Tan Peng Hooi is perhaps one of Penang art’s best kept secrets, being versatile in painting almost any subjects – nudes, flowers (orchids and lotus), landscapes, fishing villages and harbours, animals, fowls and birds. His specialty is creating the atmospheric backdrop effect similar to that of Lee Man Fong. He is particularly noted for his paintings of feathered friends, evident in his solos in 1967, 1968 and 1970. The feathered brood is often shown as a family, with the cockerel preening himself and the little chicks sticking close to the mother hen.