Tag: postaday

Erasing and Re-Drawing

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"Sketch Practice" Cedar Park, 2017
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/2.5, 1/125 sec, ISO2000
 “Sketch Practice” Cedar Park, 2017

Last night I made a sketch using the same technique as the night before: create a perfect circle using the compass, divide it using a straight-edge, and then add the features. It’s funny because I measured out pretty accurately where the eyes, nose, and mouth sit within the circle, and also measured the chin, but the ensuing sketch was way off! It looked very compressed. So I erased the nose, mouth, and chin, and lowered those by a millimeter or two, and redrew them. I think it turned out a lot better!

I thought the face shape was still a little too short, so I brought the sketch into Photoshop and lengthened the face even more. However, when I did that, although it looked perhaps more proportionately ideal, the face lost a lot of its character. At least that’s how it seemed to me.

Anyways, I was thinking about how I sketched out the nose and mouth the first time, and while those two features looked good to me, the position was off. I used to be hesitant to erase elements that I put some effort into thinking that it was a shame and a waste. But now, I am getting faster at re-drawing, so it’s not such a big deal to erase.

I watch a lot of speed drawing videos, and used to be surprised that an artist could spend a lot of time working on one portion of their drawing, and then later, just totally change or erase it! I was like “dang, but that was good!” But now I think I understand. I mean, they have probably drawn/painted these things hundreds of times, so the little elements that I find so precious are not anything special to them. They could re-draw it in less than a minute, after all, whereas I would spend a half an hour drawing, tweaking, erasing a bit, re-drawing, until I think it is good enough. (and many times, the next day I look at the drawing and think it is horrible!)

So I think I am making progress in my sketching in that I don’t feel any regrets about erasing. It’s part of the process, isn’t 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.

Happy sketching! 😀

Spoiled Again (with a Thai Dinner)

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"Thai Curry" Cedar Park, 2017
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/2.5, 1/125 sec, ISO1250
 “Thai Curry” Cedar Park, 2017

こんばんは。Tonight’s photos are of another delicious and beautiful dinner. I’ve said it several times before, but they kids and I are really spoiled by Mariko when it comes to the food we eat. It’s all so delicious, and Mariko enjoys cooking and trying new dishes. We are so fortunate!

My contribution to this evening’s dinner was a trip to the market to pick up some coconut milk. And of course doing the dishes, which I am happy to do. It’s a tiny price to pay for getting to eat these meals every night. 😌

"Pad Thai" Cedar Park, 2017
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/2.5, 1/125 sec, ISO1000
 “Pad Thai” Cedar Park, 2017

I hope you had a wonderful Tuesday!

おやすみ

More Sketching Study

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"2017.09.18 Sketch" Cedar Park, 2017
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/3.6, 1/125 sec, ISO2500
 “2017.09.18 Sketch” Cedar Park, 2017

こんばんは。How was your Monday?

Tonight I decided to do a little research into how people sketch out facial proportions, but my first attempt at following the directions turned out horrible… so I adjusted the system and I really like the results. Basically, I shortened the face a bit which is a bit more unrealistic, but it’s kind of the style of drawing that I like to see others do.

After I sketched it, I erased a lot of the guidelines and then realized that I should probably keep them for reference. Whoops! Anyways, I went back in with my ruler and measured out some of the distances. It’s not as easy to remember or calculate as the systems I found on Youtube but I am going to try to replicate it if I can.

Also, you can see in the photo that I used a compass. That was to draw the first circle, but what is more interesting is that this compass belongs to a set which I borrowed from my Dad when I was in high school and kind of kept it all these years. It is kept in an old leather case which smells so nice. Kind of old metal, lubricating oil, and felt… I don’t know, but it’s a smell that takes me back to when I was a kid.

Lastly, here’s a photo of my workspace, which I rearranged a bit by putting the scanner in the corner after we moved our printer to another room. It looks a bit cluttered, but normally the desk surface is clear. 

"Workspace" Cedar Park, 2017
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/3.6, 1/120 sec, ISO6400
 “Workspace” 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.

おやすみ and take care!

Coffee for a Busy Sunday

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"Instant Coffee" Cedar Park, 2017
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/2.5, 1/125 sec, ISO1250
 “Instant Coffee” Cedar Park, 2017

こんばんは。How’s it going?

