Sandwich and a Sketch

"Laptop Heat" Austin, 2017
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/3.2, 1/105 sec, ISO200
“Laptop Heat” Austin, 2017

こんばんは。How’s it going? We made it through the week! 👏

Today’s photo is of my wrapped up sandwich. I don’t like to eat cold sandwiches, so I took it out from the office fridge and leaned it up against my laptop, where the fan blows hot air. In a few minutes (and one turn over) the sandwich is at a nice temperature. It kind of reminds me of cooking food on a car’s engine… but a lot less extreme.

This evening I worked on another portrait, but this time a 3/4 view. I was looking at a reference drawing from an amazing artist, Asia Ladowska, to work on the hair and the pose. I have a lot of trouble getting the eyes to match up, so after I got it close on paper, I took the sketch into Photoshop and adjusted the size and positioning of both eyes. The result is below, and you can see the original sketch at the bottom of this post.

"Adjusted Reference" Cedar Park, 2017
“Adjusted Reference” Cedar Park, 2017

I blogged a bit before about the “mannequin” look that my sketches often take, and you can see that in the original drawing below. With the adjustments in Photoshop, the portrait above is much more “manga” style, which I really like. It’s still not where I want it to be, but it’s progress.

I try to keep the phrase, “A line drawn is never wasted” in my mind, especially when the results are not going the way I would like them to.

"Original Reference" Cedar Park, 2017
“Original Reference” 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 Friday!

おやすみ

Sunrise and a Sketch

"Sunrise" Austin, 2017
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/3.2, 1/60 sec, ISO400
“Sunrise” Austin, 2017

Can you see all those birds? It’s amazing and frightening to see them all… 😱

This evening I sketched another portrait. I’m getting faster at doing these little sketches… I’d say it took about 30 minutes, and I only used a compass for the initial circle, and one ruler center line. The rest was by hand, so I’m improving on that front. 😀

"Evening Sketch" Cedar Park, 2017
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/3.2, 1/15 sec, ISO800
“Evening Sketch” Cedar Park, 2017

I still need to figure out how to draw hair. It’s really hard! But fun to think about the best way. And research too. I really enjoy 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.

I hope you had a nice Tuesday!

おやすみ

October is Here Already?

"Autumn" Cedar Park, 2017
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/3.2, 1/35 sec, ISO800
“Autumn” Cedar Park, 2017
"Fresh Bread" Cedar Park, 2017
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/3.2, 1/60 sec, ISO800
“Fresh Bread” Cedar Park, 2017
"Relaxing Cats" Cedar Park, 2017
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/5.6, 1/40 sec, ISO800
“Relaxing Cats” Cedar Park, 2017

Sad to see summer go, but will be a nice change of pace! 🍂🎃

Sunday and a Sketch

"Morning Sunshine" Cedar Park, 2017
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/2.8, 1/60 sec, ISO640
“Morning Sunshine” Cedar Park, 2017

こんばんは。How’s it going?

Today was super-busy, even for a Sunday! I woke up at a good time, 7:30 AM, which was first in the house, and made coffee, then got to work on the day’s activities:

  • Update our friends’ restaurant website with new menu items
  • Cook breakfast for the kids
  • Yard work
  • Splatoon break!
  • Update Mariko’s website header image
  • Drop off Koa at the movies
  • Take Bay to get his haircut
  • Stop by the bookstore to sell some books
  • Buy canned goods at the market for school donation
  • Pick up Koa from the movies
  • Work on Mariko’s website some more

And that was the day!

Well, almost… I did spend some time finishing a sketch I started the other day. Basically, I cleaned up the lines, and figured out how to draw the hair where it meets the scalp, and also after a bunch of trial and error, I drew the part in the hair. I think it looks pretty good!

By the way, today is the first day of October, so Inktober is starting. I will not be taking part in it, but I hope to see some cool artwork.

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!

またね~

Workspace Decor

"Workspace" Austin, 2017
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/2.8, 1/125 sec, ISO2500
“Workspace” Austin, 2017

こんばんは。

It’s interesting to me how people decorate their workspaces at the office. Not so much in how they do it, but the fact that some people don’t decorate at all. Most of my coworkers put up small framed photos of their family and/or pets, maybe a nice landscape or motivational meme, a houseplant, or even flowers (real or fake). But other people have absolutely nothing. And by nothing, I mean the desk is completely bare of any personal items, even pens or notebooks. It basically looks like no one works at that desk. It’s odd but fascinating!

As for my workspace, I have things that help me in my job: color palette, stickies with image size specs that we often use, pens, pencils, notepads, and Pantone book. And then I have my personal items: Instax photos, funny sticky notes people have left over the years, memes, and Tech Deck skateboard toy. It’s not a whole lot, but I guess having these things connects me to the company a bit more if that makes any sense.

Anyways, that’s all. 😌

I hope you had a nice Friday!

おやすみ

Having Work Done

"Fence Work" Cedar Park, 2017
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/4.5, 1/125 sec, ISO2000
“Fence Work” Cedar Park, 2017

こんばんは。How’s it going?

At our house yesterday, we had two groups of service people working. The first is the fence repair crew, who are installing a replacement fence because our old one got blown down by tropical storm Harvey, which devastated Houston. Even though we are quite far from there, the storm reached up to Austin with heavy rains and high winds.

We’re looking forward to the new fence, which will be a lot stronger and nicer than the original one that came with the house. Those fences are of notoriously poor quality, and we’ve already replaced it on the other side of the house. I am surprised that this side’s fence has lasted 12 years!

Another bit of work I had done was on my car. There is a hose in the engine compartment that has been leaking for a while now and I finally decided to get it fixed. Luckily, I have a contact with some mechanics who make house calls. I can order all the parts online, and then the mechanics will install for me, so I just pay them for labor. It works out nicely because they come in the evenings to work. Super convenient!

Anyways, just some basic life-stuff happening. 😀

Hope you had a nice Thursday!

おやすみ

Idol Nite 4

"Snacks and Glow Sticks" Austin, 2017
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/3.2, 1/125 sec, ISO1000
“Snacks and Glow Sticks” Austin, 2017

こんばんは。How’s it going?

This evening I went to my friend’s house for our annual “Idol Nite”, which is where we drink saké, eat Japanese snacks, and watch Japanese idols’ music videos and variety shows. This was the 4th time we’ve done this, and maybe the most fun! First, we watched a video which chronicled Morning Musume’s lineups from the very beginning up to present day. It was really cool to see the progression, and of course, there was the expert commentary from Mikey.

But the real highlights for me were the Kikkawa You (吉川友) videos. She’s really cool!

Here are a couple that we enjoyed. The first one is very “Lost in Translation”, and the second is very “Instagrammy”. I love both of them!

I hope you had a great Friday!

おやすみ