De Vine

This is the first painting I've done in a long time. I call it 'De Vine' because it's supposed to be an anthropomorphism of a vine.

This is acrylic on thick, large paper. It's about 55cmx85cm.

Ceramic Paintbrush Pool

Baked and Ready to be used.

This was the first item that I made in the ceramics class last month. I think it's probably the best of the ones that survived. The bull lost his horn, the turtle came apart in places, and apparently, the one I wanted to come out the most did not come out at all and fell to pieces.

Well, that's life. Maybe I'll have another chance at the ceramics in September. Apparently, that is the next time the DICC will go.

Black and White

It was interesting to play with different strengths of black pigment in this painting.

This is acrylic on paper. I used my new brush for this one. It's from a company called Hwahong. It's number 10. It was actually kind of interesting how I was able to play with different strengths of pigments by using a lot of water to mix the acrylic and loading the brush, and then adding a heavier mix to the tip. This allowed a sort of two tone effect. In particular, I notice this effect from the eyebrows. I will like to play with that more in the future.

A few misses: the areola and nipple on the left is off from where it ought to be, and the breast ought to continue up a bit to form a better suggestion of shoulder. In any case, I kind of like this one.

To be or not to be

 This is the one that was not to be. It was an attempt at a small Korean pagoda. However, the teacher, Lee Young Suk, did not approve of my efforts. Thus, I crushed it with the heavy weight of my fist.

And, from the terrible destruction that came of my wrath was born this figure of clay. It was to be...

Ceramic Skull

The last four weeks I've been attending a ceramics class in a small ceramics village near Daejeon, South Korea.

This is most of the group, sans my lovely wife, Juni, who is behind the camera. I'm the big guy, the only guy, in the orange hat and the yellow hoodie. To my left is our ceramics teacher. I hope one day I can remember her name!

This skull that I did is the result of two different days. The top half I did last week. The bottom I did today. Hopefully the two of them will go together nicely when they're baked.

Encore of nudes

I guess I'm in a mood for painting again.

I just finished these two this morning. This one I started a few days ago. It's acrylic on canvas. I didn't have any particular models in mind when I painted this one. However, I did use my previous painting on paper. They are not identical to each other.


I really like the interesting colour patterns that come out when I used the knife to spread out the background.

This painting has been hanging around unfinished for a long time. It's an attempt of creating the impression of two girls and one girl at the same time.

Again, this is acrylic on canvas.

Abstinance

It's been awhile since my last painting. A lot of my free 'energetic' time I've been spending studying Korean. Today, however, I had an urge.

Older Woman

Woman Walking Down the Street

This is from a picture I took yesterday. I liked her look because she looked very down to earth and lacked pretense. Her hair had its grey. She seemed to be somewhere in her 40s.

Sketches February 15

Woman Treasure Seeking through Abundant Trash

Walking Down the Street

Woman Heading to Train Station

Just three sketches from this morning. Each of them comes from photos I took yesterday as I walked to work.

Highlights from Sketchbook 22

This is my 22nd sketchbook which I am showing highlights of. This book, as well as several others including Highlights from Sketchbook 21, began the experiment with watered down acrylics. That has had some rather interesting results. Also, there are some of my first watercolours and manga studies.

Girl Against Wall

Sometimes it can be fun to draw a bunch of random sketches in whatever fashion they come to me. I used to do that a lot more than I do that now, and I don't often do that with paints. I particularly like the beginnings of the green horse at the bottom.

Girl in Red Shadow

"Girl in Red Shadow" is just one of many in which I continue to try to create highlights through contrasting colours.

Girl Leans Against Tree

"Girl Leans Against a Tree" I really like. It is watered down acrylics. I really like the exciting colours in which the subject is painted. The oranges really come alive. Also, I enjoyed playing with the natural background.

Three Girls

"Three Girls" is another of my watered down acrylics. I kind of like this one.

One of the more difficult things for me to accomplish is spatial proximity between multiple subjects.  Though this makes no attempt at a naturalist painting, I was somewhat pleased with it.

Robots

 

"Robots" is another painting using watered down acrylics.

I like to play with robots at times. the basic shapes and three dimensional play which one might engage in can be a lot of fun.

Girl by Rope

"Girl by rope" is a watered down acrylic.

I am relatively happy with the contrast in this image. Also, I seem to be getting the hang of lips from a 3/4 view. Her right breast, however, leaves something to be desired.

Writer's Block

I always enjoy doing these Writer's Block cartoons. It was only in the last month that I decided to start trying to colouring them.

Catgirl 1

Manga "Catgirl 1" is an attempt at a catwoman. This drawing comes from my studies of the book How to Draw Anime For Beginner by Le Trung.

It has been about 18 months since I first began this concentrated effort to improve my hand at both sketch and colour. Slowly I seem to be getting the hang of it. Though, I don't know if it will ever bring a monetary reward, it certainly has a healthy appetite. Hopefully this year I can write a book and illustrate it personally.

New Year's Resolutions

Writer's Block's New Year's Resolution

This image is based on Illustration Friday's challenge which included the word 'resolution.'

A long time ago I figured out that New Year's Resolutions are actually a procrastinator's excuse: whatever it is I want or must do, I will do after New Year's. As it turns out, it just puts off what one can do today for that date. And so often, we fail when that date comes, and very often after very little time.

Hence, this "Writer's Block" cartoon depicts how easy it is to make a resolution, and how difficult it can be to carry it out.

I think this is the first episode where Froglim makes his debut.

Writer's Block - Finding Balance

Latest in my "Writer's Block" series.

This post is based on Creative Challenge number 133. The challenge was to come up with something involving the word, 'balance.' This is what I came up with.

Finding balance between the art of writing and living is a difficult one to maintain. It seems to me that major shakeups in a life can stop a good project dead in its tracks. Take for instance last year when I went back to my mother's home for a visit. I simply lost control of the project and I never wrote another word.

While at work I was writing in my notebooks every day. I drew fairly close to the completion of a novel called, "Northern Lights: Medical Emergency." When I got to my mother's home, it completely upset this rhythm. I'm still struggling to find it. Though, at the very least, this week I began constructing the final setting for the finale of my book.

In any case, the image I painted is supposed to indicate the difficulty in writing and maintaining the balance of life, while the consequences of losing that balance are borne not only by the writer, but the writer's family: in my case, my wife.