COLOURING YOUR WORLD

Patrick Yee is a successful Singaporean Illustrator who also teaches art at the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts (NAFA).

Patrick’s famous portfolio of work includes the bestselling Rosie Rabbit series and the well acclaimed Asian Children’s Favorite Stories, which are loved by children the world over.

From a young age, I loved drawing and painting. I used to get the highest grades for Art class in primary school and the teacher would always recommend my paintings to other students to learn from.

I decided to pursue my passion and develop my talent for drawing and studied Arts in the UK for 5 years. Studying overseas was a good learning experience for me, in terms of learning and developing my skills as an illustrator and artist.

These days, everything is very computer based and many young artists are skilled in using computer software packages to help them be more efficient in their drawings and illustrations.

Its great how technology has made life much easier for an illustrator; however, I believe that a strong foundation in good drawing skills is still important.

As an illustrator, style is crucial – you have to follow the style that clients want to see and also be in touch with the trends. There are many mediums of illustrating, such as poster colour, acrylic and water colour.

Being versatile and comfortable in working with different styles is always good to for an illustrator, so as to expand their work portfolio. My own favourite medium for illustrating is poster colour.

I feel a strong sense of pride when I see my illustrated books sold on the shelves in bookshops. For any book that I illustrate, it entails working closely with the author and editor to ensure that the book is on the right track.

I would encourage young artists to work hard and always look at different works in bookshops, and to do their research on various illustration styles.

To be successful, they should also be proactive and send their portfolios to different publishers, especially overseas ones.