Tag: sketching

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

Pencil to Digital

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"Pencil to Digital" Cedar Park, 2017
“Pencil to Digital” Cedar Park, 2017

I’m getting more comfortable using the Wacom tablet in Photoshop. For this one, I scanned the pencil sketch, then brought it into Photoshop, set the sketch as a top layer, with the Transparency Mode set to Multiply, and locked it. That let me see the lines on top as I painted on layers below.

I also used a technique for picking colors, which is to basically create your swatches on the canvas (like a traditional paint palette) instead of using the color picker or swatches window. It’s fast and keeps the overall palette consistent. Not that I have a lot of experience yet, but it’s a neat technique that I think I’ll keep using.

I only used color for this digital sketch, and left the existing pencil lines. My intention was to just practice with shading and using the tablet, and I spent maybe 40 minutes on it, but I like this look. And it’s fun to try new things!

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.

First One Done

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"Digital Studio" Cedar Park, 2017
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/4, 1/125 sec, ISO1000
 “Digital Studio” Cedar Park, 2017

こんばんは。How’s it going?

Tonight I finished my first Digital Painting in a long, long time. I believe the last one I did was back in 1998. So, almost 20 years! I actually think it is more incredible that I had a Wacom tablet back then, as I do today. 🙃

I’m pretty happy with how this one turned out. As with most things, you can keep working on it to refine it, but you gotta call it done at some point! And for a first try after a long time, I think this will do just fine.

I created a little slideshow so you can see the progress and some changes over time. It is really fun to use the Wacom drawing tablet and Photoshop. Very satisfying! I hope to continue it for the rest of my life, as well as sketching on paper. It’s fun to combine the analog and digital.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

And here’s the finished piece, with my signature seal applied.

Hair work and final color adjustments. All done!

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

RIP Frog, and some Digital Drawing

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"RIP Frog" Cedar Park, 2017
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/5.6, 1/100 sec, ISO2500
 “RIP Frog” Cedar Park, 2017

こんばんは。How’s it going?

If you are a regular reader of this blog, you know that I hardly ever write negatively, but alas, it’s not all rainbows and butterflies here! I was cleaning out the garage this weekend, and I notice this poor frog, dried and flat.

I’m guessing it was resting right by the tire of the Prius, and when Mariko silently put the car in reverse, the frog didn’t move a muscle. And what makes it even grosser is that the frog must have been drying out, unnoticed in our garage for a week or more!

Rest in peace, little buddy!

In other news, I worked on a drawing on the computer the past couple nights. I started using my Wacom tablet with my desktop computer a while back, but my computer would freeze up and I’d have to reboot after a short while in Photoshop. (Also happens in Diablo 3). So, I have been wary of doing any digital drawing. But I did a bit of research and figured out that the problem was with the video card, so I dialed down some settings in Photoshop. And tonight I was able to draw for a few hours with no crashing! Woohoo! Of course, I am still saving my work every 30 seconds or so, but I am confident that I’ve solved the problem.

Anyways, I worked on a drawing which is based on the pencil drawing I did a few days ago. I’m happy with the progress I am making, and working on stylus technique, making new brushes in Photoshop, and using the pen tool for some really refined lines. I still don’t know how to draw hair, and the face looks pretty flat, but I am pleased so far. 😀

Here are three photos that show the original, the start of the digital version, and where I am at so far:

"2017.09.04 Sketch" Cedar Park, 2017
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/4, 1/100 sec, ISO3200
 “2017.09.04 Sketch” Cedar Park, 2017

As you can see, I’m at a loss as to what I should do below the neck and how to finish the hairstyle. 😕 And I just noticed that I lost her ear somewhere along the way. Oh well, I’ll figure it all out someday.

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 Wednesday!

おやすみ

Labor Day, and a Sketch

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"Relaxed" Cedar Park, 2017
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/4, 1/40 sec, ISO3200
 “Relaxed” Cedar Park, 2017

こんばんは。How’s it going?

Today I had the day off from work and the kids were also off from school, so we hung out together all day. We got a lot done, including some final shopping for school supplies, getting Koa’s hair cut, and some more yardwork. But we also had some fun hunting Pokemon and playing Splatoon.

And of course, the dog and cats kept us company at home, even though they were sleeping most of the time.

"Zzzz" Cedar Park, 2017
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/4, 1/100 sec, ISO1600
 “Zzzz” Cedar Park, 2017

After dinner, I sketched a quick portrait and I am happy with how it turned out. I feel like I am reaching my limit at line-drawing, and need to start learning how to shade, how to draw hair, and varying the width of my lines. It’s fun to see progress, though, which mainly manifests itself as less erasing. 😀

"2017.09.04 Sketch" Cedar Park, 2017
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/4, 1/100 sec, ISO3200
 “2017.09.04 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 Monday!

おやすみ

Takoyaki, a New Pencil, and an Edit

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"Takoyaki Dinner" Cedar Park, 2017
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/4, 1/100 sec, ISO800
 “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
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/4, 1/100 sec, ISO2000
 “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～