Pencil to Digital

"Digital Paint" Cedar Park, 2017
“Digital Paint” Cedar Park, 2017

こんばんは。Tonight’s post if of a digital painting I did, which started out from a pencil sketch. I wanted to practice drawing portraits from a 3/4 view angle, so I watched a few video tutorials and then gave it a go. The first sketch (see bottom photo) was okay, but had my typical “mannequin” style. And I was not thrilled about the hairstyle either, even though my favorite is short hair “bob” cuts.

My second attempt at a 3/4 pose turned out better. I’m still trying to figure out how my process was different, but I guess when I drew the second one, I was a little freer drawing the underlining structure, I drew the features larger and gave the face a little more shape. And I really like the long hairstyle with bangs.

After I did the pencil sketch, I scanned it and did some coloring in Photoshop. I wanted to do it quickly, but got into it and took a few hours. I guess I could work on it more, but I’ll leave it at this.

I’m not so great at drawing smooth curves in Photoshop, but I love using the pen tool and create vector paths to fill and erase. It’s really fun, and I kind of get the look I want. I’m excited to do more of this. In fact, I am going to go even more vector and work in Illustrator to create the shapes for the next one.

"Pencil Sketch" Cedar Park, 2017
“Pencil Sketch” Cedar Park, 2017
"3/4" Cedar Park, 2017
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/4, 1/125 sec, ISO1600
“3/4” 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 day!

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

Mannequin Tonight?

"Different Angle" Cedar Park, 2017
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/3.2, 1/125 sec, ISO2000
“Different Angle” Cedar Park, 2017

こんばんは。How’s it going? Tonight’s sketch (above) is one I am happy with, and got me back on track! Last night, I sketched a portrait (below) in which I went full mechanical, and measured out each element… but wow, it looks so wrong:

"Not Working" Cedar Park, 2017
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/4.5, 1/125 sec, ISO5000
“Not Working” Cedar Park, 2017

I mean, it looks extremely unnatural, doesn’t it? This is actually how most of my old drawings looked. Vaguely mannequin-like. In fact, I was thinking that my portraits could be rated on how mannequin-like they look. I don’t know… maybe it’s the plastic hair, or the glassy eyes, or the weird eyebrows, or the shape of the face which reminds me of an upside-down onigiri. 🍙

Well, tonight I decided to draw another portrait, but from a slightly different angle. I didn’t measure as much as last night, and I think it turned out pretty good! I used the compass to draw a circle, divided it into quarters, then a couple more horizontal lines so I could keep things level, and voila!

It’s weird, but in drawing these basic portraits, I sometimes revert to my old style (the mannequin) and sometimes sketch with the new style. Happily, the more I practice, the fewer times the mannequins come out to play. 😆

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

Break Time Vroom Vroom

"Mid-day Ride" Cedar Park, 2016
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/4.5, 1/900 sec, ISO200
“Mid-day Ride” Cedar Park, 2016

こんばんは。How’s it going?
Wednesdays I usually work from home, and lunch break on these days means going for a ride on my motorbike. It’s so fun to ride my 650 GS because it is pretty nimble bike so making quick turns while simply navigating the traffic circles is a blast. It feels like I’m carving through the chicanes at CotA! Okay, that might be a slight exaggeration, but not by much. 😆

By the way, I have a motorbike blog too in case you are interested. I’d be happy if you bookmarked Motofuji.net and checked it out sometime!

Hope you had a nice Wednesday!

おやすみ