poh-yin

Finger Sketching - 20 minute teapot on iPod touch

2011-03-23T22:35:00.001-07:00

Used Autocad sketchbook app

iPod touch doodle

2011-02-05T23:04:00.001-08:00

Just downloaded Autocad Sketchbook app for the new iPod touch I got for Christmas... it's a bit tough using one's finger on a small screen (even with the pinch & zoom capabilities). We'll see how detailed one can get.

Let them eat vinyl

2010-12-06T22:16:00.001-08:00

I made this for my husband's book reading - from his first published book, Sects, Love, and Rock & Roll.

One cake was chocolate, the other vanilla. Both were filled with a homemade berry compote and buttercream layer, then decorated with more buttercream icing. To get that black vinyl look I added quite a lot of dye... turns out it's a bad idea if your teeth stain easily (but delicious nonetheless!)

Gobble Gobble!

2010-11-25T13:07:00.001-08:00

Although Canadian Thanksgiving falls a month before American Thanksgiving, I'm still wishing everyone a happy Thanksgiving today!

Done in Photoshop

Caricatures!

2010-08-03T23:30:00.000-07:00

Here are some caricatures from a wedding on Vancouver Island that I did over the long weekend. What fun! I'm available in the Vancouver area if you want to hire me!

Two days in a row...

2010-07-21T20:01:00.000-07:00

I'm making up for lost posts here.

This is based on the following passage:

"It is a dreary, desolate winter scene. There is a dark, stormy, wintery sky, bare trees, and brown grass and dead weeds, with patches of sow over them. On a leafless tree at one side of the picture is an empty and snow-covered nest, and on a branch near sits a little bird, and drive it to some fairer clime, but this bird is sitting there in an attitude of perfect contentment, and has its little head bravely lifted towad the sky, while a winter song is evidently about to burst forth from its tiny throat."

- The Christian's Secret of a Happy Life by Hannah Whithall-Smith

The original sketch was done with Prismacolor colored pencil, then scanned in and colored using a combination of Photoshop and Corel Painter Essentials 4.

Comics at work

2010-07-20T21:36:00.000-07:00

Yes, I get to draw comics at work. (This one is of a more technical persuasion...)

Fruit Galore

2010-06-01T19:21:00.000-07:00

Featured in this month's issue of This Great Society, a few of my pastels of that globed fruit we all look forward to sinking our teeth into during the warm months:

Robot tales

2010-03-18T10:53:00.000-07:00

Today's image:

A short story about COREY the robot. (The original is on the MAKE Technologies blog)... my first foray into writing and illustrating a book for children and/or tech industry geeks. This was all done in Illustrator.

Click on the pic to read the entire tale!

fun with augmented reality

2010-03-17T12:04:00.000-07:00

According to those in the know, augmented reality is the future for user experience on the web. I decided to see how it works, using the company logo from MAKE Technologies (where I'm working right now). Turns out it's pretty darn cool!

Click below to watch the video.

This was done using Google Sketchup (a 3D rendering program) and a plugin from ARMedia (both free to try).

How does your website sound?

2010-02-25T22:33:00.000-08:00

Today's image: It's actually a sound... the sound generated from my website's code. Strange how waves of energy are basically the building blocks of everything we consume nowadays. Pretty cool in an incredibly geeky way!

Click to play Poh Yin Design dot com:

I 老虎 you...*

2010-02-14T22:14:00.000-08:00

Today was a crazy day of celebrations, let me count the ways:
1. Valentine's Day
2. Chinese Lunar New Year
3. Vancouver Winter Olympics day 3 (and first Canadian gold medal won on Canadian turf day!)
4. Joel and Sarah's 10th date-iversary day (ok, actually Feb 12 but I'm adding it to today)

Today's image: taken while celebrating said day. What a beautiful day it turned out to be...
* Since Chinese New Year landed on Valentine's Day this year, the titular joke is a pun on the word for tiger, which in Mandarin is pronounced "laohu" (a bit of a stretch from "love" but pretty good nonetheless).

"...with glowing hearts..."

2010-02-12T21:41:00.000-08:00

I didn't know this before, but the phrase "with glowing hearts" which is the tagline for the Vancouver 2010 Olympics is actually in the Canadian national anthem.

