Rustic Menu Board

A restaurant had asked me to do this menu board. Originally painted it with earthy colour background with warm white lettering. My idea was to make sure that his customer could read the menu clearly but unfortunately he wants the menu board to look old and rustic. I had to put two layers of antiquing gel just to tone down the colours to the way he likes it.....

Antique Enamel Basin

A customer had brought this old enamel basin that was full of rust to be painted.I had no choice but to paint it all in black just to cover the badly rusted surface. If I were to paint it in light colour, the rust will still be showing even with numerous layers of paint. Anyway, it looks good after painting brightly coloured hydrangeas and roses. By the way I used black gesso before painting it with Charcoal background colour.

House No. Plaque and signage

Doing house number can also be tricky especially if you are hanging it at the porch. It must be visible from outside the gate. Here the customer has chosen dark purple as the background. So, the numbers has to be super big with contrasting colour and straightforward font so that it is easy to read. The design should not be too overwhelming until it overshadow the number.

Again for the Open/close signage for shop, it must be clearly visible from far.

Boutique Signage

Another boutique signage that I had the opportunity to do. Choice of colours, design and the letterings are important so that it appears interesting.

Train Model

I was asked to paint this train model by a customer following a sample. The sample is in red. It has been painted using the spray paint which has been given a glossy look. However the sample was not smooth but the painting is very precise.

Mine was painted with pine green with white and gold trimmings. Everything is done manually, thus the process is very slow. I had smoothened the surface using sand paper and apply sealer before painting it. By the way, the model is made of fiberglass. Its hard to do precision painting when you do it manually....straight line may not appear as it should be.

Folk Art Workshop in Seremban

I will be conducting a Folkart workshop for beginners in Seremban, Negeri Sembilan on Saturday, 26th Feb. 2011. It will be held in the Carlton Star Hotel between 10.00 a.m. till 4.00 p.m.

The student will learn the brushstroke technique using the round brush/angle brush to do the daisies and roses. Attendees will also learn the method of preparing the surface and basecoating the background. Those who likes to join this workshop will need to purchase my book which will be available during the session.

Please call 03-79555909 for details.

Majalah Keluarga Mac 2011 issue

Just to let you know that my craft is featured in the DIY section of the latest Majalah Keluarga. There were two items that I did that they showed in this section.

White Lotus

I always like oriental design. Here is an experiment I did on a canvas using the layering and shading technique. It turns out so well that I decided to hang it at home. I may do the same design and technique on a CD cupboard.

Wooden Basket

This a wooden basket which I had painted for a customer who wanted to have a martha stewart green as background and pink/purple pansies.

CNY break

While the chinese crowd were busy celebrating CNY, the non-chinese took time off to learn painting at my shop.

Gong Xi Fa Cai

For those who are celebrating Chinese New Year I would like to wished them "Gong Xi Fa Cai" may the Rabbit year brings you double happiness, double prosperity......double food ?? no, no, no !!!...hahaha..anyway to everyone else, enjoy your holidays. If you have time come and visit me at the shop as we are open for business as usual on these festive days.

Meanwhile, please drive safely if you are going out station and those who are in the klang valley, enjoy the no-traffic days while you can.