From inspiration to art
Final year student in the School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering and budding artist Khoeng Jian Ming sketches iconic spots around the Yunnan Garden campus and shares his journey and insights into traditional and digital drawing.
By Jasmine Tiong
After Jian Ming entered NTU Singapore as a direct second-year student in the Information Engineering and Media (IEM) course at the School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering (EEE), he was inspired by the freelance artist who taught him in an art module.
“As the artist showed us all his previous artworks and his sketchbooks, I started wanting to commit myself to art,” said Jian Ming.
“Prior to that, I drew on and off since primary school in mediums such as crayons, charcoal and acrylic.”
Jian Ming captured this ARChitectural delight on paper within 60 minutes. (Photo credit: @mingdraws on Instagram)
With his new spark of interest in art, Jian Ming practised drawing during the circuit breaker period in 2020. Starting with the traditional techniques in drawing and painting, he picked up various new approaches from other artists and YouTube videos. Towards the end of the year, he purchased an iPad to feed his budding interest in digital art.
For the quiet student, drawing is a productive way to help him destress and relax from schoolwork. “I can set my mind at ease whenever I complete each drawing,” said Jian Ming. “It also motivates me to set personal goals and achieve them, starting from art.”
Be it a 10-minute sketch, or a still life drawing completed in one 16-hour sitting, Jian Ming’s passion for art remains. He usually updates his social media with his artworks, which include furry animals and characters from popular anime series, movies and Greek mythology.
“Comparing myself to 10 years ago, I am glad to have been exposed to various mediums and drawing techniques that have allowed me to inject creativity in my drawings,” he said. “Moving forward, I hope to have a solo art exhibition to showcase my work to the public.”
