1/2 price Frappuccino at Starbucks between 3-5pm May 3rd-12th

I'm usually not a big fan of Frappuccinos. My stomach just can't take cold drinks very well. But almost everyone in there is taking advantage of the 1/2 price Frappuccino so I ordered myself one as well while drawing this couple in front of me enjoying theirs in the nice weather out. 

Back from London

I'm glad this is just a blog. Not a plant or a pet. After almost 2 years of neglect it is still here for me :P I have moved from London back to Vancouver few months ago. I must admit it was very hard to pick up the paint brush while I was in London. There were just so much other things to do. I had met many Lovely friends through Lomography and often went out shooting photos with them (check out my Flickr for the photos I took over the years with my analogue cameras) Either that or I was too busy trying out new restaurants or doing shopping on Oxford street. I felt bad, I really wanted to paint more but I felt that I just couldn't do them anymore as how I liked before I went to London. I must have changed I thought!

And then I moved back to Vancouver and somehow I started to paint again. I used to carry multiple cameras in my bag everyday when I was in London, so I wouldn't miss any photo opportunities. Now I put my moleskine back in my bag, together with my pens and brushes. I found it very hard to shoot here, I'm just driving everywhere, I don't walk on the street much. I miss walking in SOHO passing by all sort of men, women, men dressed like women...etc. Time seems to be passing very slow here in Van. A lot of time I go to the same cafe and sit at the same window seat just stare outside at the same old tree. I think painting fit in much better in this life style. Of course I miss those weekend trips to different European cities too. Traveling seems to be a big deal here in North America and there aren't many places I can just go for a weekend. And I miss all my friends in London :(

Hampstead Heath

Alright, it's been a looooooong while...since I last update gosh!! It's nice to be able draw again:) Went to Hampstead Heath today with my friend Justin. It was a nice and sunny day and we had a lot of fun!

Morocco

Just came back from a trip to Morocco. Very exotic place with too much stuff to see. I only manage to capture few of them on my sketchbook here :)

female

This is another study I did from a photo I found on the internet. Before I dig too much into colouring I thought I should practice more with shading.

At work

This is Wayne who sits behind me at work. I did this a week or so ago. I realize even though we sit so close to each other, I rarely turn around, I would send him instant messages and hear him typing his to me, but we would not turn around, why is that?! A bad habit everyone seems to have in this industry.

at the park

I did this one sitting at Seven dials in Covent Garden the other day.



This is was in the Soho park at lunch time, some quick gestures. each of them took 30secs to a min. I like when London is sunny and warm so I can just sit outside and draw :D

These are some stuff I did over the past few weeks, just didn't have the chance to upload them. Not the best sketches, wish I can get out more and do more of them, but sadly here in London the weather's not been always pleasant in weekends. Now that it finally is, I'm too busy watching world cup :P


Went Sketching with Edison 2 weeks ago when he's here in London with me.


I always got caught up in details and ended up never finish the whole picture, so I timed myself on this one for 10 minutes from across the street and this is it.


Another timed sketch and somehow I managed to get the prospective totally wrong. Oh well, it's the corner pub I visit at least 3 times a week. It's just around the corner from where I work. Everyone from work goes there. We call it the "Golden usual" place.


The lazy man playing his game on Sunday.


I'm so excited that I'm almost done with the Japanese album project that I started 2 months ago. I think within a week or 2 I'll upload what's actually in it :D YAY!

Edinburgh Trip

Went up to Edinburgh for the long weekend. It was a nice break from the Soho area in London. Wish it was warmer though, can not believe it is May and it was 3C outside in the evening there. I didn't bring enough warm clothes, had to wear my PJs underneath and everything else I had on top of that. These are few of the sketches from the bunch I did.

I think the water in London are not very watercolour friendly. It's very hard to paint for some reason, the water doesn't seem to stay on the paper, it was never like that in Vancouver :(


Went to the Sandy Bells pub :) It was really an extraordinary experience. Local musicians would spend their Sunday afternoon there performing some folk music. It's like the Sketchcrawl for us people :) But what I found fascinating was somehow those local musicians sat around together with different instruments and manage to play together in perfect harmony without even knowing each other.




