On Craftsmanship

beautiful flower shop in Ginza

I think over the years, definitely with time, our tastes mature and become more attuned to what we like, what we need. I'm definitely feeling it more and more as I also try to reflect on things I consume. 

I was away Dec 8th to Dec 14th for a brief trip to Taiwan and Japan. Story is that I got a job faster than anticipated and I've wanted to take a trip to Taiwan quickly before I settled into the job. Thankfully my bosses are extremely encouraging of travel and calls them "inspiration trips" for which I am very glad.

Coming back on topic, I think this trip really put to words things I've been attracted to and goals I aspire to. That is craftsmanship. Everything I absolutely loved on my trip is in some form attached to craftsmanship - skill in a particular craft. In ZhongLi, it was that simple bowl of roasted grass jelly; in Ginza, the perfect bowl of gyudon; in Kawagoe, a beautiful unagi-don. I looooved everything. I love being able to experience the perfection of a skill in all sorts of art forms.

roasted grass jelly with QQ in Zhongli

Guydon at Kitsune-ya in Ginza

This trip has really been a beautiful insight to something I need to give deeper thought to. It's still hard to put into words what my goals are for 2018, but I hope to align it with that. More food for thought this week... Soon the goals for the next year will have to reveal itself!

yuzu ramen!!

On Being Anxious

Recently I finally decided to finish my little comic/journal about my anxious episode and change. Actually, I was moping around that day since an event I was part of did not go the way I had envisioned. I was gonna do nothing all day but half way through I just powered through lining the comic. I had started working on it a year and half ago, and in that bout of blues, powered through it in two days. 

When I feel sad about my state of art, I feel it's ok to pause a little and take time to be sad. It always gives way for me to foster some kuyashii feelings. I get up and want to get better. 

At least that's how my creative circle goes!!

I posted the little comic on issuu. If you make an account you can download the PDF :)

Last week was quite a busy week! I received my Travel and Work permit from USCIS, in time for my work interview that was lined up two days after! So.. now, a week later, I'm going to start working! I'm so excited. It's not animation, but it's definitely something I love. And I'm glad I'll be surrounded by really lovely people whom I am eager to learn from. I am looking forward to grow on this job!

Else, it was a nice Thanksgiving, getting together with some friends. I made Banana Bread cake with Strawberry Glaze. The Glaze was a nightmare, but seems like it became good as it dried... Miracle!

Karen and I made a trip to the beach as well as a wonderful sushi experience at one of our -now- favourite sushi places here in California.

I'm still trying to see what schedule work best for the blog! I think it will be important for me to set up some blog themes lined up. I know nobody reads these really but I'm gonna try to be consistent and then share as things stabilize!

On EDC!

I need to get back in the habit of writing on blogs again!!! Let's try again to make this happen! 

Lately I've been thinking about making an art material post - actually before I stopped posting I had planned to make a materials post. Right now I'll just post about my EDC (every day carry). Art post will be a little more complicated. Since I've last posted things have changed a little mainly due to the addition of my Traveler's Notebook~ In my EDC, this is my basic carry (my bare bone carry is just TN, sketchbook and pen).

BASIC EDC

watercolour tin (24 half pan or this small one)

global arts travelogue handbook sketchbook

traveler's notebook regular brown

kuretake waterbrush

fountain pen (default LAMY SAFARI)

I try to carry all these most times, and generally I'll have a pen case with me holding my fountain pens as well as a OHTO Minimo pencil, which does come in handy more than i realize! As for handbags, I use a variety of Kiplings, though I am eyeing a The Superior Labor one ...

watercolour tin

I love love love using a tin palette for watercolour! The one in this photo is one I made with a mini postcard tin and some empty half pans + magnets. Recently I came across ppl who have used smaller tins! It's suuuper cute! I might consider it if I'm really strapped for room. I generally will bring my 24 half pan tin when I plan on colouring, I like having the small one as a light casual carry. I use Holbein watercolour tubes. The paints are very vibrant and the pigments are abundant; but because they are generally opaque like, I'm considering switching to Daniel Smith down the line (plus now they make smaller tubes!)

sketchbook

I don't know how many years it has been since I've settled on this sketchbook, but it's been LONG time. Travelogue Handbook is the best... It's just the best for me in terms of how I work. Actually when I started buying them, they were cheaper than they are now... but it's still worth it!! The paper takes a good beating and seriously takes washes well. The pages then buckle up but they also settle down flat after a while, it's really amazing. I LOVE it. It also feels casual enough to just write in it as well.

traveler's notebook

I fell into this TN hell in around January and started to look for cheaper alternatives. Because I was really into bullet journal, I thought this would be a great system to integrate into. So for many months I had tried some Fauxdoris - just to see if I could make this work. (Un)fortunately, it did! I loved the system! In july I finally bit the bullet and bought an official TN when Fiddy came to visit... and our books have been brothers since. I'm still working out which inserts to put in but currently I have 1. Baum-kuchen wallet insert 2. blank notebook for bujo 3. Traveler's Factory Canvas Insert. The latter I got at the Traveler's Caravan x Ace Hotel vent that I absolutely loved!! 

waterbrush

I actually much prefer using an actual brush nowadays, but still nothing beats the convenience of a waterbrush and a rag cloth. I have almost all of KURETAKE's line of waterbrushes, my usual carry is Medium round or the Flat. I think with Flat you can do almost anything, so I just carry that.

fountain pen

One of my personal hells. For drawing I always carry a Lamy Safari inked with De Atrementis Document Ink Black - and sometimes another Lamy Safari with same ink but different colour. I like the De Atrementis Document Ink a lot - they dry fast and I love the assorted colours. Currently, I'm also testing out using my TWSBI ECO for my drawing pen, as the steel nib is very stiff and I like that stiffness for drawing. I also often carry a Pilot Parallel Pen when I go urbansketching - I feel like it keeps me nice and loose.

That pretty much sums up my EDC!! I hope to cover more art materials next time.. For now, have some photos~

jotting down baking ideas in my TN

Ace Hotel, quick sketch on rooftop

a beautiful stack of TNs from people and staff at Ace Hotel event