Live sketching in Pudu

I can’t remember how long since I last went for an outing with friends for a photowalk until last weekend a photography friend from Seremban suggested we have one on last Sunday in KL so we went to Pudu with another friend. Me, Ong and Kian Kheong, armed ourselves with only film cameras we roamed around the busy old Pudu market. I have been to this beautiful market a few times and it was the first time for the two guys. They could agree with me that this is a place they would like to come back again the next time. There seems to be so much to see – the charm and beauty of this old part of the Kuala Lumpur city.

As for myself, I got a little bit lazy to lug my SLR around, a little bit lazy to point at strangers and take their pictures like I usually do. I did some random shots for a bit with my little Olympus XA and got kind of bored after walking a few rounds. I wanted to do something I have not done before in this place and so I had got myself two of my Moleskine watercolour notebooks and two Lamy fountain pens ready before leaving my house on that day just in case I saw something inspiring that was worth penned down on the paper and I did. I only managed to make use of the pocket size notebook and left the other big one untouched.

Here you go – two scenes I managed to sketch out live on the spot.

First one : Chinese grocery store
This is a 50 year-old grocery store run by two Chinese men who claimed that the business was passed down to them by their former employer. Located at a corner lot of a row of shophouses in this old market. The interior space is small and congested but I find it rather interesting. Limited by time and space on my small watercolour notebook I decided to focus and pen down just a small corner of the store – where goods are hung up on the shutter doors. The owners were extremely friendly, supportive and happy to have my presence around drawing their store.

Have a closer look at the live sketch I did on site.

And rendered with watercolour when I got home.

Second one : Knife sharpening service man
It was a quick and rough sketch done as my friends and I were almost leaving this rustic yet charming place of the city when we decided to hang around this man’s humble street stall for a little while. His kind of service is one of those that have been continued down from the olden days. As of today only a few old folks who are still doing such business as of this kind. Generation comes generation goes. I doubt any of the younger ones would do this as a career anymore. It is just a matter of time this trade will be gone, forever…