Vivian Lees Art

Tell us a little bit about yourself: What got you interested in art?

My Name is Lee Sin Yee, better known as Vivian Lees (my artist name). I am based in Kuala Lumpur and Major in Illustration, Dasein Academy of Art.  I am a full scholarship holder and I start venturing in art since I am in primary school, and had been teaching art since I was 10 years old.

 

What is your preferred medium and why?

I prefer water based medium for instance coffee painting , watercolor, acrylic and Chinese ink Painting . The reason why I love water based medium because it is more flexible with many possibilities for self-expression and creativity. Water based medium does amazing effects on its own while drying, things that you can't get in other mediums.

 

Do you have a favorite artist?  If yes, what draws you to that person’s work?

I do admire many well known artists worldwide even though I don’t have a specific favorite artist, because different work piece give me different inspirations.

I usually will look at Illustrator on how they play with color, look at photographer how they work with the composition, look at the sculptor how they form a figures and movement.  , I also reading news, articles and publisher to learn how to do the lettering and layout, look at architecture on how they create space.

 

 

Where do you gather most of the inspiration for your works?

Observation of nature and environment in daily Life is my best inspiration. I usually do still-life, animal portraits painting, architectural painting and also live caricature. Music do give me good inspiration as well, I like to put on my headphone while I am doing my art. It was amazed and surprised by the ending result because the tempo and movement of the music somehow guide my stroke in creating art piece.

 

Have you ever stepped out of your comfort zone and discovered a whole new genre of art?    What makes it memorable?

I would love to try out new things and discover a new genre of art .But I am still exploring more possibilities for coffee painting. Hopefully that’s something else in my near future.

 

 

Do you have any other interesting hobbies or maybe a fun story about an experience !      involving your artwork?

I LOVE TRAVELLING ~ ! I am planning to introduce my coffee art to oversea , starts with Asia country places likeHong Kong , Taiwan , Korea and more. So far my coffee art went around Malaysia from Penang to Johor and Singapore, I will keep going with my coffee painting.

I feel good to see people bring my coffee painting home .My Coffee Painting is now following their new owner to different countries around the world, gradually to Singapore, China, Hong Kong ,USA , France, Japan ,Korea, Philippine, Bangladesh ,India , Iran , and etc. That make me feel I am travelling with them too ~

 

What, in your opinion, is the hardest step in creating a masterpiece?

The First Step Is Always The Hardest to me . The selection of title ,size, compositions and ideas always takes time and need to do lots of research before starting it.

 

What role does the artist have in society?

The earth without “art” is just “e…h” . Artist create arts that plays an important role in society. Life would be extremely dull without art wouldn't it ? Artists see things in a totally different way, we create awareness , paint with colors and bring happiness to society.

 

What art do you most identify with?

Coffee Caricature. The combination of coffee essence with exaggerate yet cute caricature.

 

What work do you most enjoy doing?

Painting of course ! I enjoy painting so much. Painting with coffee its just an amazing journey for me to discover new things around me.

 

What’s your strongest memory of your childhood?

Coloring and Drawing contest. Eversince I was in primary school I started to join drawing competitions every weekend sat & sun, so as participating and representing school to enter many competitions. During the competition, all the contestants have to finish the whole drawing in 2 hours starts from blank sheet to fully colored picture .So, Timing and able to make quick and right decision on creating tones and shades is very important to achieve the final result . I believe that my skill and speed was trained from the past experience,  therefore I could draw a Live Coffee Caricature in just 15 minutes.

 

What themes do you pursue?

I love human portrait/ Portrait painting.Very realistic human portraits . I love to study faces expression because every human is different and have a story on his/ her face their expressions, and also their outfit.

 

What’s your favourite art work?

The Goddess of Guan Yin painted with Black Coffee on canvas. The master of Dong Chan Shi Temple ,one of the biggest temple in Malayisa had “bring it home” .Which I pretty excited about it. That is definitely an affirmative for me. A strength and inspiration that keeps me moving forward.

 

Describe a real-life situation that inspired you?

A Taiwan’s blogger cum artist Belle had travel a lots of country with her art ,she is the only Asian artist on the cruise and she paint very colorful portraits .

 

What is an artistic outlook on life?

Yesterday is History, Tomorrow a Mystery, Today is a Gift, Thats why it's called the Present ~Spend time with the person your love and care .Share your happiness with them and spread it out ~! Just be yourself and live a life that you will remember.

 

 

Is the artistic life lonely? What do you do to counteract it?

Nope. Not at all. We have some art market now that’s gather us together. We have a group of artist ,crafter ,handmade maker and designer. We are all passionate and working hard to show the society a better tomorrow , on the other hand , there is also an international association that brings all the caricature artist together and we could connect internationally.

 

Now let us talk about your art. What message(s) you want people to know through your art?

Coffee painting are all Original Hand drawn which is something unique and precious .It is also limited and non-reproducible. Every piece is unique .I aim to bring happiness to people. It’s happy seeing how my customers react and their smiling face when they looking at their coffee caricature , which makes it personal to them. I wish everyone could feel the same way as I am.

 

Do you drink coffee?

Yes I Do. I am a coffee lover, specially passion for Mocha .

 

How has coffee impacted your artwork?

Coffee have a very distinctive color which create vintage and old school feels, coffee create some glossy surface even after when its dry and coffee beans texture will also stay on the paper. I enjoy painting so much because I smell the aroma of coffee while I am painting .

 

What does coffee mean to you?

Coffee - Its mean a lot to me . It is more than a drinks, It is lifestyle, a friend a good company when you needs to relax while chill or reading books and eating cakes. and now, It is a medium for me to express my feeling, joy and happiness, inspiration, awareness and allow me to explore my creativity work.  we can collect and frame up coffee art besides drinking them . How nice is it =) Coffee will always be there when you need it .also you will feel happy when you look at it.

 

Do you have anything to tell the readers?

Just for your information , Coffee Art won’t attract ants because no sugar added! Its kopi O ~! It can actually last for a long time as long as you keep it nicely in a frame and indoors. Beware of water , Its coffee., not waterproof ., then everything will be fine .To be honest , The coffee aroma won’t stay for long because smell will evaporate BUT IF u discover anything that could keep coffee aroma stay on paper please do let me know =) Last but not least ,I would like to take this opportunities to thanks for all the coffee art supporter, for those who buying my art pieces and visiting me at my roadshow. I am very pleased to meet everyone .

 

 

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