onglai.art

I shared a while back that I’m embarking on an art refresh and I’m still in the midst of this. I’m not re-doing or rebranding anything; this refresh is sort of a way for me to re-look at how I make and present my art.

⭐ REALISING WHAT ART STYLE I LIKE AND WHERE MY INSPIRATION COMES FROM

I get inspired very easily by different artists and many times, my work tend to emulate the things they do. This exercise helps me see what I like about the different artists’ work, and which parts I would like to learn from and infuse into my own work, and which are not something I can do for now.

⭐ DECIDING ON AN ART STYLE THAT I LIKE AND THAT I CAN DO CONSISTENTLY.

For a long time, I’ve experimented with different ways of drawing for both my sketchbook and for my clients, sometimes following a style that they request for. While there is nothing wrong with that, I did realise that it was hard to me to tell people what my style was, and it was also hard for them to identify my style. While I’m still going to be experimenting with different mediums, the way I draw should be generally consistent. Yes, I may lose clients who may not like my style, but I believe that having a unique look and feel to my artwork is my unique selling point, and can attract people who like the way I draw.

⭐ FINDING THAT SPARK THAT FIRST GOT ME INTO MAKING ART

A lot of my recent work involved me drawing random things. My work retreat has reminded me that a refresh is timely to go back to the things that first got me interested in drawing, things that I’m interested in, and to be able to just draw them without worrying about what kind of outcome I hoped my work would get (’likes’, sales, etc).

💛 Is an art refresh going to make a difference? I don’t know, but I do hope that this refresh will help me grow and make more work that I can be proud of. If you make art and have been stuck like me, perhaps you can try your own art refresh too!

Art style refresh in progress.

💛 It’s time to try and go back to the heart to find my spark and draw things in a way that is a reflection of that spark.

💛 P.S I’m still trying to figure things out - will you join me in figuring things out together?

✏ digital art

Commission for WK!

🍍 I worked on a series of cute character illustrations for WK and her team. We decided on a big head, tubby body look for everyone to make them all look cute haha. I think it worked!

💛 What do you think of this look?

Commision for WL and GJ!

🍍 I try not to do fan art for work because I don’t own those characters, but I know that for personalised art commissions, fan art is a big thing! Hence my compromise is that the cartoon character that I draw is a minor character in the artwork. This really made me think out the box when I got this request to draw something Doraemon-related, and the thing that came to my mind was, ‘Let’s draw your friend and you in the style of the Doraemon characters!’

💛 Do you think they do look like they belong in the Doraemon universe?

Work Retreat Part 4 - Our next learning point about going back to why we are really doing what we do now. Doing work and having goals can covertly affect our passions. Not that the grind and goals are bad, but that we can try to strike that balance between them and the intangible things that motivate and give us real joy.

💛 I'm in the midst of finding that first spark from when I decided to make art full time, and going even further back to when I start enjoying drawing and making things for others. This is really a tough one haha. I hope to share my journey with you all soon.

Shop Update! I’m closing my main shop on Shopify for a bit till the next update, so stay tuned. Thank you so much to all of you who have supported me there.

🍍 If you’d like to get any of the existing items, you can check out my shops on Etsy or Ko-fi, preferably Ko-Fi for better prices and for the full range of items.

🔗 Shop at Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi.com/onglai_art/shop
Links are also in my bio!

💛 Looking forward to when I come back to share more interesting products with you all!

Commission for a wedding gift for this couple swinging through troubles in life.

🍍 This was quite a fun (and funny) art commission, and I enjoyed illustrating this couple in their wedding suits in such a pose. Swipe to the last pic to see the original watercolour piece, which I'm really happy turned out well, and looked good after digitising it for print!

💛 What other interesting poses have you seen couples do for their wedding before?

Commission for A and S, and a common scene for them when they are on the road. Fun fact: they set up a camera to take a picture of themselves in the car because I needed a reference photo hahaha

🍍 Sharing some recent commissioned illustrations!

🖌️ Digital

Commission for P and her husband with them fully immersed in the world of Mario games. Can you find all the Mario stuff in this piece?

🍍 Sharing some of my recent commissioned illustrations! Scroll to check out the early pencil concept sketches.

🖌️ Digital

Commission for P and I, and their cute pet birds! I think getting birds to sit on your shoulder is a such a cool brag.

🍍 Sharing some recent commissioned illustrations!

