I have been wanting to draw this for a while and finally managed to do it.
Picking a familiar subject could force me to spend more efforts in resemblance which might not be the key point or intention of the drawing.
June 26, 2020
Sketch a towel-wrapped head in multiple views
June 23, 2020
Anniversary dinner
The appetizers (corn mezzaluna, Spanish mackerel) and entrees (striped bass, duck breast) were pretty light until the chocolate souffle, which was much more fulfilling than the size would suggest and continued to roll in my stomach until deep into the night.
Drawing helped me to not only remember the experience (than, say, photography) but (counter-intuitively) also better engage in conversation.
This is my last celebratory meal before I manage to regenerate a losing body part considered to be irreversible by all doctors I have consulted so far.
June 20, 2020
Charcoal sketch of a neighborhood cat
The black neighborhood cat visited again, which I watched through the front door glass for a bit while and drew the impression with the new charcoal brush in Fresco.
June 18, 2020
Hong Kong weather skyline
I drew this 3×1 watercolor inspired by Yilan Chen’s Instagram photos.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CBaGv77Je4L/
June 15, 2020
A day of errands
A pile of earth
A physical exam
A carton of eggs
A job training
A PhD defense
June 14, 2020
Drawing my favorite view of the bay
This is my first drawing of the view from this spot which I often come to relax my mind and body.
June 13, 2020
Quick ink-pen sketch of a dead mosquito
I noticed this little black spot on the white carpet.
The (iPad) camera can capture the details better than my naked eyes.
I removed the dead mosquito afterwards.
June 10, 2020
Onsite drawing of a back building view
Thanks to a not-yet-ready for pick-up dinner order, I finally got a chance/excuse to draw this back-building view that I found intriguing during my morning train station waits but without enough time to draw.
It was a serene drawing process, accompanied by sounds from train horns and chats of nearby street folks.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CBR3u-rHVFV/
How to pick up drawing
I skipped most of my art classes in school because I considered it a soft skill less useful than math and science.
Decades later I realized that art can be a good complement to my research and help me relax and create.
Fortunately, unlike languages, I have found drawing quite learnable as an adult, if one is willing to spend enough time practice and experiment.
For beginners, I recommend Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain by Betty Edwards as a starting guide book.
Practice the exercises as much as you can, and treat the cognitive aspect (e.g., left versus right brain) more from the art than the science side.
I am still learning, and will update this post along the way.
You can see my progress under my blog (which links to Instagram), Pinterest (which links to Behance), and Facebook.