Escape from the Heat

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"Battle Ready" Cedar Park, 2017
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/2.2, 1/320 sec, ISO200
 “Battle Ready” Cedar Park, 2017

こんばんは。

It’s 10 PM right now, and the temperature outside is still so hot: 91° F / 32° C! So you can imagine how hot it was in mid-day… in fact, we broke a record here when it hit 106° F / 41° C this afternoon. That’s just crazy… So, we didn’t spend much time in the great outdoors today. The only time was this morning when it was still pleasant. Mariko and I washed the windows that look out onto our deck. It actually felt pleasant this morning!

Today’s photo is of some Splatoon Amiibos that we have. Lots of people are playing Splatoon 2, which seems like a good idea for a hot day like today. Unfortunately, we don’t own a Nintendo Switch so we can only dream…　I really want to get a Switch but I can’t really justify it since we don’t play many games. The only game I play now is Pokemon GO! and that’s just a super-casual thing. In fact, I mainly like to collect Pokemon, and I especially treasure the ones that I caught in far-off lands. 😀

I hope you had a nice, cool day!

おやすみ！

Tapas Watercolor

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"Boquerones Watercolor" Cedar Park, 2017
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/3.2, 1/100 sec, ISO2000
 “Boquerones Watercolor” Cedar Park, 2017

こんばんは。How’s it going?

Wow, the weeks are flying by so fast, aren’t they? This evening I did a quick sketch of some tapas that we enjoyed in Granada. That fortune cookie on the left side is actually supposed to be a lemon. 😅

I used my Micron pen to outline the fish and then watercolored over. I am not sure I like the pen on this painting. I wonder what it would look like with just watercolor?

After I finished the tapas painting, I sketched a bunch of eyes and faces (or parts of faces). I filled my Pilot Metropolitan fountain pen with Iroshizuku Chiku-rin ink for the larger green face. I really like the ink color! But my favorite is the bright blue Ama-iro ink. I love it!

"Practice" Cedar Park, 2017
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/2.5, 1/100 sec, ISO2000
 “Practice” Cedar Park, 2017
"Messy Desk" Cedar Park, 2017
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/2.5, 1/100 sec, ISO500
 “Messy Desk” Cedar Park, 2017

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 great week!

またね～

Ink Please

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"Need Ink" Cedar Park, 2017
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/3.2, 1/75 sec, ISO3200
 “Need Ink” Cedar Park, 2017

こんばんは。How’s it going?

I worked on another drawing today, but want to fill the hair black with ink, but I don’t have any… I only have line pens and when I tried earlier, it didn’t looks so smooth. So, I ordered a bottle of ink. Not sure if I should use a brush or not, but will give it a go!

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 nice day.

またね～

Adding Color

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"Marrakech Sketch" Cedar Park, 2017
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/3.2, 1/80 sec, ISO3200
 “Marrakech Sketch” Cedar Park, 2017

こんばんは。Tonight after I practiced drawing more eyes (not so happy with those) I applied some color to a couple Marrakech sketches. I’m not thrilled about how they came out, but I suppose they are ok. I am still having trouble finding a nice grey that I like. The ones in the first sketch are too green. However, I’d rather make greys by combining colors instead of using the grey or black paint. You can see in the painting below, in which I used the black in the shop interior and around the tires of the car. It doesn’t have as much character as a mixed color would have.

"Cool Van" Cedar Park, 2017
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/3.2, 1/90 sec, ISO3200
 “Cool Van” Cedar Park, 2017

One thing I do like is the detail that using the white gel pen adds. I put a little detail into the paintings in some of the dishes and signs. It’s a nice effect. 🙂

I see a couple things I want to fix in these two, especially the mis-spelling of “Marrakech”. 😯

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 nice day!

またね～

Eyes are Difficult

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"Pens & Brushes vs. Kitty" Cedar Park, 2017
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/4, 1/75 sec, ISO3200
 “Pens & Brushes vs. Kitty” Cedar Park, 2017

こんばんは。How’s it going?

This evening I practiced a bit of digital sketching using our Wacom tablet and a free software program called Krita. I have also been using Photoshop to draw, but Krita is more fun for a beginner like me. It’s lightweight, responsive, and the stock drawing tools are really nice! I just started and it’s difficult to create anything that looks decent yet, but it’s still fun.

On paper, I practiced drawing eyes from different angles. I am getting better, I think, but it still takes a lot of erasing to get something that I am happy with. And then if I like one eye, then the other eye has to match. Then add in the proper position of the eyebrows, nose, and mouth and so much can go wrong! 🐷

"Eye Practice" Cedar Park, 2017
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/3.2, 1/75 sec, ISO3200
 “Eye Practice” Cedar Park, 2017

Anyways, I enjoy sketching, and I know that even bad drawings are helping to improve my technique. Just gotta keep at it!

The photo at the top of this post is of a little kitty figurine that Mariko and Bay bought for me in Japan. The tail can actually fit over the lip of a glass, but it also stands up nicely.

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 nice Tuesday.

またね～