🖌 Digital art

Work Retreat - Part 3! One of the recurring themes for us was to reflect on what was holding us back, both issues we were aware of, and issues we weren't aware of. For Shan, it was mainly how a job was more than just doing work. For me, it was about being less afraid of making mistakes.

💛 It's funny how some things we assumed to be a part of us are stumbling blocks that we could actually learn to manage better. These things don't just go away, but when they are brought into the light, we can definitely be more aware of them and work on them.

🍍 Let me know what you think of this episode!

Some of my favourite things in blue!

💛 Which of these are your favourite blue things?

💛 So why blue? It isn’t a colour in my logo, but recently, I’ve been adding blue to my pineapple illustrations, and I just like how it goes well with the yellow and green. Blue is also one of my favourite colours, so I’m seeing the addition of blue as a way of putting this little bit of myself into my work. Quite a good reminder for me, I think.

🍍 That’s all for my sharing on colours I’ve been using more these days! Hope you’ve enjoyed it!

Part 2 of how our work retreat went along! Showcasing all the participants, our consultant and facilitator, and taking this step to share a bit more about who we are behind the art.

Some of my favourite things in green!

💛 Which of these are your favourite green things?

💛 Choosing the right shade of green for my Ong Lai Art logo was tricky for me because I realised I like my greens a little more blue (is thisa strange thing to say). To have it go better with the yellow, and to be a little more true to life, I went with a warmer, more grassy green for my little pineapple.

🍍 I shall do a list of my favourite blue things next!

Some of my favourite things in yellow!

💛 Which of these are your favourite yellow things?

💛 I actually have a lot more things in yellow that I like, but I decided to just do a few of them here. When I first started Ong Lai Art, the idea of the pineapple and its name in Hokkien were the first few things to come up, but I also like the yellow and green combination of the pineapple. It felt cheery and earthy, and I wanted my brand to be vibrant in that way. Many trendy brands use muted, pastel hues, which are very lovely, and I did try experimenting things in that direction. However I’ve come to realise that I liked my colours a bit more saturated!

🍍 I shall do a list of my favourite green things next!

Wishing all of you celebrating Hari Royal Aidil Fitri lots of joy, peace and love this season! May you all bond over the amazing food and may you have lots of celebrations for the rest of the month!

Ong Lai Art was off the grid for a while because... we went on a work retreat. Got lots to share, and to kick it off, here's why we set aside time just for this.

Re-posted because the previous one was ordered incorrectly ughhh.

Day 7 of the Lunar New Year, and we are half way through the 15 days of the new year celebrations.

🍍 Sending you another greeting with spring flowers! One cherry blossom and one orchid! Yes, the orchid is one of the four gentlemen flowers in Chinese art, and it represents the season of spring - 春蘭. This greeting represents the blooming of prosperity, and I wish you prosperity in peace, joy, kindness and all the virtues beyond just wealth.

🌸 花開富貴！

🔗 link to download these stickers in bio!

It’s the 5th day of the Lunar New Year, and most of us are back at work, businesses are opened after the new year break.

💛 Hence, it’s time to wish everyone, especially small business owners, a prosperous year ahead! May you have healthy work-life balance, kind customers/vendors and that you all find meaning in the work you do, no matter how small, seemingly mundane or difficult it is!

🍍 祝大家生意興’龍‘，在工作上會有好的工作與生活平衡，會遇到善良的顧客和供應商！也祝大家能在自己的工作裏找到意義！

#生意興隆 #生意興龍 #龍年快樂 #龍年

Wishing all of you a happy lunar new year! May the new year of the dragon be a year filled with the virtues and gifts we generally associate with the (chinese) dragon - fortitude, generosity and magnificence!

祝大家龍年快樂！希望大家的龍年會充滿和龍有關的美德，一個堅強、慷慨與壯麗的精神！

#龍年快樂 #新年快樂

Kicking off the lunar new year with 3 new stickers! Feel free to download them from the link in my bio! The previous pack with stickers from the previous year is also still available!

🔗 https://sticker.ly/s/RP1WXF

Regular postcard-sized Christmas cards or art prints too large? Then these mini-cards are just right! They are great as gift tags with enough space for a short greeting, or if you want to hang them up at home or on a Christmas tree, or to stick in your journal to dress up a page! Lots of possibilities for these little card prints!

🍍 I got inspired to make these mini-cards after I couldn’t find something that was between a regular gift tag and a large card! I thought trading card sized ones would be perfect, and here these cards are!

💛 Do you think mini-cards of this size are useful? What other card sizes would you like to see?

