11 June 2006

Jungle

This is an ink sketch of jungle. The original drawing measures 21cm x 15cm. I drew this with Faber-Castell Pigment Pens. 0.2.

This was drawn off the top of my head while I watched the England Paraguay football match. I started at the kick-off and finished when the last whistle blew. Two hours. The only picture reference I had? A photo book with lots of trees. I needed authenticity.

I wanted to capture the chaotic nature of a jungle as opposed to a forest.

I should be quite productive during this World Cup period. While I watch football, I think I can draw quite a few pictures. However, I won't be staying up for the late matches.

I remember walking in the secondary jungles and remnants of jungles in Singapore when I was in the army and when I was in the army reserves. It was always a joy to walk alone there. When the section or platoon wasn't there and when there weren't that many mosquitoes. I recall that whenever we set up camp, I would pitch my groundsheet a considerable distance away on a hilltop and sleep alone. I don't know but I love the solitude one can find in the wilderness.

Illustration Friday theme: Jungle

11 comments:

arvindh said...

Great ink work - like your style!

Sue Lin said...

Yup, it looks chaotic! Nice!

Was the match uninteresting? Haha, i dun watch, just curious.

Chuang Shyue Chou said...

Thanks Arvindh. Thanks for your kind words and thanks for visiting.

Sue Lin, I enjoyed the match but I am not such a big fan I guess. I need to do something when I watch twenty-two grown men chasing after a football! Heheh. Football is not for everyone. I did watch the Women's Final of the French Open at the half time of the England-Paraguay match!

Andrew Glazebrook said...

Cool picture,nice work !! You need some Dinosaurs roaming around in there like Skull Island !! :)

° said...

ahhh the world cup. england was lucky today. figures. nice drawing busyness of ur lines

carla said...

This is fine work! It has a feeling of dense vegeatation, but each object stands on its own. I also like the path you've left for us to follow. I know what you mean about wanting to be authentic. Your style is much more realistic than mine is, but I still look at references to get the feeling and so on of things i don't know well from my memory. I enjoyed reading about your own experiences in the jungle...it reminds me that in this blogland, I have the opportunity to meet people from all over the world who have had expereinces I may never have...I was fascinated by your story:>

Anonymous said...

that's a very, very good sketch! I'm trying to get back into doodling, but my form's way out of practice. time to sharpen those pencils...

Mike Norton said...

I like the sketch, too, though it took me a few moments to realize what it was that was making the trunk and limbs in the center seem too solidly delineated. While it may be that there's a touch too strong and uniform an ink line at play, it's the lack of vegetation in the background that threw me. I realize it's a view looking up a modest hill, hence the relatively thin patch of jungle before a break to clear sky. Once I set myself in the shoes of the observer it makes sense, and I see that a short walk up the path will find me at the crest of a ridge, likely looking down into an expanse of dense vegetation.

At first, though, the openness of the sky had the effect of thinning the jungle.

The odd growth at the bottom left of the scene is unfamiliar to me. The general shape, the projections under it and the two leaves combine (whenever I'm seeing it peripherally) to keep making me think I'm seeing a winged, beetle-like insect that's masquerading as a yam.

Nice work, and a fine use of time while watching a match!

Unknown said...

beautiful detail drawing!! :)

steve said...

Excellent job man and congrats on your topic getting picked! Hey, do you have any photos from your time in the army at all?

Karina Cocq said...

HELLO¡¡¡ .... I have liked this topic of the jungle ... NEVERTHELESS for my it is a bit difficult to imagine it .... I have alone the modal of the tv and the magazines ... because in chile jungles do not exist, alone forests .... though on the south it(he,she) exists slightly similarly .... BUT there is neither animals nor much less, some rodents and many inoffensive insects ... I like your drawing ... this one very ... chaotic...

CHAO