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Apr 18 2015

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How To Use An Old Wine Cork To Break Creative Blocks

By Jar Of Salt | Uncategorized | No Comments

I am still waiting for Danielle Krysa’s “Creative Block” book to arrive at my doorstep.

Tick tock tick tock.

For those not in the know, she is the energy behind the artful blog The Jealous Curator. Love love love! 🙂

In the meantime, I follow her on Facebook and she has been generously sharing monthly tips from the artists featured in the book, to break the very things we conjure in our heads that hold us back from being our most creative self. I only caught the April project shared by mixed media artist Cassandra Smith :

Make a little sculpture using a found object. Find something around your house, at a thrift store, a wacky junk store, anywhere! An object that is about as big as your hand or smaller is probably the best size to start with, so it’s not overwhelming. And make sure it’s something you don’t mind ruining. This is just suppose to be fun after all! And then transform the heck out of it! Paint on it, glue things to it, cut it in half and glue it back to itself, or glue it to something else. Use the objects color and shape to inspire you. — Krysa, Danielle. “Creative Block”, 2014.

Karate Jones copy

This is my initial take on the project. Although I didn’t do a sculpture, I did manage to turn an old wine cork into a log for my dog Jones, who is channeling his inner Daniel-san.

Wax on.

Wax off.

Apr 17 2015

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How To Use Your White Gel Pen

By Jar Of Salt | Doodles, Uncategorized | 2 Comments

sketchbook art

Thought I’d give the Moleskine sketchbook a break and indulge in a trusty 300 gsm watercolor paper today. On days that I’m just not in the mood for black ink, I try experimenting with others colors: a red ballpoint pen, an orange highlighter, or even a white gel pen. As I also wanted something different, I decided to splash some colors on an otherwise plain white paper for a fresh change 🙂

Apr 16 2015

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5 Reasons Why We Should Not Stop Drawing Doodles

By Jar Of Salt | Uncategorized | 4 Comments

I cannot remember a time when I didn’t draw something and to this day, I still can’t distinguish my professional creations from doodles because they are one and the same. I never had formal training and I missed that chance to study Fine Arts at the state university because I forgot to take my exam. That’s another story right there!

The definition of a “doodle” I came across is “to draw aimlessly when preoccupied”. I did this a lot as a student because I had (and still have) a hard time focusing. It caused problems for me, of course, because I was labelled as distracted and spaced-out. This meant getting sent to the guidance counsellor.

1. Doodling kept me alert while I listened in class, though. That’s what helped me make sense of all the thoughts streaming in. It’s a bit of a detour and alternate route to learning, but it worked for me probably because the intuitive act of drawing is a good way to repel tension. This creative ritual puts my entire being at ease, which allows me to think.

2. I doodle not because there is nothing going on in my head but exactly because there is too much going on in there. And doodling is what harmoniously strings all the buzzing together into perfect harmony.

3. It’s possible people dismiss doodling as just some jumbled up, inane scribblings and something for the hands to do to while your time away. But I know that there are people out there that need a release and this kind of space in their heads to clear the brain of clutter so ideas can filter in gracefully. I believe the freedom in doodling creates a limitless sphere of nothingness in our heads where concepts, thoughts, shapes, words and colour thrive — if only we let them .

4. Most of my paintings, and illustrations are harvested from this crude process. Of course this method cannot work for all tasks, especially those that are time-sensitive, those which require minute detail and precision.

5. But doodling, I believe, is a skill we are all capable of. We joyously did this long before we even learned to write our name. But someone must have told us early on to stop making a mess, to stop wasting time, to only colour within the lines, or to draw a tree “this way”.

So how does one learn how to doodle? We just have to pause, relish the brief silence and simply remember.

Apr 15 2015

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A Good Time To Smash Creative Blocks

By Jar Of Salt | Uncategorized | No Comments

It seems like forever since I updated the site with a blog post. Hello again everyone! Been busy with Instagram so if you want to see recent illustrations and what I’ve been up to, just pop over at my IG account The Jar Of Salt.

Been starting my days lately by listening to a lot of creative podcasts. It’s an invigorating way to start the day and hearing people’s stories gives me a fresh take on my own craft and goals. Just last Saturday, I finished conducting the sketchbook workshop “Who’s Afraid Of The Big Blank Page?”. I conceived this class specifically for people who say they “can’t draw”. Before we started, all ten of them said the same thing last weekend. Oddly, I used to be that person too.

When the class started gaining momentum, they surprised themselves with what they were able to do

11130301_10152773739699856_1388058225143592146_n These beautiful illustrations are made by the same people claiming they can’t draw 🙂

The struggle is real and yet all it took for me to turn my art around was when I completely embraced my own imperfections and my own uniqueness as an artist. I used to shy away from calling myself an artist thinking my wobbly illustrations were too childish to be validated as “real” art. Finding a community (and mine are even just online!) was most energizing for someone who is allergic to the term “networking”. If you find the right group for you, it can do wonders. I was lucky to meet a lot of like-minded souls who helped me along the way.

