I drew the empty bag after eating the last cookie.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CL3ZMezH9xa/
February 28, 2021
February 22, 2021
Standing cabinet
I saw this standing cabinet on the roadside a few days back, and it was gone today when I walked past the same spot.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CLnw67cHCp2/
February 21, 2021
Free lemons
I took one, and it has a tinge of wood in the taste and smell.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CLlcOVtH_uV/
February 20, 2021
Empty milk carton
Careful observation can reveal hidden intrigues of mundane objects.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CLix2IynMeK/
February 19, 2021
Baggy dress
I draw what I (want you to) see, no more, no less.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CLgBtlxHpov/
February 18, 2021
Wrapped chocolate truffle
Folds and wraps can form intriguing patterns and shapes.
This chocolate truffle is wrapped in a specular BRDF making it hard to see the underlying contours.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CLdqeA5Himj/
February 17, 2021
Fungible memory
I drew the initial version of the lower-right mushroom from memory, which I realized to be too regular upon looking at the photograph while attempting to upload. I then modified the shape to be less regular and more natural/interesting.
The other two were drawn entirely from memory as I did not capture any photo reference.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CLbIZ8MnlH4/
February 15, 2021
Fruits rest
I lost track of time drawing these two apples snugging on the bananas, and did not realize it was past my usual bed time.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CLXejbOH9Qd/
February 14, 2021
Broken tires
A pile of broken tires around a construction site caught my eye on January 3 2021, especially the lower-left one in a twisted fold. But it was moved towards the fence before I got a chance to draw it.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CLS0v94n7sk/
February 11, 2021
Ugly apple
This apple has unhandled extraordinary vertices for its subdivision rules.
Ugly apple – pencil, charcoal, graphite, oil, and smudge #AdobeFresco
Even though shaped with
unusual subdivision,
still fresh and tasty.Happy new year! 新年快樂! pic.twitter.com/zaGinIAgYu
— Li-Yi Wei (@liyiwei) February 12, 2021
February 8, 2021
Vacant lot corner
Drawing is one of the few activities that can soothe me into a zone/flow, like hours before a SIGGRAPH deadline (before year 2011, the start of my diminishing marginal return).
https://www.instagram.com/p/CLDdWt7nWRu/
February 6, 2021
Hand-rest profile
I drew this from referencing a magazine photo.
I did not know what I exactly wanted to do in the beginning and simply let the iterative process guide me.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CK-u0XinA-I/
February 5, 2021
Mushroom
Mushroom drawn outside
the yard in a warm sunny
winter afternoon.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CK7sf8tnHoN/
February 3, 2021
Bright cloud
After experimenting with various brush types (oil, watercolor, charcoal, etc.), I realized that the best way to depict the fluffy cloud texture is smudge over the (black and white) strokes placed by whatever brush types.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CK3Fj3_nps0/
January 31, 2021
Waiting
A neighborhood cat
sneaking to a gopher hole
and waiting, I saw.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CKvQBo1HMr2/
January 27, 2021
Muscular pears
I was intrigued by the muscular appearance of these two pears (half already eaten), and decided to depict this impression with broad oil brushes, which felt satisfying but also reminded me to try physical oil painting.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CKlB0XhHe0w/
January 21, 2021
Dream on 4:30 am January 21 2021
Sometimes, a dream is a continuation, expansion, or exaggeration of events in real life.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CKVmM7enN8B/
January 20, 2021
Ugly lemon
I found this one on the ground, which seemed to be saying:
I might look different from my cousins in food markets, but I am still a lemon.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CKTCgiKHkWy/
January 11, 2021
Fallen apples
Recently there were a lot of fallen apples around my back yard, some of which became my breakfasts.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CJ2kSi-HzFD/
https://www.instagram.com/p/CJ7nP5hn9NJ/
January 7, 2021
Water bottle
I just wanted to quickly draw something simple and smooth.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CJxgizQHQpV/
December 31, 2020
Fire hydrants
The fire hydrants can have various sizes and shapes even in a nearby neighborhood:
https://twitter.com/liyiwei/status/1344832830921031685
flat head https://www.instagram.com/p/CJNCWw8nyUa/
large head https://www.instagram.com/p/CJSJlDJnGAa/
sharp head https://www.instagram.com/p/CJe9ee-nU9I/
December 21, 2020
Winter solstice
Portrait sketch from a reference photo, third attempt, which finally started to look satisfying.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CJFrEBLn-l2/
https://www.instagram.com/p/CJIRUnpH6Ql/