Today's image was taken this morning on the last day of the Olympic torch relay. I took this just outside the building where I work. I'm not sure who the guy was (and neither did my coworkers) but I feel extremely lucky for this to be my second witnessing of a torch relay (the first one being in Shaoxing in 2008).

Chroma

2010-01-25T22:44:00.000-08:00

Oh dear.

I seem to be in fail mode on this blog. I do have good reason though: I've got a real job nowadays! I do plan to get back and rolling here though, once my life settles a bit.

Anyhow, here's a photo I took on Saturday just outside our apartment: an unexpected burst of color during an otherwise monotone week. (Everybody's praying for snow for the Olympics: as you can see, there's not a speck of white in sight right now.)

Small Coastal Towns

2009-12-17T21:26:00.001-08:00

Today's image:

I finally finished my first video - for Final Cut Pro class: a music video for the band Synthar's song "Small Coastal Towns". It was lots of fun to plan, script, storyboard, shoot, and edit. The only not-fun part was waiting for the computer to render the video. I have a new respect for all the work that goes into film & video!

Watch it here!

Flash fun

2009-12-11T18:33:00.000-08:00

Here's a Flash proof-of-concept I did at my internship at SFU. This idea is for their English Language Center website. The background was done in Illustrator, the figures are from istock and edited in Photoshop, and the animation was done with Flash CS4 (which is a huge improvement from CS3).

Watch the whole animation here!

Last day of November

2009-11-30T15:21:00.000-08:00

The sun unexpectedly came out today and I had a great advantage for a nice shot from the Harbour Centre, and a much needed dose of vitamin D to boot.

This one's actually two images stitched together in Photoshop. And since I don't have a fisheye lens, that was also done in Photoshop.

Click for a giant panoramic view!

View from my desk

2009-11-25T21:54:00.000-08:00

I'm interning for three weeks at the Harbor Center (or, in Canadian English, the "Harbour Centre" - or, the "fake Space Needle" to Seattleites) with Simon Fraser University's Continuing Studies department, and I'm lucky enough to get an amazing view from my desk. Perhaps the weather will clear at some point and I can take a picture on a sunnier day.

Click on picture for a larger view, if you desire.

Mmm pie.

2009-11-20T21:55:00.000-08:00

This was not done by me but instead by one of my favorite artists, Wayne Thiebaud, and on one of my favorite subjects: pumpkin pie.

Click to read this week's issue online:

Résumé

2009-11-19T21:22:00.001-08:00

Today's image: One thing about being unemployed is that you get the chance to update your résumé.

So, my résumé got a makeover.

Prospective employer? Download my résumé here!

DVD animation

2009-11-12T17:44:00.001-08:00

I've been learning the program Motion in class, and here's a sneak peek to the animation I created for a DVD menu (the graphics were created in Photoshop first).

Happy World Animation Day!

2009-10-28T17:46:00.000-07:00

If you didn't know, today is World Animation Day. I am celebrating at Vancouver's artsy theater, Cinematheque, which is holding a free screening of Canadian and International animations.

A few of my favorite animation shorts I like:

Madame Tutli Putli
Don Herzfeldt's rejected tv commercials
Balance
The Ghost of Stephen Foster
Creature Comforts
The Old Man & The Sea

There's another stop motion animation, the name of which I've forgotten, which involves two rocks on the side of a road and their conversation over centuries. The use of speeding up and slowing down time is really well executed. If you know what I'm talking about by all means let me know what it's called!

And here's a flash animation that I created for class (a shorty short short) for you to enjoy:

Tracing practice

2009-10-18T21:29:00.000-07:00

Today's image:

Assignment for Illustrator class: tracing an image. I added in my own text and background. Totoro sure is cute.

Wordle

2009-10-15T22:55:00.000-07:00

Today's image: a mashup of my tags from my del.icio.us account, made in a program called Wordle.

Not really sure what the program is for, except to look cool... but hey! It DOES look cool! Create your own here.

How I spent Canadian Thanksgiving

2009-10-12T23:08:00.000-07:00

Today's image:

A Macintosh apple from Spokane's farming area, Green Bluff. There's nothing better than a fragrant apple from an orchard and fresh pressed hot cider on a freezing autumn day.

The first of many

2009-10-06T21:49:00.000-07:00

Today's image:

Fun with shiny buttons.

Photoshop Editing

2009-10-01T21:48:00.000-07:00

Today's image: a screen capture for my Photoshop 1 class to show the steps taken to edit a photograph.

