Me and my "Jellyfish Dream" in the Small Wonders II

Show... Lots of cool art there!

"Jellyfish Dream"- Pastel with mixed media

Whew! I finally got this done. Sorry the photo is terrible. I forgot to take a pic before I had it sent to the framers. So this is taken with reflective glass... ugh! oh well. Jellyfish is in pastel on ArtSpectrum paper. The background is acrylic, and the embroidery is with white sewing machine threads. I'm starting to really like this method, although a bit time consuming then just drawing images straight on the paper. I guess I'm currently tapping into my old-fashion self, where I like to use threads. From the fact that I can hand and machine sew, knit and crochet...just like back the in days before computers (GAAAASSSSP!) This piece will be shown at the Santa Cruz Art League's "Small Wonders II" Show- Dec. 15th through Jan. 6th. This should be a fun experience for me. Great opportunity at the Art League to showcase work.

Yellow Seahorse- done!

Whew! I am actually proud of this piece. But it took a while. I had ruined about 4 pieces of pricey paper to get to a point where I can use the background and actually draw on top of it. I used the Golden Acrylic Grounds for Pastel and acrylic paint. Once I finished the drawing of this seahorse, I then proceeded to use blue sewing machine thread and embroider these organic circular like shapes around the seahorse. I was lucky to use the heavy 140 pound cold press Arches Watercolor paper for this piece because I had to handle this paper alot, and it was thick enough to where I couldn't crease or put fold marks into this while I was threading. I will do a similar style like this for my next piece, that I hope to show in the "Small Wonders" Show at our local Santa Cruz Art League.

Seahorse sketches for next idea

こんにちは Next pastel project...Seahorse! This is a sketch of a typical Yellow Seahorse. Unique and cool sea creature...the males is the one that gets pregnant! Hah. My attempt (knock on wood) to compose the drawing on paper that I've just painted on and make a mixed media piece incorporating paper hand embroidery. Tall order for me...but I won't know unless I try it out. Ja matta!

I have a Tumblr Page...

check it out. it's basically a simplified version of this blog. Just trying to post my pics, rather then describe it. This day and age, some people don't have the time to read anymore: "drawings for kyoko"

Red Thread and Moth

Lately,(I have been discovering) is that I like too many things... I like collage, pastels, watercolors, acrylics. And I also like the look of layering and spending the time on the background just as much and the foreground image (or focus point). I've also, recently, reintroducted myself to sewing. I had hand sewed alot when I was very young and I just love the actual threading part of going in and out of fabric. So in this piece I wanted to combine everything...just to test myself. The challenge here was not to make everything look too busy or over-whelming.

I've used a creame BFK Rives paper with acrylic grounds and acrylic for this piece. The BFK has a soft but stiff enough qualities so I can puncture small holes for the needle to pass through without tearing the paper. I really like the linear structure against my "floating" imageries. The lines made of threads was following a small piece of architectural drawing from my father-in-law, that I used toward the right side of the moth.
I seem to be using the moth imageries lately...hmmmm

Quick Geishia sketch on newsprint

I am currently wanting to try something bold...(gasp) showing a human like face in my work. So being the careful person that I am, I've decided to sketch it out on newsprint paper first before I dive into either an Art Spectrum or paper that I have to spend some time prepping. So while in class, I worked this composition out. I was using charcoal and cheap - super cheap pastel chalks....so not to waste my Sennelier pastels.<;0)
And came out better then I thought.

(thus this post)
So I "might" try this on real pastel paper. Yes, there's a ghosted outline of my lunar moth.

Lunar Moth

The Lunar Moth of N. America...once it becomes an adult... from the caterpillar stage, it only lives for one week (or two at best). There's a sad beauty to that.
Note: Drawn on black pastel paper, and I have to admit it was sort of tough to work with, I have been getting used to making my own paper background or buying expensive pastel paper. But luckily it came out better then I thought :0)

Three Koi at the Gallery in...

Santa Cruz Art League! A Big Thanks to our teacher Joan Hellenthal<;0) Yay! A step forward, got a piece on the wall there <;0) We are located in the lobby portion of the Gallery but there's a wonderful show there "Prints Galore". Please check out Santa Cruz Art League for more info.

