"Where shall we sketch next?” is something that comes up a lot in conversation.
I've lived in Hong Kong for a little over three years, so I know some areas, but recently fell in with a group of friends who also love exploring all the fascinating nooks and crannies of the city through sketching. We'd just sketched at Tai O, a fishing village on stilts, two weeks before, and after the New Year weekend, began discussing new options. A few of us have an informal agreement that we will sketch outdoors regularly in 2014.
Someone proposed we sketch in the city this time. The Hong Kong Museum of Medical Sciences, a 3-storey Edwardian style building in the Mid-Levels was brought up, Google Images were then quickly glanced at, and plans firmed up.
Our meeting spot was the Chinese YMCA, another heritage building a short walk away from the Museum. We were to meet at 9:30am but I was early, so I unfolded my handy little stool, whipped out my iPad and started sketching. Other sketchers began showing up and before long, a little group was huddled in corners over their media, perched on ledges, leaning on bannisters and concentrating on the subject before us.
Once done with the YMCA, I made for the Museum, our primary target for the day, and found it closed. I’d been there before and wasn’t planning to go in anyway, so I found an interesting angle outside and started on Sketch No.2 of the day.
Stomachs rumbling, we ducked into a little local shop for a hasty lunch before exploring Cat Street, known for its antiques. Its formal name is Upper Lascar Road. I’m not sure where the cats came from. With no vehicular access, the narrow lane housed shops and stalls presenting hundreds of little details to peruse.
A trio of Chinese porcelain figures posing regally struck me as a good starting point, so I planted myself comfortably and began. In front of us, a lady running her stall told us off in a most unladylike manner that she did not want either herself or her stall to be immortalized in any drawing. What a missed opportunity, lady! ;-)
Two more sketches and it was time to go. There's a lot more I could do though, and I suspect I will soon be back.