Storyboard idea

2009-09-27T13:01:00.000-07:00

Today's image:

Assignment for one of my classes: a storyboard for a commercial for a public library. I used Corel Painter for the sketches, then storyboarded using Celtx.

Silly premise, but funny and effective, I think. Now who wants to film it?

(Click on images to view larger)

BCSPCA day

2009-09-16T22:23:00.000-07:00

Today's image:

some sketches done dog (and people) watching at the beach on Sunday. We were in luck, as there was a special fund-raiser event going on for the SPCA here. I used a brush pen, which gives you great control over your line.

my little domain

2009-09-15T22:55:00.000-07:00

Well, this image-a-day thing has kind of become an image-a-whenever-I-feel-like-posting...

BUT

Here's one for the records...

I'm getting a certificate in Multimedia Studies, which consists of classes from 10-5 Monday-Friday until December. So, this is where I've been spending my days since moving to Vancouver 2 weeks ago. I get a fancy monitor and I brought in my tablet to work on programs. The most important part of this setup? My UBC spill-proof mug, which I keep constantly filled with jasmine tea.

I'm really hoping to post more often. Really. Unfortunately my camera is getting fixed right now, so perhaps cell phone shots or digital drawings/scans will have to do...

Banner Ad

2009-09-03T13:16:00.001-07:00

Many apologies for the Image A Day hiatus; I'd been busy doing summery things during the month of August and am now ready to start again. Hoo-rah!

I've started my classes already, and besides that am trying to unpack our apartment and get set up at home in our new country of choice: Canada.

Today's image: a quick mockup in Photoshop of my in-class assignment (Writing and Editing for Multimedia) to create a three-frame banner ad. This is for a fictional courier company. I actually kind of like the simple cartoon style here... But any critiques are welcome! (Keep in mind this took about 20 minutes total).

Sparkler send-off

2009-08-01T21:02:00.000-07:00

Today's image: to celebrate our 5th wedding anniversary today, I am posting a picture from our wedding. I thought a sparkler sendoff was be a brilliant end to the festivities... until the paper aisle caught on fire. I'm not exactly sure who took this picture, but it's one of my favorites.

Oregon's Heartland

2009-07-31T22:34:00.000-07:00

Today's image: from our Oregon trip to wine country. The wonderful thing about Oregon wine country (as opposed to Napa valley in California) is its farmland; not all the land is exclusively given over to producing grapes, so there are many other crops still dotting the landscape.

Make new friends but keep the old...

2009-07-30T21:40:00.000-07:00

The reason why I haven't been posting lately is because I've been on vacation, partly with this good lookin' bunch. College buddies who played in a band together (and the groupie girlfriends who eventually married them), we all met at Seattle Pacific University and have stayed in touch since. Although the entire group hasn't been together for 4 years, once we were in the same place at the same time, it didn't matter and we were all the same goofy pals of old.

St. Paul's (from the archives)

2009-07-21T12:30:00.000-07:00

Today's image: done during study abroad in college: pen & ink sketch of St. Paul's Cathedral, London.

Skull-A-Day

2009-07-19T14:00:00.000-07:00

Today's image: I came across a blog the other month called "A Skull A Day," wherein the author made it his mission to create some piece of art resembling a skull for a full year. Now he accepts submissions (created or found) from others - here's the photo I took, which is now on his blog! Hooray!

Quail (is the plural quail or quails?)

2009-07-18T14:00:00.000-07:00

Today's image(s): Quails on top of a roof. There were at least 7 or 8 altogether, including two chicks. Funny birds! Turns out either quail or quails is acceptable as a plural, by the way.

The house with the quails. You can see one running up the roof to join its brethren.

Zoomed in view (I have a Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ5 - amazing zoom feature for a digital camera!)

Front Porch

2009-07-17T18:00:00.000-07:00

Today's image: sketch from the front porch. I fell asleep on the porch swing, then did this on my DS afterwards. That may explain the wonky perspective.

Click on the image below to watch the playback, if you desire!

Etsy

2009-07-16T13:30:00.000-07:00

Today's image: I just opened my very own Etsy shop. You can now buy designer notecards for chic notewriting. Click here (or on the image) to visit and buy!

