Archive for the ‘drawing’ Category

• Sydney street art #06

  Date: 2010.10.03 | Category: drawing | Response: 2

  

  I’ve been meaning to show you this little fellow for a while.

  I like the expression on his face; his pose; how strongly his attitude is drawn.

  Snapped on Castlereagh Street, Sydney. Sitting neatly on the edge of a bus stop, the background is a poster for some vampire movie or other.

  I can’t help feeling surprised how cute some sticker graffiti in Sydney is. This guy’s not cloying cute, I agree. But still a little cute. I’d expect (and saw) cute graffiti in Tokyo. Kawaii, you know all about that.

  Reminds a little of this (painted) Sydney graffiti – which I still love. And still think would make a great soft toy.

• What I’m actually doing

  Date: 2010.10.02 | Category: drawing | Response: 0

  

  …is writing out words in Mandarin Chinese again and again.  And again.

  I’m normally pretty skeptical when Chinese teachers (or Japanese teachers) tell you to learn the characters just by writing them out, many times over. I assume that’s how they learnt as a child (all my teachers, so far, where born overseas). It might(!) be OK advice for a child, but I’m really doubtful it’s applicable to adult learners, who don’t have the reinforcement of hearing the language around them, everyday.

  I much prefer to make up stories about the characters, to help me remember them. And understand their origins (pictograms) and components.

  But this exam, we have to answer everything in Chinese (the questions are in Chinese, too). We even have write down, in characters, the conversations we hear in during the listening test. So I’m practicing speed writing – I’m thinking it’s like muscle training.  And yes, my writing is a bit messy.

  Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE writing the characters.  I think they’re beautiful.  They’re a big part of the reason I wanted to learn Japanese, then Chinese. But wow, there’s a lot of them! Over 2,000 just for daily use. I know around 600…

• Fish: school holiday colouring in

  Date: 2010.04.08 | Category: drawing | Response: 2

  Hi. D’you have kids? Youngish ones? On school holidays at the moment? If so, would you like the fish colouring in picture* I made for my kids? (Click HERE ). Maybe then you can get back to your own creative space, or at least have some mental space…

  This is the raw just-as-I-drew-it version, not a tidied up “design”. I think it’s nice for kids to see a little quirkiness from time to time.  And yes, I encourage my ones to draw from their own imaginations, not always do colouring in. But it can be fun once in a while, no?

  * For the enjoyment of children in your family and their friends in your care ONLY. Not for sale or modification. All rights reserved

• Mardi Gras (Sydney version), Fasching & Carnival

  Date: 2010.02.01 | Category: design, drawing, Sydney | Response: 0

  Happy February!

  As promised, here’s the free February wallpaper for download by clicking HERE (1024 x 768; 371 KB)* or HERE (1280 x 1024; 628 KB)*.

  This time I was inspired by Mardi Gras (the Sydney Gay & Lesbian Mardi Gras, obviously); Fasching/Fastnacht (which I learnt about in German class) and the Rio Carnaval (because I had photos of costumes beside my bed when I was a child).

  I first went to Mardi Gras (Sydney version), when I was about 13, with Mum and Dad. Ages ago. At that stage I didn’t realise there were other, more religious, versions of Mardi Gras.

  Whatever, this image is still February for me. Note the milk crate. Shame fluoro pens are so hard to scan.

  *The wallpaper is for you to use on your computer desktop; I’m keeping all other rights/copyrights.

• Simple, simple Christmas decorations

  Date: 2010.01.06 | Category: craft, drawing, home | Response: 1

  

  Because it’s Twelfth Night tonight (at least the way I count it). Time to take down the tree. And you (or I) might want to make these decorations next year.

  Christmas trees and kids

  You see, if you have young children, say aged 2 & 4, Christmas decorations are always a dilemma. Do you:

  1. use the decorations from before-you-had-kids, but insist you are  THE ONLY ONE ALLOWED TO TOUCH THEM, rather dampening the Christmas spirit; or
  2. use those gorgeous decorations from before-you-had-kids, screaming silently each time your helpers shatter them; or
  3. decide that all decorations have to be kid-friendly, preferably cheaply homemade?

  This year, my kids were both old enough to ask. As you might guess, they voted number 3. They put the decorations on the tree themselves, the tree didn’t need a barrier and I didn’t even freak when they went to play jumping on the bed with various new “bracelets” … although I did insist all decorations be returned later.

  How to make

  They’re so simple, I’m sure you know how to make them just by looking. But, well, Christmas can be a little stressful, making even the easiest tasks seem hard …

  1. buy some foiled card from, like, Kmart (scrap-booking section), or find any stiff paper really;
  2. use a clean mug to trace circles, a ruler to trace sets of 6 strips, and cut;
  3. fold circles in half and staple each one to the next in groups of 3 (husband’s preference), 4 (kids’ preference, I think?) or 5 (mine);
  4. arrange 3 strips in a star-like shape, turn over, and wrong sides facing wrong sides, arrange 3 more strips in the same star shape. Staple in the centre;
  5. staple folded curling ribbon to hang.

  Actually, I love how they turned out: they feel so Christmassy to me. I’ve since realised that my absolute favourite decorations as a child were foiled paper, in the exact same colours: gold, silver, red, blue, purple and green … ah, so nostalgic.

• Wow, so clever! (Scroll down to see how these wall hangings were made!) http://t.co/oh2Uuhci From Design*Sponge about 8 hours ago from TweetDeck
• Grey water RT @sarahfielke Colour of your pants + last thing you ate or drank = #yourbandname about 9 hours ago from TweetDeck
• This is what I miss about Japan: things that just fit back into their boxes, with no trouble, clear instructions which way up... *sigh* 07:55:05 am 04 February 2012 from TweetDeck
• #talknt Fabric travel is global warming worry, but Organic is still worthwhile > rivers, land near cotton fields not damaged by pesticide 02:24:45 am 01 February 2012 from TweetDeck
• Good question! RT @helishingly: why don't UFO's visit us now we all have camera phones? #AFPInvestigates 10:34:08 am 30 January 2012 from TweetDeck