Kindness and positivity can be spread in many ways. For one Singapore-based artist, it is in the form of surprising strangers with their portraits when they least expect it.
Meet Jeff Lai, 25, a student by day and an artist all other times. You may know him from his viral TikTok and Instagram videos where he sketches people in public places.
@jeffandpencil Patricia was dancing and working at the same time! All the best for your dance preparation đ hope this made you less stressful hahaha #learningisfun #sgart ⏠Pieces (Solo Piano Version) â Danilo Stankovic
Jeff is a final year student in the Singapore University of Technology and Designâs (SUTD) Design and Artificial Intelligence course. When he is not busying himself with coding for his school projects, you might find him on the MRT train or at a cafĂ© looking for his next subject.
Inspired by American artist Devon Rodriguezâs works, Jeff aims to spread kindness and positivity by surprising people with his drawings.
MS News recently spoke with this inspiring young artist to learn more about his motivations and processes.
He told us he first started this âexperimentâ to challenge himself. For the last 10 years, Jeff would spend hours at his desk sketching with a reference photo.
He was already taking commissions then, but his works were lacking in terms of interacting directly with others.
Having always been curious about peopleâs initial reactions, he was unable to get that satisfaction from doing commissions. While working on those paid projects, he typically communicated with his clients through messaging apps. This takes away from the experience of seeing his clientsâ real initial reactions to his work.
Going into public spaces and sketching his subjects on the spot allows him to do just that. Not only does this satisfy his curiosity, it also makes the days of his unsuspecting subjects.
The power of giving [the drawings] to people physically is that you are able to see their instant reactions â whether they like it or not, you can tell.
Jeffâs first foray into the spontaneous activity was on April Foolsâ Day in 2022.
He shared that his first surprise portrait took him about 30 to 40 minutes to complete. However, Jeff confessed that he could not remember the exact reaction of the person he drew. His nerves had taken over when he approached them to hand them his portrait.
âI donât think I made a very good first impression on them,â he chuckled.
If someone senses that you are approaching them in a nervous manner, theyâll feel very wary of you. They might even question why you are doing so and if they are supposed to give you money.
But over time, this self-proclaimed introvert started to build up his confidence when approaching strangers.
Now that a routine has been formed, he knows exactly what to say to put people at ease when he hands over his drawings, even though he remains nervous every time.
âYou overcome it, but it still comes to you. You still feel it, but you know how to handle it now.â
When we met Jeff at a café in town, he was, in fact, halfway through sketching a girl seated at a table diagonally across.
As his pencil scratched his sketchbook, the girlâs features started becoming more and more defined. Varying the pressure applied to his medium of choice, shadows formed on the portrait, lending a good amount of realism to his work.
Within about 15 minutes, the portrait was done, and it was show time.
Jeff calmly walked up to the girlâs table, where she was with a friend. He introduced himself, showed her the portrait, and got to the point: he was an artist, and he just drew a picture of her and would like her to have the portrait as a gift.
Impressed, the girl, who turns out to be from China and is in Singapore for a trip, asked for his social media details.
Although she had to cut their interaction short as her friend was waiting, we got to witness first-hand the joy Jeff brings to the people he decides to draw.
When we asked if he ever got a negative reaction from the people he approached, he said it was more of them not knowing how to react. He does not believe people will instinctively reject others just because they are approached.
âTo me, it is more important to approach them in a friendly, polite manner. That will change things a lot when you go up to these people.â
Anywhere Jeff goes, his sketchbook will go with him. Last year, he was in the United States for an exchange programme, during which he had one of his most memorable interactions.
When he handed over his drawing to a girl he had sketched, she offered to pay for the portrait and even hugged him.
The 25-year-old admitted that he experienced a bit of a culture shock when that happened, as people in Singapore typically do not react to him in such a warm manner.
What sparked Jeffâs interest in drawing in the first place? Well, like most of us, he was sent to enrichment classes as a child.
Although that was his first exposure to art, his passion for it only formed in Secondary Two. This Fuchun Secondary alum discovered that he had a knack for drawing during his compulsory art classes in lower secondary.
During that time, he completed his first portraits ever over the span of about two to three days.
Since then, he has formed a habit of honing his craft whenever he can. Now, as he is nearing his university graduation, he wishes to be involved in the growing tech industry in some capacity.
That does not mean, however, that he will stop drawing anytime soon. Jeff is determined to continue pursuing this hobby on the side.
He hopes that one day, these two completely different mediums can converge, and he can work with the two loves of his life simultaneously.
With the advent of artificial intelligence (AI), it does not seem too far away â and Jeff is only looking forward to the day when it will be powerful enough to streamline the creation and workflow for artists all over the world.
Addressing concerns over whether AI might surpass human artists one day, he noted that he is not as affected as those who create their art digitally. This is because he tends to work with traditional mediums such as graphite pencils and paper.
âWhile AI can do the work for you, I believe it cannot exactly replace human artists. If you call yourself an artist, you have nothing to worry about. People will naturally value you not only for your art but who you are as well.â
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Featured image by MS News.
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