Charlie Brown Tree

2009-07-15T14:00:00.000-07:00

Today's image: Maybe it's just me, but I found the pattern on the bark of this tree to be quite interesting. I'm wondering if those diamond shapes were man-made somehow.

End of the World

2009-07-14T17:24:00.000-07:00

Today's image: Joel & I are staying with his parents this summer before we move to Vancouver; it's the house where he grew up and the end of the street is what is dubbed "the end of the world." We took a walk the other evening and caught this dramatic sunset.

Panda car

2009-07-13T13:30:00.000-07:00

Today's image: the panda car - a Chinese brand that is fairly affordable in China. Panda (熊猫) literally means "bear cat" in Chinese.

Shadows & Highlights

2009-07-12T13:30:00.000-07:00

Today's image: dramatic clouds overlooking Spokane from the lawn of Arbor Crest Winery (where my in-laws & I went for a picnic today).

This is a good example of how HDR photography could be used to great advantage (in the darkened foreground). Maybe next sunset.

Click on the photo to see it at a larger scale.

Self portrait

2009-07-11T16:43:00.000-07:00

Today's image: practice with the digital tablet: self portrait with my new haircut. This took about 20 minutes with a photo reference. I used ArtRage with the pastel setting... I think I should try the paint next.

Cranes

2009-07-10T13:30:00.000-07:00

Today's image: A painting I did around 2006. It's mixed media: acrylic, paper, and string. It was sold to one of Joel's former classmates in his Master's program.

Art Deco renewed

2009-07-09T13:30:00.000-07:00

Today's image: the ceiling of the recently renovated Fox Theater in Spokane, WA. We took a tour and I learned a lot about the renovation process - for instance, to recreate the wall murals and the original 1930s color, they scraped away layers of paint to reveal the original wall paintings, along with accurate paint colors. Additionally, all the light fixtures and plasterwork are original. Fascinating and beautifully done!

Watercolor monoprint

2009-07-08T13:30:00.000-07:00

Today's image: a watercolor monoprint. Works just like a monoprint using etching ink, only with watercolors instead. I also brushed the paper with water beforehand to create more of a bleeding edge and pick up the colors more. I think it's an interesting technique and I'd like to try it again sometime, with a bit more planning.

1 year's worth

2009-07-07T22:30:00.000-07:00

Today's image: all my books, workbooks, flash cards from one year of studying Mandarin Chinese. I passed all my classes, thankfully!

First glimpse...

2009-07-06T21:30:00.000-07:00

Today's image: our first view of the US after 2 years... the Golden Gate Bridge in all its misty glory. It's nice to see blue!

Tourists!

2009-07-05T22:30:00.001-07:00

Today's image: our last day in Hangzhou. We did the touristy thing and went to West Lake, rode on a boat, took pictures of the lotuses, and generally had a good time in the melting heat.

Farewell Hangzhou! We hope to be back someday!

Goodbye Fish

2009-07-04T22:30:00.000-07:00

Since we couldn't take him with us, we bade a fond farewell to our pet betta fish who is now happily ensconced at the office of the international students at the China Art Academy. I can't say I didn't leave my mark there.

Farewell fish.

Lotus

2009-07-03T22:30:00.000-07:00

Today's image: a lotus on West Lake. I never realized how huge these suckers are! The plate shaped leaves are on average 2+ feet in diameter, and many of the blooms are as tall as or taller than the average person (and that's just what's above water!).

You can click on the image to get a desktop wallpaper sized image, if you so desire.

Self Portrait in the style of Chuck Close

2009-07-02T21:43:00.002-07:00

Today's image: done for the weekly challenge on the Colors Forum (a really great exercise in improving one's digital drawing btw): a self portrait done in the style of Chuck Close. Pretty fun!

Click here for the playback.

One thing I will miss about living in China

2009-07-02T01:49:00.002-07:00

Today's image: a mannequin at our local hypermart. Several things I want to point out in this picture:
1. he's wearing bamboo bedding.
2. that toy gun is disturbingly realistic looking (as are many of the toy guns I see here in China)
3. I guess he's a cowboy? By the way, jeans are literally called "cowboy pants" in Chinese (牛仔裤).

Spoken Chinese Final - one down, two to go

2009-06-30T22:49:00.002-07:00

Today's image: the speech for my Chinese speaking class (the topic I chose was "Pets in my Life"). I relied heavily on the written text, but overall I think I made a pretty good speech. Tomorrow: 3 hour grammar final! Blegh.

