Day 181: Crazy Things on the Lake

Luckily the storm didn't happen while I was paddling this evening but there were a couple crazy and funny things I came across. 

There were a dad, a boy and their dog floating on their air mattress. However their mattress was getting deflated by the claw of the doggie. I helped them moving back to the dock by pulling and pushing their air mattress. Just about half way when they said they should be okay from there. I think that's so clever. Who needs a boat to be on the water ?! ha ha. 

Then there were two guys on a canoe trying to cover their head from the fountain with their paddle. (I think they just played around but it's funny to witness anyway.)

Have a great weekend!

Day 180: Reston

A little bit sketchy today but it's only because I want to write about what I heard at a history lecture about Reston and Lake Anne Plaza earlier this evening. The lecture was hosted by Reston Museum and today they had Mr. Simon, Reston Founder, two original engineers and a house salesperson. And it was a great opportunity to listen to them telling what they went through when they built Reston.

Here are some info I learnt.

- Lake Anne was originally located toward east and closer to Lake Fairfax but there was a gas line running in the northeast- southwest direction.

- Lake Anne dam was finished in about 6 months in 1963.

- Reston was designed to have 7 villages accommodating 10,000 people with one grocery store at each location.

- The name of the residential tower is Heron House

- The 2-story mix-use building as you see on my sketch is called "J" building because of the shape of its floor plan.

- The original stores/offices at "J" building were dry cleaner, Safeway, barber, hardware, library and community center. (And a couple more I forgot.)

- Reston is considered historical because of its many "first" not because its age.

- The design started by determining the function, program, building types the town needed. The planners decided what the town should look like and go back to the zoning later. (Almost like it has its own zoning.) It was designed to be a self-contain town.

- Mr. Simon started this project in his 50s and didn't feel the town missed anything especially when the master plan was approved in 14 months.

- The town was designed to be an open community meaning it accommodates people at any ages, races, income levels. Many architects, builders were involved in order to produce various types of housing.

- Everything was built at the same time from houses, amenities, nature trails, etc.

- South Reston was designed for traditional housing which was requested by banks.

- In the beginning of the house sales many people thought the town was for the retired citizen as the name could be read "Rest-on."

- The selling point was you're not buying a house but you're buying a community with amenities. Swimming pools, golf course, courts were included in the original design.

- The early residents received a welcome package including direction, brochure and also a welcome letter signed by Mr. Simon.

- The cooling system was very unique at the time. The A/C pipes were buried at the bottom of Lake Anne to avoid using the individual A/C compressors which would be noisy. However the water in the lake is always too warm to cool anything down.

You can look at photos of Reston through time by clicking here. Or google to read more about it.

Day 179: Reflection

I have been trying to understand how to paint the reflection on the water. There are so many types and so many way to paint. I just started to understand one of them after spending time looking at the lake I walk around, paddle on and take photos of.

It will be quite a serious masking for watercolor though. Brrr.

Day 178: Leafy

Not too bad heh ?

Day 177: Current Stack

I didn't think I felt that tired but I had slept soundly since I got home from work and walking around the lake. I guess when work was fun working from 8am-7pm didn't sound too bad!  So here I am at 4 am in the morning! This is the current stack of books in my bedroom.

Day 176: Artklub

Joining Artklub at Atlanta Bread today. A lovely group and store. Everyone just did their own art such as photography, sketching, soap making, glass jewelry, 3D modeling, sculpture, sewing or even improving handwriting while eating and chatting. I even ran into our new coworker who has been with the group for about a year.

Nice setting. It reminds me of our own craft night which has been on hold for a while.

Day 175: Cornhole

We had a company outing today. Great food. Great preparation. (Thank you Amy and the social team!) 

One of the games we played was Cornhole. I had never done before and was still a bit confused about the rule. But David and I managed to be in the final. Woo Hoo! (But we lost to Lightening Lewis team. : / ) I was totally unreliable. ha ha. But I threw those bean bags through the hole a bunch of times.

We should have this game installed at the office!

Now I don't feel too sad about not being able to go canoeing with Reston at Jug Bay anymore...well,  ok. Maybe just a bit. :P But we can't have everything, can we ?

Day 174: Prone to Trouble ?

I thought talking to a stranger about Thai food, Japanese food, travel, Arizona, cars and dogs for over an hour while waiting for my car to be serviced would be a highlight of my day. (I didn't have a chance to know her name but she was a very nice lady who recognized my super long Thai last name called by the staff at the service. She's working for a government and used to live in Arizona and Japan. And she was in Thailand over two weeks for her vacation not long time ago.)

Anyway...Nope! The highlight of my day was my paddling. I hope my little comic strips telling my story pretty clearly!

Happy ending with all the boats safely returned and were securely tied to the dock.

I'll post photos from today paddling some time soon!

*2012/06/22 Update Photos are up! Just click here.

Day 173: Sunny 16 Rule

I took the basic photography workshop today. There were about 25 people there and 2 professional photographers who devoted their evening to teach us about the exposure triangle, the relationship between aperture, shutter speed and ISO. And this costed everyone only 2 dollars! Isn't that nice when people share ?

One of the pop quiz at the end of the class was about "Sunny 16 Rule". It's a way to estimate the right exposure when shooting on the sunny day. You set the aperture at F/16, then you will get the ISO and the shutter speed as shown on my sketch.

