Images of the camaraderie of fishermen working together first appeared in Khalil Ibrahim’s batiks before translated into watercolour on paper and acrylic on canvas. The early works were mainly configurations of the half-naked fishermen save for their sarung hiked to the knees, and the black bobs that pass for the hair. Khalil experimented with batik in late 1968 until the late 1970s, and gave demonstrations in Australia, France, Germany and Singapore. His batik works have sold in the six digits in auctions. Khalil Ibrahim was awarded a Pahang State scholarship to study for his National Diploma of Design in Fine Arts at St Martin’s School of Art and Design in London, 1963, postgraduate 1965. On his return in September 1966, he decided to become a fulltime artist. In his double solo at the Samat Art Gallery in 1970, he exhibited his batiks and his London works. Khalil was a co-founder of the Malaysian Watercolour Society.