Street artists and nostalgic oil paintings of Nha Trang

Ông Lộc chăm chú vẽ những bức tranh sơn dầu - Ảnh: TUYẾT BĂNG — Mr. Loc attentively paints oil paintings - Photo: TUYET BANG

The images of young women wearing Ao Dai standing at the foot of Po Nagar Tower, Nha Trang beach, fishing boats on Cai River... were painted by Mr. Nguyen Van Loc (57 years old, residing in Vinh Hiep commune, Nha Trang) with black and white oil paint with great depth.

Mr. Loc said that he used to be a local tour guide taking foreign tourists on motorbike tours.

So he can speak English, French and Russian.

Then the COVID-19 pandemic hit and turned his life upside down, so he turned to painting to make a living and has been doing it for nearly 3 years now.

"I didn't learn to draw in any school, I was only guided by an older brother in drawing with pencil and sketching. I learned how to draw details and landscapes by myself.

My paintings are in oil and only in black and white. These paintings are based on my memories of Nha Trang before 1964, because I was born and raised here," said Mr. Loc.

Mr. Loc said that tourists really like these paintings, and he can sell about 3-4 paintings a day. He used to display more paintings, but now restaurants and supermarkets are crowded together, so he can only choose to sit in one spot under a tree on the sidewalk.

Góc bán ảnh khiêm tốn trên lề đường — Modest photo booth on the sidewalk

Thiếu nữ mặc áo dài, người đạp xích lô trên góc đường Trần Phú đầy hoang sơ — Young girl in ao dai, cyclo driver on the deserted corner of Tran Phu street

Thuyền đánh cá trên vịnh Nha Trang — Fishing boat in Nha Trang Bay

"I sell all day, because I can communicate with tourists, so when they ask about the content of the painting, I can introduce it. Many tourists who buy paintings see me as a friend who sits and talks with me all day," Mr. Loc confided.

According to him, this painting cannot be finished immediately because the oil paint takes a long time to dry. In addition, the painting must have soul and emotion in it so that customers will see it and be attracted to it and want to buy it.

Coming to see and choose to buy a painting, Ms. Le Thu Uyen (a tourist from Ha Giang) shared: "I came to Nha Trang for tourism and wanted to buy something as a souvenir. On the whole street, there was only one man sitting and drawing very attentively. When I looked at the painting, I felt very peaceful, so I bought it to support him."