Chocolate Cheesecake

2009-06-29T20:08:00.002-07:00

Today's image: In honor of my dad's birthday, I made a chocolate cheesecake. Luckily he was in our neighborhood/city/country/hemisphere leading a tour group from the US. It's the last hurrah for our toaster oven before we leave China; it stood up admirably to the test. I also made a berry sauce from yangmei - the fruit paired perfectly with this rich dessert!

Final - part 1

2009-06-28T22:30:00.000-07:00

Today's image: Here's one of my finals. A report (page 1 of 3) on one of my favorite female artists, Mary Cassatt, for History of Chinese Art class. (Not sure why we could choose a non-Chinese artist... but who am I to question?) I still have to do a 5 minute presentation on Friday. A little nervous about that - art terminology in Mandarin Chinese is something I haven't really been studying... Hopefully my grammar didn't suck too much on this assignment!

Zhao Wei

2009-06-27T22:30:00.001-07:00

Today's image: some digital drawing practice from the Chinese edition of Bazaar. Zhao Wei has been most recently in Red Cliff 1 & 2, and Painted Skin, and she has huge eyes... not sure if that's her claim to fame, but they add to an interesting face.

Click here to see the playback!

Spinach, Onion & Rosemary Bread

2009-06-27T02:21:00.002-07:00

Today's image: Made some bread last night. Here's the result - a bit flat because I let the dough rise longer than usual. The flavorings are: steamed and minced spinach, onion sauteed with balsamic vinegar, and rosemary. Next challenge is to make gluten-free bread because Joel and I are beginning to suspect that we may have a wheat allergy.

Magazine illustration

2009-06-25T21:10:00.002-07:00

Today's image: done for Resonance magazine in 2001 (I think). The story was about white rappers and the stigma attached to them. 'Twas fun to play with plasticine!

Brownies... mmmmm

2009-06-24T18:44:00.002-07:00

Today's image: toaster oven cream cheese brownies. One of the few last hurrahs before we sell our toaster oven. I learned some things while baking these: 1. smaller pan = twice the bake time 2. confined space = constant adjustment of settings 3. cream cheese is going to be my downfall 4. vanilla ice cream makes these out of this world!

Waterlily

2009-06-23T22:30:00.000-07:00

Today's image: a waterlily at the art academy.

Glorious summer

2009-06-22T18:05:00.002-07:00

Today's image: Summer weather and the lotuses in bloom on West Lake. Beautiful!

Holy Mother of Pearl Batman!

2009-06-22T00:02:00.002-07:00

Today's image: a mollusk shell containing a few half-formed pearls, aka "blister pearls". Did you know that pearls are oyster spit? Funny.

Fun with etching ink

2009-06-20T22:30:00.000-07:00

Today's image: my homemade setup for monoprints: the before printing setup and the actual print (turns out I had too much ink on the plate so the lines don't look too clean). This is our pet betta fish who has not been named for fear that once it is named, it will immediately die. Beware kids, don't try this at home... I really love monoprints but haven't had nearly enough opportunities to do them because they are REALLY messy - the cleanup is usually more time consuming than the actual making of the print.

Dress

2009-06-19T17:51:00.000-07:00

Today's image: I am not an accomplished seamstress, so this dress was a big feat for me to make. I used a pattern. I think it turned out pretty well, all things considered!

Alfred Hitchcock

2009-06-18T21:30:00.000-07:00

Today's image: a digital caricature of Alfred Hitchcock. I recently downloaded a drawing program called ArtRage, and so far I find it to be super intuitive and easy to use "right out of the box." However, there are a few keyboard shortcuts that I accidentally press because they're the Photoshop shortcuts.

Dragon Fish

2009-06-17T21:30:00.000-07:00

Today's image: A Dragon Fish (aka Arowana). I drew this for the Colors! Weekly contest (theme: endangered species). Yes, I am officially a nerd.

Click here to see playback!

Hello Meditative Kitty

2009-06-17T00:24:00.002-07:00

Today's image: I recently came upon this perfectly satisfied kitty while visiting a Buddhist monastery. It was sleeping on the table selling incense.

5 waterfalls

2009-06-15T23:30:00.000-07:00

Today's image: taken boatside. The cliffside calligraphy is the name of the area: "五泄" named, aptly enough, after the 5 waterfalls cascading down the cliffsides. I'm guessing the characters are about 10 feet tall. Wowza, how'd they do that?