🛍️ Avaialable in my shops (Shopify, Etsy, Ko-Fi!). Link in bio

This Christmas, in the spirit of giving, 10% of all proceeds in my shops will head to Charis Singapore’s efforts to support Charis International in providing aid to the people of Gaza and region around.

⭐ ‘Joy to the World’ cards has its own mission where 10% of their sales will go to WWF Singapore. Check out the previous post for more info!

🍍 It was a no-brainer for me to choose a cause this Christmas, because the land where Christmas literally happened, where much of it is important to Christianity is in turmoil, and people there are suffering with no end in sight.

💛 I thank you in advance for your support!

⭐ “The world in silence waits the day, when hope shall sing its triumph, and sadness flees away” - from the Advent hymn ‘O Come Divine Messiah’

🔗 For more info on Charis’ work in Gaza: https://makehopehappen.charis-singapore.org/Campaign/humanitarian-aid-to-gaza-crisis . Link in bio as well.

Joy to the World! Based on the 2nd verse in this popular carol, where fields and floods, rocks, hills, and plains repeat the sounding joy - literally. Also, this is Christmas for those of us who don’t celebrate it with snow and frost, which is almost 50% of the world - I think hahaa.

May your holidays be filled with lots of joy!

🍍 On a green note, I would like to think that nature sings with joy with us during this season, so let us be environmentally friendly in the way we celebrate! Also, 10% of proceeds from ‘Joy to the World’ goes to WWF Singapore!

💛 There’s an error in the text in this card - the second line in the verse is missing, but otherwise everything looks right! Let me know what you think of this Christmas theme that is vastly different from the usual!

🛍️ Available in A5 and A6 sizes in my shops (Shopify, Etsy and Ko-Fi!). Link in Bio.

New X’mas Card designs this year, and we start off with this one! Dress up your tree with cute angels and a Santa Claus who needs a wire, and a teeny sleeping baby Jesus with lots of gifts around. May your celebrations be a light in the dark for those around you.

May your Christmas be Merry and Bright!

🍍 Always love a X’mas card with a dark background because I think it helps the colours pop, and there is a significance to it as well.

💛 Let me know if you like X'mas art with a dark background too!

🛍️ Items available in A5 and A6 sizes in my shops (Shopify, Etsy and Ko-Fi!). Link in bio!

New stuff coming in really soon for year end and new year celebrations!

💛 Details for all the new items will be in my shops and shared online really soon!

My very last min update to my HeyTea submission! The Ong Lai bubble tea multiverse grows!

Getting ready to draw.

🍍 Preparing to make art is a ritual itself, and I enjoy a quick clean-up and set-up before starting. It helps in many ways - the clearing of the clutter somehow cleanses my mind too, getting a nice hot drink just things cozier and prevents me from getting out of my seat to wander around for snacks, music to match what it is I’m going to draw. Also, feeling artistic makes me more artistic, you know?

💛 How do you prep before doing work, studying, or creating something?

🎨 Tools Used:
Samsung Tab
Autodesk Sketchbook Pro App

Art Commission Giveaway! 🎊

⭐ I’m giving away 1 art commission slot for free, and 2 ‘20% discounts’. All part of ! Here’s what you need to do:

1️⃣ Follow my Instagram page .art
2️⃣ Tag a friend to share this exciting giveaway

That’s all! This giveaway is open internationally and will close on 19 Nov 2023! The winners will be selected randomly and announced on 20 Nov 2023 on social media! I will also contact winners via private message.

🍍 Details on what the art commissions are about can be found in my previous post and story highlights!

Kick-starting with open slots for art commissions!

🍍 Choose the type of art commission you would like, and then send me an email or private message with the details! Do take note that I don’t do the following for these commission slots:

- fan art for sale (I can’t earn money from characters I don’t own),
- art that’s not safe for work
- art that is for commercial use, for your organisation - drop me an email if you want to do something for sale or for your work!

If you have something you want illustrated that falls outside the type of artwork I’ve specified, do let me know!

💛 To keep costs low, there will only be 1 round of editing for these commissions (more rounds of editing = more time/effort = more expensive! This also means the artwork gets to you faster!

💛 Excited to create bespoke art for you all! Feel free to contact me with any questions!

🗒️ P.S commissions here refer to you (the customer) hiring me to create artwork for you! Commissions here do not refer to me hiring you to do work! Just clarifying this because the last time I put out ‘commissions slots open’, I had people writing in to me to say they were open to earning commissions from me.

🌟 Something special related to the artwork commissions coming up really soon! As in, right after this wahaha.