Sometimes all you need is one person to help you make that change.

Feb 08 2015

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A Workshop For People Who Think They Can’t Draw

By Jar Of Salt | Uncategorized | 3 Comments

UPDATE: As of February 27, this class is FULLY BOOKED. Thank you very much!

Drawing can be one way to unwind and express ourselves creatively. Meanwhile, the sight of a blank sheet of paper can leave others feeling intimidated and paralysed just thinking of what to draw. I’ve had friends who say they want to immerse in a more artful lifestyle but always voice out the same thing:

“But I can’t draw!”

As grown-ups, we tend to get stuck trying to draw the ‘right way’ and to color within the lines just as we were once told. This pretty much makes up the ghost of our creative past.

The 3-hour hands-on workshop aims to:

approach art intuitively by celebrating the imperfect,
explore the kind of art where every drawn line and shape is valid, and
foster a safe and encouraging community for like-minded creatures.

Let the creative juices flow, build confidence in your own drawings and turn the pages of the sketchbook into your kind of art. When you’re finished, own it, embrace it, love it.

Participants will be equipped with their own art kit containing the ff:

-personalised journal
-practice drawing sheets
-drawing pad
-drawing prompts
-black archival ink pen
-pencil
-eraser
-good vibes

😀

WHO’S AFRAID OF THE BIG BLANK PAGE?
MARCH 7, Saturday
2:00 – 5:00 pm’

$90/person inclusive of materials and refreshments
To book a slot and for payment details, kindly send an email to saltrub@gmail.com.
Registration ends by March 5.

The cozy gathering will be held in a private space at Woolf Works, the afternoon’s lovely shophouse and creative sanctuary located at 176 Joo Chiat Road, 427447.

🙂

Once payment has been completed and received, you are considered confirmed and good to go! Registration closes two days before the event or when all seats are booked.

Fees are non-refundable but may be transferable for the same workshop.

For daily sketchbook entries, visit Instagram @themessycake .

For current projects, see jarofsalt.etsy.com .
For past artwork, view my online portfolio .

Note that this workshop is not a technical class. So you will draw the way you want to and the only thing you need is your imagination.

Dec 05 2014

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Where To Buy Art Supplies In Singapore

By Jar Of Salt | Uncategorized | 10 Comments

A sketchbook workshop in Singapore for the shy and hesitant artist and artist-at-heart. Join our little creative gathering on Nov. 21, 2-5 pm. Click here for more details. See you there!

Four years in Singapore and I still feel a little lost, not knowing who to ask or where to go when I need to find stuff. Recently, I’ve started going back to painting and I love working with large scale canvases. In my search for quality supplies, it was recommended that I head over to Straits Art. And if one were truly serious about his or her craft, then this is the place for you.

To begin with, I belive they’re the only one who carries Golden in Singapore. It’s a premium brand of paint which comes in runny, high-flow variety. I instantly fell in love with their teal and magenta shades, not to mention the viscosity once it flows over the canvas.

One key and highly notable advantage Straits Art has over any art store I’ve come across is the incredible competence and knowledge of the staff. No query was left hanging or unanswered, and they are familiar with all their products.

They are well-versed, fun to talk to, and very generous with their time. They even have open samples lying around for testing consistencies.

Straits Art is tiny compared to its competitor BUT the shop is brimming and packed from top to bottom with only artist-quality supplies — none of the student-grade art materials and paints one would normally see in an ordinary bookstore or other art stores.

I managed to find what I was looking for: a 1 meter linen canvas panel. Here it is in my studio propped on the easel I purchased from Straits Art, one which can support a massive 2-meter panel which I plan to do later on:

Moreover, they also carry a good range of Prismacolor pencils (I’ve seen work using these pencils and the result were illustrations in bold, smooth colors!),

a dreamy shelf of buttery Sennelier oil pastels,

and Schminke! 🙂

Processed with VSCOcam with m5 preset

They also have a good selection of top quality brand sketchbooks artist’s boxes and portable easels (?),

brushes (look at the detail on that weathered box!),

more brushes (LOVE),

and these disembodied heads looking toward the heavens.

Another thing I took home were two new nibs which I fished out from this box that calligraphers can only dream of:

You can go through every nib and test each one as you please. It was only when I got home that I realized the nib I chose was a gem. Look at the tiny, artful detail:

I enjoy coming to Straits Art because of the people — I can’t remember if they’ve been around since 1946 or 1948. Either way, they’ve been around for a pretty long time and their curation of brans is to trusted. They are truly passionate about what they do and what they sell. and I noticed that they do not impose anything on you. Best of all, you have their undivided attention as a customer and will have to wait your turn if they are attending to someone else before you.

