Photoshopping Drawings and other High Wire Acts

Photoshopping Drawings and other High Wire Acts

This is a rendering for larger project to be made in fabric. I’m pretty happy with the composition — it’s an interesting spin on a portrait of a single character as the center of interest with my typical busyness in the background. It’s also the first time I’ve combined natural drawing media and computer drawings in a Photoshop collage. The high-wire walker was done...

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540 Stone Monks

540 Stone Monks

Here’s some pages from my Japan sketchbook. At the Kitain Temple in Kawagoe, there is a small plot of land with rows and rows of Buddhist monks, carved from stone between 1782 and 1825. A note on the guide sheet said no two are alike. It’s not just that the statues are all different – it’s that each one has such distinctive personality, each one was doing something...

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Fun with Old Family Photos

Fun with Old Family Photos

My mom’s birthday is coming up, so I recruited the help of my brothers and cousin for a little party. So my cousin Debbie sent me old photo albums, and Chris scanned a lot of old slides… and I put together a cartoon birthday invitation using Comic Life by plasq. I love this program! It’s so fun to use, it makes funny cartoon noises when you delete things or stretch your...

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Tokyo Towers

Tokyo Towers

I know for my online Japan Journal, I should probably first show you the pretty photos of snow-covered ancient pine trees in Nikko, but I have to start with the funky stuff first – because it’s my nature, and also I have a project deadline approaching, lol. Always ready to have a project in pocket, I was happy to have something for my brain to gnaw on during this recent trip to Japan...

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Winter Olympics 2010

Winter Olympics 2010

Recently back from Japan and still suffering jetlag… So it’s nice to just veg out in the evening and watch the winter olympics in Vancouver. Here are some couch potato ink brush drawings of Olymipic ice dancing using my travel watercolor set and my new-found joy – Japanese waterbrushes. Waterbrushes are plastic pens that you fill with water. Instead of a pen tip, they have...

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Images of Japan

Images of Japan

When traveling, it’s difficult to find time to post and write about many things we see. So here’s just a few images… as always the food can be so beautiful in Japan. I have no idea what it was — but it was delicious! I know what this was though, sashimi. It’s now gone also – in my tummy! It’s also fun to look for good Jaenglish — a sort of weird...

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7 Illustrated Tips for Surviving a 12 Hour Plane Flight

7 Illustrated Tips for Surviving a 12 Hour Plane Flight

1. Draw your food. It probably looks better than it tastes anyway, and confuses the flight attendants who keep wanting to take the half-eaten food to get it out of your way. It’s also good practice to start with something like food before you start trying to draw people in public. I’m a little out of practice of drawing in public, and had forgotten how people like to watch and see how it the...

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Hammered Moleskein

Hammered Moleskein

This time I thought I’d start a journal right by working on the cover first! The “1″ looks like I got a little heavy with the hammer, but other than than, I’m pretty happy with how the letters turned out.

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Knitting and Vintage Labels

Knitting and Vintage Labels

What is it about snow that makes me want to knit?? Honestly, I don’t think about it for a year, then when the snow flakes start to fly, I’m digging around in the closet looking for some old project to resurrect. I guess I started this scarf one or two years ago. It’s a way to use up all your odds and ends by knitting a scarf on the long side on circular knitting needles. Just...

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Night Snow Ball with Mochi

Night Snow Ball with Mochi

A short video of Mochi playing with a basketball in the snow outside the studio tonight. I don’t know who is more exhausted after running around in the snow — me or Mochi. We both drank a lot of water after getting back inside:) In case you can’t tell, she’s trying to pop the basketball. She can with other softer balls by biting them, but not a basketball. I have to wear...

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