Central Market Mural Project Part II 中環街市牆畫 Part II

Glad to come back to Central Market again for another round of mural paintings.  This time, five pillars and the planters are to be painted with different natural habitats including ocean, safari, jungle and land from ancient times.  As you can see, we are just laying the under layers.  Will work on them again tomorrow and hopefully, the murals can be done within a month.

Sindy's Ocean, undertone 

My Safari , establishing the evening tone under layer

Jamaika's Jungle Day One, Laying the lines

Rita's Dinosaur's outline

Steve's Rocky faces

Conceptual Drawings for Hong Kong Western District Harbourfront Planning Competition 西區海濱長廊規劃比賽概念圖

Two friends of mine and me, we formed a team and took part in the Hong Kong Western District Harbourfront Planning Competition. Luckily we were selected as one of the finalists and were awarded an outstanding design award.  Here is three from a series of conceptual perspective drawings I did for the competition.   The first perspective drawing, barges are converted into cafes and floating observation decks, second one, the main elements of the cargo pier are preserved and turned into recreational uses, the third perspective drawing depicts a street in the evening, made up of stacked-up and refurbished containers, housing various shops.

Cargo Pier Bay      

All three perspective drawings are created using watercolor, ink, marker and photoshop

Promenade with cargo pier elements preserved      

Container Street in the evening      

Here are a few photos taken during our first site visit.  It's currently a working cargo pier and interestingly, locals are already using this vast open space as their "front" garden in the otherwise very crowded Sheung Wan area.

Mah Jong Battle and Food@CNY 攻打四方城 and 新年美食

Food@CNY 新年美食  祝大家兔年豐衣足食！

Some of the food on the dining table.  The two chickens awaiting to be consumed later today.  The Turkish Delights are a gift from one of my aunts.  Delicious candies they are!

Mah Jong Battle 攻打四方城

Every year on the third day of the Chinese New Year, my aunts, uncles will gather together and play Mah Jong for the whole day!  What a Mah Jong Battle!

Chinese New Year Fireworks Display and Its Aftermath 煙花盛放 及 煙花後 虛幻維港

A huge crowd of people gathered at the top of the Ocean Terminal at Tsim Sha Tsui during the annual Chinese New Year firework display.  This year's display lasted for a good 25 minutes! Spectacular indeed!

After the display, people started leaving, Victoria Harbour suddenly became surreal as thick smoke refused to disperse and was hanging in mid-air, partly blocking the skyscrapers.  The harbour was unusually quiet and smooth as boats were not yet allowed to re-enter the harbour.

Dating Cats on Rooftop 貓貓唐樓頂月下談心

I find rooftops of old buildings in nighttime always romantic, it's a place that you can breathe and overlook the city, everything busy and fast-paced is at a distant! 


Location:  imaginary location, somewhere over the Kowloon side, overlooking Hong Kong Island.

Vertical City 1 min 37 secs Central to Wan Chai 垂直都市 一分三十七秒 中環至灣仔

The photos were taken in a traffic jam on a double decker bus between Central and Wan Chai until my camera ran out of battery.

Urban Sketchers: 30th World Sketchwalk, Hong Kong

This post was originally posted by Paul Wong, an urban sketcher from Singapore who is now stationed in Hong Kong


Below are sketches by Gary Yeung, Me & Jamaika

Today was our very 1st successful urbansketchers' sketchwalk here in HK and we were also glad to be sketching with everyone around the world on this World sketch day. We had 7 very excited sketchers gathering at the HK university east gate. We ploughed through a very old estate, looking at some very early walkup apartments and back alley. I was told the streets (Water street, eastern street, western street...) here are also one of the earliest roads to be named. Weather was cloudy and rather chilly but we had a good time sketching and getting to know each other.




 More from Paul on his Urban Sketcher Page

Sketches from Hong Kong for 30th World Wide SketchCrawl 七人上環四圍畫

Thanks Paul for initiating the activity.  All together, seven urban sketchers went out to sketch at Sai Ying Pun, an area populated with old Hong Kong buildings on a very steep slope.  

High Street Motorbikes 高街 電單車

A line of motorbikes lining quietly along High Street, Sai Ying Pun, Hong Kong

Many bikes are put on protective coats, seems like they are wearing raincoats.

Old Church on Steep Slope 西邊街 救恩堂

We gathered on this very narrow and steep Western Street, air was foul as large trucks stopped next to us from time to time but still we had a good time sketching.  A sketchbook, a pen and good company are enough to transform anything around into good sketching materials:)

Very Old Laundry Shop at Centre Street 餘樂里洗衣店

Possibly one of the oldest common residential building in Centre Street, it still bears the sign of a now closed laundry shop.  

Street Theatre made with Bamboo 西貢天后廟戲棚

This one is an old sketch.  It was sketched at the Sai Kung Town Centre where the Tin Hau Temple (Sea Goddess Temple) is. At the time I did this sketch, a group of skilled bamboo scaffolding workers were busy constructing a huge street theatre using mainly bamboos as structural support. Every year, such theatre will be erected for a week and cantonese opera will play for several days, entertaining both the local public, the goddess of the sea and the spirits as well.   