Symmetry is sometimes scary

2009-06-15T01:09:00.002-07:00

Today's image: A study of a face, done on my DS. There's a lot of calculation involved in a face, one of which is symmetry. One great thing about a digital painting is that you can flip your image to see if it looks ok from a mirrored angle, then edit as you see fit.

Click here to see the playback! It's kind of creepy!

caricature

2009-06-13T22:30:00.002-07:00

Today's image: My first digital caricature! - a caricature of myself done using Corel and Photoshop. It took much longer than a conventional caricature (those usually take 5-10 minutes), partly because I'm not familiar with the software or digital painting.

p.s. I'll be available this summer for caricature gigs in the Pacific Northwest! Drop me a line if you're interested.

Waxberries

2009-06-12T22:30:00.000-07:00

Today's image: currently in season in this area of the world are waxberries, or 杨梅 in Chinese. I bought these from a sidewalk vendor who sells them by the bowl: a large bowl is about 1 kilogram and cost me 20 yuan. These fruits are incredibly juicy and taste like a mixture of cherry and raspberry. They can range from very sweet to quite tart. The darker, the sweeter. They also leave a very floral aftertaste in one's mouth.

24试太极拳 - 学生比赛

2009-06-11T22:30:00.000-07:00

Today's image: last week I competed with 5 other international students in a school-wide taijiquan competition. It was pretty fun - we got 3rd place. Here's a picture of me doing the routine.

you can find video of the whole routine (commonly known as the "24 step" routine) and learn it here.

fishin'

2009-06-10T17:14:00.002-07:00

Today's image: taken on a weekend trip to Zhuji. It's a long Chinese tradition to go fishing when the cares of the world are wearying your soul.

Sargent's Carnation Lily Lily Rose

2009-06-10T00:06:00.002-07:00

Today's image: a digital drawing from one of my favorite paintings by John Singer Sargent: "Carnation, Lily, Lily, Rose" - the dusky colors of evening illuminated by the lanterns creates a really wonderful effect.

Click here for the playback.

in class

2009-06-09T01:39:00.002-07:00

Today's image: a quicky sketch in class while watching a documentary on bird and flower painting.

click here to see the playback!

Proof that Transformers really exist

2009-06-07T22:57:00.002-07:00

Yes, that's right. This one has retired to the city of Zhuji, China.

College newspaper archives: "Techno Brain"

2009-06-06T23:30:00.000-07:00

Today's image: digging up an illustration from my alma mater's student newspaper "The Falcon" (sadly, no longer in print).

at the academy

2009-06-05T23:00:00.000-07:00

Today's image: taken from the roof of one of the art academy's buildings.

Greeting cards

2009-06-04T23:30:00.000-07:00

Today's image: standard size (A2) cards designed by me and printed at my workplace at the time using a two-color process. Working at Artcraft Printers got me interested in traditional printmaking.

Cherubim

2009-06-03T21:19:00.002-07:00

Today's image: a cherubim taken from a the painting "Education of the Virgin" by Italian Rococco painter Giambattista Tiepolo. He had a masterly technique in perspective, foreshortening and luminosity, as many of his paintings were in cathedrals where the viewers were forced to look upwards.

Why yes! I do have an exotic bird attached to my bike

2009-06-03T02:08:00.002-07:00

Today's image: taken at the China Art Academy. Not sure who this girl was or why she had a sparrow hawk. Maybe art students are just weird.

Goldfish tail swish

2009-06-01T23:30:00.000-07:00

You know how people sometimes get associated with a particular animal and then people pick up on that and give them gifts based on that creature, so by the time they're adults they have a vast collection of parakeet or koala or gorilla themed paraphernalia?

Luckily, I'm not one of those people, but I DO like fish. Especially the ones with big flowy fins.

Click here to see the playback!

On TV!

2009-06-01T00:00:00.000-07:00

Yep, I'm on television.

This was for a tv special about the Duan Wu Festival, and my classmates and I took part in the arduous task of being the "foreign" audience.

Click here to see the CCTV television special (although it is in Chinese)!

烤鸭

2009-05-30T20:02:00.002-07:00

Today's image: whole preserved duck, done in pastels. A regional specialty. In Shaoxing we often saw these flattened and seasoned birds being "hung out to dry" alongside laundry.

