Harvey Chan was born in Hong Kong, China.

He has established himself as an illustrator since graduated from Ontario College of Art and Design. An experienced and well-rounded Hong Kong illustrator working out of Toronto, Harvey's works are definitely worth the look if you love free-form and sophisticated colour.

For many years, Harvey's diversified approach in commercial assignments has also greatly reflected on his personal works. Human figure has always been a primary interest in his drawings, paintings and sculptures.

Harvey has received numerous awards through his career as illustrator. He has also created 2 series of coin design for the Royal Canadian Mint and most recently, the Year of the Rat stamp design for Canada Post.

In recent years, spiritual and natural forms has slowly emerged and taking central stage. Fantastical and hybrid forms are also found their place in Harvey's most recent exploration.

Between personal works and commercial commissions, Harvey also found time to teach drawing, painting and illustration at Ontario College of Art and Design, and Sheridan College. Harvey has taught figure sculpture at The Toronto School of Art.

Harvey lives in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.  

*note: make sure to check out the archive section of his site. 

startdrawing.org pays our respect to Mr Tsang Tsou-Chio (曾灶财), also known as the King of Kowloon, who died of a heart attack in July 15, 2007 at the age of 86. He had been writing graffiti in Hong Kong since he was 35 years old (a total of 51 years, since 1956).

Tsang Tsou-choi, dubbed “The King of Kowloon” after the district he lived in, was a Hong Kong original, who never saw himself as an artist but was hailed internationally as one. A grubby man who looked like a tramp and who many thought barking mad, Tsang spent five decades roaming the metropolis, often shirtless and on crutches, scrawling his idiosyncratic calligraphy on lamp-posts, walls, phone boxes, pedestrian underpasses and electrical boxes. Tsang became a cultural icon for his unique Chinese-style street graffiti, and his death sparked nostalgic calls to preserve his vanishing legacy.

Tsang claimed much of the land in Kowloon belonged to his family but the government had annexed it without compensation. When he failed to get official recognition of his claims, Tsang published them on the walls of Hong Kong. His work typically consisted of a list of his ancestors. Also included were places that his forebears owned. Tsang became famous around the globe after some of his works were displayed at the Venice Biennale international art exhibition in 2003. In 2004, one of his pieces sold at a Sotheby’s auction for 55,000 Hong Kong dollars ($7,000 USD). Tsang’s work has inspired fashion designers and interior decorators. Louis Vuitton also featured him in a handbag advertisement.

Read more about Tsang and see more of his works in the following sources:
> Graffiti.org
> Reuters.com
> Wikipedia.com
> PBase.com 
> Flickr.com

Raised in the US, Saiman Chow’s work dances happily between the not so fine line of Japanese Sci Fi and Milton Glaser / Yellow Submarine - era psychedelia. His paintings are comic-oriented yet serious in nature and a colorful fusion of Eastern and Western images. Chow successfully interlaces American and Asian pop culture with a high level of craft and complexity of story. Image-robots, Sumo wrestlers, and skate boarding extraterrestrials inhabit his canvases.

A quick list of clients would include MTV, Fuel TV, Shift Magazine (Japan) and his most famous, a full length animation for Nike’s Art of Speed called Oggo.

Read more of Saiman’s interview with Shift.