Becoming an artist was a Covid career change,” says Hong Kong artist Richard Crosbie. “My previous employer, Toys’R’Us US, closed just as the pandemic started, so while studying online for a diploma in ‘Design Thinking’, I picked up an empty sketch book and started to sketch and paint my local environment.”

“After uploading my work on social media and receiving positive encouragement, I began to explore wider areas of Hong Kong and to fall in love with the city all over again.  It felt like I was waking from slumber as I started to really ‘see’ and notice things.” 

Gradually, Crosbie says that he started to receive requests for his artwork and that’s when he realized that this was what he wanted to do. 

“Only after a ‘career shock’ do I now realize what a privilege it has been to live in such an amazing city, and I feel that my senses have awoken to let me fully experience my surroundings as if for the first time,” he says, adding that Hong Kong is a wonderfully fascinating muse, be it the contrast between east meets west, modern versus traditional, urban versus natural.  

“My focus is on Hong Kong scenes and subjects which I aim to show as realistically as possible.  I tend not to simplify or abstract as I feel it is the very density of details in any given Hong Kong scene that makes it unique from any other corner of the world.  I love the unique visual ‘DNA’ of the Hong Kong urban environment, which I aim to capture in my artwork. I have come to believe that there is a unique beauty to a Hong Kong street scene and that any given time of day, in all sorts of different lighting or weather, a wealth of details and a universe of meaning and memory can be discovered.” 

Crosbie believes that his background in product design follows through into his artwork in his love of three-dimensional views and details. However, after spending decades behind a computer using CAD programs, he says he is now determined to create his art by hand, using traditional painting and drawing techniques. 

Crosbie says that much as he likes experimenting with different mediums, he is currently in the throes of a ‘Hong Kong-inspired watercolour phase”, and that he enjoys watercolour as there are so many different techniques and effects that can be used.  He adds that just when he thinks he has finished with the medium, he discovers a new technique or visual property that he wants to explore more. He explains that he loves depicting reflections, shadows and refractions on different materials and surfaces.

“I seem to have developed two distinct painting styles: ‘Slow & Steady’ for studio-based work and ‘Fast & Loose’ for urban sketching and plein air painting. I like taking my time with my ‘Slow & Steady’ studio style as I want people to enjoy and appreciate looking at the details in my work, plus I feel that Hong Kong deserves to be shown in a beautiful light”, he shares.

Crosbie shares that larger artworks like ‘Rainbow Ferry’ and ‘View from the Lower Deck’ were worked on simultaneously over the course of a month, while working at home.  It was more a study in patience and control. Switching between artworks forced him, he says, to slow down and concentrate. When working in his slow and steady style, an A3-sized artwork showing a complex street scene can take between 7-10 days to complete.  

“When viewed up close, all of my work contains interesting details, from light refractions in a window to reflections in a puddle. Plus, I have recently started adding extra ‘easter egg details’ for people to discover if they look for them!”