Circuit Breaker Phase II – back to sketching people again.

[By Don Low, Singapore] My last post on the blog was dated in June 2020. I have been drawing, painting and sketching from home due to the pandemic since April 2020, when the government imposed a lockdown we called Circuit Breaker that induced a “slew” of panic buy at the supermarkets. Many have been called to work from home and for many months, the streets and many tourist locations were empty. Only the essential workers went to work. So many things have changed. First we got to rely on home delivery more so the system became more robust over the months. Many have gotten used to working from home, and realised that things kept working and going on without them in the office. Attending courses and classes during the lockdown via zoom became a viable solution to bring people together. The internet becomes the window to the world. In July, our country eased movement restriction because community cases have become almost zero. There are still covid19 cases but they are contained and contact tracing is running at its utmost efficiency with 60-70% of the people using the trace app and many places have mandatory check-in in place. Most importantly it is mandatory to wear mask at all time in public places except when you are eating or drinking. Enforcers have been working hard to get those who flout the safe distancing rule too. Fortunately it was just a small portion of people, most likely under a lot of stress to cope with the situation.

As restaurants and eateries and shopping malls are reopening more and more, the streets and the malls are once again fill with people shopping and eating out. It appears that we are working very hard to keep the economy going. My wife and I with my mum started to eat out again. There are so many people everywhere it is hard to imagine that there was a lockdown before. I was happy to be out and about sketching people again, both digitally and with traditional mediums. It can get overwhelming at first to see crowds after so long. Sketching them helps to calm things down actually.

What I learned. People are frustrated with being cooped at home after a while. They wanted out as much as they wanted to see the daylight. Introverts like me preferred the safe environment of the house and be surrounded by everything familiar, books and art tools. I saw the world system has changed. People’s idea of what’s important in life has changed too. In times like this, what do I value more? My material possessions or my loved ones. Divorce rate has gone up during this period. There are couples who couldn’t stand the sight of their partners and decided to part. Was the marriage a failure? Or have they married for a reason other than wanting to be together that does not work now? We trusted a world system that we thought was going to last forever. When it didn’t work out, we are now scrambling to make it work again instead of looking at how we could do otherwise. We are creatures of comfort, but we also wanted to right the wrongs.

Communal eating has been around for decades. Singaporeans loved to eat together and the pandemic hasn’t changed the fact that we love to stand in line for our favourite food, as long as we are 1-2m apart regardless how long the queue is, and sitting in a group not more than 5 people. 

At the food centre in my neighborhood

Having my nails cut

Chilling in a Chinese coffeeshop

Elderly in wheelchair

Urbansketchers Singapore has gone back to sketching outdoors again for the past couple weeks, in groups of not more than 5. I have not joined them so far but I will! The spirit of sketching is still strong here. There won’t be a large “show & tell” crowd anymore. Those were the good old days! For now I am sketching only when I am eating out with my family. People in action and repose are still my favourite subjects to sketch. 

To conclude, I give my best wishes to you (who is reading this) and your family. Stay safe and healthy!