A Few Sketches

Here are a few conceptual sketches I did, which I plan to turn into paintings sometime in the future. I've just moved back to Australia and art will probably go on the back burner for a while, so I wanted to get my ideas on paper while I could.

Sunset Beach

I love working with silhouettes! This painting is quite large--about 1 1/2 meters in length. I used a few photos for reference.

Waterfall Close-Up

This painting was also done on request, completed in five days at about two hours of work per day. Photo reference used.

I LOVE painting on black canvas--there's no need to fill in shadows, and the colors and highlights jump out at you. It's also easy to indicate shapes by adding subtle reflections, without having to color the entire area (though a little underpainting IS a good idea).

I like how the sneaky glimpse of the waterfall way in the back adds so much depth. Doing a close-up picture on a larger canvas allowed for more detail than I can usually fit in without going cross-eyed. This painting was a lot of fun!

Mark Green

This painting was requested by a friend. Five reference photos and a little creativity later, and this is the result. :)

Anyone else for a commissioned painting?

Portraits!

As a somewhat new development in my art life, I've been drawing live portraits for people. It started in September 2009. I was attending a youth academy, we were all going on an outing to Yoyogi Park (Tokyo), and the group I was with came up with the idea of drawing free portraits. This sounded like great fun, except I had never drawn live portraits before. But with the help of a couple other artists, we got a (very basic) setup together and attracted several interested individuals. I enjoyed the experience, and thought about continuing it in the future.

Arriving back home in Toyota, I discussed the idea of portrait-drawing with an artist friend, Michael (who already had some experience with it), and we went ahead and set up a table on the street and at various events.

One such event was on Halloween '09. As our participation was compensated, we drew the portraits free (normally we charge from 500 Yen). Consequently, we had to deal with a LINE of people the whole 6 hours we were there. Michael and I drew in shifts, but it was still exhausting! By the time I got to the last portrait, the sun had pretty much set and I was largely guessing at the features of the girl sitting across from me, as well as what I was drawing. Not ideal in the least, but she seemed happy enough with the results.

I got a heck of a lot of practice that day.

Things were quiet over the Christmas/winter season, though I did draw portraits at an old folks' Home as part of a Christmas charity performance. But with the arrival of sakura (cherry blossom) season, I got out my portrait-drawing case again.

In Japan, sakura season involves braving the chilly spring weather and sitting on mats with family and friends under the cherry trees, eating, drinking and having a good time. I adapted my setup to make it more compact, and with a partner for Japanese translation, I drew quite a few sakura-celebrating people (and sometimes their dogs. Sure... why not).

Golden Week (a week-long holiday in Japan) was also a busy time for me, as parents often use the break to take their kids on excursions to places like Nagoya Zoo, outside of which I had my portrait table. Yup... busy indeed.

Recently I drew portraits at another event, similar to the Halloween one. But this time I charged, heh.

Golly, this has got to be my longest post yet! :D

Sakura Lantern

This painting was a gift for a family friend. A4, oil on canvas, original photography by Ryan Yamashita. Was finished just in time for sakura season this year. :)

I borrowed Maimi's camera for this shot, which captured the detail rather nicely.

Ripple

My first painting in Japan; original background, photo reference used for the figure.