Petch

The way I found Petch was a matter of pure coincidence. While looking at the Instagram accounts of some artists I met during Bangkok Design Week, I notice this account popping up constantly, @petchpaints. Curious as to what he was painting, I clicked into his profile. And I’m glad I did. I fell deeply in love with Petch’s works. His seemingly effortless strokes, superb choice of colours and subjects that are seldom touched on by other male artists. I knew I had to try to meet Petch and try to photograph him. But unlike the previous artists, Petch’s space was too small to accommodate me and my giant camera. So after some discussion, we settled on a location near his place, Landhaus Bakery, a quaint little European style bakery tucked in between the residential buildings of Ari.

I arrived slightly earlier to scout out the location and to get some food and drinks for us. Walking along the pathway leading into the compound, you feel as if you’re transported into another world. Away from claustrophobic, metropolitan Bangkok and into the spacious countryside where everything is much slower and more peaceful. When stepping into the coffee house, the smell of freshly baked pastries and bread beckons you to buy everything and savour them all. There was even a display table with a variety of baked goods sprawled out across. The coffee house had a certain charm to it. Old, wooden and quaint. Personally, my favourite corner of the cafe, was the backyard. It consists of an open garden area which was filled with luscious and shady greens and wooden furnishings that provided a chill and relaxing atmosphere. There were even two feline friends hanging out and enjoying the sun.

When Petch arrived, I signalled to let him know where I was. It was a really hot day and a glass of cold coffee was much needed. After cooling down, I suggested we spoke and take the photographs outside. I felt quite bad for asking Petch to go back into the heat right after he has cooled down. But the garden area was too beautiful to pass up photographing in. While we were chatting, Alex, the owner of the bakery saw Petch’s drawings and asked if he could get a portrait done with his cat, Tiger. And of course Petch obliged. During the mini portrait session, we spoke to Alex about his cafe and found out a little about his heritage. Turns out he’s mixed Thai and German, hence the German name of the cafe.

After the mini portrait session, Petch showed me some of his past works. I told him I really enjoyed his illustrations of men fashion and that his style was really unique. I have never seen anyone who drew like he did and asked him how he came up with a style to call his own. He chuckled and mentioned that it didn’t come easy. It was only through years of experimentations and refinement that his strokes appear simple and effortless and his style emerged. Still, Petch doesn’t feel that his style is perfect yet and is constantly experimenting and trying new techniques and mediums out. In fact, Petch has painted on a variety of mediums. From ceramics to human skin, nothing is out of bounds for him.

When I asked him how he chooses his subjects, he mentioned that he was influenced by his former life in fashion as a photographer’s assistant (Shoutout to all photography assistants) and through his personal life experience as well as the stories of the people he has met.

Can you guess who Petch is doing a portrait of?

One of the projects that Petch has been working on consists of nude drawings of strangers he has met through dating apps and in real life. I really adore the way he depicts nudity in his own way. Through vague expressions and interesting choice of colours that separates reality from fantasy, you begin to look at the human body as a geometry of shapes, curves and textures instead of the hyper sexualised nudes all so common in media these days.

It was a refreshing experience meeting Petch and talking about art, fashion, sexuality and coffee. That day was just a short glimpse into the art of Petch and I hope to be able to meet him again. Thank you Petch for being so open about your works and processes and allowing me to photograph you. To see more of Petch’s unique style, check out his Instagram page.

Illustrator

Bangkok, Thailand