Winter

I got back to watercolor recently. This one is a bit more serious than the previous illustration I posted a few days ago. I think I'm still in the warming up mode. For now I'm not aiming for any big project. I just start with anything inspiring. This illustration/painting is based on a free photo I found on morguefile.com. I'm trying to loosen up and refresh my feeling with the medium. I think watercolor is about building up the intuition to know when to control and when to let go. It's important to keep practicing and pushing the limit.

Yay! New lense!

I bought a new lense (a Nikkors AF-S 35mm 1:1.8) last month. This photo is one of the test shots. I was just grabbing whatever I have on the desk but it turned out really nice. I haven't got used to the lense yet but I'm excited with the new challenge. More cool pics will come for sure.

Chimneys

I was walking on the street the other day. It was cold but sunny and nice. The sky was so blue. I spotted some colourful chimneys on the building across my school. All I had that day on me was the cell phone which took a crappy pic. So I decided to go back and take revenge with my tele lense. However, the weather was bad until a week later. I waited, waited, waited and finally was able to take a nice pic. Later on I developed a habit of checking the colour of chimneys wherever I see them. I haven't found any other colour chimney. Most of them are just grey or black. I wonder who had the idea of painting these?

Just an apple

I went apple picking last Monday. It was Thanksgiving long weekend. Monday was the only day off I have. I was dead tired at the end of the day but had a good time. There were times I considered learning photography seriously. However, I know I would put pressure on myself to become a serious "photographer". At the end, I decided to take it easy.  So this is what I got from playing with the camera settings and wandering about. Without bothering much about techniques, I'm trying to capture what I find interesting.

Visual diary

 

It has been a while since I last posted something here. My schedule was crazy. 2 jobs and 5 classes take away even my lunch time. I no longer have time to do anything creative for fun. However, I enjoy little in class assignments such as this visual diary spread. We were told to walk around taking photos of weathered found objects. 5 best photos are picked out. Then we got create something with those photos. In this one, the photo was glued on a spread of the sketchbook-visual diary-and we continued the image in however we want. I ended up with a semi-abstract landscape (or it can be anything else). It is fun just follow the flow of creativity.

Immovable

This week's topic on Illustration Friday.

Imagine...then do it!

I attended an intensive figure drawing workshop for 5 days. I wish I had time to draw like this more regularly. Maybe I should say "my painting skill" since I have come to the conclusion that I feel more comfortable with a brush than a pencil. Drawing with a brush forces me to forget what the books say and listen to my instinct. Every sketch is a struggle to push my limit a tiny bit further.
It was painful (maybe my sketch looks like I was having fun but I wasn't). But after 5 days, I'm actually improved a lot. It is amazing to be able to imagine how to draw/paint things in front of my eyes.
"If my mind can conceive it, and my heart can believe it, I know I can achieve it." _Jesse Jackson

Far far away

A page from my Moleskine.
Today I decided to go back to watercolor. After ruining two Arches sheets, I grabbed my sketchbook. I had no idea what I would paint, which was unusual since most of the time I choose the subject matter, stretch the paper and plan the paintings step by step carefully. So I did a few quick strokes and developed from them. 4 small paintings in total shared the theme solitude. This is my favorite. It is peaceful and adventurous at the same time.

Tea time

I'm always fascinated moss and mushrooms. I enjoy taking close-up photos of tiny plants (with a telephoto lens though), imagining fairy tales about their world. I've never written any thing down but I remember most of them in the form of what if questions, "What if this moss-covered rock is the backyard of the little people who live among the mushrooms?" for example. I don't think I've ever answered my own questions and finished the stories. I just let my imagination wandering around from stories to stories...

Blue Lavender

Leaving my Moleskine at home, I went to Blue Lavender farm with the camera. Unfortunately, it was raining in the early morning and cloudy most of the day. Hoping to quickly take some photos of the violet field before the rain, I managed to fix the camera setting to compensate the poor lighting condition. Soon I found out the blooming season was over. 12$ for the entry fee was a waste. I ended up spending most of my time outside of the farm. To my surprise, I discovered plenty of interesting things to photograph. It was great walking in a peaceful countryside feeling the fresh air against my face.

Rainbow dream

 

         When I finished The Adventure of Big Claw, I was so terrified by the intensity of the workload that I wouldn't want to do anything like that again. But I knew I'll eventually go back and develop the mixed media more since I haven't considered my technique refined enough.

         I love the vibrant yet dreamy colors, and especially satisfied with the flexibility of the media. It mixes well with either wet or dry media traditionally and digitally. There are a few disadvantages working with detailed illustrations but in overall, I'm happy with it.

Wood puzzle

Another experiment with wood.
It took me 5 hours to finish this 4"x4" illustration. I didn't glue the wood cubes together when I was working on it. A few pieces fell out by accident. I had a hard time putting them back together. I thought I was good with puzzle (at least with the one I created) but apparently I'm not.

Sketches

Some sketches I did in a live model workshop. I started to gradually abandon the pencil and sketched with the brush. The result is quite surprising. By leaving behind the fear of making mistakes, I was able to loosen up my drawings, especially with watercolor.

Wood business card, why not?

A quick illustration I did in an hour. I'm thinking of doing a series like this on 2.5" x 3" wood veneer (the size of a business card).
This illustration is inspired by a conversation with a friend who really likes owls. The piece also reminds me of a teacher's joke. She told me to go carve my business card out of wood. Maybe I'll try it soon.

Chinese lantern

 

I'm really fascinated by the chinese lantern. This is more like a conceptual sketch than a finished illustration. I'm planning to fix it with traditional mix media. Hopefully I'll have some time for it soon.

The Adventure of Big Claw

Open publication - Free publishing - More sea

Green heart

The favorite photo I took in a trip to Vancouver.