Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/5, 1/100 sec, ISO2500 “Bowl of Pho” Cedar Park, 2017
こんばんは。How’s it going?
This evening we went out for dinner to a nearby Phở restaurant. I ordered the beef brisket phở which was so yummy! The broth was pretty tasty, and that was even before I added the basil, cilantro, bean sprouts, lime, and jalapeños. A touch of Hoisin and hot chili sauce and it was perfect!
When I was growing up, I never had phở. I had eaten lots of instant ramen growing up, and then enjoyed real restaurant ramen in my 20s. I even had a lot of Chinese noodle soups when I lived in Monterey Park. So yummy! Then I moved to Japan and was in ramen heaven. But still, I hadn’t had pho. In fact, I didn’t even know what phở was until we moved to Austin.
The first time I tried it, I didn’t like it. I thought it was bland and not satisfying at all. But after a couple of years, I came to enjoy Vietnamese noodles, especially egg noodle soup dishes. But now, I enjoy a bowl of beef phở most of all. It’s so hearty and warm, and of course, I like it spicy so the jalapeños are essential for me. A stinging tongue is what I love! 🔥
I think that ramen is still my go-to, but phở is a close second on my list of noodle dishes. 😅
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/4.5, 1/100 sec, ISO800 “Eraser Collection” Cedar Park, 2017
こんばんは。How’s it going?
Tonight’s photo is of the erasers I am currently using as I practice sketching. I have found that I spend a lot of time erasing and re-drawing lines in order to get them closer to what I like. It’s actually really fun to erase and re-draw. I think it’s the instant feedback which is satisfying to me.
I’ve been using the computer and digital cameras for many years now so it is refreshing to use pencil and paper once again. I find myself really getting into how the pencil lead angle gives either a sharp line or dull line, and how different amounts of pressure leave behind grooves on the paper that an eraser cannot remove. It’s fascinating to me to observe all these mundane things. Is it strange that I find it kind of fun too?
The erasers that I use are the plastic-type. To erase large areas, I like the Sakura Arch Foam eraser because it picks up the marks so well. Today Mariko gave me a Pentel Ain Black eraser, and I just used it for a moment but it was fantastic. And then there’s the old Pentel Hi-Polymer which is pretty good, but not as good as the Arch Foam.
I also use the Tombow Mono Zero 2.3 mm eraser to get into tight spots. It’s so convenient to use to clean up thick, jagged lines and also to remove guidelines that are close to the elements I don’t want to erase.
And lastly, I just found a battery-powered eraser that my kids used to use. I’ve only used it to erase parts of the irises to create highlights, like in the photo above. It excels at that task. 😀
So, today’s sketch shows some progress. I sketched it without looking at a reference photo so I am pretty happy with how it turned out. It’s funny, but while sketching I find myself falling back into the style of drawing faces that I am so used to (and have drawn my entire life), but that I dislike. It’s a constant battle to resist that style and technique. It’s not frustrating, however, but just interesting. Like I can step outside my body and observe myself struggling to not get into the same ruts.
Looking at the photo, I want to redo the eyebrows. They are too delicate and timid… not really striking or strong. I mean, they are okay but are kind of boring. Since the kind of drawings I want to do aren’t realistic, but more leaning towards manga style, I should loosen up!
Also, I didn’t spend any time on the mouth except a very basic outline. I guess I haven’t really practiced how to shade them, nor how to shade or depict the nose. But I think that will come in time. Right now I just want to work on proportions and shapes, and not on shading. I spent too much time on the eye details I think.
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.
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/4.5, 1/100 sec, ISO1600 “Yakisoba Dinner” Cedar Park, 2017
こんばんは。How’s it going?
Tonight Mariko made a huge portion of yakisoba for the family. Our younger son (13) eats a lot these days, but he’s still so skinny. I think he had maybe 4 servings!
We have a really awesome electric hotplate, which has a number of different pans, including a yakiniku grill. It also has a water pan underneath so that things don’t get too messy. But tonight (and two nights ago) we just used the flat pan. It’s so nice to be able to cook right at the table! 😀
After dinner I sketched a bit while we watched the Dodger game. I wasn’t too happy with the previous night’s drawing. It looks really weird and the proportions and spacing are unnatural looking:
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/4.5, 1/100 sec, ISO2500 “Ugh” Cedar Park, 2017
The arrows indicate where things should move… but even after I did that digitally, it still looked wrong. Very stiff. So… I decided to look at the sketches of my favorite digital artist Ilya Kuvshinov to see how it should be done.
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/4.5, 1/100 sec, ISO3200 “Better” Cedar Park, 2017
I used one of his drawings as a reference to figure out the proportions and spacing, and I think I learned a lot. What is surprising to me is that I would have never drawn the face shape like Ilya does. So this is a real eye-opener! It’s so interesting to see where the curves of the cheek change direction. I need to take note of that. The shape I have been using in my sketches looks like a boring almond. But the face that I copied has a much more interesting shape, doesn’t it?
I also used a ruler to keep things level and centered, and also used a circle stencil to draw the irises. I think it makes a huge difference… especially the circles.
Tomorrow I would like to continue with this sketch and later try to replicate it without looking at a reference drawing and see if I can remember the proportions and face shape.
I’m really enjoying sketching, especially faces. It’s so fun! There’s a lot to take note of and remember when I look at drawings that I like. It’s difficult but really interesting and challenging to see the spatial relationships between different elements.
And learning new things makes me feel pretty good. I’m not sure why that is exactly, but I want to keep doing 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.
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/11, 1/500 sec, ISO3200 “Dragon Eating the Sun” Cedar Park, 2017
こんばんは。How’s it going?
Today was an interesting one for us in the US. We all got to view the eclipse! Some of us were able to see a total eclipse, but down here in Austin, the maximum cover up of the sun was about 64%. Still, it was amazing!
The photo above is a close crop of the eclipse as seen through some eclipse glasses, and captured with my Fujifilm X100T. Down below is our driveway mini-party, and the final picture is of a pinhole viewing box that I made.
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/11, 1/500 sec, ISO1250 “Eclipse Party” Cedar Park, 2017Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/11, 1/100 sec, ISO320 “Pinhole” Cedar Park, 2017
I have several friends who are really into astronomy and traveled north so they could experience the total eclipse. On the other hand, I other friends who weren’t impressed by the eclipse at all. I would say I am pretty enthusiastic about this chance, and even though the eclipse has been over for several hours, I am still riding a high. 😎☀️🌙 It was so strange and wonderful to see how little the sun and moon looked today. I loved it.
I am really looking forward to 2013 where we’ll see a 90% eclipse in Austin, and then the following year, we’ll see a total eclipse! It’s going to be awesome!
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/2.8, 1/100 sec, ISO200 “Watercolor Tree” Cedar Park, 2017
こんばんは。How’s it going?
Tonight I did a little bit of editing on these sketches, just like I did a couple nights ago. I am sensing a pattern here… I tend to draw faces too long (my opinion) which means I should take care to pay more attention to that when I am doing my sketches. Of course, I can edit them in Photoshop, but it’s better to get it right when I put it on paper. Sort of like it’s better to get things right in-camera rather than relying on fixing things in post.
Anyways, here are the before and after versions of the sketches.
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 Sunday!
おやすみなさい
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