June 22, 2016. Pencil on paper. 40cm x 55cm.

My drawing skills improved as I went to Master Tang’s class. This painting was done at the 15th class. Every week , Master Tang gave me a piece of pencil sketching and asked me to copy it. This was my 8th homework. 

I was so surprised that within so short a period, I was able to improve so much. I felt so grateful. Hope to work hard and improved in a steadily continuous manner.

The drawing was a sketch of a Mainland Chinese hawker. It was originally the class work of a senior student from Beijing Art University. It was very restricted and the entry barrier was high. Therefore only the best of the best could be enrolled into this university. Among all these elite students, the top tier class work will be requested to reserve at the university. At the cost of a few hundred yenminbi. But all the students would fight for this honour as only the greatest work would be chosen and it was recognised to be a great honour. Those works will be published at the university newsletter thus their names and works would be remembered and recorded forever. Those graduates also saw this as an important biography of their art career. Mrs Tang, also called Master Hung, was the wife of my teacher Master Tang. She was the elite student of Beijing Art University and owned a “preserved” work during her studies. She was offered a teaching capacity at the university after her graduation and had held a solo exhibition organised by the university. 

I felt so lucky to be coached by these talented artists. In a cultural dessert like Hong Kong, there was possibilities that some great talents were hidden in some unknown places. Who can imagine 2 great artists lived in a small apartment in a public estate in New Teritories.