Day 31: Laundry Day

Finally I have a chance to stay at home. Not as relax as I want since I have to do laundry. We don't use a dryer here since the weather is so warm all year round. It's doesn't make sense to waste all the heat from the sun, does it ?

Day 30: Nong Lai, the cat

well I hope she looks like a cat. I am drawing and posting while on the road again.

Day 29: Mailbox

Drawing and posting this while I am on the road! Isn't that a great thing about the internet ?

Day 28: The Dinner at My Uncle's House

This was the dinner at my uncle's house. I finished the drawing before went to bed and planned to post it first thing in the morning. But we got to help preparing lunch for the monks and guests so this post came in a little late!

Day 27: Breakfast on the Trip

Posting this on the road ! Just had this set of breakfast while we are in the car and mid way to Prachuab!

Day 26: Winter, the Dolphin

Let see if this works! I am psting with Blogger App since now I am in Bangkok without my computer.

I watched Dolphin Tale on the plane. It is based on true story. Visit www.seewinter.com if you want to learn more about this dolphin who lost her entire tale.

Day 25: Travel Light ?

Not really!


See you guys in Bangkok! (And I miss you guys in US already!)

Day 24: The Attorney

Oops! beating the deadline again!

Day 22: Uncle Leo

"Jerry! Hello!"

Note: Len Lesser passed away in February 2011.

Day 22: Soup Nazi

I was drawing this while watching Sense and Sensibility.

Day 21: Elaine Benes

Something is a bit off. But time is up!

Day 20: Seinfeld

His facial feature is very unique. Quite easy to see and capture!

Day 19: This is not Elaine Benes

This is not Elaine Benes!

Day 18: Well...

Well...I think I drew him a bit too thin.

Day 17: Cosmo Kramer

woo hoo beating the deadline here!

Day 16: Another on TV

Another on TV...well he wasn't on the episode I was watching. Hope he doesn't look too scary!

Day 15: My Sunday

My Sunday...woke up, went to get food, went to the office, had brunch (wheat grass drink was not so yummy...ugh), worked, took a break, worked (still not done), went home, baked trout and salmon while having dinner (the leftover Brussel Sprout and chocolate milk), putting veggie in tomorrow lunch box, washing dishes, cleaning dirty floor and started doing laundry, then worked on my today 365 project (with the second and third load of laundry were in), then uploaded once it was done and here I am, blogging.

Next...shower, wash my hair and while letting it dry, I need to finish the office evaluation form which is due tomorrow at 8 am.

That's life before long vacation. ToT

Hope you have a better week....

Day 14: On TV

Well this lady was on TV tonight.

Day 13: Today's (Extremely Quick) Dinner

Another long and overwhelming day. So I went to get my week grocery at Wholefoods and got their Balsamic Vinaigrette Brussel Sprouts. (But I have to say Ina Garten's Roasted Brussel Sprouts is more yummy!) Then I added baby carrot with Hummas dip and pita chips to fill up the plate.

That's my 5-minute meal for today!

Day 12: Leeroy

It's such a long day at work. So tonight I pick Leeroy, one of the dogs at FOHA to be my model.

Day 11: A Kayak on Golf Possible ?

Oops. Image is a bit skewed but you get an idea. I planned to draw a kayak initially. Then I came across one that is short, light, and affordable on Amazon. (I have been looking at an inflatable kayak for a while but still prefer a hard shell one if I can load it up to the roof by myself.) So here I am trying to figure out if my 2-dr Volkswagen Golf can carry a 9'-7" long, 37 lbs kayak. It looks like I have 2 issues to solve before making any decision.

And don't tell me to get a new car!

Day 10: Say Bye to Incandescent

I went to buy light bulbs at Home Depot and learnt from the staff that as of January 2012 no 100-watt incandescent will be manufactured or imported (in US). The deadline for 75-watt will be 2013 and for 40&60-watt will be 2014. So whatever left in stock, that's all we have.

The size of the CFL lamp equivalent to 150-watt incandescent and up might be a problem for some of your home light fixtures due to its size. I got 150-watt lamp and it's about 6" tall. Luckily the fixture I have doesn't have anything on the top.

CFL, Halogen and LED will be the lamps for the next generation.

Looks like the incandescent will be in museums soon.

Read more about this on Wikipedia.

Day 9: Julie & Julia

There will always be times that we feel lost. Setting a small goal to accomplish everyday will help us some ways even it is just a small not-so-important thing.

I watched Julie & Julia a couple years ago with my friends on New Year Eve just to kill time before the ball drop at Time Square. Such an inspiring story. They didn't know what they wanted to do in the beginning. Just like us. But they were going through a period of trial and error and finally found what they were obsessed with. Then just plowed through it. Tried to make something happen. Fearlessly.

It reminds me of what Steve Jobs said. You will never know where each dot will lead you to until you are there.

woo hoo. And I made it! Just 25 minutes before midnight. (I am watching Julie & Julia at the moment...and drawing as well.)

