Asheville Trip - The Gourmet Chip

Asheville Trip - The Gourmet Chip, Ink on Paper, 8"x 10"

After a mid morning of window shopping in downtown Asheville, we, Mom, Kayla and I, went to eat at the Mellow Mushroom Pizza Parlor. While we ate some delicious Buffalo Blue Cheese pizza on the front porch, I drew this sketch of the adjacent street, Broadway.

The building I drew was The Gourmet Chip a potato chip restaurant. There was a very neat lamp planter in front of the place.

I had fun with the shapes in the building and I think I did the tree well. It was fun to lighten the details near the border of the page. 

Waiting for pizza...

Ko`olau from Kailua

 Ko`olau from Kailua, Acrylic mural, 110" x 40"

This trip to Asheville has been many things: a vacation, an opportunity to see and spend time with my sister and mom, but I also got to work on some long overdue projects. My mom has always wanted me to do a mural for her at her home in Asheville.  I took this trip as the opportunity to do it.

This mural is of the Ko`olau Mountains in front of my grandparents' home; the view is coming from Kailua on  H3. I make this drive every day from work. When we were planning the mural, mom said that she always remembers catching her breath when she sees the Ko`olau Mountains from this vantage point. She said, "To me it whispers, 'almost home.'"

Because it wraps around two walls, I used an effect to merge the two sides for these two blog entry photos. But you get the idea. I really am happy with the way this came out.

"The painting has a life of its own."

~ Jackson Pollock

Ko`olau from Kailua, Acrylic Mural, 40" x 110"

Photographing both panels for blog...

Kayla on her Phone

Kayla on Her Phone, Oil Pastels on Paper, 18' x 24"

Let me start by saying two things-- I am really happy with this drawing and I know it needs a bit more work.

So I have been trying to draw portraits of my family members.  Late last night I got my younger sister to sit for me. Her one rule was that I had to let her read a book while posing. She choose to use the Kindle application on her phone. I think it makes for an interesting portrait.

As I was blocking out the drawing, I was just going to make it bigger and include less of the chair,  but as I blocked it out I really liked how the chair and the shadows beneath her looked. It really is ironic that that's exactly where I need to put more time into, the bottom of the page.

My sister adopted the cross legged pose that my mother uses when she writes or works on the computer. As mom often says, "There's no getting around genetics."

I am really happy with this one.

"Art teaches nothing, except the significance of life."

~ Henry Miller

With Kayla

Asheville Trip - Mural for My Mother - Preliminary sketch

Koolau Mural - Preliminary sketch, Colored pencils on paper, 4"x 11"

So one of my major projects to do here while visiting Asheville is a mural in my mother's house. She loves the Ko'olau Mountains so I decided to paint them for her.

I spent a few hours planning and beginning to block out the space.

I want to try and play with abstracting the shapes of the mountains and having fun with the colors and shapes. I think it will look great on the wall.

This final mural is going to be on two walls and measure 40"x 110" or 3'4" x 9'2". I am really happy with the space and this is going to be a lot of fun to do. 

I am really excited to see what I can get done.

"Love is an endless mystery, 

because there is no reasonable cause that could explain it." 

~ Rabindranath Tagore

Working Mural with Mom

Trip to Asheville - Mafel's Diner

Mayfel's Restaurant, Ink on Paper, 8" x 10"

My mom is trying to help me accomplish my goal of drawing and painting as much as possible during this trip. We took a trip to downtown Asheville for me to draw. Asheville is a special place.

We came to Pritchard Park, a vibrant triangular area in the middle of  the Battery Park area, and I sat down to draw awhile. I am really happy with this sketch. It is of a restaurant called Mayfel's. I really liked their sign and spent a while making it look right.

I also had a lot of fun drawing the van parked in front of Mayfel's. I was so worried as I begun to draw it that the owner would come and drive away with it. I really like how I rendered the tire in this drawing.

My tombow pen was dying in this drawing. I was able to get some really cool tones with it before it died. Luck was with us--True Blue Art Supply was right around the corner and had a few tombow pens in stock. Looks like I have delayed the online purchase for at least a few more weeks.

"Explore. Dream. Discover."

 ~ Mark Twain

My mom took this photograph of me sitting on the bench at Pritchard Park, from the spot I was sketching...

Sketching Mayfel's frontage

Trip to Asheville - Kolo

Mom's Beloved Rascal, Ink on Paper, 8" x 10"

So one of the big characters of my mother's home is one of her dogs, Kolo. Her full name of Kolohe, is Hawaiian for beloved rascal.

Kolo was in full form the first day I arrived. I did a set of drawings of her as my mom talked to me about the photos for this blog. Talk about a meta comment.

My favorite is the central image of her. It has a nice feel to it.

"The purpose of Art is to create enthusiasm." 

~ Pablo Picasso

Sketching Kolo

Trip to Asheville - On the Airplane

2013-06-24 On the Airplane, Colored Pencil on Paper, 8"x 10" 

So I am taking a trip out to visit my mom in Asheville North Carolina. I took the direct flight from Honolulu to New York on Hawaiian Airlines. It was a nice flight.

I did have the opportunity to do a sketch of the people in the row next to me. I do like how the details of this drawing came out.

I hope to have a great visit to North Carolina and hope to get a lot of art done.

"Lord, make me see thy glory in every place." 

~ Michelangelo

Arriving in Asheville, North Carolina