The Other Side of St Petersburg (Part 1)

There was so much to do in the city of St Petersburg... so much that I didn't have time to train to Moscow.  I arrived during the time of the White Nights. And because St Petersburg is so high up in latitude (similar to Oslo, Norway), from around late May to early July, the sky never get dark. A dream for plein air painters! :) The White Nights festival organised by the city's administration hold numerous night-time events like symphony concerts, operas, classical ballet, plays, etc. I was fortunate to have gone for some of these cultural after school events.

Here's an example of how bright it is during the raising of the city bridges at 1:25am, July 9. 

I started a sketch around 11pm, and it was still bright enough to paint.

If you purchase this sketch, I'll throw in the bugs free of charge. ;) 

The weather, like in many parts of the world globalcoughwarming, is erratic. You carry an umbrella or a rain coat with you at ALL times. 

When the summer sun is out, it's just priceless. Many locals get out and bask under the sun. 

Catching a glimpse of a rainbow on St Isaac's Cathedral while heading for a symphony concert.

This is at the park right next to school.

See the time-lapse here.

Every single non-rainy day, you'd find me outside practising my craft. This one's behind the Russian State Museum.

Plenty of artists are scattered throughout the city. Many of whom have or are studying at the Repin Academy. This is Alexander Ivanov who graduated from the Academy in 1990. He paints this cathedral every single day. 

Home made bliny. It's like a pancake. And the Russians love their sour cream on everything. 

Finding the time to sketch while having a latte. The coffee is the most popular drink in Russia. What did you think it was?  :)  See the sketch in progress here: https://youtu.be/UEnGVX2Ji40

 

5th Sunday after Pentecost. Feast day procession just outside the prettiest looking cathedral in the city.

How can I not paint this Cathedral?

Click here for the time-lapse of this sketch.

Here's river tour to understand why are there so many bridges in the city.

Repin Academy, St Petersburg (Part 1)

I was grateful to have participated in a summer workshop conducted at the Repin Academy (also known as the Imperial Arts Academy) in Saint Petersburg. This public academy not only teaches painting, but Design and Architecture too. The journey there was a fairly long one and was glad that my easel and other art materials made it there in one piece.

In the 4 week programme, we worked on:
1) a Portrait in Graphite
2) a Portrait in Oils
3) a Full Figure in Graphite
and a Full Figure in Oils

Including that were 2 lectures by Professor and Head of the Drawing Department, Vladimir Mogilevtstev, 2 museum field trips (Russian State and the Hermitage), and a trip to the Peterhof Winter Palace. 

Here are some of the highlights in pictures:

One of the few exhibition halls they have in the Academy showcasing current students' works

Quick colour study sketch of a full figure painting I did

With Professor Mogilevtsev, author of the Fundamentals of Drawing and Painting books.

For those interested:

Fundamentals of Drawing

Fundamentals of Painting

We we allowed to visit special rooms in the academy. One of them is the Anatomy Lab.

So Harry Potter! :)

Busy studying a portrait with graphite

During the model breaks, I would be sketching class scenes

My classroom is 5 storeys up. Here's a look at my lunch break on a typical day.

For part 2 of this post:

http://alvinmarktan.blogspot.sg/2016/08/repin-academy-st-petersburg-part-2.html

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KLM Special

For my current expedition, I found really good connections and prices on KLM. The staff, especially on the long haul flights are super friendly. One of them, Esther, even guided me once I landed in Schiphol Airport on how to make a direct connection to Rotterdam, followed by a water taxi to Krimpen aan de Lek.  I also hear that the staff gets treated really well. That just makes me want to post this page with all things connected to my flights on The Royal Dutch Airways.

This is my itinerary on KLM:

Singapore to Amsterdam 

Amsterdam to St Petersburg

St Petersburg to Amsterdam

Amsterdam to Singapore

Have you seen the amazing clock at Schiphol Airport? 

... and the air plane toy store? 

The night shift

Pre-flight briefing 

Snack time :)

I had a wrap

Pancakes for breakfast

Pizza

Coffee 30,000ft up

Linda preparing for landing. 

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I Am sterdam

My journey continued from the south of the Netherlands to the north... well... specifically Amsterdam. I'm a big fan of Rembrandt's works so the Hermitage and the Rijks museum was definitely on the list. It rained 75% of my time there so spending my time in the museums was going to take up most of my time there. This part of my trip is just a touch and go. As long as I get to visit the museums, I am happy. :) 

Here are my excerpts from the trip: 

Huge group portraits were a very common thing in the history of the Dutch. Here's a whole hall filled with them! 

Okay, I'm glad I don't have to carry this when I go around doing plein air. 

Here's the line of people waiting to view Rembrandt's The Night Watch.

These were selling at the museum shops. Too cute!! 

Love the pretty looking buildings all over Amsterdam, especially those beside the canals. :)

And here... a sketch of it.

