NDP Crafts 2021: Pop-up Garden City Singapore

With National Day just round the corner, Artist Celine Chia has kindly shared with us some NDP Crafts for 2021, namely the pop-up city of some of our iconic attractions in Singapore.


Materials needed:

A3 Paper x1 (Drawing block size)
Scissors
Pencil
Ruler
Coloured Pencil
Marker

Here are the steps to recreate your own NDP crafts – the pop-up city.

Feel free to change the iconic landmarks to your preference.

Cut the A3 drawing block into half. For half of the drawing block, it’s used as the background (3rd layer). For the other half of the drawing block (landscape), split it further into ⅔ and ⅓. (see image below if you require further clarifications)

In these NDP 2021 Crafts, we will be drawing a few of Singapore’s iconic and more prominent attractions, namely the Merlion, the Singapore Flyer, Marina Bay Sands, ArtScience Museum, Gardens By The Bay (Flower Dome) and the National flower of Singapore – Vanda Miss Joaquim. 

Artist Celine Chia shares a guided approach on how to draw the respective attractions, alongside their significance.

Vanda Miss Joaquim – Chosen as the National Flower because of its resilience and it’s blooming quality all year round.

1. To draw Vanda Miss Joaquim, start off with the column (middle part of the flower). It’s shaped like a ribbon, so you can consider using that as a reference.
   
2. Next, we draw the Labellum of the flower. It’s shaped like a moustache, so you can definitely use that analogy.
   
3. Following that, we start to draw the petals of the flower. Start with the two petals at the side.
   
4. After drawing the 2 petals at the side, we proceed with drawing the petal at the top (sepal).
   
5. Last but not least, draw the bottom 2 petals and add in the lines in the middle to complete the drawing. 

Gardens By The Bay –  Envisioned by NParks (National Parks Board Singapore) of creating a city in a Garden, as well as capturing the essence of what makes Singapore a leading global city of the 21st century.

To draw the Flower Dome of the Gardens By The Bay,

1. Start with drawing 2 humps. 
   
2. Next, include in more lines to give the humps more definition.
   
3. Last but not least, extend the lines of the concrete structure such that it shows the distinct layers (“wrapping” around the glass dome) to give the dome a more 3D outlook and feel.

Merlion – Merlion is a symbol of Singapore, alongside its humble beginnings as a fishing village (Temasek). The Merlion is made of half lion and half fish, with the upper half representing an alternative logo of Singapore and the lower half representing our origins as a fishing village.

Here are the steps to draw the Merlion:

1. Start by drawing the letter ‘S’. Note that the upper half of the S shape (the nose area) is larger than the bottom half (lower jaw area). 
   
2. Next, add in the upper and lower tooth
   
3. Following the tooth, we then add in the nostril for the Merlion.
   
4. Thereafter, we add in the eyes and the ear.
   
5. After the facial features, we follow up with two arcs, representing the mane and the jaw bone of the lion.
   
6. The next step is to extend the manes (by drawing “L”) . Add in more lines and locks at the end of the mane.
   
7. Once you’re done with the mane, we then proceed with the tail. Start with drawing an oval near the ends of its mane.
   
8. After drawing the oval, add in wavy arcs from the oval, and extend them outwards. This represents the tail of the Merlion.
   
9. Connect the tail to the mane of the Merlion with an arc/ big U shape. Note that the proportion of the body to the head and mane of the merlion is about 1:1 ratio.
   
10. Last but not least, add in scales, wavy lines (water) at its base and water sprout from its mouth.

ArtScience Museum – A place where Art, Science, Culture and Technology comes together, where new ideas and innovation are formed.

The following are the steps to draw the ArtScience Museum:

1. Start off with drawing an arc, with the left side of the arc being higher than the right.
   
2. Next, connect the arc by adding in the horizontal lines and jagged edges, which represent the tips of the ArtScience Museum.
   
3. To add in an additional depth to the drawing (to show the circular architectural structure of ArtScience Museum), include an additional layer behind the jagged edges in step 2.
   
4. Last but not least, make the subject more 3D by increasing the thickness, especially round the edges and end off with adding two lines at the base of the ArtScience Museum.

Singapore Flyer – The Singapore Flyer stands at 165m, with a diameter of 150m, making it one of the largest Giant Observation Wheels in the world.

These are the steps to draw the Singapore Flyer:

1. Start with drawing a Circle. This represents the skeletal structure of the flyer.
   
2. Erase the parts of the circle and add in 8 mini circles. These 8 circles represent the capsules of the Singapore Flyer.
   
3. Use a ruler and a pencil to draw 2 horizontal lines across the capsule, followed by two short vertical lines to connect the horizontal lines. (see image below for a clearer view) Repeat this process 8 times, for each of the capsules.
   
4. Lastly, add in the support for the ferris wheel by connecting lines towards the centre of the circle. Add in a layer around the diameter of the circle and ground the structure by adding in two connecting lines from the bottommost capsule.

Marina Bay Sands – A destination for people who appreciate luxury and the finer things in life, it is the centrepiece for Singapore’s urban transformation efforts.

Here are the steps to draw Marina Bay Sands:

1. Start off with drawing an oval shaped arc.
   
2. Next, add in markings to indicate the proportions of the 3 connecting structures.
   
3. Thereafter, add in 3 arcs representing the base of MBS.
   
4. Connect the structures together with intersecting lines to add a certain depth to it.
   
5. Lastly, draw horizontal lines across the base of MBS and add in greenery as you deem fit.

Upon completion of all the respective landmarks, outline them with markers.

With reference to the above image, the dotted lines are where we fold and glue together to the third layer.

Here are some of Artist Celine Chia’s students works for your reference.

If you like our NDP crafts, stay tuned to our socials for more themed crafts or check out our Easter and Chinese New Year crafts for more DIYs.