Cheng is the first artist to paint Taiwan’s street archi­tecture in a systematic way. He takes us through Keelung’s streets and lanes in search of inspiration. His artist’s eyes detect something unique in a store selling military goods, picking it out from a row of shophouses under Ren’ai Bridge. Featuring characteristically Taiwanese objects such as blue-and-white canvas and red plastic stools, his paintings evoke a convivial spirit familiar to everyone in Taiwan. They make our feet itchy, encouraging us to go and see the scenes for ourselves.

The cityscapes and shophouses in Cheng’s art are all based on first-hand observations, developed from his own sketches or photographs.

While we thought our walk with Cheng would be leisurely, we find that he actually walks very fast, like a marching soldier. In fact Cheng was a professional soldier before reinventing himself as an artist.

The cityscapes and shophouses in Cheng Kai-hsiang’s art are all based on first-hand observations. (photo by Jimmy Lin)

Tom Parker, who calls Taiwan his second home, records his unique perceptions of Taiwanese life in his art. (courtesy of Tom Parker)

Painting Taiwan

Having spent ten years in the military, Cheng retired in 2015. He moved back to his native Pingtung to start a new chapter in his life, determined to pursue his passion for art. He began by painting his hometown.

At first Cheng had no plans to live off his art, but his pictures on social media attracted the attention of Yuan-­Liou Publishing, leading to his project of painting “100 Local Street Houses”—not only in Pingtung, but in other localities as well.

Cheng has visited various places across Taiwan and its surrounding islands to collect images of local street architecture. He is particularly interested in shop signs, sheet-metal buildings, covered sidewalks, decorative cement tiles, and ornamental metal window lattices.

Certain local features require research before Cheng can commit them to paper. For example, rather than projecting out from the building, many shop signs across the Penghu Islands are fixed flat against the facades—a local peculiarity that is probably a response to the fierce northeasterly monsoon winds that blow between October and March. Cheng has also noticed that many scooters in Keelung—a place known for abundant rainfall—are equipped with big windscreens.

Chiayi is home to many beautiful and characterful old houses, and Cheng is enchanted by the quiet atmosphere there. On Lanjing Street, he discovered a house covered with wooden weatherboards. Through research, he was able to relate the architecture to Chiayi’s once-vital role in Taiwan’s forestry industry.

With more than 70 years of history, the Yushan Inn witnessed the rise and fall of logging on Alishan, but it burned down in March 2022. Cheng remembers that the lane outside the inn was like a green tunnel; the inter­lacing shadows of the trees there made the building look gorgeous. But where there is shadow there is light, and light bespeaks hope. Cheng gave his painting of the Yushan Inn to local historian Yu Guoxin, who had managed the inn, offering solidarity in the wake of Yu’s terrible loss.

Cheng Kai-hsiang has given artistic expression to this old establishment in Keelung—an eatery with more than 70 years of history, known for its curry fishball noodles. (photo by Jimmy Lin)

Capturing memories

One reader brought with them a copy of Cheng’s Taiwan Street House, in addition to their textbooks, when they went to study abroad, hoping it would alleviate their homesickness. Cheng is also profoundly moved whenever a house owner brings him a chair and something to drink, or tells him the history of the building he is sketching. This Taiwanese hospitality always warms his heart.

Characterized by warm colors, Cheng’s images of everyday life in Taiwan glow with real feelings. For ­example, while queuing for Lee Hwu Cake Store’s salted egg yolk pastries in preparation for the Mid-­Autumn Festival, he can feel the other customers’ excitement about sharing good things with family and friends. It’s just like watching pilgrims praying in temples for their loved ones. These feelings of love and care have breathed life into Cheng’s artworks.

In addition to painting scenes in Keelung, Cheng is planning to depict vendors that are known to locals only. For example, in Pingtung he has seen a merchant selling ladders and crying “Ladders! Ladders!” as the small truck moves along the streets. There is also a cart selling charcoal-grilled peas—the only one in Taiwan. Locals call these “farting peas,” not because they induce flatulence, but because they crackle when heated. You hear the same funny sound when biting the freshly grilled peas. The woman who originally ran this business started selling peas when she was 14. The cart has since been taken over by her granddaughter.

Other special mobile vendors include hardware sellers and knife sharpeners. With urban development going on apace, they are gradually disappearing. Unwilling to see these street vendors consigned to oblivion, Cheng wants to preserve memories of them through vibrant colors and lively compositions.

