Red-whiskered bulbul

Red-whiskered bulbuls (scientific name: Pycnonotus jocosus) can be seen in Singapore if you look hard enough. They are recognised by their an upright black crested head and crimson red patches under their tail and on their cheeks(which are adorably also called "whiskers").

Photo taken from Singaporebirds.blogspot.sg

 
I myself have never seen it until it was under my block one day, below a tree. I managed to capture it with a zoom lens camera.

According to the book "The naturalist guide to the birds of Singapore", this bird is an uncommon resident of Singapore, and originate from escapes. It is also noted that its population started in the 1910s, but is "continually supplemented by recent escapes, since the species is popular as a pet bird here." Interestingly though, it is usually seen in pairs but recorded small flocks of as many as 20 have been seen.  Reportedly, its nesting is from April to May. 

The Red-whiskered bulbul feeds on fruits such as berries and figs, on top of seedlings and flower buds. It also feeds on insects that are on trees, branches or on the ground. 

In fact, this bird was featured on S$5 notes of the "Bird Series" currency notes released by the Monetary Authority of Singapore between 1976 and 1984. 

You can listen to the sound it makes here. (Video taken from Youtube)

Faber Castell Albrecht Durer Watercolour Pencils Review

I had a rare opportunity to travel to Tokyo last week and managed to find these Albrecht Durer watercolour pencils from Faber Castell at an art supply store called 'Sekaido' in Shinjuku area. Even though the cost of each pencil was pricier than other brands of watercolour pencils, I was excited and had to get my hands on them as I've heard that they are one of the best watercolour pencils in the market.

When I colour a subject with these pencils, the texture and feel of them is somewhat like any other watercolour pencil or coloured pencil for that matter. However, once I added water to "liquify" the colours, the creaminess and vibrancy of the different colours are revealed. The smooth and buttery consistency definitely shows that this brand of watercolour pencils are a class above the rest. I would most likely get more next time I get the chance.

 These are the few ones that I got. (above) and the swatches of the colours I chose (below).

Another plus point on these pencils that may be a cut above the rest is that they do not leave streaky or smudgy lines when you wet the colours. This is probably due to its smooth and creamy consistency, and highly pigmented quality which I really appreciate.

From what I have tried and tested, the greens and yellow are for sure the brightest colours I have encountered for a watercolour pencil. Another brand that I think may come close to these Faber Castell Albrecht Durer pencils are probably the Derwent Inktense watercolour pencils. However, Albrecht Durer ones are definitely creamier when water is introduced.

Here's a video taken from Youtube on a review of these pencils. 

Hope you enjoyed reading this review. Do leave a comment if you like. Cheers! :)

Eclectic Blossoms

Breaking out from conventional art materials and into exploring watercolour crayons can be fun and exciting. Trying out the Caran D'ache Neocolor II watersoluble crayons that I have kept for quite some time can be daunting at first because you don't know what to expect, especially when you are used to conventional tube watercolours and don't know what to expect. 

However, the thick and highly concentrated pigments of these crayons make it easy to work with. Almost butter-like, these crayons are soft and easy to layer on paper (I used watercolour paper) and very responsive to water, making it easy for colours to spread around a page. 

I sketched out a page of flower and coloured them using these Caran D'ache Neocolor II crayons. I outlined the pencil marks with India Ink to make the flowers pop. This is  called "Eclectic blossoms"

 

 Also on the subject of these crayons, I also used the greens of these crayons (what I have) to make it into a background, and I sprayed some colour shimmer spray on top of it. Here's the result. You can see the vibrancy and vividness of the colours. Love it.

The need to do what I "must" do

I came across this interesting article that spoke to me today. Called 'The difference between what you "should" do and what you "must" do', the article reaffirms life's priorities and segregates the differences between what is internally important versus what others in general view is important. 

A refreshing article, it states that "must" is... The writer states that, "must" is "who we are, what we believe, and what we do when we are alone with our truest, most authentic self." Reading this section, it reignites a flame in me that seems to have died or put off by the "shoulds" of what society thinks.At the end of the day, it is what we "must" do to fulfill our own goals, dreams and ideals. After all, we are all living our own lives. We have to take care of ourselves first before we can take care of others.

So if I ask myself, "how do I connect to my own life?" In order to do that, we must know and reflect deeply on what we really want. Something that can be difficult these days with so many distractions and with social media influencing us on a daily basis, it is hard to focus on our true calling.

Hence it is rather important to realise that we must choose "must" daily, to live our lives fully, and start creating ourselves in our own light. Go forth, push forward, and strive to be true authentic beings of our own goals and dreams.

A sight of nature

Flowers and huge ants usually do not go together, but I saw both today at very close proximity. Some adorable small yellow flowers caught my attention and thankfully just in time, I saw a trail of huge fire ants just next to it and stopped in time before I got too near. Nonetheless, I took a shot of the line of countless ants before I moved away.

Sun was setting and sunlight was peeking in between the trees. Such a lovely and comforting sight.

Then I saw some gorgeous shades of green from the trees at the opposite side.

Just a sense of calmness by looking at these trees. I am so thankful to be able to experience these sights daily.

Discovery of a beautiful green

Playing with acrylics and discovering mixes is quite an experience. It leaves your mind pondering more about what other colour mixes can come out of my other tubes.

I mixed acrylic paints Winsor and Newton's 'Burnt Sienna' with Liquitex's 'Light Blue Permanent' and got a very nice dark sap/olive mix type of green. It was a nice surprise how beautiful this green is. It got me thinking of starting this color mixing project and discovering what other colours I can achieve.

Aside from the experiments planned ahead for acrylics, I will also be exploring on watercolours. I am so grateful to myself for delving deeper into the art world and discovering watercolours. Something I touched upon when I was a kid but never really played much with unfortunately. It's not too late to start something, and I hope to learn much more from what I have started to know.

Guardians of the Galaxy - A review (spoiler alert)

Guardians Of The Galaxy opened in cinemas yesterday night and I managed to catch the night show. I was glad I did, as it was quite a treat.

Forget the sophistication and glorious superhero-type music like The Avengers. This was something way cooler. At least for me. Plus critics have also mentioned that this could be the best Marvel movie they've had so far.

The show starts out with the history of the young "Star-Lord"/Peter Quill (Chris Pratt) and what brought him to the movie's dystopian sci-fi present day situation. I was immediately drawn into the movie when the opening scene started with 10cc's "I'm not in love". This was one of my favourite songs in the 80s that I used to listen to in my primary school days on early mornings while I was in my school bus.

Anyway, the movie continued to bring joy and laughter to the audience with its upbeat script (well done to James Gunn, Nicole Perlman and the comic book writers) and engaging characters. What kept the movie interesting and energetic were the slapstick humour and clever one-liners and a good selection of songs in its retro themed soundtrack.

The main five characters - Peter, Gamora (Zoe Saldana), Groot (voiced by Vin Diesel), Drax the destroyer (professional wrestler Dave Bautista) and a very cute Rocket (a talking racoon voiced by Bradley Cooper) - were fun to watch and exhibited good chemistry with one another. The visual effects were also very impressive.

I love the story's plot and characters. I love the witty script. I love the music. I just love everything about the movie.

Indeed, I can safely say it's one of the best movies I've watched this year.