Oxford archives

2009-05-29T21:46:00.002-07:00

Today's image: digging up archives from 2000 study abroad - ink & watercolor sketch done in Oxford.

panda

2009-05-28T21:43:00.002-07:00

Study from life, took about an hour. The panda was a gift from friends we met through Couchsurfing (they stayed with us here in Hangzhou).

Click here to see the playback!

Zongzi

2009-05-27T21:30:00.002-07:00

Today China is celebrating the DuanWu Festival - better known as the Dragon Boat Festival - it's the first time it's an official holiday since the inception of the PRC. One of the traditions is making zongzi - glutinous rice dumplings shaped like little pyramids due to the technique of wrapping in bamboo leaves. I recently witnessed a demonstration on how to make these delicacies. Here's the best picture of the bunch!

fire and flowers

2009-05-26T22:48:00.002-07:00

This is a painting I did a couple years ago. The main ingredients are acrylic and Japanese paper on canvas. It's about 12" x 24".

heron

2009-05-26T01:50:00.002-07:00

One thing I like to do is go to the library at the art academy and browse through their extensive art book collection. I bring along my DS and practice from paintings or photos. This is from "Birds of the World" (you can see the ISBN number in the top corner). It's a nice way to spend the break between classes.

Click here to see the playback.

West Lake

2009-05-25T01:39:00.002-07:00

Today's image: beautiful West Lake. Actually today it's pouring buckets, but when the weather is nice West Lake is quite nice.

Split pants

2009-05-23T21:17:00.002-07:00

Today's image: A common sight in China - split pants for babies.

Lily

2009-05-22T22:31:00.002-07:00

Today's image: Sketch of a lily - from a birthday bouquet Joel gave me. I've been trying various techniques with digital sketching, and this time I tried a watercolor type wash.

Click here to see the painting replayed!

Skyscraper dreams

2009-05-21T22:29:00.002-07:00

Today's image: construction in Hangzhou. There is always construction going on here, and it's always a bit eerie to see massive buildings suddenly appear but without any inhabitants. I often wonder what China will look like 50 years from now. It's a bittersweet image.

fun with HDR

2009-05-20T21:30:00.000-07:00

This photo was taken at the Art Academy where I study Chinese. I've been curious about HDR and its painterly effects and I thought I'd test it out with my point and shoot. HDR stands for "high dynamic range" and it addresses the problem of cameras having too much or too little light in certain areas of a picture by layering several images (taken using different light settings) onto each other to bring out the most detail possible.

Since I don't have a tripod, I just tried to stay as still as possible while taking several photos. I also edited this in Photoshop, and added a blue filter which I think looks kind of ugly.

Here's a shot using just auto adjust (and no editing in Photoshop, just cropping) - notice how the trees outside are almost completely washed out.

Work work work

2009-05-19T23:00:00.000-07:00

Today's image: a small inkling what one produces if one studies Mandarin Chinese for 8 1/2 months.

p.s. if you can read this, don't make fun of my grammar.

Birthday Dinner!

2009-05-19T02:16:00.001-07:00

Today's my birthday! However, since this year it falls on a Tuesday, which is the busiest weekday for both Joel and me, I got to celebrate it over the weekend with my Dad who came into town for a couple of days. We ate at an outdoor seafood restaurant - actually it's kind of a warehouse with about 40 restaurants all lined up in rows - think Costco except all the shelves are seafood restaurants with fresh/live seafood ready for you to pick out and eat. We had: prawns, flounder, squid, fish soup, a bacon & cabbage hot pot, and a pitcher of beer. It was all scrumptious.

"Good Delights" restaurant

2009-05-17T23:44:00.002-07:00

Last week we were taken out the the same restaurant twice by different sets of people. I've said it many times but I'll say it again: the Chinese way of eating is pretty much the best. The name is 喜乐好, which translates to "Good Delights." This is the sign at the front of the restaurant. Nothing says good eatin' like a thumbs up!

Poppy

2009-05-17T01:55:00.003-07:00

Today's image (posted via email because Blogger is blocked and therefore may not work): practice using Corel Painter Essentials 4. I just wanted to try out this program since it came bundled with the Bamboo tablet. It's quite intuitive, although I think the pressure sensitivity (I have to press pretty hard) isn't calibrated correctly so I'll have to figure that out.