Happy New Year! 祝您马到功成 (doodle of scholar guqin player riding horse)

My dear friends, thank you very much for visiting my blog! *smile*

I wish you Success and Happiness in the New Year! 祝您马到功成!

This doodle was drawn by me for fun with a vintage 1950s green barrel Montblanc 342 with KEF kugel extra fine nib purchased from www.HepworthDixon.com. Chinese calligraphy words were written with a Sailor fude bent nib fountain pen.

 

 

 

Gifts from Shanghai

Special thanks to my old friend Alex for bringing me these gifts from Shanghai and Japan! They are very beautiful! Alex, may you have a most wonderful year in 2014. I wish you continued Prosperity and Success in Shanghai!

Doodle of boat at river town

Fun doodle: Chinese words were written with Sailor fude bent nib. Scenery was drawn with green barrel vintage 1950s MB342 Kugel Extra Fine flex nib. Ink used was MB Mystery Black for both pens. Happy 2014! May things go smoothly your way in the New Year! 祝您一帆风顺，马到功成!

Finally I have quit Facebook. Yay!

Finally! I have quit Facebook! Yay! That monstrosity that sucks time, productivity and kills true friendship among real manly men (and womanly women)! Lol... Most of the time while I was using Facebook, I had to worry whether I might be offending someone with my little-thought-through remarks that seemed funny haha to me, but may be interpreted as being highly offensive to someone else reading my posts. It was very stressful when I used Facebook. hahaha... My experiment with social media is over! What a relief! Phew! I had experienced many of these unpleasant situations when using Facebook. Now that I have quit Facebook, I can be myself again. Wonderful. Not being in Facebook is super cool! haha *smile*

This was my final post in Facebook on Sunday 29th December 2013, so existing contacts may still reach me. hahaha

Sunday night on 29 Dec 2013. Practiced on guqin to learn new tune using headphones in my noisy home environment. I had inserted a lavalier microphone into the larger sound hole of the guqin and connected it to a portable amplifier (Hippo brand) to boost the signal so that the sound of the guqin could be heard through the headphones in the noisy environment with the TV next to me. haha

Regardless of how loud or soft the original sound of the guqin was, it would be impossible for me to practice if I don't block out the noises from the TV and the environment when I was trying to memorize a new tune. That's why the headphones played such a vital role for me. hahaha *smile*

Handmade a Chinese style new year card for a friend

Handmade a New Year card for my Singaporean old friend who returned from Shanghai for short vacation. Sailor fude nib was used to write words 富贵(fu gui, which means 'prosperity') and Wahl wet noodle flex nib (purchased from tommyspens.blogspot.com) was used to draw 白描 (bai miao, which means 'outline-style drawing') of peony flower.

Drawing and writing Chinese calligraphy is very therapeutic. hahaha *smile*

 

 

Visit to test play guqins at He Yue Zhai Guqin School 龢樂斋古琴馆

Thursday 26 Dec 2013. Visited Singapore's He Yue Zhai guqin shop / school with Leonard and Kenny (who are also students of Mr John Thompson). Leonard (who is based in New Zealand) is learning how to play the guqin from Mr. Thompson (based in New York) via Skype. Leonard is back in Singapore for vacation so Kenny arranged for us to meet up and visit He Yue Zhai together. I gifted to Leonard a new set of medium-gauge JinYu brand guqin silk strings so that he can bring it back to New Zealand and string them onto his ZhangYong-made guqin in his home.

We met at Paya Lebar MRT station, walked to #02-05, 520 Sims Avenue and arrived at around 2:00pm. Right after we stepped into He Yue Zhai, it started pouring heavily so we played guqin until the rain stopped at about 4:30pm. It was really fun to be able to test play almost all of the guqins available in the qin school. There were really good quality guqins priced at SGD$580, SGD$980, SGD$1280, SGD$2680, SGD$3000 all the way to one which was priced at around SGD$9000.

