Artist:

A. Kasim Abas

With more then half a decade being a painter, A. Kasim Abas is a self taught artist from Negeri Sembilan, Malaysia. 

​Specialising in Watercolor & illustrations depiction of  traditional sceneries, he’s exhibitions includes Washington and New York under the patronage of former Malaysian Prime Ministers, Tun Mahathir and Sultan of Johor , Sultan Ibrahim.

Medium used for all paintings: Water colour, pen and ink

In the foreground, we can see some boats , however they only occupied a small portion and rather insignificant part of the painting (bottom right corner). This met the purpose of the artist which is to bring out the long house and draw more attention to it. This is further enhanced by the strong details of the long house and the plain and almost white grass surrounding it, which occupied a large portion of the painting. Trees and people are also reduced in the area to really emphasise on the long house.

 

There is a clear distinction between foreground, midground and background, where the building which used to be a prison stands at the background, a shelter at the midground and the fountain at the foreground. By doing this, the artists paints the picture of the fact that the place is now a park for evening strolls and the building is no longer a prison and is just a scenery at the background for people to look at while strolling in the park.

 

Looking at this composition, my attention is drawn to the steps leading from the river which is at the foreground all the way till it can’t be seen at the background, connecting nature to the bungalows at the back. By having the shelter at the foreground drawn exceeding the horizontal line where the bungalows stood, it brings more attention to what is happening at the foreground and the to the steps.

 

The medium used here mainly would be pen and ink. I suppose the reason for the painted roofs of the village was because the artist wanted to highlight the presence of the village in the midst of industrial revolution through the years and also to distinguish between the urban areas. I would say the main focus here would be the village, however, the presence of the buildings at the back seem to suggest that urbanisation is slowly taking away these beautiful sceneries of the villages, and that the buildings are slowly moving from background to midground and in the future, they will be at the foreground. A lot of effort is put into the drawing of the jungle surrounding the village, however, it becomes less dense when it approaches the buildings, further highlighting the issue of deforestation leading from industrial development.

 

This is the top view of a fort in Sarawak, Fort Margherita. According to the author, it has never been fired at before. This is an interesting view of the fort, as usually, one would not be able to see the insides of a fort, since it’s meant to be impenetrable. The use of geometric shapes such as the octagon as seen here, and symmetrical balance, further makes the painting eye-catching. By placing the fort right in the centre of the painting, occupying a huge portion of the painting, the artist also captures the viewer’s attention into the insides of the fort. By using little vegetation and big spaces around the fort, the artist also manages to portray the majestic scenery of the fort.

 

This is a 2-point perspective of a the Kuching municipal office. The use of 2 point perspective here gives the building a very grand look where all the attention is focused right in the middle of the building. This is further emphasised by the road diverging along both sides of the building. By not including the background of the building, it also makes the building look more grand and majestic which is what it needs to be since it is a government office.

 

This is a painting of the Sarawak Malay Association, which is inative now, and sits there waiting for demolition. In my opinion, I feel that the artist wishes to portray this by having only half of the building drawn and inside the a fence, and choosing this perspective rather a front view of it. Furthermore, the illustration of the a food stall outside seems to suggest the insignificance of the building currently and is now only a place for people to get some street food.

 

This is a painting of the ‘Kapok’ tree at Padang Merdeka, Kuching City. It is described as ‘majestic’ by the author. The artist tries to portray this by having a composition of only the roots and a portion of the bark in his painting. This is further emphasised by the drawings of people in the painting, giving the viewer a feel of just how big and majestic the tree is. By taking away colour from the people, the artist also highlighted the importance of the tree rather than the people, making viewers to spend more attention on the tree instead.

 

The main focus in this painting would be the Chinese temple in the foreground and also the river. The artist tries to bring this, not only by placing it in the foreground, but also fully painting and leaving some of the rest of the houses around it unpainted. The artist brings more attention to the river, by drawing both sides of the river, and overall, it gives the painting more depth when the background of the other side of the river is included in the painting.

 

This composition the artist has chosen only includes a portion of the building instead of the whole building, bringing the viewer to the attention of the geometrical designs and the beauty of Chinese architecture which is a good choice of composition by the artist, as this close-up view really brings the viewer to the detailed designs of the building. The whole painting is also very symmetrical and balanced out.