December 19, 2020
Memory of a tree pod
I saw this tree growing pods among tiny leaves and drew one pod from memory afterwards.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CJAA0dsHbQE/
December 16, 2020
Profile of a deer group
I unintentionally captured an intriguing profile view of a deer group and drew from the video reference afterwards.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CI4Q3hkn-aX/
https://www.instagram.com/p/CI450DVnwLo/
December 14, 2020
Home desk worker
Avoid continuing the day work into the night.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CI07BkAH9wx/
December 12, 2020
A glass of diluted juice on the kitchen counter
The refraction and caustics of the drink on the checkered counter top made a perfect scene for drawing.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CIucoDmHqPQ/
December 10, 2020
Mondrian cake dream
Mondrian-themed cake,
in an early morning dream,
cut but not eaten.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CIpdevoHpda/
December 9, 2020
December 4, 2020
Fortune cookie
A fortune cookie has an intriguing exterior shape and interior content.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CIbkvXhH_K6/
November 26, 2020
Rock debris load
I guess I just wanted something to do while bathing under outdoor sunlight.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CIEzpgzngIL/
November 24, 2020
Takeout box
I drew this common and yet intriguing object as a memoir of a short conversation with the restaurant owner during my pickup.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CIAJaRSnF6b/
November 22, 2020
Coffee pouch
I meant to draw this used coffee pouch a while back until I recalled its existence after dinner.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CH7G1NunPmJ/
November 21, 2020
Lotus root peeler
I stood around drawing her peeling the lotus root to cook with jujube, longan, and sticky rice.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CH4A4eGHB0L/
https://www.instagram.com/p/CH6fD54nFS6/
November 15, 2020
Edgecliff and Far creek
Neighborhood drawing
Outside a sunny winter
Sunday afternoon
https://www.instagram.com/p/CHofqEtnJIB/
November 11, 2020
Neck scarf
A head wrapped in a scarf can look very good; drawn from a stationary subject.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CHewCrVgnWB/
November 8, 2020
Wrapped on a sofa in a cold rainy day
Another drawing practice of a relatively stationary subject.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CHWYmOVHOcR/
November 1, 2020
Fuyu persimmon
This is an exercise with different mediums (pencil, charcoal, oil, watercolor) and tools (Fresco and Expresii).
https://www.instagram.com/p/CHEzugPHStF/
October 31, 2020
Spider crab head thing
I just felt like drawing something like this.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CHCIJFnnPgr/
October 28, 2020
Prison cell visit dream
I visited a man in a prison cell
The man sat on a chair
With a noose hung next to him
I was supposed to talk to him
But instead started to draw him
https://www.instagram.com/p/CG6lFl8nQo_/
October 26, 2020
Crow with acorns
I used to think the acorns were dropped on the roof by the squirrels, until this afternoon when I spotted these crows, which I didn’t manage to photograph on spot but drew one later based on visual memory and online photos.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CG1U1afnQvU/
October 25, 2020
Sofa portraits
Practice quick sketches of reasonably captive subjects.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CGyJgqrn7NG/
https://www.instagram.com/p/CGyvy5QHPvl/
October 23, 2020
Lemons on a tree
I didn’t notice, until today, this lemon tree near where I have lived for almost 20 years.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CGtwTO4H7y-/
October 18, 2020
Little painter
I drew this fun exercise with reference photo(s).
I found FB an excellent venue for virtual drawing archive: unlimited storage, albums for organization, “memories” for reminding/checking progress, social sharing (or peer pressure, depending on how you look at it) for motivation, and no known privacy issue (how to target ads based on drawings, aside from generic Adobe CC subscription?).
October 16, 2020
Pineapple
These are experiments with the charcoal brushes in Fresco.
October 14, 2020
Tree remains
I saw a newly chopped-down tree on Monday evening, came back this evening only to see its remains already cleaned away, and drew from visual memory/impression.
Interestingly, I can draw this one faster and better from memory than onsite, probably due to the mental abstraction already took place.
October 10, 2020
American nightmare
In nightmares, Jorge Luis Borges mentioned about the mesmerizing painting by Henry Fuseli, which inspired me to paint over my variation to reflect the current political atmosphere.
The reference image sources: incubus, statue of liberty, elephant.
October 9, 2020
Phone movie watcher
This is a practice for quick sketch of intriguing human poses.
October 7, 2020
Zaris Mech
Portrait requires high precision to look right.
The lockdown has reduced my chance to draw people on-site, so I switch to photo references meanwhile.