I believe this is the only place in Singapore where a beginner can buy a very good quality guqin at a very affordable price of SGD$580. Amazing.

Of particular note was a Nan Feng brand guqin priced at around SGD$1800++ and another Nan Feng brand guqin priced between about SGD$8000 to SGD$9000. They were loud and the gravitas (heavy bass sound) were superb.... they sounded very promising for use with silk strings.

We also chatted briefly with the person in charge of the qin school Maestro Zhong Zhi Yue at around 4:30pm when he returned to the qin school. He shared with us some very useful information about how to select good quality guqins.

Group guqin lessons are also available at He Yue Zhai guqin school. Interested individuals may consider contacting the qin school directly at their Facebook webpage. Their guqin teacher, Maestro Zhong Zhi Yue is a member of the Singapore Chinese Orchestra.

 

Doodle of Peony flower using Fountain Pens

Went out for a walk on Christmas Day 25th Dec. Some shops in my heartland Singapore neighborhood were already selling Chinese Lunar New Year stuff and blasting CNY tunes on their boom box. Oh my. Lol... Inspired me to copy this... Words were written using Sailor fude nib. Peony flower was drawn using wet noodle nib bought from Tommy Ly http://tommyspens.blogspot.com

 

 

Doodle of eagle using Sailor fude bent nib fountain pen

Inspired by large eagle-like bird flying high above lake next to Singapore's Lakeview MRT station. Doodled using Sailor brand fude nib fountain pen. Lol! Merry Christmas 2013 to you!

 

 

Doodle of swallows

My doodle of 2 swallows aerial playing... Lol... They look kinda weird... Lol... words and drawing were both done with SGD$30 Hero fude bent nib bought from Straits Art Co. *smile* It's fun to be able to draw and practice Chinese calligraphy in cafes. Lol

 

 

Doodle of a young man holding a wrapped guqin

Bumped into an old friend at a shopping mall. He shared with me that he had been invited to join a political party (which shall remain unnamed) but he had declined. He decided to keep a low profile and continue to serve his community quietly without any official title. Respect! Inspired by him, I doodled this for fun with my Sailor brand bent fude nib fountain pen. Lol... Dear powers-that-be, please dun invite me to 'lim kopi' hor! Lol *smile*

Anyway, I told my friend that such a handsome capable man like him should not become a politician. Lol... he is too attractive for his own good... Lol... and I also told him that even if he decides to join politics in future, I would still respect him. hahaha... anyway the country is doing just fine without him serving now... hahaha... so he can just relax and be a 闲云野鹤 (free as idyllic clouds and the wild cranes) hahaha

 

 

My childish doodle of a fisherman and a wood cutter listening to guqin

My childish doodle of a fisherman and a wood cutter 渔樵 stopping by to listen to an exiled former official 被流放的忠臣 play guqin 古琴 in the wilderness. Lol *smile* Both the Chinese calligraphy couplet and the picture were penned on the Rhodia lined paper notepad with a Sailor brand fude bent nib fountain pen, filled with Montblanc Mystery Black ink.

I have not practiced on guqin for past 2 nights. Played a few long pieces tonight Friday 20 Dec. Drizzling and breezy Singapore night. Fingers tripped over and forgot some parts even though I only missed 2 practice sessions at home... Lol... Practicing on guqin is like rowing a boat upstream... if effort is not put in to row it momentarily, the boat will naturally be swept downstream. Lol

Doodle of ancient dude sitting with his guqin

My silly doodle of an ancient dude trying to sit quietly with his guqin. However, one of his "antennas" was missing, so he flinched and raised his eyebrow. Lol... did this in a fast food joint with a Sailor brand bent fude nib fountain pen. *smile* (hope it made you chuckle!) Lol...