Passing by an antique shop, I see a vintage human anatomical study set for sale. 

Here's sketching while coffee-ing at Vinnies. I was sketching this from the outside when it decided to drizzle 20 mins into the sketch. 

My favourite Dutch super market chain, Albert Heijn, has a mini cafe area that serves up a pretty good brew. I'm there everyday for my meals. Everyday. 

It took me awhile to locate the famous set of buildings. And then I had to wait for the rain to stop to sketch this piece. ;) 

A view from my room. Great to be able to sketch from a different perspective! 

 This is the Vinnie's time-lapse I did. 

Next stop... St Petersburg.

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You spin me round

The start of my summer painting tour begins 20km east of Rotterdam in the Netherlands. This village that I will spend most of my time at is Kinderijk, famous for its 19 windmills built in the 1740s.  The weather was calm. It drizzled here and there, but in general, the wide open space is perfect for plein air painting. 

Why windmills? The south of the Netherlands have had water issues since the 13th century. Polders are low-lying pieces of land. These windmills are built on different levels and each one has the task to pump water to a higher level until it meets sea level.  

 I live on the other side of Kinderdijk – in another village called Krimpen ann der lek. Everyday, I take a water ferry that carrie me, my bicycle, cars and other passengers across. The journey takes less than 5 mins. Here's a clip of that journey.

The cost for my bike and me is 80 cents in Euros. The colourful ticket issued by the conductor reminds me of old movie tickets. 

Good morning from kinderdijk! 

There's a wonderful coffee place that serves really good food too called Buena Vista Grand Cafe that is situated near the entrance  of the windmills. Margaret and Jan own this place and are great hosts. They even allowed me to come in the paint their collection of vintage radios. 

Windmill numer 19

I's interesting to know there are people actually living in these windmills! :) 

This windmill shows the journey to the windmill and ending up halfway to paint De Blocker. 

Here's an ink sketch of several windmills.

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Caffeine anyone?

In my opinion,the inaugural Singapore Coffee Festival 2016 was a blast. It was so packed with coffee and people in the business of coffee, I had to visit the festival twice. But I must admit that I was there to sketch...  but of course. The visits on Friday and Sunday also gave me time to have a bird's eye view of. what is happening out there in the local coffee scene. 

I've been cafe hopping since I arrived Singapore 2 months back. Given how modern the island is, many coffee shops go for the vintage nostalgic look. We crave for what we don't have or miss. There are others that have this industrial feel to it. Easier to execute and maintain. And there those with there own unique theme to it like the Hello Kitty themed cafe at Terminal 3. I am impressed with the 3rd wave of coffee movement in Singapore and look forward to seeing how it evolved in the very near future. 

Below are some of the sketches I did from the recent Singapore Coffee Festival. 

 The Costal Settlement

 The Costal Settlement

  The Costal Settlement

  The Costal Settlement

  The Costal Settlement

  The Costal Settlement

 The Costal Settlement

 The Costal Settlement

Wheely's Tmpelapse: 

https://youtu.be/3b5T0YhMw2U

Rise of the Machines

(Great post title by Kenny "Frankenstein" Leck.)

Amazing job to Kenny and the team at BooksActually for pulling this off! The first book vending machine in Singapore. The first of these monsters was rolled out at the National Museum of Singapore this morning. If you love books and vending machines, this one's for you.  I remember the day I briefly mentioned this to Kenny. I'd seen to many street book vendors (click her for video) in Italy where I used to reside, and I wondered if BooksActually was going to go mobile one day... .  And done with style!! I love it when technology meets art. So Pixar! :) Come and see this piece of art for yourself.  Better yet, purchase a book and see the magic happen!!

Cool! A digital screen that keeps you informed of the books inside. 

I am always intrigued by what goes on behind the scenes. So that's how they work!

 Close-up: There's Cake making sure all the finances are in place.

  There is even a top view of what goes on inside the machine. 

Just so you know, there's a back view too! 

More on the machines:

 http://weekender.com.sg/w/time-singapore-got-first-vending-machine-books/

Write up for this particular machine:

Lights... camera... action! These words are the inspiration behind the design for this vending machine. I remember vividly during a time before I could even spell Chewbacca when I was flipping through the latest Starlog magazine at the newsstand just outside the entrance of Katong’s Ikea. There it was, a page with the great Stay Puft marshmallow man on a New York street set with a larger-than-life man in jeans and tee at the back of the street holding a set of remote controls. WOW! That must be a fun thing to do! From laser swords to flying cars, every magic that I see leaves me in awe and I always wonder, “how did they do it?” This fundamental question sparked the core of my design. Featuring the cats of BooksActually, I hope to bring a little bit of that magic to the lives of people who come to pay homage to this book shrine. 

 - Alvin Mark Tan

If you got this far down the post, here's a little video clip about why I'm doubly stoked... : )