Old Sketches

At Starbucks

More from Singapore, drawings from Coffee Bean

 

I sort of went on a mini pen binge with this one.  I had just bought expensive pens from Muji and couldn't decide which one to use...so I used all of them.    

Starbucks at Holland Village

Backlog

I seem to have quite a large backlog of cafe drawings that I haven't brought out yet, most of them done in Singapore when I had free time (I can almost remember what it was like to have free time).  Drawing in Sydney doesn't seem to happen too often mostly because I either feel like 

a)    I should be doing something productive  

b)    If I'm not working I should be spending time with my friends

c)    If I'm drawing it should be for my Honours Project

d)    Coffee and food is so expensive! Why are you spending money?! You're Broke! Stop doing drawings that require you  

to spend money!

I also intermittently get the horrible drowning feeling of despair when I'm drawing and I think the drawing is not going well.  Then I look at the clock and realize that its taken me an hour to do a bad drawing.  Drawing takes a long time.  I always seem to forget how long it takes.  It's usually worth it in the end, and I have some saving techniques up my sleeve when it gets into crunch time for finishing (this is usually when the guilt of not doing something productive and the urgent need to pee nudges my concern for the picture out of the way)

Horrible drawings seem more frequent in Sydney.  Detailed and enjoyable drawings usually populate my Holiday time, so I'll be scrounging around in my backlog for more drawings from Singapore and Melbourne soon!

Mr Tulk in Melbourne

I was in Melbourne during the earlier part of this year to visit some friends.  Had a wonderful time but still feel like Melbourne is a holiday destination rather than a real place to stay.  Something about the cheap, logical and functional transport system, the abundance of cafe's, and the amount of art galleries to visit. (Though there was an overwhelming amount of video art at grassroots contemporary art spots)  Here's one of the few drawings I did while I was over there: too much social action and gallery visiting.  Mr Tulk was a lovely cafe, though the food was quite expensive for me.  It's part of the State Library of Victoria in the city, below is the address.  

Mr Tulk   

328 Swanston Street

Melbourne VIC 3000

The long delay

I apologize for the long delay, I've recently begun my Honours Year at University and it is a pretty big endeavor.  That said it is also an amazing time and I am enjoying the work that I've been doing.  Hopefully I will be finishing off a few things and will start posting little snippets as the year progresses.


That said I have done a lot of other work and I just need to slowly crawl through the backlog with scanning and cleaning on photoshop.  The above picture is just that, I made this in Singapore last Christmas (hence the little snowflakes on the windows) its one of the first images I drew that holiday in the NEW Starbucks!  It was somewhat painful to go and see the New starbucks (I liked the old one).  Unfortunately last year it got severely flooded and they had to basically rip out all the old fixtures.  It really is bizarre to go to a favourite haunt and realize its been completely changed behind your back.  All the more stranger because I have so many drawings from this one place that it seemed to be visually haunted.


Nevertheless it turned out to be a great drawing spot, just like the 'Old Starbucks', and one day when I've amassed enough of them I might do a little chronological book of this one address over the years.

Taking my time in the New Year

It has been a while since I've used tone to help create depth and aid in differentiating people in an image. And for me it certainly is laziness to a certain extent. But I'm glad I made the effort for this image since it really helps complete the composition and help highlight certain features and characters that would otherwise be lost.

It's always worthwhile to consider different ways of making an image work and not constantly rely on familiar line making or easy compositions. You can often find a few illustrators or artists who stick to the same composition over and over. A particularly famous one is the forward shot of a character floating in a white void. While this is an enjoyable composition, and at times the correct composition for an image, character or product design, learning to be dynamic and engage with backgrounds is a really important skill to manage. Learning what you can do, and what you enjoy doing with backgrounds or a full page image takes time.

Choices in depth vs flatness, tonal variation vs large slabs of color, or changes in style between the focus point and the background can come naturally to some, and not so naturally to others. So its good to practice and push what you’re capable. Here’s to new goals for the new year.

Its okay if it rains because I'm stuck inside for work anyway

Love is in the air

It's nearly Spring! or it is Spring! I come from a tropical island without seasons so I'm not the best source of information on this. But I feel like the weather is becoming beach friendly. Nevertheless I managed to snuggle down with a friend at Bad Manners (spelt Badde Manors) down at Glebe to have a nice warm fizzing mug of cider. Awesome. Also got a quick sketch on of these two love birds who are gave off the Spring couple-y vibe. So cute! I've tried to catch the millions of ways they managed to hold hands while a poor neglected carrot cake sat forgotten between them. (They still hadn't eaten it when we left)

The Zoo cafe with Husky

detail

detail

This is a nice loose image I produced a while back at the Zoo cafe in Bondi Junction. I'm just having fun with the construction and placement of chairs, particularly their relationship to other objects and their own distorted parts. 

New Cafe Blood for the drawing

close up below

Hello all!

Sorry for the long delay between posts. Unfortunately the space between doesn't allude to fantastic and amazing works being produced but actually the opposite. I've been having a lazy time this beginning of the year (I do know its the middle of the year already but I refuse to accept it), funnily enough I've found that almost everyone I've been talking to has said they're in a bit of a hiatus themselves. So either there is a natural phenomenon where productivity drops during the early (middle) months or productive people are staying away from me.

On the up side I found a new cafe which had a decent interior to sketch close to home! The coffee was alright, unfortunately the music was terrible and I had to leave soon after the image was done.

Another upside I will have to mention is my attendance at talks. There are a couple tips and comments that I found particularly helpful or interesting and I'll try post those as well as competitions and opportunities in the future.