Drawing Hands (Practice)

"Drawing Hands" Cedar Park, 2018
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/2.8, 1/100 sec, ISO640
“Drawing Hands” Cedar Park, 2018

こんにちは!How’s it going?

I still have a lot to learn about drawing, but one thing I’ve never been decent at depicting are hands. In fact, I avoid them whenever I can! So last night I decided to tackle the problem and devoted a bit of time watching some videos and practicing and I think I made a lot of improvement. Which is probably not a huge deal because my previous drawings of hands were horrendous. 😝 But it was a lot of fun practicing, and so satisfying to actually get better. My first attempts were pretty bad (and honestly a bit discouraging), but persistence pays off, and by the end of the hour or so, the claws started to look like human hands.

Speaking about improvement, I think I’ve gotten a lot better about breaking through frustration, discouragement, and setbacks when learning new things. For instance, in my ukulele practice, I don’t have a lot of natural talent, nor rhythm, but sticking with it has paid off for me. I’m still not great, but there is a definite improvement and I have a lot more fun practicing knowing that every minute I play is not wasted – it’s like taking small steps on the long journey of improvement.

I have a quote written down by an artist that goes something like, “No line drawn is ever wasted.” I love that! Even a sketchbook page with bad drawings is valuable. You don’t even need to keep those drawings (declutter those!). Just the fact that you made the

These are the two videos I watched. The bottom video is the one I watched first, but the top video is the one I this is is better to begin with (at least for me). It’s also super funny and relatable. The bottom video is great in that it teaches about proportion and the digits Please take a look!

またね~

Sunset [Snapshot]

"Nice Sunset" Cedar Park, 2018
Photo info: SONY NEX-6, 16mm, f/4, 1/60 sec, ISO400
“Nice Sunset” Cedar Park, 2018

こんばんは。How’s it going?

This evening I took Bay to get his haircut, and on the way back we saw this in the sky. I gave Bay my Sony NEX-6 which we keep in the glove compartment and asked him to get the shot and I think the photo turned out nicely! The shape of this cloud reminds me a little bit of a chidori (plover) bird.

I hope you had a nice day!

またね~

Daily Habits

"Activities" Cedar Park, 2018
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/2.8, 1/100 sec, ISO1250
“Activities” Cedar Park, 2018

こんばんは。How’s it going?

I wanted to mention the daily habits that have been part of my life lately, the newest one being the daily drawing.

  • Drawing – Pencil sketching, ink on paper, or digital art. I still haven’t found a “signature style”, but I am definitely getting closer.
  • Japanese StudyAnki vocabulary cards these days. Sometimes I will crack open the Genki textbook, but at the very least, I will review and build my flashcard sets.
  • Ukulele – So much fun! The past week my wrist has been hurting a lot so I am going light on the ukulele practice, but I definitely want to learn Christmas Time is Here before December 25th.
  • Exercise/Stretching – Neck stretches, squats, planking, or running.
  • Decluttering – I throw out/donate at least one thing per day. Lately, it’s been pencils and pens that I don’t use, and old books are going into the Goodwill pile.

I hope you had a good day!

またね~

Spicy Fish

"Spicy Fish" Cedar Park, 2018
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/3.6, 1/125 sec, ISO5000
“Spicy Fish” Cedar Park, 2018

こんばんは。How’s it going?

Tonight we made a spicy fish dish for dinner. When I was in Shanghai, I bought a packet of seasoning mix and tonight was the night we finally prepared it. However, the instructions are all in Chinese (of course) and we couldn’t figure out the kanji. Luckily I contacted a coworker via Slack who is originally from Suzhou, and she helped translate for us. Whew!

I have to say, the dish turned out pretty good. Even though we didn’t use all the peppercorns nor chili flakes, it was still really spicy! I honestly don’t know if the spice mix was of good quality, but it was a nice change of pace. And both boys ate their fill, which surprised me a bit. Good for them. 😊

I hope you had a nice Tuesday!

またね~