Alvin Mark Tan

Alvin Mark Tan is a traditional oil painter based in Singapore. He also illustrates in ink and watercolour.

A graphic design graduate from Woodbury University in Burbank, California, Alvin began his graphic design career with the Ministry of Defence in Singapore. Later, at Singapore Press Holdings, he branched out into advertising, environmental design and documentary-making. He also has an Animation diploma, with a focus in concept art.

After walking the Camino de Santiago in 2012, Alvin made a bold decision to sell and leave everything to study what he was always called to do - traditional oil painting. He graduated from Angel Academy of Art in Florence, Italy, where he studied Natural Realism under Maestro Michael John Angel for three years.

Apart from doing commissioned art works ranging from still lifes to portraits to ink sketches to wall murals, Alvin loves drawing directly from nature. He is often outdoors doing plein air paintings, on the streets urban sketching, or commute sketching in his travels. His goal in being a full-time artist is to encourage others to live out their vocations in life and to create a movement for realist oil painting here in Singapore.