More than 500 students let their brushes do the talking at the Singapore River yesterday.

They were taking part in the 13th edition of the National Junior On-the-Spot Watercolour Competition.

Among them were Fuhua Secondary School students Donovan Dua, 14, Zou Muyan, 15, and Kwa Jun Hao, 14.

The event was organised by the Singapore Watercolour Society to celebrate its 50th anniversary and commemorate Singapore's bicentennial.

Students were asked to pick a scene to paint around the Singapore River. A total of 33 winners were selected.

The winning works will be exhibited at the society's annual exhibition to be held at the Singapore Chinese Cultural Centre from Sept 15 to Sept 20.

They will be featured alongside 200 works produced by more than 120 members of the Singapore Watercolour Society.

Mr Donald Tan, the vice-president of the Singapore Watercolour Society, said: "We chose the Singapore River for this year's competition as we wanted the students to explore and capture this beautiful location and allow students to visit a historically significant site.

"The Singapore River is also a favourite painting spot of our group's founding members and pioneer artists."

He added that the competition is among the group's efforts to introduce and promote watercolour as a painting medium to students. It also hopes to instil the importance of art in young Singaporeans, as well as to unearth young talent.