For those looking for sincere conversation about art and care about the lifespan of their work, visit Straits Art, located at 420 North Bridge Road.

🙂

Aug 12 2014

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Farewell, O Captain! RIP Robin Williams :(

By Jar Of Salt | Doodles, Uncategorized | 2 Comments

i stand upon my desk Such devastating news to wake up to. I was hoping it was hoax, as there have been others in the past. I grew up watching Robin Williams through the almost-four decades of my life. Oddly, though, the films I remember most are not the funnies. “The Awakenings”, “Dead Poets Society”, “Patch Adams” and “Good Will Hunting” all made such an indelible impression on me so much so that these movies inspired me in my career choice(s).

Run free and go into the woods, Professor Keating. We weren’t ready for this. Not one bit. You will be sorely missed.

Jul 25 2014

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A Newbie’s Guide To Calligraphy Written By A Fellow Newbie

By Jar Of Salt | Uncategorized | 26 Comments

Look at this very first attempt at “calligraphy” below.

Somehow the word “immortality” looks like it was strangling itself ’til it passed out.

This was two years ago.

Early this month, I got hooked on (a.k.a. addicted to) calligraphy after I took a class with Pauline of Happy Hands Project.

From blotted, scraggly pages during our workshop:

to this:

By the way, I get good writing days and some REALLY horrible calligraphy days as well. It took me around 15 minutes of practice to make this one look like that 😀 The more exhausted I am, the lousier the writing. Energy means everything to the way I write, it seems 😀

Just in a span of four weeks, I found myself quite active in the blogosphere of lovers of the hand-written word and calligraphers from all over. I’ve also been getting questions from Singapore and Manila regarding classes. So for those who have asked me about supplies and classes, let me finally list them down for you:

CALLIGRAPHY SUPPLIES

Though I haven’t personally tried buying here myself, these are some of the shops recommended to me by my teacher:

1. www.paperinkarts.com for nibs and holders

2. Popular bookstore for Chinese ink, which I use for daily practice. This shop is scattered across many branches across the island.

3. Straits Art Company for Nikko G and Leonard nibs, located at 420 Northbridge Road, SG.

UPDATE: I finally visited the shop and it is officially my favorite art store in Singapore!

This box does not just exist in our dreams.

That pretty detail which I only noticed when I got home. I love this nib!

4. Overjoyed for Brause nibs, holders and Rhodia pads, located in Golden Wall Center on 89 Short Street, SG.

5. Art Friend for a range of colored ink.

TIP: If you don’t want to spend so much buying different colors of ink, I discovered that watercolor works just as well! You can see that the paper I used is very heavy, grainy stock: watercolor paper from Daler Rowney.

Surprisingly, no bleeding and no snags 🙂

PAPER

Friends have asked me what paper I use for everyday practice. Since I’m just starting, I make a mountain of a mess and consume lots of paper per day. Say… 3 sheets per sitting until I get it right? I don’t want to spend for quality paper that I will just be used for errors and blotting

So what do I use for my daily drills? I have several:

1. An inexpensive drawing block that looks like this:

What’s important is the paper is not fibrous and has a very smooth, coated finish to prevent ink from bleeding. I tried using my other sketchbooks but because the paper was grainy, the letters just bled everywhere, regardless of the amount of ink I use.

This drawing book above can be purchased in Popular bookstore.

2. Bond paper

Now not all bond paper are created equal, I’m sure by now you know that. I have a huge supply of paper and went through the different kinds I’ve acquired over time. What I find useful and practical for me, without the guilt from creating a myriad of writing errors are 80-90 gsm premium bond paper, one that says is good for laser printing.

Another pack of paper I use simply goes by the name of “multi-purpose paper” . It indicates that it is good for laser printing so that works really well.

Writing on uncoated pages of ordinary bond paper

If you run your fingers over ordinary bond paper versus premium sheets, you will feel that the ones I use for calligraphy will let the skin of your fingers glide over like butter. The key is to find paper that does not cause your nibs to snag and/or ink to bleed.

3. Moleskine Artist’s Journal (not sure if what I have is the watercolor notebook or the sketchbook variant)

The only reason I own one is because I got it as a present from a very good friend 🙂 Otherwise, I keep holding out on spending for one. So this is where I ink only my final art (when I’m confident to do so without error). I specified artist’s journal because the pages of this particular variant is very thick and can be used for watercolors and other water-based paint. The paper, however, is smooth and stiff (around 160 gsm?). This has worked very well for my daily projects, thankfully.

I’ve seen a good collection in Kinokuniya.