On the train back to London, Alper got a new phone on the last day, he could not wait to get to London to play with his stupid new toy :P

gbk Soho

Went to Gourmet Burger Kitchen today for lunch with some colleagues. These are the people sat at the table near us. I have to say... I really really love Asian food, I really do. I really can't do burgers for more than once every... 2 months probably. I think gbk is probably one of the decent burger places around but really, It's just too dry and greasy for me. It made me feel kinda sick and gross for the whole afternoon though I only just ate 1/3 of mine :( It's like McDonald's, once in a while I'll crave for it and as soon as I take my first bite I feel like I don't ever wanna eat it again.



This is the new Japanese album Moleskine I bought for a new project. I only just started 2 days ago, the unfolded page is like couple of meters long so I think it's gonna take me awhile to finish (hopefully within 2 months) And then I'll upload a video of the images :) It's gonna be fun, can't wait to get it all done!! ^_^

Sketches

Today I have arranged my desk so now I'll be able to easily scan my stuff and update them more frequently.

This is Ben, I sit next to him at work.


Went to this French Restaurant in Soho the other day with some friends. Drew this while waiting everyone to arrive. Food was brilliant!


These are some quick sketches I did on the tube. Had to do them really quickly so they don't notice that I'm staring at them like a freak :P


Went to Greenwich park with Alper yesterday. It was very sunny and warm.

Sunday

David came to stay with us for the weekend from Geneva, we had a very busy Sat with a lot of other friends so Sunday we just stayed at home for the evening.

On the bus home...


It just happens I drew them both on the same page, they are not really touching each other or anything :P

Updates

It's been couple of months. I haven't been updating, in fact I haven't been drawing much. Life got quite busy for the past 3-4 months. I was traveling for quite a bit towards the beginning of this year but everything happened so fast I barely had time to sketch. And then I moved to London 2 months ago for a new job :) Life only got busier after that... Finally I got my internet working at home and a few spare moments to upload some of these sketches I did over the past few months. Looking at them I realize I need to sketch more :(

This is a sketch I did on the plane flying to China last Dec


This is a sketch I wish I had finished. The view from the window of my home in Beijing, we live on 18th floor, this is one side of the street, I kinda miss it only wish I remember what's on the other side of that street :(


I was sick the first month I arrived London, this is the sketch I did when I was waiting in the medical center on a Sunday afternoon.



I did this one last night. Alper was playing Rockband on the sofa looking very serious. To be honest, I think those plastic guitar looks quite ....hm.... let's just say "funny"!

Getting my hair dyed

Feeling kinda blue these weeks... been waiting for some phonecall but it never came, so I figure I need a change in my daily routine, and it's been almost 5 months since my last haircut, so.... here is a portrait of me in the mirror at my favorite hair salon.

Alper

This is Alper, this is the 3rd time I tried to draw him.

Dr.Sketchy

I did this one last night during Dr.Sketchy. Only that when I came back home I was able to see the colour I painted cos it was very dark there I could barely tell the colour I was mixing. Just to clarify, her nipples aren't bleeding, those were the red covers she was wearing... ugh... bad painting :(

Coconut water

This is the coconut water I bought from the Yoga place I usually go, never seen it in the local stores... or maybe I just wasn't looking.

QnA doodle

I did this when I was in the QnA tonight with my Mentor. It is my digital camera, I found it relaxing and easier to focus on what the mentor is talking while I was drawing :) It is exactly what I'm trying to achieve by keeping this journal, I want to draw to relax and have fun! I think I'm getting there :P

Peter Docter

I tried to sketch Pete Doc from one our Animation Mentor lecture videos... hm... I don't think any of these look like him unfortunately :(

Dinner at home tonight

These are some of the people involved in tonight's dinner at home. I wish I know how to draw faster so I can actually finish the drawing before everyone left the table :(