Episode 11: Decades of Ink
“Decades of Ink” June 14, 2020
This Sunday, Rob Sketcherman interviewed three highly respected sketching masters from Asia. We learned about their approaches to sketching and their histories with Urban Sketchers.
Ch’ng Kiah Kiean (KK)
Rob introduced Ch’ng Kiah Kiean, known as KK, as being recognized for his “magic with ink and twig.” KK teaches around the world and has taught at many Symposiums, and joined us from his home in Penang, Malaysia.
He started studying art as a child and continued into his teen years when he and his high school friends would travel around Penang by motorcycle and stop to sketch different sites – a motorized version of a sketchwalk! KK continues his learning by adapting to challenges he finds when sketching. One challenge he described was using a different size paper (long and skinny) than he was accustomed to, challenging him to think about how much information and detail to include, and leading him to focus more on the rhythm of his drawing while leaving some white space.
KK also challenged himself to find the best way to incorporate watercolor into his style of sketching. He looked to his friends for inspiration and advice, and says to be confident and know your colors well. This leads us to his challenge of using color sparingly to highlight certain areas of your sketch.
KK challenged us to only use spot colors. He says to start your sketch with line work in ink or pencil, then add minimal colors to a certain part to highlight focal points.
Post and tag with #USkTalks or #USkTalksChallenge, and tag KK @kiahkiean.
Follow KK on Instagram, too!
Pramote Kitchumnongpan and Asnee Tasna
Rob interviewed longtime friends Pramote Kitchumnongpan and Asnee Tasna, who joined us from Bangkok, Thailand. We learned about their history of sketching together and getting to know sketchers in other Asian countries. They described a trip about 10 years ago to visit and sketch with KK in Penang, and continuing on to visit and sketch with Tia Boon Sim, founder of Urban Sketchers Singapore.
Pramote and Asnee also talked about the growth of USk Thailand and how they hosted an event for their group, USk Penang, and USk Singapore. The next year USk Penang hosted, and this event became Asia Link, an annual three-day sketching event with hundreds of participants.
As we looked at work by Pramote and Asnee and they talked about their history and process, what emerged was the joy each finds in sketching, and especially sketching with friends. From starting Asia Link to sketching at Symposiums, both Pramote and Asnee emphasized the importance of sketching with friends to learn, to create memories, and to have fun.
Pramote’s and Asnee’s challenges focus on some of the techniques that they use. Pramote asks us to consider that “Less is More.” He says we don’t need to include every detail in a drawing. Try simplifying the scene as much as you can with this challenge.
Post and tag with #USkTalks or #USkTalksChallenge, and tag Pramote @pramokit.
Follow Pramote on Instagram, too!
Asnee was inspired by the title of the episode, Decades of Ink, to create his challenge, Continuous Line. Using ink, draw a scene on location in one long, unbroken line.
Post and tag with #USkTalks or #USkTalksChallenge, and tag Asnee @asneetasna.
Follow Asnee on Instagram, too!