Wax studies using Mikio Tagusari's work process

I am grateful to artist Mikio Tagusari for sharing his method of using wax on paper and to my friend Asako Tomonaga for translating Mr Tagusari's notes to English.  Lots of learning and discovery for me - wax is a exciting medium!

Chinese ink is applied to a waxed surface that has been incised with lines.

Another study- a blank piece of paper is placed over it and  a hot iron is applied.
The mirror image on the right can be developed.

Bees wax  and Chinese ink on paper 'sealed' with watercolour

Bees wax and Chinese ink on paper 'sealed' with watercolour

Bees wax and Chinese ink on paper 'sealed' with acrylic

Bees wax with damar, Chinese ink on paper 'sealed' with gouache

Paraffin wax (right) produces a warm grey.

Will do more studies like this.

Detail of the above.

painting in progress

acrylic and graphite on canvas, 40 x 40cm

practising for a book illustration project

All studies A5 size done with acrylic on paper

Encaustic!

Encaustic paint Starter's kit ordered from Zairah Art Supplies arrived from US last week. Excited to start work.

Studies done with hot iron and wax crayons while waiting for my encaustic paint to arrive.  Each A5 size

Each  A6 size

A6 size

Workers (paintings)

Sweeper #1 in Whitley Road,Singapore, 1998,  acrylic on canvas

Gardener  in Hillcrest Arcadia, Singapore, 1998, acrylic on canvas

Sweeper #2 in Whitley Road, Singapore, 1998, acrylic on canvas

Grasscutter #5 along Arcadia Road, Singapore, 1998, acrylic on canvas

Fruit seller, Serangoon Road, Singapore, 1998, acrylic on canvas

Busker at Southgate, Melbourne, 2002, acrylic on canvas

Saxophonist in the Mall #1, Melbourne, 2002, acrylic on canvas

Saxophonist in the Mall #2, Melbourne, 2002, acrylic on canvas

Newspaper Vendor in the Mall, Melbourne, 2002, acrylic on canvas

Portraits

Paul (Brunei), 2011, pencil

Peter (Brunei), 2011, pencil

Cleaner at Hillcrest Arcadia, Singapore, 1998, charcoal pencil

Gardener at Hillcrest Arcadia, 1998, wax pencil

Pat (Melbourne), 2000, pencil

Wei Ting (Singapore), 1994, pencil

Alcina (Singapore), 2000, wax pencil

Alethea (Singapore), 1999, watercolour

Suan (Singapore), 1998, oil on canvas

Revisiting past work

Comments below by Singapore art critic and historian T.K.Sabapathy
  are selected from his article on my first solo exhibition Facets of a Woman in Singapore in 1995.

Mum as a young bride 1, 1994, Acrylic on canvas, 90 x 60 cm

This photographic image of her mother is the source for a number of compositions (her father appears infrequently, and when he does, only partially). In these pictures, she is presented formally, placed at a distance and appears quite inaccessible – an impression conveyed by the mask-like

rendering of her face.

 

She knows all, 1994, Acrylic on canvas, 36 x 54 inches, Collection of C.Cheong, Canada

Lean Im  also portrays her mother in distinct environments, seeking to symbolically represent her interests and involvements in the social and cultural fields. In them, her mother is presented frontally and at close range, with attributes signaling her interest in ascertaining character by reading a person’s face and palm. Lean Im projects her mother as a person with a forceful presence, able to deal with and shape her surroundings on her own terms.

Mum in profile, 2000, wax pencil on paper, 40 x 30 cm

There are also a number of intimate and scrutinising disclosures , particularly vivid and concrete in her drawings. Lean Im comes face to face with her mother , and holds her stance without flinching. Drawing is a medium she should develop as it can be a powerful means  for fixing and expressing highly charged emotional states.

 Blue Shadow, 1997, Mixed media on paper, 41 x 32 cm, Collection of the Singapore Art Museum











 

Studio 106 works_Series 1

About the Studio106 Series....

Each painting shows a multitude of organic forms which resemble marine creatures (like sea slugs), or the tips of roots, thorns, teeth, horns, leaves...

The ‘forms’ are actually marks made by a rhythmic hand movement of scraping off the top layer of wet paint to reveal the underlying layer.  

The process of creating the forms is intuitive and influences what the work will look like when it is completed. The Studio106 Series evoke the energy that drives all living things to grow, move and multiply. 
   

Series 1#8, 2010, Acrylic on paper

Series 1#1, 2010, Acrylic on paper, 30x42cm

Series 1#2, 2010, Acrylic on paper, 59 x 42.5cm

Series 1#3, 2010, Acrylic on paper, 42 x 29.5cm

Series 1#5, 2010, Acrylic on paper, 51 x 32 cm

Series 1#6, 2010, Acrylic on paper, 59 x 37 cm

Detail: Series 1#6