A monsoon morning on Pulau Perhentian Kecil

I will never forget experiencing the onset of the monsoon while I was on Pulau Perhentian Kecil. The entire island was deserted as resorts had closed for business during this wet spell. But my friend who owns Mira Beach Resort made special arrangements for me to go to the island during the brief lull in the season.

On our third morning there, the weather suddenly changed rapidly right before my eyes. The clouds became a deep, dark blue while the blue-green sea churned strong waves towards the shore. In the distance, the colours of the sky bled into the sea and you could no longer discern the horizon line. It was an rare sight as the morning sea on the island is usually calm and still. This rapid change in weather is the kind of scene you only get when you are on an island at the onset of the monsoon.

I would have loved to continue my stay there, but due to dwindling food supplies, we had to return to the mainland. Perhaps one day, I will be able to be a Robinson Crusoe on Perhentian Kecil during the entire monsoon season and paint the big waves coming ashore!

 

This sketch was done quickly with water colour on a 7in x 10in 140lbs water colour paper. I used viridian green, cobalt, Prussian and cerulean blues, yellow ochre and Indian red. My Tengkujuh exhibition at Artelier Gallery in Publika, which ends tomorrow, displays the paintings and sketches of my 4-year experience of the monsoon season.

 

Originally published in the New Straits Times.