Fallen Monarch Wings

I've titled this "Fallen Wings" My son (when he was 7 years old) came home from school with a butterfly that had been deceased for a while and was still intacted, expect for the head and legs. He had carefully put it into his lunch box, so it wouldn't get smashed and was excited to show me the moment I saw him after school (..it's a good thing...because I would of jumped and screamed upon seeing this in his lunch box!)
A Bit of Fact: The Monarch Butterfly migrates along the costal area of California and we are lucky enough to have them stop by not to far from where we live. Once a year they arive in the Santa Cruz area and cluster in the eucalyptus trees.
Anyways, I was impressed how vibrant the wings were even after it's death. Although I am no expert in butterflies, it looks like it had a full live and even parts of the wings were weathered and worn. Thus my inspiration for this piece. I had put in the kanji word for "aura" or "one's spirit" in a boxed formation on my piece...I think one can put together their own interpretation of death and aura and that's there's beauty in that concept and connection.

Note: I experimented with making my own "paper" background for this piece. I had no intention of something that I would get attached to, but turned out better then I thought. The background is a method that I've learned in Joan's Pastel Class at the SC Art League, using pastel acrylic grounds, acrylic paints, and BFK Paper. I will put together some photos of that method in the near future.

Crane with "Aura" Kanji

iPhone 4 case, pastel Geishia's Back

You can order these at CafePress.

Geishia's Back

Using watercolors with "low fume" paint thinner and water to achieve this soft drippy effect. I'm trying to tie my images in with more of an ethereal background to them.

Totoro in Pastels with watercolor background

I just had to draw this out <;0) I just love Hayao Miyazaki's work. His illustrations and movie "My Neighbor Totoro" となりのトトロ is just too cute. So the background is actually an experiment using watercolors with water and ozone safe paint thinner. I'm trying to combine several elements that I like, plant botanical illustrations with morphing and merging of colors. I think with Totoro and his friends this subject matter would be a perfect fit <;0). I'm actually happy how this came out.

Next Piece-Geisha sketch

This is something I've been toying around with on my sketch book. Trying to test out watercolors as part of my mixed media with pastel. I'll be using the Art Spectrum paper for this as well. However, I'm using a real light hue instead of my usual dark blues or blues. I'm also checking out "Richard McKinley's - A Studio Session" to see how he combines watercolors and the use of under paintings in his pastel work. It's cool to see how this artist uses other medias for his pastels (weird, the link for his website is broken <;0( ) Thanks Joan for letting me borrow this DVD.

Ocean Sunfish- Mola Mola

My son loves this fish, he had seen it before during a school field trip at the Monterey Bay Aquarium. and when we went as a family he immediately insisted that we should see this first. Without going into the facts about this fish, I thought it would be an unusual subject matter to pastel paint this. Granted it's not the world's "prettiest" fish, but it is quite awesome to see this live. Click here for the Wikipedia info on this species. I wanted to incorporate some elements of ocean sunfish in Katakana, and used the Kanji for "ocean" in this piece. I have used the Art Spectrum paper, which is acrylic based, and took to my acrylic paints and matt medium quite well. So the finished piece has these layered of acrylics, papers and pastel, and I'm really enjoying the texture from the layering process.

Greeting Cards... okay

now, I'm testing out of to make "merch" or "swag" out of my work, should the opportunity arrive <;0). These are greeting cards, blank inside, printed at Kodak Gallery.com. It's printed pretty nicely on heavy white stock and your choice of color envelopes. The down side is that, it is pretty pricey and shipping will always add to your cost. So with that, now why do I still use this site? It's because I have for many years, liked the size and quality of their cards. I have tried other sites and the quality of the ink was really low and the sizes of the cards were too small for me (4x6 or smaller). These cards are 5x7, which is a good standard card size, I think, to show off your work.

FYI- I'm not a True Blogger...unfort <;0(

I'm just using this as a way to post up my work, share and partially as a portfolio too. That being said, I won't have advertisement or a way to monetize this site. Although through google blogger there's an option to do so, but I won't be taking that route (at least for now <;0). Reason is why: I don't know if I have the time or make the commitment to do "how to" pages or explicit tutorials like most bloggers do. Especially when I'm in the middle of learning and figuring out how I can apply pastels myself <;0). There are a great many YouTube pastel tutorials that are good to great. Also if you have time, you can check out the publication (a physical magazine!) called "The Pastel Journal". I don't think there's a direct link to this, but I was able to find this at the "Artist Network". Anyways, thanks for visiting! <;0) Domo arigato gozai masu. どうもありがとうございました

"Geishia's Dream"

Finally, was able to finish this piece (April is always the busiest for us, many birthdays including my son's) The challenge was that I was trying to make the appearance of the Geishia to look visually flat, because traditionally (dating hundreds of years back) geishia figures had a flat treatment to them, due to the fact that many were depicted using wood block prints. The challenge for me personally was to make pastel seem and applied in a flat look, which is hard since the beauty of pastel mediums is that it's pretty organic and so it is meant to be built with layers. Also, I wanted to mention that this is a "mixed media" piece. I used acrylic paint in some of the areas. So I had to consider drying time before I could proceed with the pastels. I may have created the composition a bit too much, I think I got too excited and carried away with my theme that I went a bit overboard. And I think this will end my theme using the koi fishes. Note* You might be able to tell that I am heavily influenced by Hung Liu's piece "Chinese Profile II" which is a permanent piece in the San Jose Museum of Art.

