07/12/2025

ON SUNDAY December 7, 2025 II theSunday Special

She knew it had so much potential and her gut instinct told her this could go big. Then and there, she decided to create art using only coloured pencils, not just as a hobby but professionally. For Kow, it was her go-big-or-go-home moment. Kow might have had a late start with her career as a coloured pencil artist, but it is not entirely a new medium for her. In fact, she started using coloured pencils in high school for all her art subjects. It has always been her favourite. She felt that coloured pencils have a lot of undiscovered potential and can be on par with other conventional mediums. “It takes time, I knew that and never expected that it would be an easy journey. I was prepared to take the long, hard road and face whatever rejections and criticism head-on. To challenge that perception and elevate this medium, I have to be on top of my game by mastering coloured pencil art. “I spent years working diligently on the techniques by consistently creating new artworks. And with every piece of artwork, it was a new learning curve. Until today, I am still learning,” she explained. The award-winning artist’s artworks take up to two months to complete. The SURFHVV LV PRUH WKDQ MXVW ¿OOLQJ XS WKH blank canvas with colours. It all begins with photographing her subject with a camera. After minor tweaks, the photo is printed in black and white as a guideline.

Transcendent in the Light

With patience, precision and layers of colour, Sharon Kow turns a once-dismissed medium into ƓPG CTV VJCV URGCMU VQ EWNVWTG EQPPGEVKQP CPF everyday stories Pencil to prestige in art

BY HANNEF ESQUANDER

T HE whole point of art is to be thought-provoking and capti vating to its audience. While art is always very subjective and at times hard to comprehend, if the piece captivates and intrigues whoever is looking at it, the artist has ultimately achieved their desired goal. Sharon Kow makes artworks that, at a glance, look like a still photograph of nothing too unusual. %XW ¿QGLQJ RXW WKDW HDFK SLHFH LV FUHDWHG with coloured pencils changes every initial thought and opinion that readers had. The Penang artist has been creating these meticulous coloured pencil artworks since 2013. Kow began researching vari ous art media and discovered that there was no such thing as coloured pencil art LQ HLWKHU WKH ORFDO RU LQWHUQDWLRQDO ¿QH DUW scene. In fact, it was frowned upon and not recognised as a professional medium. “I did further research on social media and discovered a group of coloured pencil artists from the United States. Their cre ations absolutely blew me away with this medium. I could not believe that coloured pencils could be used to create some of the most amazing artworks,” she said.

By staying true to your subject matter, medium and vision, you create a body of work that becomes recognisably yours.”

Liberation … One of Kow’s still life pieces inspired by Malaysian culture.