Towards the end of our conversation, I asked Felix (in Episode 25) about his lessons to illustration students at the Munster School of Design. He spoke about a concept he has coined drainting - an “intuitive combination of drawing and painting”. He said he makes his students paint silhouettes before they draw lines. This is a way to capture gestures and pose in the human form, and to find character and personality in inanimate buildings and structures. How do you find personality in things that are not human? How does a building’s silhouette say anything about character? The word he uses is pa ..read more

In this episode, I speak with Berlin-based illustrator and artist Felix Scheinberger about his work as an illustrator, and the role of travel and urban sketching in his life. He once described illustration as "applied imagination", so I try to learn more about where this imagination comes from, and how it can be nurtured. What is the role of on-location drawing in feeding this imagination? What are some ways to strengthen your imagination over time? What is the role of observation, what is the job of interpretation, and how can the artist translate the ideas in their mind into a visual langua ..read more

I was on Granville Island yesterday to do an interview with The Tyee, a popular online news and culture publication in Vancouver. After many days of sun, it was finally a full day’s worth of rain. I couldn’t complain. After our conversation was completed, I walked about Granville Island looking for a suitable spot in the shade to sketch from. Vancouver is inundated with tourists since the borders opened last week. There aren’t many free spots, especially when the rain drives everything indoors. But a little ways off from the dock, there is a cafe out of the way of the throng. I was able to sit ..read more

A few weeks ago, I was approached by Surrey Parks and Community Enhancement, to make a drawing for the city of Surrey. I did that drawing this week! This was a special piece for me for multiple reasons. One, it is the first time I have been commissioned by a government body. It feels like upgrading to another level. Two, the piece was larger than what I normally do, at 11x14”. I have scanned the drawing now, and it will become an even larger print. I am excited to see how it turns out! Three, I love doing commissions that I can draw on location. A lot of commission work, especially since COVID ..read more

I had some unnecessary beers with a friend who likes to drink very much. I have always had BAD hangovers, so I’m very careful about drinking too much. We hadn’t caught up in a while, and I had just finished my work for the day when he texted to meet at a nearby brewery. I decided to go, partly because I felt good about my day’s work, and because I hadn’t visited the Yaletown Brewing Company before, and I need to see more of the city. Left to my own devices, I don’t step out as often as I should! After the beers, we decided to grab a taco from a place down the street. But the taco place also h ..read more

[This post was originally shared as part of Issue #84 of the SneakyArt Post. Read it in entirety here.] In my family we start the day with words. Every morning, a tray is carried up to the terrace, bearing the first cups of tea, a bowl of sprouted beans and vegetables, and another bowl of dry fruits and nuts. Also, the day’s newspaper. Straightaway, we open to the page with the crossword and word jumbles. We don’t waste time on headlines or the front page. It’s a morning ritual I miss all the days that I spend away from home. Sometimes I help my parents solve clues over a video call. This mont ..read more

In this episode, I speak with oil painter and urban-sketcher, Marc Taro Holmes, about his evolution over the years as an artist. Marc worked in the early gaming industry, when both games and design programs were rudimentary. Later, as an urban-sketcher, he started the Citizen Sketcher blog, led numerous workshops, wrote several books, and inspired countless artists with his annual events - OneWeek100People and 30x30 Direct Watercolor. Over the past few years, Marc has retreated from social media, and started using oil paints on canvas in his home-studio. What caused this shift? What do oil p ..read more

This post marks one week in India. I haven’t done enough exploring yet, what with the big bad virus and the big bad AQI (early winter in Delhi means heavy air pollution). But I’ve seen some things and done some things. That’s what this post is about. This post was originally published in the SneakyArt Post, my weekly email newsletter. You can see it in its original form here. ✈ How to go East I chuckled while explaining to people back home that my flight from Vancouver to New Delhi would be going ‘west to go east’. The counter-intuitive idea is that if you keep going west for long enough, west ..read more

[This post was originally shared in the SneakyArt Post Issue #79. You can see it here.] In this episode, I speak with LA-based urban sketcher and educator Virginia Hein about her education to be a fine artist, her work in the toy industry, and her discovery of urban sketching. Despite intending to become a painter, Virginia found herself working in the toy industry fresh out of art school. Was she conflicted by this? How did she equip herself for the subtle differences between commercial and fine art? As an educator at Otis College of Art and Design, how does she communicate these distinction ..read more

(This post was originally written in Issue #54 of my newsletter.) This week I recorded two episodes on alternate days, and it was … exhausting! But this is a good thing. Both my guests do fantastic work that I have admired for several years. And they were interesting not only for their art but also for the trajectory of their work and lives. I learned many good things! I am a curious person with lots of questions. Curiosity drives all my learning, and it also guides all the conversations I have. But a virtual conversation can be a strange thing, especially when it is the first conversation yo ..read more