My Sketchbook- ideas for my next piece

I sketch in pen and watercolors...I've been thinking about my next pastel piece for a month now...now I'm anxious to get to it <;0)

One of my fav. artist- Hung Liu

Artist Hung Liu's website.

I have attended her lecture in San Jose years back, when I was finishing a series of collage work in acrylic using digitized photographs. And it so happens that I saw many of my directions in her body of work.
I still feel inspired by her paintings and pieces of it will flow over into my pastel work.
She works primarily in large scale oil painting. She has a permanent piece hanging currently at the San Jose Museum of Art.
If you have a moment, you should read about her background and how she create art in China, during the lates 1940's under the Maoist regime. It's quite interesting and fascinating.

"Goldfish Luck" March 2012

Just finished this piece this week. It is mixed media with acrylic paints and some photo collage.

I'm finding that I'm getting inspired by combining nature with my new surroundings and mixing it with my cultural background.

My first pastel piece: Pelican

I had taken my camera, not my phone camera, outside and saw some pelican's flying by and quickly took this shot.
I really like how the moon is shown above, and just the simple composition of this piece.

Quick sketch in charcoal

and a little bit of pastel on newsprint paper.
Composition study for my next piece <;0) White egret with "Moss Landing" in the background. This isn't a depiction of reality, just a combination of visual things that I gravitate towards.

My Pastel Class (fyi)

The Santa Cruz Art League
This is where I started learning about Pastel.
The Art League also have wonderful art classes there ranging from watercolor, acrylics to mixed media. Check out their class list.
Also friend, past co-worker, and instructor, Wayne Jiang teaches the weekend acrylic class,"Paint like the old Dutch Masters with Acrylic", check that out as well.
My instructor (sensei) Joan Hellenthal artist and awesome teacher. Will teach you everything you ever need to know about pastels. I go there to get inspired and to learn from her students who are talented artists in their own right <;0).

Halloween characters in Oil pastels

I made them into Halloween greeting cards for friends/family.

My new Mixed media with Pastels

My theme on Koi fish and their quiet yet strong spirit.
According to Japanese legend it is associated with perseverance in adversity and strength of purpose.
Because of it's strength and determination to overcome obstacles, it stand for courage and the ability to attain high goals.

I'm starting to tap into my Japanese influences into my new set of work.
I'm trying to add acrylic paints into my drawings, because in the past I had worked in acrylic and I just miss it...so why not try to incorporate it with pastel.

Pokemon characters in Oil Pastels

My son's favorite "Pokemon" characters on brown paper bags using oil pastels.

Quick charcoal and pastel sketch

Wild Poppies that I saw on the cliff overlooking

the ocean...

Three Palm Trees

I drew this because these three trees will be removed, due to the California Coastal Commission to remove any vegetation that isn't indigenous to the coast lines. I think it's rather stupid. It looks so good there and because due to some stupid person's ruling, we have to use our tax paying money to remove these!
Anyways, that's another topic...drawing is done on newsprint.
Hmpf>;0(

Study in still life- Pomegranate

Drawing is done on all black paper. I don't remember the name, but it was a kind offering from a classmate <;0)

Still life- fruit studies

Persimmons and Pears.

Large Jellyfish

This drawing is from a photo I took while visiting the Monterey Bay Aquarium

Two Pears and a Red Maple Leaf

This drawing is from a still life while in Pastel Class.

Pelican head.

This is a close up shot of a pelican bird while in flight.

Holbein and Sennelier Half Stick sets

I like the smooth feeling of the Holbein, but I think one large drawing will eat up the pastel set.

*Correction: after drawing with the Holbein set, it isn't as smooth as originally thought. Bummers. I think it applies a bit harder...oh well will still use it.

Links to Pastels materials

Here's what I've discovered so far for obtaining some pastels:

Utretch Art Supplies

Bought my Sennelier 80 half stick set at Cheap Joe's

Other site to check out:
Blick Art
Dakota Pastels
Jerry's Artarama

Here's where I shop...they don't really have an online shopping cart service setup on their site.
They are more like a hands-on and walk in store. Like the ol'days before online.
Staff is really helpful and they have the best selection and stock for serious artist.
I mean, you gotta know what you want and doing when you step in. The best drawing supplies I came across.
Lentz Art Store

My Little Pastel Collection...so far

Like I said, I just started into Pastels, and so far I'm hooked.
(For the record: I am not an expert in Pastels in anyway shape or form!!! I am a total beginner, and the pics I am posting are things that I am learning while in Class and as I going through the process.)

