If I can ever pick one talent I really want to have, I would like it to be “being able to draw”. It’s a pity that one has the drive but doesn’t have the ability. My parents never said “no” to me to pursue any skills or hobby when I was at school age. But for some reason, I missed the chance to get myself a systematic education on drawing and painting.

I remember in Year 1, I was pretty dumb, and accidentally went to an after-school-hours class to have a trial to see if we’d like to learn how to draw. I had only been there once, and those 45 minutes was all I have for a proper training on drawing in my life. I can’t remember why I didn’t go back, probably I didn’t like the look of the teacher or maybe the objects I was asked to practise drawing were not something I liked.

Anyway I gave up. But I taught myself and practised a lot during any school holiday time, especially after I got a book written by Ernest W. Watson about pencil drawing and sketching. The most important thing I learned from that book was not always using your pencils but also using your eraser. Watson’s style and techniques are stunning and until now he is still one of my favourite artists. I reproduce (imitated) his works a lot, but never believed that I ever had gotten it right.

Anyway time flies by. I have passed my golden age to learn anything about drawing. Very long time ago, I had already accepted the fact that I am a no-drawing-talent person and I know there are regrets in this, but reality is reality. We got to live with it and move on.

If you asked me where all the above thoughts came from, I say it’s always in my heart. When I see an art work in a gallery, when I read another painting book in library, when I see the watercolour tubes sold in shops, or when I was killing my time in the office when I had nothing to do. I would fancy a state of “being able to draw”, and I still practised a bit to let my fancy go away, even just temporarily