Day 07

Workshop: Puzzle Painting (second day)
Date: 18 December 2008
Time: 5-6.30pm
Participants: Chan Yun Sheng, Chong Jun Kiat, Lai Ming Xuan, Lim Jun Hong, Wong Kai Wei
Details: Puzzle Painting hopes to spice up the participants' creativity by asking questions - simple questions. To paint a puzzle, is to paint fragmented stories, whereby those fragments or anecdotes, can be integrated into a bigger or a more hollistic story/scene. Unlike painting only a scene on a paper, this workshop manages to trigger the participants' creative thinking, to have them visualize what's beyond the paper, and what's next.

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Chong Jun Kiat - a new student joined in today, so the workshop started 30 minutes earlier, only for him, just to make sure he managed to catch up.

Same exercises for him. I found him sensitive to details and have very unique ideas. The picture below was one of the most original ideas amongst others:

A & B given, C & D by Chong Jun Kiat.
C: Tree monster in pain after one of its apples being plucked down by the man. D: The man ate the apple and plucked the second apple, the tree monster died in pain. While all the other participants viewed the monster tree as something superior, Jun Kiat thought the other way. Instead of the tree monster swallowing up the human, the human 'defeated' the monster. Peculiarly brilliant!

As mentioned in previous post, there would be one more exercise. The exercise was to let each of them draw a picture of any kind. And then to put all the random drawings together and they would be asked to link all the images together with a simple story. In between every drawing, I gave them an allowance - that they can have two more drawings in order to link the pictures together as one single story. Somehow, this exercise trained the participants to connect the unconnected, and it required their creative thinking.

Their initial drawings; 5 participants, each produced one.

The two 'additional' linking drawings produced when constructing a story.

Amazingly, they need only two pictures and they really did construct a very logical story; yet without all the illogical magic of A turning into B or some other silly efforts to ensure a polish story etc. Good job guys!

*We will have a small display at the end of the workshop where all the works will be showcased, so if you are interested in knowing the storyline, do come! Date and time will be confirmed after the workshop.

After connecting the unconnected, we moved on to the puzzle. They have decided to draw kampung and they did apply what they have learnt earlier: the idea of multiplying narrative and evoking curiosity upon the viewers to ask what's beyond the singled piece.

Here is the thumbnail (click to enlarge):

and some pictures of them working in a serious manner:

I am quite happy with them...and here're some advices for them, under each respective paragraph is their drawing on the puzzle:

Yun Sheng, you have great drawing skill, but try to be humble and be gentle to your friends. You can criticize them but be kind and less abrasive. You have talent in figurative drawing too.

Jun Kiat, you are sensitive to details, keep it up and remember to stay focus during the workshop. It's good to know that an 8 year-old can draw the top view of a car.


Ming Xuan, the fact that you like to play, you tend to make things around you fun, and you created laughter with your somehow cynical drawings. Continue that, have fun but be obedient too. Your drawing done with Yun Sheng. Very imaginative.

Jun Hong, you are a kind and helpful person. You can draw many things, you are not afraid of trying. But be tough when you receive criticism from friends, don't take it emotionally.
Your sun is huge and took up the whole piece! Doing good. I appreciate your intention to darken the outline.

Jia Wei, you are the only girl in the group, but don't let that resist you. You have to believe that you can draw, shun the fear of making mistakes - failure means a chance to learn anyway.
And thanks for the 4 beautiful jagungs, they might not look like real corns but they are graphically terrific.

One last advice for all: PLEASE WORK AS A GROUP.