“Simple Curry” Cedar Park, 2017
Mariko made a nice beef curry with onion, potato, and jalapeño. Over hot rice, it’s hard to beat! 🍛
Simple Yummy
“Simple Curry” Cedar Park, 2017
Tag: food
“Simple Curry” Cedar Park, 2017
Slow Sunday Activities
“Cat in the Corner” Cedar Park, 2017
こんばんは。
It was a relaxing Sunday at our house. Just check out the photo of Anko – she has the right idea!
I did do a few chores around the house and yard, such as folding laundry, washing the bedding, and some light tree-pruning, but even those tasks were done at a slow pace. Unrushed tasks are not really chores at all anymore. In fact, they can be kind of fun. But, sometimes I realize how pleasant they can be only after the task is done. So I am trying to get that mindset before I start the task, which will motivate me to get started on them.
In the evening I played a ton of Splatoon on our Wii U. I’m terrible at that game but it’s a ton of fun. Even getting splatted by other players is hilarious! What I like about the game is that even for someone who has terrible aim in shooters, there are “weapons” that don’t require a ton of accuracy, or have different purposes other than just splatting other players. For instance, I love the paint rollers because they can cover a lot of ground in paint, and the attack is very imprecise. It’s good for someone like me who is accuracy-challenged.
“Battle Ready” Cedar Park, 2017
For dinner, I barbequed hamburgers on the grill. I tried a new technique for me, which is to not put the cheese on the burgers while they are on the grill. Instead, remove the cooked burgers to a plate, and then put the cheese on them while the patties rest. The cheese will still melt, but the grill won’t become a cheesy mess. It worked great… definitely the better way to make cheeseburgers! 🍔
I hope you had a nice Sunday. Here’s a nice relaxing tune from Splatoon. My favorite!
おやすみ
Champuru and Nikujaga
“Champuru” Cedar Park, 2017
“Nikujaga” Cedar Park, 2017
❤️ tonight’s dinner.
I hope you had a good day. Hoping things get better for Houston and south Texas. Donate if you can.
Takoyaki, a New Pencil, and an Edit
“Takoyaki Dinner” Cedar Park, 2017
こんばんは。How’s it going?
Our younger son requested takoyaki for dinner, so we got out the electric takoyaki pan and cooked up a few batches. If you don’t know what takoyaki is, it’s a ball of batter, filled with octopus and other small ingredients (we also add cheese) and cooked into what looks like a donut hole. It’s then topped with a sweet sauce, Japanese mayo, green seaweed flakes, and dried bonito flakes. It’s a popular dish in Japan, and originated in Osaka. Since Mariko is from Osaka, I think she’s got natural talent in making Takoyaki! 😀
I received a nice little goodie in the mail today: a Kuru Toga mechanical pencil. The special thing about this pencil is that it has a mechanism which will rotate the lead slightly each time you lift the pencil from the paper, thus ensuring the lead is always sharp, or at least has a consistent angle. I tried it out for a little while, and it seems to work!
“New Pencil” Cedar Park, 2017
My Amazon order actually came from Japan, so it took a couple weeks, but it was only around $4.50 US, with free shipping! I excitedly showed Mariko the pencil, but she was unimpressed… letting me know that Bay has had a Kuru Toga for a few years already. 🙄
Later this evening, I scanned in last night’s sketch and did my usual edit in Photoshop. Basically, I cut and paste the nose, mouth, and eyes, then adjust the position, size, and angle of each to what feels right to me. I can use that information on my next drawing so that I can get closer to my ideal sketch. And even though I have only started using this technique, I think it helps! For this latest sketch, I didn’t have to edit too much… just a pixel here and there, and resizing the eye on the left a little. The top image is the before, and the bottom is the edit. Can you see the difference?
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 Monday!
またね～
Pasta and a Sketch
“Homemade Pasta” Cedar Park, 2017
こんばんは。How’s it going?
Tonight Mariko and her friend made pasta from scratch using our Kitchen-Aid mixer with the pasta attachment. In the photo above, you can see the pasta hanging on an old laundry rack. 😂 The pasta was yummy and had a really nice texture. It was a nice change of pace from the store bought dry pasta, that’s for sure! 🍝
After dinner, I sat down and sketched another small portrait. This time I started with the face shape and then filled in the features using a technique of dividing up a circle and creating rectangles to get the proportions for the eyes. I like how it turned out, but I think the mouth and nose need to be brought up a tiny bit.
One thing I spent a lot of time on was the hair. I tried to give it a little more shape and I think I was successful. But we’ll see if I feel the same way tomorrow when I look at it again with fresh eyes.
“After-dinner Sketch” 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 nice weekend!
おやすみ
