I Am Boey

Chemming Boey is a unique artist in the fact that his materials that he chooses to work with are very unusual.  Boey chooses to work with two simple things, a Sharpie fine tip marker and a par of Styrofoam cups. The story of how he came to use this material is very interesting also. Unlike many artist that try out different mediums from the start, Boey always knew that he had an urge to draw. He always knew that that was what he wanted to do for a living and even went as far as going to  school to get a drawing degree and become an animation artist for Pixar.
One day while he was at a coffee shop he had an urge to draw, but one problem existed: he had no paper, but he had a pen. He tried to draw on a napkin and paper plates, but the napkin tore and the paper plates were not satisfactory for his tastes. Then a waitress carried by a few Styrofoam cups and Chemming asked her if he could have a few. Once he got his cups he began drawing on them with the pen that he always had at hand. He says today that he had forgot how smooth and intricately the ink flows over the Styrofoam surface. He said that it reminded him "why he drew, to feel the connection with the surface and put your feelings down on the paper", or Styrofoam in this case.


His mistake cups are the ones that he uses to drink out of.
He tries not to waste anything.

Chemming has switched from using pen now a days, however. He is now majorly endorsed by Sharpie, however that is not the reason why he mainly uses them. He says that he really likes the lines the the permanent marker makes and that, because of the fact that they are permanent, means that they will never fade or dissinigrate. He only uses a fine tip Sharpie marker, and only in black. It is kind of his signature, as he coins it.

He says that his favorite thing about his artwork is the fact that it opens the world to other artist to use unusual canvas'. "You must have tried drawing with fries and ketchup, right? Why can't that be serious art?" Boey's main problem with modern artwork today is the fact that not as many things are considered art as he think should be. It is really amazing to me how much he loves what he does, and doesn't care what others say about his artwork.

Amazingly Boey never gets tired of drawing on cups. He had made over 1,500 cups and goes through 1 Sharpie pen every two days, if you would like to donate any, he'd greatly appreciate it. He says that his favorite designs are the ones that are more personal to him, as would any artists favorite be. He really likes all of the ones with waves, which is why so many of them have waves in them. His favorite influence in drawing these waves is a Japanese artist named Hokusai. Boey tried to think about how he draws his waves when he draws his.

The longest that he has ever spent on a cup is 3 months. He says that he makes tons of drafts of the cups, so the ones that we see are the ones that have passed his maticulus inspection. He says that sometimes he gets extremly nervous about drawing different things or poses because one wrong line can ruin the entire compisition. The hardest thing that he has to deal with, other than the nerves, is the fact that the cups are extremly electroamgnetic, therefore it makes it easy for them to attract ittybitty haris, that when they attach to the tip of the Sharpie, do extreme danmage to the pieces. One small fine line can turn into a large bold line is a place that it was not needed.

I think that his artwork is a complete inspiration for me. I really like how he has reached out into the unordinary wit hhis cups and made them in a fashion that they speak to more than one artist. They speak to the weird and unusual and the unconventional, as well as the avid drawer and the collecting artist I really like how inspired he is by just the basic life around him. He really makes me just want to draw something unusual or on a weird surface. I really like his imagination and the way that he presents himself to other astists. Humble.