boxer

This is from the recent Drawing Club session on Sunday. Bob had set up some interesting lighting. He flooded the model with three light sources, a cool blue (which looked purple on the model), a red, and a yellow. My original goal was to try out my new set of Doc Martin watercolor dyes (given to me by my buddy Eddie) but I only had time to do a quick ink drawing then had to run out. I added the color in Photoshop based on memory. I had this aquatinted color etching on my mind that I had seen previously and tried to replicate that look. I found it strange to emulate the spontaneity and random markings of an etching with a control methodical process in photoshop. Not sure if it was successful but it definitely was fun to try.

The drawing itself was done with a sharpen chopstick and FW acrylic inks. I find it to have plenty of action and holds a considerable amount of ink. It was the cheapest "pen" i had ever used...free from the commissary.

noir.

I'm taking a photography class here at work and I'm learning so much...more than I ever imagine from a class entitled, "Travel Photography" This is influenced by one of our assignments in class.

Pacho

Luis "Pacho" Vega was kind enough to sit for a quick portrait painting during his internship here. He's a very talented young man and a very nice guy. One of the hardest working and upstanding person that I had the pleasure of knowing. Good luck, Pacho, in all your endeavors.

Pasadena

3 am... full moon and street lights.

Baden Powell

After having just finished a 17 mile hike to Mt. Baden Powell from Islip Saddle, Kelvin stop to admire the sunset.

lumix lx3 test

I just bought a new Lumix LX-3 digital point and shoot camera. It's a compact fixed lens camera but not exactly a typical point and shoot. It has full manual capabilities along with a slew of many cool little perks...one of which is a 24mm wide angle lens (I'll spare all the geeky details).

Anyway, I wanted a small unobtrusive camera to play around with when I go backpacking or on vacation. It was recommended to me by Mike, our resident pro photographer. It seems to fit the bill. These were my very first set of photos taken about a month ago.

I was out and about running some errands when I noticed the low ominous clouds overhead. I rushed over to Griffith Park and went up my typical trail. I got very lucky with the cloud formation and the time of day. These clouds were so unusual for LA that it completely change the way I view the landscape. So far I am quite pleased with my new little purchase. I have been taking alot of pictures lately and I will post more soon.

pastel portrait

From Bob Kato's head drawing class that he has here at work.

Klimt theme at the Drawing club long session.

I bought all these scrap booking paper thinking I was going to do something with 'em. Well, the Drawing Club had a long session (for painting) this past Sunday and the theme was Klimt...so I decided to break it out. This is basically cut paper, colored pencil, and a glue stick.

yosemite landscape

Here's some studies of Yosemite National Park from awhile back. I usually visit the park at least a couple times a year and I never get sick of it. However it is so majestic that it becomes such a daunting task for me to capture it. It becomes a matter of how well I can simplify. I'm going to string a few studies from different trips on this post just to show variety of approaches.

gouache on board.




ink and watercolor wash.



tombo markers




watercolors

Saturday night I was at the Staple Center for the Margarito/Mosely fight. Although I was pulling for Margarito, it was still pretty exciting (however one-sided). The stadium was charged with so much energy... In fact, it was electrifying. So much so, that I witnessed at least 3-4 brawls just in the stands. Poor bastards paid all that money and never even got to see the main event. Overall, a great venue for a boxing match. We had amazing seats too...thanks, Vanessa!

In between the bouts, I would sketch a bit. Yes, Larry merchant appeared drunk the whole time.



Ring Card Girl. I really wasn't ringside as the sketch depicted. I was just using my super vision. Grrrrrr.



Tonight (Monday night) I went back to the Staple Center for a Clippers game. Thanks again, Van. The Clips lost to Portland. I sketched a little bit more this time.

sunsets

I have been trapped in my house for the past two weeks due to a nasty and stubborn cold. Today was the first time I was really able to get outdoors. So I decided to take a hike to Griffith Park because the weather was so very nice. Half the country is hit with severe cold but we are so fortunate to have wonderful weather in the middle of January.

Well the sky was clear today and I can probably see well over a hundred miles from the top of Mt. Hollywood. The sunset was spectacular. Everything was glowing orange around me as I watched the last rays dipped behind the ocean. The sky glowed with colors I could not describe. I went up with the intention to do some watercolor sketches but I had forgot my book. So I took a few pics with the iPhone but they always pale in comparison to the real deal. I soak in days like these and just feel so lucky to be alive

















Here's another sunset pic taken on my flight back from that studio up north. Notice the mountain ranges are all cover with snow. That's when we had that cold spell before the new year.





At first glance this might look like Hawaii but it is good old Glendale. View from the office. I try to take a the time to catch the sunset as much as possible.