October 2, 2020
September 30, 2020
Jefferson and Fallen Leaf
I noticed the intriguing configuration of utility poles around this street corner due to the down ramp on the other side.
September 28, 2020
Books-round-over-table-corner dream
Around 6 am September 26 I recalled this dream about a bunch of books circling over the edge of the kitchen table without falling over.
September 26, 2020
A day of several drawings
I remembered 3 weird dreams earlier at around 4:30 am and 6:00 am this morning, and decided to draw them out.
Before that, during an eye break, I spotted a rooftop worker.
This is the first dream, about an eel tank.
This painting is inspired by the name of a prior intern who is still collaborating with me.
September 21, 2020
Resting excavator
After focusing on the claws in the previous sketch, I felt more comfortable drawing the entire excavator.
I misplaced a rod in my first pencil-and-pen sketch, which I fixed, and then proceeded to produce a color version.
I ran out of patience after oil-painting the yellow components and thus water-colored the rest gray, and completed oil-painting the body two days later.
September 19, 2020
Excavator claws
Initially I was trying to draw the entire excavator but found particular interests in the two claws.
September 12, 2020
Quick sketch of a cat on a fence
The cat allowed me only a quick glimpse before jumping away.
September 8, 2020
How to deal with shit in life
Remove it before it can further pollute the mind and the environment.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CE5xr0MHtLb/
September 4, 2020
Digital charcoal drawing of physical colored pencils
Late at night spotting
colored pencils for charcoal
digital drawing
September 2, 2020
Vertigo ceiling
During vertigo, the eyes can spin around following the incorrect signals sent from a faulty vestibular system.
The effect can be reduced by VR: track the eye movements, classify whether they are caused by vertigo, and adjust the display accordingly (e.g., move the visual field with the spinning eye gaze).
August 28, 2020
Side wing of a Buddhist church
There are many interesting architectural and religious constructs inside and outside this Buddhist temple converted from a Christian church.
I was attempting to capture its entire front side, but soon realized that it won’t fit well into a square canvas.
So I ended up drawing only one side, and plan for other outside and inside views in the future.
August 24, 2020
Farm Hill
This intriguing hill-corner-top view is part of my routine walks around the neighborhood.
August 21, 2020
Strawberries
I drew this plate of strawberries after dinner.
August 18, 2020
Wild fire
Given our performance so far against the covid-19 pandemic, how would you rationally expect we can deal with environment damage and climate change?
With the current trajectory, humanity may not last beyond 100 or even 50 years.
August 16, 2020
Flower day lapse
I was planning to draw this bud every day until it completely dies off but something unexpected forced me to stop on Friday August 14 2020.
August 8, 2020
Bud pair
This is a very quick oil painting. I plan to draw a time lapse of the flower life cycle.
August 4, 2020
Morning energy
Bananas probably have one of the highest benefit-to-cost ratios among all food: nutritional, healthy, easy to consume, and low cost, despite their lack of genetic diversity and (like other fresh produce) perishable for storage and transportation.
July 31, 2020
Decomposition
The disintegration of a dead body is its reintegration back to the nature, and inspires me to decompose my sketching.
July 29, 2020
Library outdoor pickup
I walked up to the wait area, told the librarian my name, and received the book in a shopping bag.
July 28, 2020
Gift from the cat
The neighborhood black cat seemed to express his affinity by occasionally laying dead rats around the house.
I spotted this one in the backyard earlier this morning, but it disappeared when I tried to draw it in the evening; fortunately I have a reference photo taken earlier for backup.
July 26, 2020
Memory of a silverfish 衣魚
I spotted a silverfish in the morning, which reminded me of those I constantly saw in my grandfather’s numerous ancient Chinese texts, which he refused to throw away any despite repeated demands from my grandmother. (Is this house for people or books to live in? 這房子是給人還是給書住的?)
He started to teach me classical Chinese when I was in kindergarten, and told me several important and unconventional lessons, such as: do not trust everything in the history books, better to beat others with my brain instead of my fists, and never let others control my thoughts and actions.
July 25, 2020
Breakfast memory
I drew from visual memory a cut avocado that has been a regular part of my breakfasts.
July 22, 2020
Lonely excavator claw
I saw this excavator claw sitting alone on the road side a few days ago, and walked back to sketch it.
The road is meandering and thus the car traffic can be a bit dangerous for pedestrians.
Fortunately, I can stand on the down-wind side of the claw, under the protection of its size and weight.
July 20, 2020
Road roller
I saw this road roller parked at the corner of a nearby fire station, which has a nice low wide stone wall for me to sit comfortably while sketching.
