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Local artist with a special gift

Brunei Darussalam has a lot of talented artists. Among those who are well-known to the public are legendary artist Pg Dato Paduka Hj Asmalee, Zakaria Omar, Hj Padzil, Marsidi Omar, Pg Roslan, Indera Saputra Ariffin and Nabil Fikri (the leader of G5 Artists Group).

But we shouldn't forget that there is one artist who is also not a stranger to the art scene in Brunei. In fact, he is a veteran gifted artist and also a good friend of mine.

The artist is Osman bin Omar. Born on March 10, 1947 in Kg Bendahara Lama (in Kampong Ayer), he didn't receive any formal education in art, but had shown great interest in art from an early age.

Whenever he could find a piece of paper, he'd quickly grab a pencil and started to draw virtually anything on it. Osman sharpened his art talents well into his teenage years by learning from books and comics, and he transitioned from just doing pencil sketches to producing works with the paintbrush and a broader palette of colours.

Osman says he can finish a pencil drawing in two or three days, while a watercolour painting or a picture using pastel colours or chalk could take a week to complete. Meanwhile, an oil painting takes about two weeks to finish.

Ever since his first public involvement in the art scene in the 60s, Osman has participated in various art competitions. These include the art competitions held in conjunction with the birthday of Sultan Haji Omar 'Ali Saifuddien in the 60s, the art competition in conjunction with the Coronation of His Majesty the Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan of Brunei Darussalam in 1968 and several other national-level competitions.

The fact that he didn't win any prizes in the early years did not stop Osman from competing. His luck finally came when he won a prize in an art competition held in conjunction with the 49th birthday anniversary of Sultan Haji Omar 'Ali Saifuddien in 1965. Osman continued taking part in various kinds of competitions through the 70s, 80s, 90s - right up to this day.

I met him recently during his solo art exhibition at Yayasan SHHB Complex. In this exhibition he displayed his own artworks, old and new. Among the artworks were portraits of members of the royal family past and present, Kampong Ayer paintings and other portraits and landscape artworks.

Osman said he could remember all the times when dignitaries and celebrities expressed their appreciation for his masterpieces.

According to him, portrait painting is the most difficult to master.

"Anyone who wants to draw a portrait needs to have patience, to learn every detail of the person's face and to ask other experienced artist to give tips," Osman said. "Of course, not every portrait is 100 per cent perfect, but we can learn from mistakes."

The artist always paints or draws a portrait at night, as the general peace and quiet enables him to concentrate fully on the artwork. Sometimes he had to skip his meals in order to finish the portraits. "Nothing comes easy without struggling," he said.

But even during our little conversation he grabbed a sketchbook and began sketching a live portrait of me. It took him about an hour to finish it.

According to Osman, Brunei Darussalam has a lot of talents in art, especially among the younger generations. Motivation and moral support are needed to make them more actively involved in art.

Osman gave the example of a young artist named Nabil Fikri who is keen on becoming a full time artist and willing to face challenges by setting up a booth at Sumbangsih Mulia in Beribi to sell his artworks. "Now Nabil Fikri is a big name in the Brunei art scene," he said.

I felt touched by his honest opinions. Now I realise that Osman Omar is not only a gifted artist but also a motivator and an advocate of the local art scene.

We should be proud of having an artist like him, as he is one in a million.

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