Have a good night.

Day 8: "The Big Waste"

Today I am looking forward to see a special show called "The Big Waste" on Food Network. Four chef will investigate how much produce has been tossed away while there still are millions people hungry or having not-so-heathy food or when the food budget for school kids is about $1 per person (according to Chopped - School Chef episode.

I think it is so important to be aware of the present issues before moving (fast) forward.

It seems like I create a theme "inspiration on paper" for my 365 here. Well, we'll see guys.

Day 7: "My Adventure Book" from UP

I watched UP for the first time today. Such an inspiring, touching and bittersweet story. Isn't it amazing that the creators can pick something in everyday life, add their imagination and put their effort and present it to the world ?

I love that My Adventure Book. Losing a house shared you've been forever is sad but keeping the friendship and continuing your life is important.

Oh, and let me tell you. Not every dog knows how to catch a tennis ball!

Day 6: Social Anesthetics

Today I start re-reading The Creative License by Danny Gregory. I decide to draw up the part I like.

"Our society is full of anesthetics - drugs, booze, television, mass culture, destructive behaviors, anger, defensiveness, selfishness - All are ways to take us away from experiencing the here and now, from being in touch with our true nature."

Day 5: A Hidden Face

I grab an image of fabric wrinkle, squint and draw what I see.

Day 4: Presidential Caricature

Well...we don't know it will be Mr. Romney from Republican yet.

Day 3: My 365 Subjects

I have been thinking about what type of project I want it to be. I know it is going to be about drawing, sketching and painting but what it will be about. 365 drawings are a lot. And I could end up drawing mindlessly and get nothing but a painfully boring one-year-long project. So I was making a list of possible subjects over New Year weekend...

It could be faces, people, crowd or caricature of some hollywood or TV celebrities or could be politicians, Maybe animals. I am not good drawing animal. I could get some practice out of it. Or bugs...bugs look cute on the painting. Or some still life such as flowers, veggie, fruit, recipe (yep, I did one a while ago.), food, objects in the house, my messy shelves. Or something architecture like city scape, houses around the lake, buildings around the office, storefront, famous and not-so-famous buildings or landmark. Maybe activities like my favorite paddling, NFL, NHL, NBA or car racer. I've never drawn those before.How about some imaginative creatures. I love fantasy comics and movies.A lot of the books suggesting draw with left hand or draw without lifting a pen....

This is all over the place! (I hope you didn't read my babbling above. I intentionally put them in one paragraph so nobody wants to read it. ...Did you ?! No, you did not!)

Anyway, I definitely don't want to stick with one subject throughout the year. I love Daily Zoo. I don't know how Chris Ayers did his zoo subject for more than a year. (If you haven't read his story, I highly recommend reading it.) I need a plan here.

I got an idea last night. How about making 7 categories in one week. I don't want to be date specific because I might have an idea on a certain subject on a different day. I should have about 52 drawings for each category. I guess that doesn't sound too bad. (Gulp!)

Here is my plan.
Category 1: Greeting Card Project (I can't ignore the fact that I should update my store on weekly basis.)
Category 2: A creature from my imagination
Category 3: Bugs & Animals
Category 4: Still Life
Category 5: Architecture
Category 6: People
Category 7: Free Day. Anything I want to tackle. My friend has given us an online class for a new year gift. (We formed a craft night group at the office last year. We called crap night sometimes if we are stressed from work. Rebecca, when is the next one ?!) The instructor will give us 30 challenges to work on. I guess I can incorporate the challenge into my 365. This is gonna be fun!

If there is a day I get bored, I'll mix drawing with left hand or drawing without lifting a pen in those along the way. It's nice to fool around once in a while, isn't it ?

Anyway, today I pick an elephant to draw. Isn't he cute ? Done in 1 hour while I was listen to Chopped on Food Network.

Day 2: Productive Day

I am still making a list of subjects I want to do for my 365 project. So I decided to work on 3 new greeting cards today as you see up there. The third one is still in progress. They need some retouch before making it to the store.

Since I finished 2 today, can I skip tomorrow ? (^_^)

Day 1: About My 365 Project

It is frightening me a bit to put this on my 2012 new year's resolutions. I spent a whole afternoon figuring out what my project will be about, where to post my project, what name I should use, I am going to post my project everyday ? and what I got myself into.

A 365 project is a daily creativity practice, a skill development in any medium or subject you are interested in. But mostly it is about self decipline and your determination to execute the project. You probably hear about many people doing 365 project during these years. From writing a thank you note, writing a letter, blogging, cooking, doodling and so on. The key is you do it everyday. For me it is the book I bought a couple years ago called "The Creative License by Danny Gregory" that introduces me to this project.

What is my 365 project about ?

I have been wanting to develop my skill on sketching and quick watercolor painting for years. The daily little things around me will be the subjects of my practice. Hopefully I also develop my observation skill and practice on how to transform those into an idea for my greeting cards.

And man...and should I come up with a longer domain name ?