However, I don't like to initially spend money on materials I don't quite understand yet. Well actually, I wanted to be very conservative with spending money on materials, just in case it turns out something that I didn't want to pursue.
A set of pastels, depending on brand and quantity in color range can cost anywhere from $7.00 to $1,850.00...and that's on sale!
I had kept my very old pastel set from high school and they still work. Pastel (good pastels) are pure pigments, so it will last as long as any oil or acrylic painting. NO, I don't have one of those nice wooden palette set...just yet. Maybe if I sell a few of my drawings I can use that for a set. Anyways, here's a breakdown of what I have been using...see photo and note below <;0)

a) Rembrandt 30 half pastels. The box says "soft" they are not soft..at least when you compare to high end brands
b) Creatacolor 12 pencil set- use for details or small drawings, sharpen with a manual pencil sharpener, don't use an electric one!
c) Reeves 32 half sticks set-really yields tons of powder...(cough, cough) because it's cheap pastel sticks
d) Sennelier Fixative for Pastel and Oil Pastels- Ugh, luckily I've tested a swatch. It makes the beauty and raw strokes of pastel drip and combine together. Changes the look of your drawing. Unless you want a certain effect, and it does work, your pastels won't blow or smudge away...BUT takes away that freshness that I love about this medium
e) Weber Costello 12 Square Pastels- I think this is over 30-45 years old! But still holds up and the quality isn't as cheap as the Reeves
f) Holbein Artist's Pastels 36 set- Now this is the bit on the higher medium price range. The quality of these soft pastels are very creamy, however I did not know that these were to be sold in half sticks. In fact the half sticks are tiny! These were a Holiday gift so I am forever grateful, but was bummed that the sticks were so small, even in for half sticks
g) Sennelier 80 half sticks, Plein Air set- Now, this set are 80 half sticks and isn't so tiny compared to the Holbein set. This is the set I mainly work off of. This so far is my absolute fav! (will post a pic of the content later) These are really awesome, they go on creamy and the colors are so rich. I originally thought, "landscape set", oh no...I don't do well in landscape, BUT the color range is so good, that you can do tons of subject matter then just landscape. If you run out of a stick, you order these pastel individually online, or I just make a trip to our local art store and they stock majority of the colors....so no worries there <;0)
Price range is on the medium-high. This set with shipping is $89.95.
h) Derwent 24 Pastel Pencil set- Another Holiday gift that I am forever grateful. Good color range for whatever subject matter. However, this pencil is thicker then your standard No.2 pencil or other color pencils and so now I have to order or find a pencil sharpener that will fit with this set. I guess I'm suppose to sharpen these with a razor???
i and j) Soft brush for fixing, smudges or any additional effects. I use my old watercolor brush, because the hairs are really soft. Disposable gloves. You don't want to work with pastels with your bar hands. The colors will get stuck and takes forever to wash out even with soap and water. Plus, it tends to really dry out my skin.

Quick landscape sketch of

New view just outside our home.
Was done really quick on a sketch pad.

Seahorse

Cool seahorse at the Monterey Bay Aquarium. My son loves this piece <;0)
On Canson paper

A New Town, New Life, New Directions in my Art

We lived or rather moved from a typical busy Silicon Valley life to a local Beach town community.
So I've decided to get back into some basic drawings. I have spent my entire career working on designs using computers and such. I also felt I have lost the feeling of using my own hands to draw. So...I've just started my new personal exploration into Pastels.
With much help from the wonderful pastel classes at the Santa Cruz Art League...and my instructor <;0), I find that using pastels allows alot of freedom then I originally thought. True, it is a fragile dry medium, but the textures and colors are absolutely more vibrant then the dictionary definition of what "pastel" is.
So now, I shall begin my humble posting of my journey into this new medium that I've just started working on. Everything is, of course, alot of work-in-progress, and I make mistake and learn as I go along. I will be my own worst critic but my goal is eventually have a body of work that expresses my background and personal expressions. I will start this blog with posting the basics of my drawings on newsprint, still life and simple landscapes. But as time permits, hopefully I will start some sort of composition that is Neither landscape or still lives but something totally different then what I have been seeing being done with pastels....which are still life and landscapes. Totally nothing wrong with those subject matters, in fact what I've seen, are really impressive. It is just that there are tons of great artist painting those subjects and I just like to do something different.
Plus, I totally suck at drawing landscapes and still life. (this is just being honest, not being super critical of myself).