unlike writing is a skill that deteriorates very fast. I had to start from zero to gain my mediocre skills back in 1997. And that 1997 skill was trained since 1980! So I guess, drawing and painting are no longer practical to me. Last week, I drew a beaver on the whiteboard to illustrate the idiom ‘eager beaver’. My students said ‘oh!’ in unison, so I guess I still got the moves!

PELUKIS: HIDUP DALAM ILUSTRASI (Bahagian 2)

Setiap orang mempunyai pandangan masing-masing tentang hal seni tampak. Ada yang lebih meminati dan berkecimpung di dalam seni tampak bercorak abstrak dan ada yang memilih untuk menggambarkan alam sekitar dengan cara lebih realistik. Saya berada di dalam kelompok kedua kerana saya suka meniru alam sekitar. Oleh itu, saya suka melukis potret. Kemahiran melukis potret adalah kemahiran paling komersil di dalam seni tampak kerana sebaik sahaja anda menunjukkan potret yang agak-agak baik kepada kawan, mereka pasti akan mahu membayar anda untuk lukisan potret ahli keluarga dan yang tersayang. Tak percaya, cubalah sendiri (dengan berbekalkan potret yang agak elok dipandang mata).

Lukisan potret saya cuma suam-suam kuku dan saya belum teruji kerana saya asyik melukis wajah-wajah orang yang ‘cantik’. Lukisan potret menghadapi ujian paling getir apabila melukis wajah tua etnik Melayu yang retak seribu. Saya belum cuba.

 Ini adalah potret yang saya lukis ketika sedang hangat menulis ‘Bukan Legasi Lalang’. Entah kenapa dengan penuh berilusinya saya membayangkan Hang Jebat seiras dengan Keanu Reeves! Sungguh tak patriotik tapi wajah inilah yang menggerakkan BLL ketika itu. Umur saya ketika itu 22 tahun. As single as an amoeba.

Perhatikan apabila kita menggunakan pensil warna (LUNA pilihan saya - tabiat lama sudah nak dibuang) sesuatu warna bukanlah solo tetapi campuran banyak warna. Kuning bukan kuning, tetapi banyak-banyak warna yang kelihatan kekuningan. Banyak campuran warna diperlukan untuk mendapat tona warna kulit yang digambarkan ‘putih kuning’. Dikatakan di dalam Hikayat Hang Tuah yang Hang Jebat warna kulitnya ‘putih kuning’. Dua perkataan ini, membakar dalam imaginasi kegadisan saya (the female gaze).

Saya cuba keluar dari zon selesa dengan melukis wajah kanak-kanak Kurt Cobain dengan warna air. Kurang kemas kerana saya cuba menangkap aura ‘grunge’ dan warna keputihan dan kekuningan untuk menangkap aura ‘innocence’ di dalam potret ini.

Saya juga suka meniru. Potret Edward Scissorhands ini ditiru dari foto pegun tapi saya tukar latarnya menjadi biru-hijau (turqoise) supaya nampak kontra dan tidak terlalu suram.

Ada juga potret yang dihasilkan kerana imaginasi semata-mata. Sesudah membaca ‘Catcher in the Rye’ saya terus melukis potret Holden Caulfield.

Ada lagi. Tunggu.

THE ARTIST: PAST LIFE ILLUSTRATED

I was going through a serious pre-Aidilfitri spring cleaning and found that stuff I had when I was 20- 24 years old are deteriorating fast – yellow, dry and brittle paper. Even the arcrylic is chipping off. The pastel crayon is becoming dust thin. So, knowing that the Internet is probably the most stable place for keeping memories – until the world runs out of order and all of us are just fighting for food, water and air, I’ve decided to ‘immortalize’ my mortal stuff here.


I was a bit of an artist. I mastered every medium except oil for the simple fact that it is costly and very difficult to handle. I love arcrylic the most because I can just layer and layer the canvas, or the cardboard or the TV box until I receive the intended product.

I went through this ‘gothic’ art period WAY before they parade the style in Berjaya Times Square. But I wasn’t a goth girl. It’s just that black is such a moody colour and it is timeless too. Black became the base for many of my artwork.

This trio is called ‘Despair Death Irony’ in oil pastel. Cheap. Like NZ dollar 2.30 per box. Remember that I had to work in a cherry farm for the only summer I’ve got in New Zealand while others flew home. Go figure. I wish I was cheerful when I was 22. But I wasn’t.

I had no idea why on earth did I drew this. But Allah SWT has a plan for me. I had no title for it then. But I do now. It’s called ‘Motherhood’ in 4B, 5B & 6B.

 I took Mythology 101 and a series of artwork came about based on Greek Mythology. I didn’t really like Greek mythology but I just play along so I could produce a decent folio for the lecturer who was impressed that I could draw and colour well. The others in the course were too drunk to do anything. Think about it, I was the only one sober, by virtue of my birth.

 

This is my rendition of Hades – in 2B pencil.

This is entitled ‘Walking Through the Gates of the Underworld’. Did not know what was going through my mind. In colour pencil & oil pastel.

I have more.