Carol Scott

My print agent Carol Scott at cesd. Her cotton-candy like soft and sweet "Hi Honey" greeting over the phone always makes me conscious of my manly voice. Maybe I should call her more.

Tibet Series - Wool Vendor

This was one of my favorite street vendors in Tibet. I love these two beautifully dyed wool blankets handmade by local Tibetan. I also love how these wool products happened to be presented in three tiers. On the top was the fully processed wool blankets, in the middle were the semi-processed wool thread bundles on the table, and on the ground were sacks of raw wool that looked like they just got shorn off of the sheep. 


The vendor was the happiest vendor I've ever seen, she's proud of her wool. So were the sheep.

Tibet Series - A Thangka Artist at Work

This is one of my favorite photo moments. I was walking in an alley and saw this Thangka artist working on his Thangka on the floor with his full concentration. It's very interesting to watch him because that full concentration was very beautiful, and the energy's attractive. While I was watching how this artist was fully into his art, his kid was watching me watching them with a playful hide and seek look. He was very cute and very well-behaved. He's playing quietly in between piled up furnitures and behind the Thangka canvas without disturbing the artist in any way with any sound. I wondered what was so fun behind there.

Tibet Series - She's a Professional

This older Tibetan lady was a professional, she's cleaning miles long (I might be exaggerating) prayer wheels under harsh sunshine in July Tibet. The partial row of sparkling clean prayer wheels caught my eyes from afar, and so I approached closer to see if she missed any spot...


After the inspection with my critical eyes, I was amazed with her dedication on offering her services because she's so focused that she didn't miss any spot under that kind of heat. And when I asked her if I can take pictures of her, she turned in a model in a snap. She immediately opened her beautiful smile with perfect white teeth, leaned her upper body just slightly enough to give a bit of nice turn-around movement kind of angle, she knew her pose, she's a professional.

Tibet Series - Happy Groceries

There were a lot of Tibetans selling groceries on the wheel. But this particular Tibetan woman was the happiest of all. I'd seen her interacting with customers and without, and she forever had that genuine pleasant happiness on her face. She made me want to buy her happy groceries. 


The grocery part was done in watercolor, and the rest was pencil on March 5th, 2011.

Tibet Series - Beggar Kid

This stranger kid came into my face while I was eating my breakfast. I had no clue what he wanted from me since he came so near to my face where I could only see him in headshot close of distance. Plus he confused me with his neat and clean wardrobe like a kid model just stepped out of a print shoot for Gap. His face was white and clean except a string of snot coming down his nose. I couldn't understand his non-stop mumbling for quite a while until I leaned back a bit with wonders, then I saw the whole picture.  


The whole picture of how he's actually a beggar kid, moving his hands up and down signaling me to give him money while his filthy little fingers held a stack of bills that he could barely keep together. All the sudden I grew enormous sympathy towards a woman who's passing by trying to sell newspapers table by table. She only had one note in her hand...

Tibet Series - Golden Yak Butter

I guess I'm numb to packaged goods in our modern society, and this trip to Tibet I was easily fascinated by raw materials and goods with organic forms. This tiny shop with only one person turn-around space was filled with all kinds of packaged products like liquor, cigarettes, instant noodles and varieties of snacks and sodas. And the only product that was sold without any packaging and wrappers was these blocks of rich bright yellow yak butter that were bigger than the owner's head. 


I found all the beautifully printed wrapped goods looked rather dull comparing to the exposed blocks of yak butter. That organic form and human touched texture on those yak butter evoked my shopping interest. How nice it is to be able to see, smell, touch and ask exactly the part you want to buy.


The shop owner was not that happy because she saw how I was eyes wide opened by those yak butter but knowing only locals would buy them. I could feel her, she wanted to charge me for taking photos of her golden yak butter.


This illustration was done in just pencil and yellow art markers. On Feb. 25th, 2011.

Tibet Series - A Real Noodle Shop

I just love how this noodle shop is unassuming.


This is a shop in a busy market in Lhasa, and it caught my attention because there's no any kind of advertisement. There's no store sign indicating what they're selling, and the owner's not even in sight. But standing in front of the shop, you see it clear; that one and only display case in the storefront filled with all kinds of noodles without any unnecessary packaging. It's truly what-you-see-is-what-you-get. And the rest of the shop filled with equipments and tools and ingredients, you can be sure they're professional because they only make noodles.


This is the kind of shop I'd go for my noodles. All the makings are directly from the shop itself, and I don't need to pay more for packaging that I can't eat that'll end up in the trash and become pollution in our landfills.


While I was appreciating this raw noodle shop, I noticed there's this very chilled Chihuahua sitting on the storefront step without making any movement for the whole time I was looking around. He had a Tibetan style collar around his neck claiming he's local, and he looked at me in a way as he ok'd my visit but not happily. I think he's cuckoo in the head, he thought he's a Tibetan mastiff.