The connectors between the wheel/drum axes and the body seemed obstructive while on site, so I skipped them but found them pivotal for the structure and composition after the first drawing.
I came back to add the connectors the next evening.
July 18, 2020
Mailboxes
I was trying to draw a temple building but lacked enough time before the evening closure, so I switched to another nearby scene.
July 15, 2020
Dragon fruit peel
After eating the dragon fruit, I drew its peel to memorize it.
July 13, 2020
Pencil and pen sketch of an unlit corner after sunset
I went out after 8 pm to this interesting and yet unlit corner of my neighborhood, to force myself to either draw quickly before it was too dark and/or finish the rest from visual memory back home.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CCm_h8RHb5h/
July 10, 2020
Hand exercise pine cone
When I picked up this pine cone it was still oozing sap, and has remained on my desk as an aroma source and hand exercise instrument.
July 6, 2020
Sitting across from the black cat opposite a glass panel
The neighborhood black cat often came to visit.
The sketch is a composition based on two photographs.
July 4, 2020
Drawing a composition of evening sun and moon
This composition is astronomically implausible (unless there are multiple suns above the horizon) but I felt like doing it after seeing the evening sun and moon at opposite ends of the sky.
July 3, 2020
Sketching after a photo of a sketching scene
My father shared some photographs of this drawing scenes, which I could draw from and connect to his works and travels.
July 1, 2020
A spider on a flower
A spider, resting on a lamp shade, scurried away after being gently poked by me to see if it was still alive.
This exercise aimed to reproduce my impression of its movement, but over a flower as captured by an earlier photograph of another spider instead of the lamp shade.
I drew the flower and the spider in multiple layers via Fresco, exported the pdf file to Illustrator to animate the spider via puppet warp, and assembled the final video from the individual spider layers/frames along with the flower.
Even with puppet warp, the authoring process still involved tedious manual repetitions, which can be alleviated by autocomplete.
ffmpeg -framerate 32 -start_number 0 -i frame_%02d.jpg -c:v libx264 -pix_fmt yuv420p -vf scale=1024×1024 SpiderOnFlower32fps.mp4
June 26, 2020
Sketch a towel-wrapped head in multiple views
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 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.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CBztNAlHXd7/
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 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/
June 7, 2020
End of consumer toilet paper shortage?
Just a few weeks ago the US was suffering from a shortage of consumer toilet papers, so I was a bit surprised to see a pack of unopened toilet papers marked as free on top of a garbage pile while walking in the neighborhood on Sunday evening.
I wonder if that is a sign that the toilet paper production has finally ramped up?
June 5, 2020
Quick onsite sketch of a bench in a temple garden
The spot around this bench offers good views from several angles.
May 27, 2020
Drawing a deck view in a heat wave
I took a reference photo of this view which caught my eye on Tue May 26 early morning at the start of a heat wave.
I came back for on-spot drawing at Wed May 27 evening when the weather cooled down a bit, and finished the drawing indoor with the reference photo after night fall.
May 26, 2020
Sketching multiple variations of the head relief on a CAD quarter coin
Human perception is very sensitive to human faces, and thus small variations in a portrait sketch can cause large perceived differences.
May 23, 2020
Add a groundhog to a previous drawing
I once saw a groundhog poking its head out of its mound in a nearby county park.
This one was drawn via a reference photo.
May 22, 2020
Export control
This package of face masks took about 40 days to reach me from my parents in Taipei.
May 20, 2020
Adding flora to a previous drawing
During an evening walk I noticed a lone red flower sitting in the middle of a grass land, which inspired me to draw this variation.
May 18, 2020
Self pencil portrait of a profile view after failed attempts to cut my own hair
Experimental results indicated that it is very tricky to cut my own hair for desirable outcomes, even though it is worth trying as I need to know for sure whether I could pull it off.
For the first time, I had this magic experience that a self-portrait is a dialog with oneself.
May 17, 2020
Adding body parts to a previous drawing
I added body parts from my previous drawings over the shovel-and-wheel-barrel scene I drew earlier.
Base drawing
Rodin’s hand
Caltrain passenger’s leg
May 16, 2020
Oil paint construction workers with a shovel and a wheel barrel
This is a starting point for further variations to come.
May 10, 2020
Redirected drawing
I was planning to draw something else but somehow redirected my attention to these nearby construction signs.
May 8, 2020
Drawing a fox pack
A pack of foxes were videographed in my neighborhood a few days ago. The captue was quite blurry, so I decided to create a new composition.