CLASSES

1. Singapore

The one I took was conducted by Pauline Ibarra of Happy Hands Project. This was our class, hosted in our home 🙂

2. Manila

While I’ve never taken a class in the Philippines, my friend Regina was kind enough to list down a number of pretty good leads:

The Fozzy Book

La Bella Scrittura

Ink Scribbler

Craft MNL

BOOKS

I still do not own a single calligraphy book as I am still waiting for the postman to come by with my order at this very moment. But the book I purchased is “Modern Calligraphy” by Molly Suber Thorpe which is believed to be uber helpful to many calligraphers today.

Another one I wish I didn’t pull out of my shopping basket is the classic blue-cover “Mastering Copperplate Calligraphy” manual by Eleanor Winters.

UPDATE: Here is the book I was waiting for! I still don’t have the E. Winter’s book because I’m not sure if I want to do copperplate yet 😀

🙂

If you have any other books, classes, supplies, brands you’ve come across that you’re happy with, feel free to share this as I would like to know as well. Thank you!

Jul 14 2014

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What Will Make You Draw Again?

By Jar Of Salt | Uncategorized | 4 Comments

When I was a kid, I automatically thought that I was an artist. 🙂 I was proud of my messy handiwork, and thought that my drawings were sheer masterpiece. Yet now, I seem to think twice (or even thrice?) if the art is worth being seen by anyone other than myself. Or if it’s even worth being called art at all.

These days, I find myself making one piece of art everyday.

Yes. (Almost) every single day, weekends included. I surprise myself at the renewed energy. From nothing to everything 🙂

It’s not perfect, my drawings can still be flawed but it’s definitely something. And in art, something is always better than nothing.

So what made me draw again?

A fantastic support team! And the strange thing is this virtual “support team” consists of people whom I’ve never really met!

1. WORDPRESS

When I first joined WP two years ago, I lamented about the lack of art in my life. Then one post led to the next, one comment after another. And it got the ball rolling. I managed to produce my first sketch after five years. And it was uphill from thereon.

2. ONLINE ART COMMUNITY

I found a group on Facebook that is rooted in a 52-week challenge, propelling us to product one piece of illustration following a weekly theme. I joined this because I wanted to see other people’s art. But before I knew it, I started catching up midway and spending more time over my sketchbook, more than I can ever remember.

3. NEW SKILLS

I started taking art classes for the first time in my life other than the default subjects I took in school. It started with printmaking. Unfortunately, I didn’t feel motivated or challenged enough in class 🙁 So I hope to revisit this someday as I still have a lot of printing ink in my work room 😮

Then just two Saturdays ago, I took my very first calligraphy class. It’s a skill I thought I can never learn (or even enjoy!) because of my messy penmanship 😀 But with proper instruction and like-minded people, I’ve been on a roll ever since!

For those who’ve hit a bit of a snag, just ride out the silence for a bit. Then start small — be it a nicely-written grocery list (that’s how I got started in creative lettering!), drawing random stick people on the corner of the newspaper, adding color to a homemade cookie, a hand-written note for a friend, a practice stitch on a sample cloth, or even just splattering paint on a piece of paper.

What matters most, I believe, is to just make.

🙂

Jul 03 2014

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From The Sketchbook | Snow In October

By Jar Of Salt | Uncategorized | No Comments

snow in new york lowres2 The illustration challenge’s theme for Week 27 is SNOW. All my travel plans never include snow. My first time in NYC one fine October? Lo and behold. A snowstorm! Everywhere we went, it was all people were chatting abo

ut, “Can you believe this? It’s snowing in October!!!”

Consider this a Week 4: SELFIE theme drawing as well. No one warned me of slush and sleet either.

Using ink blocks and colored pencils, thought I’d try a couple of new things for this sketch:

First, movement. I’m not good with drawing people moving so it took me an hour trying to plot on paper the position of the falling girl (hands don’t always follow what’s in my head, unfortunately).

Second, snow. I never ever drew snow as I had zero experience with it (the snowstorm completely made up for that, thank you.).

Next, light lines. I usually line EVERYTHING with either a black liner or a pencil. For the clouds, thought I’d make them look lighter by using a pale blue pencil instead.

Then, borders. Usually, my drawing stretches all the way ’til the edges. Thought I’d try a different background style for a change.

Again, it’s not exactly what I had in mind but I think I choose to be satisfied with how it turned out. Sorry, no process/step-by-step photos as I did this under dining lamp- yellow lighting after dinner.

🙂

Cart

How To Use An Old Wine Cork To Break Creative Blocks

How To Use Your White Gel Pen

5 Reasons Why We Should Not Stop Drawing Doodles

A Good Time To Smash Creative Blocks

A Workshop For People Who Think They Can’t Draw

“But I can’t draw!”

Where To Buy Art Supplies In Singapore

Farewell, O Captain! RIP Robin Williams :(

A Newbie’s Guide To Calligraphy Written By A Fellow Newbie

What Will Make You Draw Again?

From The Sketchbook | Snow In October

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