On the Bus - Brown and Red

So last weekend I had a meeting for work. It was held in downtown Honolulu and I took the city bus to avoid the nightmare that is parking downtown. Riding the bus is an opportunity to draw. I had mixed results on the bus that day. Above was the best of the trip. 

So, on the bus someone asked if I could draw him. Not missing an opportunity, I drew him. His name is Tin, just coming in from the Philippines. He is a student at BYU. His portrait above came out pretty good.

"There are painters who transform the sun into a yellow spot, but there are others who with the help of their art and intelligence transform a yellow spot into the sun."

 ~ Pablo Picasso

IOOF - Mary

Another watercolor from an Independent Order of Odd Fellows meeting.

This is Mary, she is responsible for coordinating our involvement with IHS, the Institute for Human Services, the local homeless shelters. She has in the past done clothing and linen drives for IHS as well as organizing days for us to work in the kitchen.

This is a really good likeness of her. I didn't know her name till last week's meeting. However, I just showed the other lodge members her picture, and they came up with her name in a flash. It made me feel pretty good.

Art as a vehicle to connect folks. I like it.

This is a watercolor with the base sketch done in yellow watercolor pencil. I am liking the warm glow that the pencil gives the figures.

2012 Koolau - Sunsets

I seriously debated how to post this next few sections of Koolau 2012. Mainly because they span two parts I have been working on with this sketchbook so far: views of the Koolau Mountains and views of Olomana.

Both of these drawings were done around the sunset hours.

Above is a view of Olomana from Enchanted Lake. It is a really great view of all three peaks. I worked on this after school one day and the mountains had such a pretty purple color.

This is a view from Kailua High School. A similar view I have painted before. I really wanted to draw the sky. I am unsure how this one came out. It is not my favorite of this series. I think I lost a lot of the details in the mountains.

Forms in the Ink V

This is print 5 in the series of Forms in the Ink. I did this one trying to highlight the swipe motions in the Monotype Print. I like the areas I chose to focus on. It creates a nice movement to the print.

This is the last of the Forms in the Ink series. I think if I revisit this series, I will try to fill the print with many little alterations to play with where the print begins and ends.

 I have begun a new set of Monotypes portraits of my friends.

HMoA Drawing Class 11/05/12 - Katelyn

Another drawing class at Honolulu Art Academy.

The model tonight was Katelyn. I have done some really good drawings of her in the past. Above is my favorite of the night, it is a 20-minute portrait with two 2-minute gesture drawings underneath it.   I like the spontaneity of the drawing. I was having a little bit of trouble with the red background, however the blue oil pastel in the background is creating a neat effect.

I really liked how lasts week's short poses page turned out. So I followed the same method and the results are OK. This drawing is three 2-minute gesture drawings, with two 5-minute sketches and a 10-minute drawing in the center. Of all the figures, the 5-minute pose on the right is my favorite.

Above it the first of the 20-minute poses. It is my least favorite of the night. Katelyn sank a little deeper into the pose and I had to do a lot of alterations to the sketch. I will admit, it was a rough pose to keep with weight on that back hand. I am not all that happy with the face.  

This is the last pose of the night. I loved the gesture behind the pose so I debated if I should use the page for a drawing or not. I decided to do a small pose and try and capture as much of the figure as I could. I do like this drawing, though it may need a little work. While I'm looking at the photograph, a lot of little errors are visible, I may rework this a little.

This life drawing class is on Monday at 7PM. It is located at the The Honolulu Museum of Art School, formerly the Academy Art Center at Linekona. There is a 10 dollar class fee.

Student Drawings - III

So this is a quick sketch of one of the kids in my class. Notably I have drawn him before I have even painted him.


He loves drawing and especially loves comic book heroes. I even drew in his yearbook last year.  He loves art and I have done portraits of him a few times.

This is the first of the sketches of him to make it on my site.

When I did this set of sketches. There was one of him in there too. However I didn't get a chance to photograph it.

That was because the moment I finished it he took it and put it in his folder. I then got busy, as is likely to happen.  Before I knew it, the drawing was at his house. I had no photograph.

His mom loved it though; so I couldn't bare the, "Can you have it brought back so I can photograph it?" talk.

I decided instead to draw a new one and photograph it before I let it out of my sight.

He loves this drawing too. I may have just reinforced some bad behavior...

IOOF - Alvin

Another watercolor done at an Independent Odd Fellow Meeting. This is Alvin. He was actually in charge of the lodge when I joined the organization.

I started this in pen then added watercolor to the picture. The ink I used killed my last fountain pen.

"Drawing is like the first kiss.

 It carries within it the deepest emotion and the challenge of the first step. 

It is the first cry after birth."

 ~ Ala Bashir