The eggplants look more purple in the original painting.
I got an used digital camera (as I had promised before) on September 7, 2004. All the photos here have been replaced with the ones taken with this more sophisticated equipment. The new photos don't look much different from the old ones, but if you click on them, you'll see bigger images. ENJOY!
To be perfectly honest, I think the bigger images show more of the bad points in my paintings. Ahhh...
To be perfectly honest, I think the bigger images show more of the bad points in my paintings. Ahhh...
This is the blog where I keep my watercolor paintings. The photos were taken with a camera on my cell phone. Sorry about the poor quality --- I'm going to improve it in the near future. Until then, please be patient.
About my watercolors: Well, THAT is going to take a lot longer to improve :P
I always hated art classes when I was a school kid. No one really taught me how to draw/paint in class. Maybe teachers didn't want to block kids' inner talent and motivation by telling them what to do too much. That probably is a widely-accepted teaching style... the only problem was that I didn't have any talent or motivation. I knew that I could learn skills if I joined the art club in Jr. high and high school. But they were always sketching busts and painting oils, which didn't attract me at all.. So I grew up just hating art classes, but I always loved watching the artwork by my favorite artists, such as Claude Monet and Yo Shomei.
It's only recently that I got interested in watercolor painting. I found a book of watercolor and "Ink & Wash," and liked the style so much. It's quick, simplified, but looks more real or impressive, somewhat similar to Japanese Haiku. I checked out some "how-to" books at the library, bought a brush, paints, and a sketchbook at a 100-yen shop (something like one-dollar store in the U.S.), and started practicing at home. This time, it's not like the art classes I hated.... I'm still learning slow, but the process is not painful. IT'S FUN!
Later, I bought a little more expensive paints, but I'm still using the same 100-yen sketchbook. You see the paper in the photos look wrinkled all over? This is what happens if you used a real cheap sketchbook and didn't stretch the paper by soaking it in water beforehand.
Looks like many people are enjoying watercolor these days. Some people bring their sketching kit everywhere they travel, and draw sketches to upload to their homepages or to send as postcards. Isn't that neat?! Oh, I'd love to do that myself someday!!!
About my watercolors: Well, THAT is going to take a lot longer to improve :P
I always hated art classes when I was a school kid. No one really taught me how to draw/paint in class. Maybe teachers didn't want to block kids' inner talent and motivation by telling them what to do too much. That probably is a widely-accepted teaching style... the only problem was that I didn't have any talent or motivation. I knew that I could learn skills if I joined the art club in Jr. high and high school. But they were always sketching busts and painting oils, which didn't attract me at all.. So I grew up just hating art classes, but I always loved watching the artwork by my favorite artists, such as Claude Monet and Yo Shomei.
It's only recently that I got interested in watercolor painting. I found a book of watercolor and "Ink & Wash," and liked the style so much. It's quick, simplified, but looks more real or impressive, somewhat similar to Japanese Haiku. I checked out some "how-to" books at the library, bought a brush, paints, and a sketchbook at a 100-yen shop (something like one-dollar store in the U.S.), and started practicing at home. This time, it's not like the art classes I hated.... I'm still learning slow, but the process is not painful. IT'S FUN!
Later, I bought a little more expensive paints, but I'm still using the same 100-yen sketchbook. You see the paper in the photos look wrinkled all over? This is what happens if you used a real cheap sketchbook and didn't stretch the paper by soaking it in water beforehand.
Looks like many people are enjoying watercolor these days. Some people bring their sketching kit everywhere they travel, and draw sketches to upload to their homepages or to send as postcards. Isn't that neat?! Oh, I'd love to do that myself someday!!!