Wonder or Wander

  "There is no need to tell the review everything." - Hazel Soan (quoted by Tom Shephard). I watched Fabio Cembranelli' watercolor painting demo. I love his bold brush strokes and impressionist feelings. When I tried the same, though, things came out just muddy.  

As I wanted to create holiday cards with watercolor paints, I searched some good examples on YouTube. There are a slew of tutorials. I focused on birds. Each artist took different approaches. I tried to follow some of them. Some turned out to be OK, but I wasn't satisfied with most of them. But this artist, Tom Shepherd. I like his style, bold stokes with saturated colors. I am happy with this result.   

 New paper made by Shizen. It is 5x7 in size with a very rough surface made of 100% recycled consumer waste. Well, it is better than Canson watercolor sketchbook. It holds a lot of water and indeed blends colors. 

 Tom Shepherd is inspirational. His bold brush strokes and limited, but saturated colors. I am happy with the strokes I tried in this painting. It looks like a watercolor painting and it is. 

 Pencil drawing, added light colors with color sticks. 

  The first watercolor painting of a bird that I painted on my own. 

  I purchased a good-looking drawing set that includes lots of pencils, compressed sticks, and others. I just wanted to try out them all. The sticks are quite hard. Without blending, they leave unorderly marks. I wish to leave marks, but beautiful ones.  

That's what it takes.  Eye ball: Yellow as the glowing basis. Add burnt sienna and dark brown on top of it. Increase intensity as it goes and blend them.  Around the eye: watery color as the basis and watery brush strokes for fur. Then add darkest colors. Finally add brunt sienna around the eye.  Tutorial by Rebecca Rhodes, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CekQ8brBQkM  

At his Himalaya tracking. Charcoal pencils, brush, and eraser.  

 Jiffy is doing well. He did not lose his strong appetite. I opened a photo taken a while ago and started watercolor-painting. I have no idea of what I am doing here, but he looks lovely. I used brushes first and used watercolor markers in some details. My first watercolor painting of Jiffy!  

  I took Jiffy to a hospital to have a little thing on his eyelid removed and to have the other eye examined. Good news that those things on his eyes seem benign, but required attention... I hardly remember anything on the way home after dropping him off at the hospital. The house seems empty and too quiet. I feel even colder than usual. 

 I got a knife to sharpen the charcoal pencils. The sharpener that came with the same package didn't work. Charcoal was so delicate as to demand care. But it was worth taking that time. 

 Carefully drawn lines are more attractive to me than charcoal-filled object space. No swift chain of action is necessary for boldness.

  He passed two days ago. He was a samurai sword. He was publicly humiliated. Instead of finger-pointing, however, he embraced his failure and chose to reconstruct his legacy. For that, I admire him. 

  Charcoal pencils were delivered. They are fancy and delicate. They glide on a piece of paper and make drawing painterly. My first time to use the medium. I am attracted, but there is a lot to learn.  

Squid Game , directed by Hwang Dong-hyuk distributed through Netflix, is an international sensation. Everyone is in despair and has nothing more to lose than their own lives. The leading actor Lee Jung-jae caught my attention. He has maintained fame and popularity among the public, but his acting itself was not so impressive as to warrant a special recognition. He, however, did not seem to cease to define his role as an actor and delivered a terrific action as a hopeless desperate character.   

  Yet officially Columbus Day. The opening to colonization is celebrated. 

  I have been exploring watercolor markers. Start drawing darkest outlines and brush up with some water. Then add water on the surface, drop some dots with markers in mid tone areas, and brush up again. Add dots in darker areas for contrast. I am happy with the result. 

 "Historically every pandemic disappears," says an expert. Last week there was a fall fest in the village. A great number of people flocked together. I was only one of few people who were wearing a mask. When will this end? 

 Am I the only one who is reminded of catching run-away slaves in the past? The photo taken at a Texas border area horrified many people. 

 Over 300 Afghans arrived in Korea recently. Children received stuffed animals. What a wonderful idea! Some people are uneasy about having them on their soil. I hope we create room for everyone.  I used a pen for a basic sketch and then a sharp pen for outlines. Careful hatching for tones were then added. (Photo: Anthony Wallace/AFP/Getty Images)

 The Theranos trial is underway. Many people, especially those in power, were sucked into the CEO's robotic eyes, groundless vision, and big lies. Their condemnation calls for justice. How about people who relied on the blood test results returned by her black boxes? 

  A pen sketch done a few weeks ago based on a photo found on the web. A senior Korean. Each time I flip my sketchbook, I stop at the page and sense a strong loneliness. Would my mother look like her? Why is she carrying an umbrella on a sunny day? What does she have in her bag? Where is she going? The composition looks natural. It is challenging for me to limit the number of necessary strokes. Quick lines are attractive to me. 

  After driving for long hours, we finally arrived in a cabin in Golconda, a town in the Shawnee area. Yet we were not sure about whether we were in the right place and then saw this little guy, Waylon. Yes, we arrived in our destination! He roamed in the yard and nearby forest freely and seemed content. First, I did the watercolor painting, using markers and cotton tips as I had left a brush at home. It became too dark and was losing a light taste. I proceeded to the second one. Drawings look better when a limited number of strokes are used. Both were left for Waylon and his family in the cabin. 

  Zoey, Jackie's dog, passed a few days ago. About two years old. A beautiful dog that lived a short period. It is silly to assume that Jiffy is going to stay with me for a long time. He is six.  I painted Zoey using pens and then added watercolor markers. Sketching was an easy part. Background painting requires creativity. I wanted to have some bright colors, but didn't know what to do. Watering down markers made some interesting effects.