Currently an artist-in-residence at the TaiPing Art Hub in Keelung, Cheng is documenting local life in this port city.

Since the demolition of Pingtung’s West Market, Aying Noodles has reopened on a different site. It reproduces Cheng’s painting on its shop front, reminding customers of its origins.

Tom Parker

Tom Parker transfers rough sketches to a larger sheet of paper, making sure that the proportions of each landmark are accurate. (courtesy of Tom Parker)

The chicken rice in Pingtung Night Market has a special place in Cheng’s olfactory memory. Every time he goes back to Pingtung, he has to have a bowl of chicken rice to remind him that he is home.

A maze-like map

Unlike Cheng, who always captures scenes in situ, illustrator Tom Parker is adept at using Google Street View and drone photographs on the Internet to catch the shapes of roofs and gain a bird’s-eye view of a city. Employing these methods, he has fitted Taipei City into a map measuring 70 × 100 centimeters.

Parker’s Map of Taipei (2020), which took nearly a year to complete, has been turned into a 4,800-piece jigsaw puzzle. The art project received NT$4.77 million on the crowdfunding website Zeczec, 95 times more than the initial target. The artwork has even been exhibited at the Taipei Expo and the Taipei Lantern Festival.

Rather than simply creating a colorful map, Parker hopes that everything he has depicted will be recognizable, including the many complex and interesting ­details. For example, there are more than 200 birds on the Taipei map, and there is a dragon boat on the Keelung River, as well as a small school bus on a viaduct. A careful observer will also discover pangolins, Taiwan blue ­magpies, and the Baishihu Suspension Bridge, shaped like a dragon’s spine, which Parker found hard to draw.

Parker, who hails from Bath in southwest England, likes to draw big maps and mazes that are full of ­details. As a child, he used to pore over illustrated historical books about castles or civilizations. He enjoyed losing himself in the illustrations, spotting details such as soldiers walking on castle walls and other characters from all walks of life.

Parker thinks that mazes are the most interactive “games” on paper. There is no need to use dice or a computer mouse. You need only your eyes to enjoy a maze. “Maps, for me, are like open mazes. There’s no start and finish but still roads to explore and places to find,” he says.

A combined map of four cities that Tom Parker made for record company B’in Music for a tour by the band Accusefive. Parker’s maps offer careful observers an abundance of surprises. (courtesy of Tom Parker)  

Second home

Married to a Taiwanese woman since 2018, Parker often walks from Zhongshan Elementary School to the Taipei Arena to have lunch with his wife. These walks have opened his eyes to the daily lives of Taipei people, inspiring him to create a series of artworks portraying Taiwanese themes.

In Parker’s eyes, Taiwan is full of greenery, be it in the countryside or in the cities. There is a small park every few streets, and many households have potted plants on their balconies.

Parker’s art is full of minute and intricate details. He thinks that this elaborate style originates in his perfectionism. 

(courtesy of Pintoo)

Vibrant visions

Parker’s Map of Taipei originally comprises more than 20 A4-size hand-drawn images, each of which took at least a fortnight to finish. Even so, he says there are many interesting things that had to be left out, such as a motor­bike laden with five gas bottles or a scooter carrying an entire family. Along with other amusing vignettes of Taiwanese life, including a drenched male scooter driver with a woman dressed in a raincoat sitting behind him, these have been turned into stickers.

100 Taiwan Scooters is a crowdfunded project Parker has recently completed. The project was actually an “accident,” he recalls. His stickers included four little scooters, and he joked on social media that he could “easily do 100.”

He never thought that his online fans would take this comment seriously. Nor did he know that the project would turn out to be so popular. After drawing more than ten types of scooters and motorbikes, including those used by postmen, police, and vendors, he was already running out of ideas. Then photos of scooters on Taiwanese streets began to pour in from his fans—with riders going on a pilgrimage, getting married, or chasing after a garbage truck. He even received the same photo from five different people on one single day. So he felt obliged to see the project through. Nevertheless, he says that the process was immensely enjoyable.

Parker, however, feels “a bit scared” to ride a scooter on Taipei’s bustling streets and is content to sit on the back of his wife’s scooter. He tells us that it still feels “unreal” to be able to draw what he wants to draw, and to attract so many admirers. Perhaps it is because creative inspiration abounds in Taiwan, and interesting subjects are to be found everywhere on these islands. Perhaps it is also because artists receive warmer responses and greater appreciation here. 

Parker’s Taipenguins shows cute penguins exploring Taipei’s colorful nightlife. (courtesy of Tom Parker)