Tag: creativity

Sketch Day

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"Desk Setup" Cedar Park, 2018
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/2.8, 1/100 sec, ISO500
 “Desk Setup” Cedar Park, 2018

こんばんは。Today was a sketching day for me as I took inspiration from the Eguchi Hisashi book I bought yesterday. I decided to draw from a photo so I found a pic of one of my favorite actresses, Tao Tsuchiya, and started sketching on paper. When I had the outlines done, I scanned it into the computer and traced it out in Adobe Illustrator.

I learned a bunch of new techniques in Illustrator, including the pencil tool, the smoothing tool, and how to save and reuse variable widths for strokes. That makes things so much easier! It’s pretty quick to create art using the Wacom tablet and the pencil tool, which you can adjust to make super-smooth strokes, and this technique is a lot more fun than using the old pen tool and mouse combination. I guess old dogs (like me) can learn new tricks! 😀

I like how the sketch turned out. Although the drawing started out as Tao-chan, I kind of just adjusted it how I saw fit while looking at the Eguchi book for reference. I really love his art style, especially the simplicity and flat colors. I feel like I want to draw more like that in the future. It’s a lot of fun too!

"Finished Drawing" Cedar Park, 2018
“Finished Drawing” Cedar Park, 2018

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 good Sunday!

おやすみ！

New Kinokuniya and Eguchi Hisashi Step

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"Notebooks" Austin, 2018
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/4.5, 1/100 sec, ISO640
 “Notebooks” Austin, 2018

こんばんは。How’s it going?

I’m really excited because the Japanese bookseller Kinokuniya finally opened their store here in Austin! It’s soft opening week so the shelves are not fully stocked, but there was plenty to look at and buy. I was hoping they would have a good selection of stationery there, and I was not disappointed. In fact, the selection of notebooks and paper exceeded my expectations by a huge margin! 😁

"Traveler's Notebooks" Austin, 2018
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/2.5, 1/110 sec, ISO200
 “Traveler’s Notebooks” Austin, 2018

Right at the entrance to the store is a display with Traveler’s Notebooks, refill paper, and accessories. I was like, whoa, did not expect this! In fact, it was my first time to see Traveler’s Co. goods in a physical store. Next, it was time to check out the pens, of which they also have a nice selection. They are fully stocked with Pilot Kakunos, of all colors and nib sizes! Of course, they have a great selection of notebooks too, and loose writing papers and envelopes. It’s so awesome! Austin really needed a good stationery store… it’s been long overdue.

"Eguchi Hisashi Step" Austin, 2018
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/4.5, 1/100 sec, ISO1250
 “Eguchi Hisashi Step” Austin, 2018

While the store doesn’t have their full stock of magazines on the shelves yet, they do have a big variety of art and illustration books. I saw a book by one of my favorite artists, Ilya Kuvshinov, but I opted for Step by Eguchi Hisashi. It’s so awesome! I was not familiar with his work, but just flipping through the book in the store, I knew I had to have it. He is a master of the kind of style I want to create. I mean, just check out these fantastic illustrations for Honda:

"Supercub!" Austin, 2018
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/2.8, 1/55 sec, ISO3200
 “Supercub!” Austin, 2018

I found an excellent video about Eguchi Hisashi on YouTube… check it out if you have a few minutes. It’s really inspiring to me, and interesting because Eguchi talks about some Tokyo neighborhoods that I am familiar with. It also fascinates me that he draws females in the style NOT of women he finds attractive, but in the style of how he sees himself if he were born female. I’m still trying to understand what that means, but I feel like maybe I also want to draw like that.

I hope you had a great day!

またね～

Little Notebook

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"No..." Cedar Park, 2018
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/4, 1/70 sec, ISO3200
 “No…” Cedar Park, 2018

こんばんは。How’s it going today?

So I’ve been using my Passport-size Traveler’s Notebook for almost a year now, and I still enjoy it, but I realize that it’s a little limiting. Basically, it’s great for taking notes, but it’s a bit small for sketching. I think it’s difficult because the pages don’t lie as flat as I’d like.

However, I don’t like big, thick sketchbooks either. My preferred size is A5, with spiral binding, and no more than a centimeter thick. The Muji notebooks I bought a few years ago are perfect. I use the dot-grid version for general note-taking both for personal stuff and for work stuff (I have one notebook for each). The paper is smooth and fountain pen ink looks great on it. It’s also nice for sketching!

I’m pretty excited because we’re going to the Muji store in NYC this summer so I can stock up!

I’ve been looking at that Roterfaden A5 notebook and it seems like a perfect solution, but I can’t justify spending that much money on it. I’m sure there’s a cheaper A5 alternative out there that I can use. I just need to do some research! In the meantime, I’ll use my Muji notebooks.

******************

Today’s photo is a sketch I did in my Traveler’s Notebook. I just drew on an old page that I had written on before. Can you guess what those words mean?

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!

またね～

Friday at Home

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"Friday Excitement" Cedar Park, 2017
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/2.5, 1/100 sec, ISO1600
 “Friday Excitement” Cedar Park, 2017

こんばんは。How’s it going?

Today we took our son Bay to the oral surgeon to get eight teeth removed in order to “clear the way” for braces. This required him to be put under for the procedure, which only took about half an hour. When he came to, he was still groggy and wasn’t all there. It was funny, but scary as well. Just seeing our son sitting in the chair, more or less helpless, is something I never want to see again. It made me imagine what my parents might have felt when I was in the hospital, and I very much regret that ever happened. 😔

But after coming back home, Bay took a short nap and was feeling better, albeit very sore. The bleeding from the tooth extraction stopped pretty quickly and he had no trouble taking his pain medication, antibiotics, and rinsing with the mouthwash so we are thankful that everything has gone smoothly. But because he needed some extra care today, I spent the day at home with him. I’m happy that my job is flexible enough that I can work from home if I need to. It’s a great benefit!

This evening I did some sketches, based off of the artwork for the anime Hisone to Masotan. I love the tumblr animation I reposted a couple days ago, especially the facial expressions so I wanted to try something similar, and maybe simplify my own style. I’m still trying to find a signature style…

Anyways, I had fun drawing the faces, and using the Staedtler 925 09 pencil, with its super-broad lead. I have 2B in it, so it’s soft and dark. This combination of pencil and lead is fun, loose, and it forces you to not get hung up on precision. I like 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 Friday!

またね～