sketchbook — Blog — Almahera Idris

It was Merdeka Day, so I attempted a loose painting of a hibiscus in my sketchbook to mark the occasion. It turned out better than I expected, and I liked it so much that I didn’t want to just leave it hidden in my sketchbook. I also didn’t want to bring my sketchbook around with me and keep opening to the page with the hibiscus painting every so often because err… I’m not that crazy. Not yet, at least.

So I created a wallpaper for my phone, instead.

Then I thought to myself, “we need things to be coordinated”, so I created wallpapers for my iPad, my laptop, and my iMac as well.

And because my 4-year old tells me that “sharing is caring”, I’ve decided to make these wallpapers available to you, too! If you like the Merdeka Hibiscus as much as I do, or if you’d just like to change up your tech backgrounds, or if you want to dress up your phone/tablet/computer in time for Malaysia Day, feel free to download any - or all - of the wallpapers below.*

Download your phone wallpaper here

Download your iPad/tablet wallpaper here

Download your laptop wallpaper here

Download your desktop wallpaper here

*For personal use only.

I remember this one. I had Yayoi Kusama on my mind, and I was filling my sketchbook pages with spiralling lines of polka dots and circles. Some in ascending order of size, others descending. Some snaked their way across the pages of my book in monochromatic fashion, others skipped and hopped through a rainbow of colours.

It was therapeutic. I would zone out while painting those circles, one by one, trying to make each one just slightly smaller or bigger than the previous one, moving from one shade to the next.

Then I got sick of circles and polka dots.

So I painted squares instead.

I was also sick of the orderliness of the shapes gradually ascending or descending in size, and I wanted some negative space.

So I ended up with this:

I had a new addition to my paints at the time, and I used it for this painting. It was Daniel Smith’s Undersea Green; a colour that, for me, conjures images of scaly reptiles, seaweed swaying in the ocean depths, and humid mangrove swamps. If you’re a cat owner, like me, it may also remind you of one of the more wonderful perks of having a pet cat: hairball vomit.

But I’m pretty sure you’d agree that “Undersea Green” is a much better name than “Cat Vomit”, or “Hairball”.

And I can promise you I was NOT thinking of my cat’s occasional gifts to us when I was painting this.