Have a nice day/evening to you, wherever you are in the world. ^_^ *smile*

 

Ancient temple pine forest - drawn with Sailor fude nib fountain pen

My doodle of ancient temple surrounded by pine forest. Drawn using Sailor brand fude nib fountain pen. It was fun copying and putting together the temple and poem from 2 different books. Hahaha Lol

 

 

Wu Heng 无痕 written with Sailor fude nib fountain pen

Doodled this with Sailor brand fude nib fountain pen while my kids were playing in Singapore's Toa Payoh Safra Indoor Playground... Lol... Copied the words Wu Heng 无痕 (meaning... Without A Trace) from www.juntianfang.com Wu Heng is also the name of a famous guqin made by Maestro Wang Peng.

Calligraphy and drawing about person wearing hanfu 汉服 playing qin 琴

My ridiculously amateurish attempt at copying at copying poem and drawing about a person wearing hanfu 汉服 playing qin 琴. I had used a Sailor brand fude bent nib fountain pen while I was in a cafe in Singapore. Hahaha (laughing about my silly self) Lol

Yes, I've still got a lot to learn. I merely copied everything from some books. I cannot draw original stuff... unlike the real professional artists. hahaha Lol

My kids are on school vacation. Bummer... My 8 year old daughter was bored so I gave her a piece of thin 宣纸 Chinese painting paper and asked her to trace this from a book. Muahahaha... Lol... cheaper than buying her a Disney coloring book. Hahaha

Finished playing guqin 古琴 for Monday night 16th Dec 2013 from 10:00pm until 11:00pm. Some people have asked me what kind of cloth do I use to wipe my guqin? Well, I simply use a micro-fiber cloth that people use to clean computer screens to clean my guqin's fingerboard. No solvent of any kind was used as solvents may harm the lacquer of the guqin. *smile*

first attempt at drawing fish using fountain pens

My hilarious feeble first attempt at drawing fish in my entire life... hahaha... fountain pens used: MB149 filled with MB Oyster Gray ink and Hero fude nib filled with MB Mystery Black ink for the Chinese words. Hahaha (laughing at my silly self) Lol

Yes, I had copied the fishes from a Chinese painting book... the head of the smaller fish was a bit too fat or too big and the body was too small. Hahaha Lol...

 

Moon and Chinese characters 圆融 yuan rong doodled with fountain pens

My amateurish doodle of full moon with clouds... with Montblanc 149 (filled with MB Oyster gray ink) and Hero fude nib (filled with MB Mystery black ink to write Chinese characters 圆融 yuan rong). It's very convenient to doodle with fountain... pens in a cafe without people starring at silly me. Lol... Hahaha... the Chinese characters 圆融 yuan rong were copied directly from this guqin maker's webpage at http://www.juntianfang.com/jtf/lifexx?type=522&ty=yc

Practiced several long pieces very slowly on my banana-leaf shaped guqin 古琴 while my wife was watching a China matchmaking tv show 非诚勿扰 on Singapore's Starhub channel 830 on the sofa behind me, with her headphones on, so that I may play in relative silence. Lol

Calligraphy doodling - 踏雪 Ta Xue written with Hero fude nib

Doodled this in my free time just for fun. Used: MontBlanc 149 fine firm nib filled with Montblanc  Oyster Gray ink (to draw outline of plum blossoms) and Hero fude nib (filled with MB Mystery Black ink). Chinese words 踏雪 Ta Xue written with Hero fude nib. Hahaha Lol... I luv the fude nib. This doodle was inspired by a poster which I stumbled upon at a guqin maker's webpage at http://www.juntianfang.com/jtf/lifexx?type=585&ty=yc

The very small Chinese calligraphy seal was purchased for SGD$18 (inclusive of carving my surname) from Singapore's Chinatown at Smith Street.

 

 

 

Friday 13th night in Singapore. Copied a Chinese calligraphy couplet.. my 落款 luo kuan (year, name, seal) left-most vertical line of words looked a little weird, probably because the characters were not aligned to its center. Lol