This illustration was done in art markers on Jan. 14th, 2011.

Tibet Series - Yaks See Me

A mom and her kid. They walked peacefully and I was following them quietly... Boy, they had good hearing, they both turned and looked at me with a hateful stare like they're the celebrities and I'm a paparazzi. So, I sensed the tension but at the same time quickly clicked, clicked, clicked taking their photos and ran away.


I wished I can ask them couple of questions, like where they're heading? What for? Where's the dad? What's it like to be a yak? But with that stare, they probably would tell me to get the f**k out of their sight if they could speak. Wouldn't it be nice to be able to talk to animals? So that we can know things directly from their perspective.


I started this illustration with washed-out India ink to create that grey background, and then drew the yaks and trees with color pencils. This was done on Dec. 17th, 2010.

Tibet Series - Debating Monks

I was impressed with all the debating monks in the debating courtyard of Sera Monastery. Because they had to concentrate on debating while being watched and photographed by a huge circle of tourists all along the courtyard walls standing or sitting or walking around with the camera in hand like visitors in a zoo. 


Gosh I felt bad for the monks couldn't be left alone! But I couldn't stop myself and my camera moving closer and closer to them. I hope they didn't notice me. Especially this group had a lot more monks involved, and they're so focused that the whole time I was watching them, I didn't see anybody look away towards tourists. The kind of focus drew me in, I liked that energy right there. The kind of focused energy made all noises around them disappear. 


This illustration was done on Dec.11, 2010.

Tibet Series - Walking Prayer Flags

Was it a pure coincident or the Tibetan Gods were trying to tell me something? I was just walking on a street filled with passersby, and this very quiet group of pilgrims sitting at a door front made my eyes shift back at them... because five of them wore the colors of blue, white, red, green and yellow, just like the prayer flags in my "Talking Prayer Flags" post. 


This combination of colors really got me for some reason, I guessed the Tibetan Gods were trying to tell me that I was a Tibetan in my previous life. This illustration was done mostly in brown-color erasable pencil on Nov. 29, 2010.

Tibet Series - Religious Goats

For some reason, there were a lot of goats walking around temples. And I always happened to see them in pairs, very interesting! Unlike other goats, Tibetan goats acted serious as they knew their very own destiny. Even the direction they're headed, they seemed to know better than people. 


I liked this weathered yet peaceful scene with absolute quietness at Drepung Monastery with nobody in sight but two goats heading to somewhere important on their own. Their sincere in walking leading by their instinct made me want to follow them. But I got caught up in watching them until they disappeared in my sight, I forgot about the following.


This illustration was done in Pantone art markers on Nov. 23, 2010. 

Tibet Series - The Chosen Ones

When I first saw these rock paintings at Drepung Monastery, I thought that's interesting how even non-living things like stubborn rocks can be chosen and became alive. 


These three huge rocks were positioned next to each other in such a harmony, as if they were placed there on purpose by the monks. It didn't make any sense compared to the surroundings, but I liked to think it's some result of supernature.


I believed the rocks were empowered by the painted Tibetan Gods, and they were glowing in slight red, blue, and yellow. Them and the prayer flags around were the only ones alive in color, us and goats turned black and white.

Tibet Series - Sleepless Potala Palace

Potala Palace was not only magnificent in the morning but also quite dazzling at night, definitely not less than Las Vegas. The only difference was Potala Palace's dazzling felt like an energy coming from inside out so powerful that made the walls so solid bright and shine in every inch. 


It was dark at night and I was standing on top of a building, and Potala Palace looked like a gigantic lighthouse in the middle of an ocean.  I was not a pilgrim, but even I felt I found the way when I saw the glowing calling.


I was really curious what kind of super lighting technology the Palace used, they probably wouldn't tell. Or could it be the work of all Tibetan Gods who live there? I believed the later.


This drawing was done in India ink and art markers and color pencils. I love drawing everything on marker paper, so the water-mixed ink wrinkled my drawing and I liked it.

Tibet Series - Talking Prayer Flags

It was 2007 I visited Tibet, but these drawings didn't come out until 2010. This first drawing "Talking Prayer Flags" was done on Nov.11, 2010 in my favorite Pantone art markers. 


I was strolling into busy and crowded Chong-Xei-Kon pedestrian market located in Lhasa, and what soon attracted my whole being was rather a quiet push-stand with peaceful looking yet lively feeling prayer flags. They made me stop and stare for a while. The sunshine happened to only shine on these opened prayer flags displayed in the front of the stand.


....blue sky, white cloud, red protecting god, green water, and yellow land, I felt the scriptures on flags were mumbling to each other... I hope they were not talking something bad about me.