Khalil Ibrahim made heads turned on his return from studies in England in September 1966. He held his first two solo exhibitions at Samat Gallery, Kuala Lumpur, in batik painting and watercolours, and he started with his trademark Fishermen Series first in batik. He headed to Kelantan to research the medium, and produced batik works from 1968 until the 1970s. He gave demonstrations all over the world including in Australia, Germany (Cologne), Singapore and Paris (Maisons et Jardins). His batik incorporated the cracked and crinkled effects and he later dabbled with cut newspapers collage technique developed separately and independently by fellow East Coastian Seah Kim Joo, now a Singaporean. This batik work is a tangle of brown limbs of half-naked fishermen mending and sorting nets, interspersed with bobbing headdress and sarong. What is unusual is the comical grimace of the man at the top, probably accidentally knocked on the face by a zealous fellow worker. Khalil's batiks are doing exceptionally well in auctions with the works going for six-digits apiece. Khalil Ibrahim is known to be one of the best southpaw artists in the world like Pablo Picasso, Henri de Tolouse-Lautrec, Paul Klee and M.C. Escher. His tutelage at St. Martins School of Art in London gave him a strong foundations in figure, abstract and landscapes-urban scenes. In 2004, he celebrated 50 years of painting in the A Continued Dialogue exhibition at Galeri Petronas, Kuala Lumpur. He was a co-founder of the Malaysian Watercolour Society, and featured in its painting expeditions in Sweden and India. He was the first Malaysian to have a solo in Indonesia in 1970.