A photoshop version based on the live sketch.

Marina in the afternoon 白沙灣的下午

Walked to a quiet residential area at Hebe Haven.  The Hebe Haven area has long been the docking place for yachts and boats.  

Sketching Boats

Location: Tui Min Hoi Village, Sai Kung, Hong Kong

Cold Day, Warm Cafe

Originally planned going out for a sketch session with a friend but the temperature plummeted, instead of going out, I went into a Starbucks, got a hot drink and just sketched what I saw in front of me.

Location: Sai Kung Starbucks, Sai Kung Town, Hong Kong

Boats, Pier and Shops 小艇、碼頭與店舖

A quick sketch in the warm winter sun

On the ground floor on the left: a shop space is converted into an extra dining room of a nearby seafood restaurant.

The second shop from the left:  "The Reading Room", a newly-open local bookshop, selling old and new books as well as hosting reading activities.

I was sitting on a pier extended into the harbour.  You can see boats casually docking next to the pier.

Old Temple Square @ Yau Ma Tei 油麻地 天后廟

This Tin Hau (Goddess of the Sea) Temple, similar to many others in Hong Kong, was once fronting the sea, however as Hong Kong developed, it's now surrounded by buildings.  The temple square is shaded by large Banyan trees with their aerial roots hanging down everywhere. These trees provide a nice shaded place for local worshippers and oversea tourists to gather here every day. 

Christmas Meets Fantasy! From Hong Kong

This one isn't a real urban sketch or drawing, but the street scene is based on photos I took in the Sai Ying Poon area over the Hong Kong side.  I added the bank of China tower as backdrop as well.   

Wish you all a Merry Christmas!

Fish for Sale? 邊道有魚?

The sketch was done a few years ago.  This nice little wooden fish market was demolished finally and is now replaced by a new concrete one.  The fish market is normally empty during daytime as the fishermen only come here to sell their catch before day break.

Location: See Cheung Street, Sai Kung Town, Hong Kong

High Rises and Chinese Temple 三山國王與麗晶花園

Richland Garden High Rises across Kwun Tong Road 麗晶花園

A sketch done on a terraced public park, with the very dense Richland Garden residential high-rises across Kwun Tong Road. Hong Kong

Chinese Tempe in front of public housing high rises 三山國王廟 坪石邨

The "Saam Saan King Temple" , 三山國王廟 is dedicated to three "kings" or "legendary figures" who are worshipped in Southern China for centuries. This very temple was bulilt in 1800 an was facing the sea. However, with the now closed old Kai Tak airport which was developed during World War II, the temple has become an inland temple for decades. Behind the temple is three housing blocks of Ping Shek Estate, a public housing project which has been around for four decades.

Note: The tower on the left is used for burning incense for the "kings"

Sketches from Europe Trip Part 2

After walking around Delfshaven in cold rain in Rotterdam, we decided to have a cup of hot chocolate.  This sketch was done while everyone was feeling still cold, wet and waiting for their cups of chocolate,


Location: Cafe Soif, Mathenesserdijk, Rotterdam, Netherlands

Concert Cebouw Amsterdam


While waiting for a tram, a very quick sketch depicting the concert hall at Van Baealestraat just across the road.

At the top of the Glass Elephant Tower


The sketch was done at the top of the Glass Elephant at Maximilian Park, Hamm.  The elephant was originally a coal mine structure but was turned into a giant elephant with a green house by architect Horst Rellecke.  At the top inside the green house, I had excellent view of the autumn colours of the city of Hamm.

A quick sketch depicting an alley at Museumpark, Rotterdam

Sketches from Europe Trip Part 1

Went to Netherlands, Belgium and Germany for 11 days for a study trip, focusing on landscape elements , along the way, I did a number of quick sketches.

KNSM Island waterfront, Amsterdam

Not completely sure I'm right with the location. I cycled to this place and settled on the wood deck to sketch. The whole waterfront is lined with nice boats and residential blocks.

Apeldoorn, Netherlands

After visiting the Het Loo Palace at Apeldoorn, we walked along one of the streets and had a quick lunch at a local eatery, along the way I did this sketch.

Breidelstraat overlooking Belfort, Bruges, Belgium

This is the street that connects the smaller square with the larger square "Markt". The tower is the Belfort which was built in the 18th century.

Beguinage of Bruges, Belgium

The Beguinage of Bruges was founded in 1245. The central courtyard, at the time of our visit was filled with autumn colours as all the trees have already turned yellowish brown and red. Interestingly, their branches all tilted to one side in the wind. The sounds the leaves made were soothing.

Chinese Banyan Trees at Park Lane, Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kong 彌敦道與細葉榕

The majestic Chinese Banyan Trees framing this section of Nathan Road in Tsim Sha Tsui! The sculptural forms of their trunks and branches and their plentiful aerial roots are always great to look at! I was at the time sitting on the second floor of a McDonalds Restaurant, having a Cheeseburger and was immediately captivated by the canopies of these trees!