I wanted to let you know about a page I created that is focused on where I have traveled, and where I would like to travel to in the future. It’s called “Travel Checklist” and you can get to it from the navigation menu “List Love” at the top of the page.
I’ve also created a “Nomad Map” which links to some of my blog posts that are about travel destinations. It was fun to put the map together, and I’m looking forward to adding more! Check it out:
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/4.5, 1/100 sec, ISO1600 “Yakisoba Dinner” Cedar Park, 2017
こんばんは。How’s it going?
Tonight Mariko made a huge portion of yakisoba for the family. Our younger son (13) eats a lot these days, but he’s still so skinny. I think he had maybe 4 servings!
We have a really awesome electric hotplate, which has a number of different pans, including a yakiniku grill. It also has a water pan underneath so that things don’t get too messy. But tonight (and two nights ago) we just used the flat pan. It’s so nice to be able to cook right at the table! 😀
After dinner I sketched a bit while we watched the Dodger game. I wasn’t too happy with the previous night’s drawing. It looks really weird and the proportions and spacing are unnatural looking:
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/4.5, 1/100 sec, ISO2500 “Ugh” Cedar Park, 2017
The arrows indicate where things should move… but even after I did that digitally, it still looked wrong. Very stiff. So… I decided to look at the sketches of my favorite digital artist Ilya Kuvshinov to see how it should be done.
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/4.5, 1/100 sec, ISO3200 “Better” Cedar Park, 2017
I used one of his drawings as a reference to figure out the proportions and spacing, and I think I learned a lot. What is surprising to me is that I would have never drawn the face shape like Ilya does. So this is a real eye-opener! It’s so interesting to see where the curves of the cheek change direction. I need to take note of that. The shape I have been using in my sketches looks like a boring almond. But the face that I copied has a much more interesting shape, doesn’t it?
I also used a ruler to keep things level and centered, and also used a circle stencil to draw the irises. I think it makes a huge difference… especially the circles.
Tomorrow I would like to continue with this sketch and later try to replicate it without looking at a reference drawing and see if I can remember the proportions and face shape.
I’m really enjoying sketching, especially faces. It’s so fun! There’s a lot to take note of and remember when I look at drawings that I like. It’s difficult but really interesting and challenging to see the spatial relationships between different elements.
And learning new things makes me feel pretty good. I’m not sure why that is exactly, but I want to keep doing it.
To see all the sketches I’ve been working on, you can check out the Flickr album “My Sketching Journey”, or my Instagram account barron.sketches which I created just for posting sketches, watercolors, and stationery items.
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/11, 1/500 sec, ISO3200 “Dragon Eating the Sun” Cedar Park, 2017
こんばんは。How’s it going?
Today was an interesting one for us in the US. We all got to view the eclipse! Some of us were able to see a total eclipse, but down here in Austin, the maximum cover up of the sun was about 64%. Still, it was amazing!
The photo above is a close crop of the eclipse as seen through some eclipse glasses, and captured with my Fujifilm X100T. Down below is our driveway mini-party, and the final picture is of a pinhole viewing box that I made.
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/11, 1/500 sec, ISO1250 “Eclipse Party” Cedar Park, 2017Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/11, 1/100 sec, ISO320 “Pinhole” Cedar Park, 2017
I have several friends who are really into astronomy and traveled north so they could experience the total eclipse. On the other hand, I other friends who weren’t impressed by the eclipse at all. I would say I am pretty enthusiastic about this chance, and even though the eclipse has been over for several hours, I am still riding a high. 😎☀️🌙 It was so strange and wonderful to see how little the sun and moon looked today. I loved it.
I am really looking forward to 2013 where we’ll see a 90% eclipse in Austin, and then the following year, we’ll see a total eclipse! It’s going to be awesome!
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/2.8, 1/100 sec, ISO200 “Watercolor Tree” Cedar Park, 2017
こんばんは。How’s it going?
Tonight I did a little bit of editing on these sketches, just like I did a couple nights ago. I am sensing a pattern here… I tend to draw faces too long (my opinion) which means I should take care to pay more attention to that when I am doing my sketches. Of course, I can edit them in Photoshop, but it’s better to get it right when I put it on paper. Sort of like it’s better to get things right in-camera rather than relying on fixing things in post.
Anyways, here are the before and after versions of the sketches.
To see all the sketches I’ve been working on, you can check out the Flickr album “My Sketching Journey”, or my Instagram account barron.sketches which I created just for posting sketches, watercolors, and stationery items.
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/3.2, 1/100 sec, ISO1600 “Korean Meal” Cedar Park, 2017
Hi! Just a quick post with photos of our Korean-style dinner. It had chicken, cabbage, carrots, mochi, and mushrooms in a sweet and spicy Korean chili paste. We also added cheese, and then later, rice to make a really nice fried rice. It was pretty dang tasty. 😀
Hope you had a nice Saturday!
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/3.6, 1/100 sec, ISO1250 “Assembling on the Hotplate” Cedar Park, 2017Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/3.2, 1/100 sec, ISO640 “Almost Cooked” Cedar Park, 2017Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/3.2, 1/100 sec, ISO2500 “Cheesy” Cedar Park, 2017
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/5, 1/110 sec, ISO6400 “Watching Dorama” Cedar Park, 2017
こんばんは。How’s it going?
It was a looong week for me at work. So busy and lots of things on the horizon. But it’s good and I am thankful that I have a career (graphic design and branding) that is interesting and I enjoy.
But after this week, I was looking forward to a night of relaxation, and so poured a glass of wine, put on a Japanese drama, and watched all five episodes.
Coffee-ya no Hitobito / 珈琲屋の人々 is a story of an ex-con who runs a small coffee shop in Tokyo, and the relationship that develops between him and the widow of the man he killed. It sounds like a bizarro plot and circumstance, but the way the circumstances are developed is such that it is not such a stretch. Anyways, besides the main plot, there are other characters from the same shopping street who have their own intertwined stories. It’s a good human dorama, but I was thinking there would be more emotional moments. I’d rate it as “Somewhat recommended”. 😌
After that, I did a little doodling using the Wacom tablet and Krita, which was fun but difficult. I can definitely see that it’s something I want to do more of.
I scan all of my sketches that I’ve done this past month into my photo library for backup, and while importing this latest image, I decided to do a little editing in Photoshop and see if I could figure out why this portrait (the top image) is a little “off”.
I cut and pasted the nose and mouth, then moved them up a little bit, and I think it made a huge difference! Next, I reduced the width of her left eye a little, and then also changed the chin a touch. It was only a few pixel adjustment here and there but I think it changed the image a lot. Take a look at the before and after:
One last thing I’d like to change is where the neck is positioned. But that will have to wait until tomorrow.
I’m really stoked at the possibilities of using scanned images in Photoshop. So, start off pencil and paper, then bring into Photoshop or Krita for the digital adjustments. I think it might a good workflow for me.
To see all the sketches I’ve been working on, you can check out the Flickr album “My Sketching Journey”, or my Instagram account barron.sketches which I created just for posting sketches, watercolors, and stationery items.
I hope you had a wonderful Thursday!
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