Today I spent the bulk of my time working on my wife’s blog. She bought a new theme and it needed a lot of TLC to get it set up, and actually still needs a bunch of tweaking. But it’s up and running and functioning fine. I think it’s ready for her to take over and get used to using the new recipe widgets.

Thankfully I had a lot of coffee to keep me going! The photo above is of a big jar of instant coffee that my mother-in-law gave me. She knows I love coffee, and when we visit her house in Japan, I usually have one or two cups of instant each morning. So I guess she remembers that and always sends a big Nescafe back to the States for me. 😄

I don’t think instant coffee tastes so good, but it’s something I drink while on vacation so it gives me a good feeling! I’ll happily drink it anytime.

I hope you had a nice weekend and let’s have a great week!

おやすみ

Frozen Scallions

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"Making Eggs" Cedar Park, 2017
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/2.5, 1/125 sec, ISO1250
 “Making Eggs” Cedar Park, 2017

こんばんは。How’s it going?

Today’s photo is of the uncooked late breakfast I made for my son and his friend. My son likes to have green onions in his scrambled eggs (ever since my Mom made them for him a few years ago) and we now keep a Ziploc bag of chopped scallions in the freezer. It’s so convenient to just grab a little bit and throw into the eggs! I highly recommend doing this. 😀 Oh, and I also add a bit of heavy cream into the mix to give it a little extra richness.

This evening, my 16-year-old and I went to watch the Canelo/GGG boxing match at the movie theater. This is the second time we’ve done this and it’s pretty fun! It’s nice because the action is on the big screen and you can talk during the show! Also, the theater we went to serves beer, which is an extra plus. 🍻

But now, I’m very tired, and it’s actually 00:33 Sunday morning so I’ll say good night.

おやすみ

Chauffeuring and Sketching

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"Journal" Cedar Park, 2017
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/2.5, 1/125 sec, ISO2500
 “Journal” Cedar Park, 2017

こんばんは。How’s it going?

This evening was a busy one for me. I dropped my son and his friend off at a concert downtown, which meant a lot of driving! They had to be at the venue at 6:30 pm for a VIP meet-n-greet, then, of course, the concert lasted until after midnight, so I made a second trip to pick them up. But, the kids got to meet the band, saw the show from right in front of the stage, and had a great time. An hour and a half of chauffeuring is a small price to pay to give them a nice memory that will last a lifetime.

After I dropped them off, I stopped by BookPeople again and bought a few more small notebooks. I am planning on using them for my daily journaling. I started using a larger notebook recently for the journal, but since I decided to switch to the small notebooks, I cut out the two days I wrote in the large one and taped into the small one. It’s not pretty, but who cares?

"Ink Doodling" Cedar Park, 2017
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/2.5, 1/125 sec, ISO2000
 “Ink Doodling” Cedar Park, 2017

Back at home, I did some quick sketching using my LAMY Safari broad nib and Noodler’s Bulletproof black ink. It’s fun, although I don’t think I like any of the faces except the two in the bottom-left corner. But at least I did work on some eyebrows, and practice is good, right?

I also did a sketch looking at a reference sketch by @cyarine, who is an amazing artist. I love her work! I think drawing from reference photos is fun and helpful. It’s almost like getting into the mind of someone else… maybe not that much, but something like that. I guess?

"Reference Sketch" Cedar Park, 2017
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/2.5, 1/125 sec, ISO2000
 “Reference 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 evening!

おやすみ

🐱 Toast

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"Cat on Toast' Cedar Park, 2017
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/2.5, 1/50 sec, ISO6400
 “Cat on Toast’ Cedar Park, 2017

こんばんは。How’s it going?

Tonight’s photo is yet another one of our cats. But this one is a little different because Yuzu is relaxing on a giant piece of toast! It’s actually a really soft pillow but the illusion is really convincing, isn’t it?

This evening I spent some time working on a drawing on the computer. Specifically, I concentrated on using the pen tool in Photoshop to make smooth selections, then filled them with black. And then I had a little fun by making the skin a bright pink.

"Pink' Cedar Park, 2017
“Pink’ Cedar Park, 2017

The original sketch is one I did a few weeks ago, so if it looks familiar, that’s why. 😀

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 Thursday!

おやすみ