I drew this 3×1 watercolor inspired by Yilan Chen’s Instagram photos.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CBaF5IWpNQn/
https://www.instagram.com/p/CBaGCEHJ7Sq/
https://www.instagram.com/p/CBaGv77Je4L/
2020-06-18
Hong Kong weather skyline
2020-06-15
A day of errands
A pile of earth
A physical exam
A carton of eggs
A job training
A PhD defense
2020-06-14
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.
2020-06-13
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.
2020-06-10
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.
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.
2020-06-07
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?
2020-06-05
Quick onsite sketch of a bench in a temple garden
The spot around this bench offers good views from several angles.
Sharing materials under review for job applications
Question from someone about to graduate with a PhD:
Do you think I can reach out with our paper draft and videos to profs for postdocs? It’s still under review, but I kinda need to send the paper to make my case, and can’t wait any longer.
This is always a yes and no question and we have to make our own judgement. On one hand, we don’t want to let potential reviewers and recruiters feel that we are compromising review anonymity, which can hurt our paper submissions and job applications. On the other hand, we do want to present ourselves in the best possible way.
I never have this problem personally, as during my job hunts so far I have shared only public domain information.
However, if I have to add confidential materials (e.g., under peer reviews or patent applications), I will share vague information, such as an alternative paper titles with high level descriptions and a disclaimer that the work is under evaluation, and let the recruiters decide whether they want to ask for more.