Happy shooting~

Day 172: The opening night of the SCAR Project at the Dune, DC

I was at the opening night of the SCAR Project, a portrait project of the breast cancer survivors, at the Dune in DC earlier this evening. 

Honestly I am still overwhelmed by the event. I decided to just draw the plan and the location of this venue today. There is really no word or drawing could express what I experienced. 

These ladies are so brave to come out, to post in front of a camera to tell everyone about living with the breast cancer. One of them was diagnosed while finishing her master's degree...and she was just 22. A beautiful girl. Her mom was at the event with her tonight. One was a soldier who just got deployed. One was a disabled...

I had a chance to talk to one of the survivors, Sharon. She is in her late 40's and a mom with 2 kids. She was diagnosed at Stage 3 and the cancer had already spread to the lymph nodes. She kindly told me what she went through and answered all my questions. I also told her that I lost both of my parents to cancer. We agreed to keep in touch. 

I also did a quick chat with the photographer of the project, David Jay. I even asked for his autograph which was so not me but I couldn't help it this time. His next project will be about the wounded soldiers. I look forward to it.

If you are in DC area, the exhibition will be from October 1-7. The gallery to be announced. The 47-minute documentary of this project, "Bare It All," just won the Daytime Emmy award under Outstanding Special Class Special. 

Viewer discretion is advised.

Or simply read stories from their blog.

Day 171: Completely Fried

Working from 8 to 8 has completely fried me...

...and still frying...

But good team work is always my drive. I won't let them down.

Day 170: When Things Have Gone Wrong

You guys don't want to know how many things have gone wrong on this painting.

You do ?

Well...that's not nice. ha ha.

Okay, Let's go down the list.

1) Don't use cheap paper if you plan to wash the background more than twice because when you pull the dry masking liquid it will peel the paper along as well. As you can see on the flowers, the branches on the image.

2) Find a brush to apply masking liquid. You want a nice define edge or line and thin masking liquid layer. Just soak it with soapy water so you don't ruin the brush. Don't get lazy like me. I use a wood stick. 

3) A pen on saturated paper doesn't work well. You won't get crisp lines. Duh.

4) Use a waterproof pen if you plan to apply water afterward.

5) Don't use cheap paper because the masking tape will take the paper as well.

I guess that's quite a list for this tiny painting!

Day 169: Get Myself Busy

It's going to be an interesting week for me. 

- I am going to meet the breast cancer survivors/models and a photographer of SCAR Project at their DC opening night. I am no party-goer and I don't like going out at night but I really look forward to this event. After losing both of my parents to cancer, the story of survivors and people who struggle always move me.

- This month is my first year anniversary of paddling so I decide to join a paddling group in the area. Too bad there is no activity I can join yet.

- After missed a chance to meet DC Urban sketcher I decide that I will join a small art group in the area. Just to draw with others. They meet regularly at a bakery store on Sunday.

- And as a result of those two above I decided to join a group of the photography enthusiasts and will take a class with them this week. Better get the dust off my Olympus DSLR now.

- And I also joined a hiking group. I would love to know how to walk from Reston to Meadowlark Garden. (Luckily not this week.)

- I bought a bunch of flowers and plants but I need to put them in bigger pots. 

- I finally got myself a shredder so I should be able to get rid of those junk mail stacked in my living room soon.

- My bosses are back from their vacation this week which mean work will be on a crazy mode again.

They said if you want to get things done, ask a busy person. Just don't ask me this week because I am certainly not sure I can keep up with this myself! I don't think I overdo because I basically just add one activity each evening but we'll see!

Day 168: A Sketch of Lake Anne (on Site)

I was planning to meet up with the Urban Sketcher DC group today at Artomatic in Arlington near Crystal City. Well...after I waited for a while I couldn't find them in the lobby so I decided to go see the art event instead. A little bit disappointed because I would like to know people who share the same interest.

So not to abandon my sketch-on-site will I went to Lake Anne early this evening and drew this there. It's challenging. But I think I start to like it. It's  such a great way to practice sketching and strengthen my confidence in drawing. I can't hide in a studio all the time, can I ?

Let's come back to Artomatic a bit, shall we ? :)

Artomatic exhibited the art from over a thousand artists in a vacant eleven-story office building. Since the office interior design is the core work of my firm I found this a very intriguing use of empty space. The whole building (except 5th and 6th floor that were closed) became an artists' playground. Many walls and carpets were artistically repainted, splashed with colors or even clay. Graffiti, art, pamphlet, announcement were everywhere. I hardly found a blank wall. The existing offices turned into small showrooms. The existing conference rooms became a workshop. The open offices became an open art space or accommodated performance stages with benches or couches.

And this building has gorgeous view of the Potomac River, Regan Airport. So it might be occupied soon.

If you are in DC area and haven't gone there, you have until June 23 to check it out. (I love peep projects! it's my first time seeing the actual work of the peeps.)

Day 167: A Drying Leaf

...or maybe I should say completely dried ?

Day 166: Umm...black ones

oh well.

Day 165: A Red Flower

Oops! Better late than never. Of course I fell asleep again.

Hope you love this flower! :)

Day 164: The Festival Map

I guess I am wrapping up my trip in Fredericksburg here. :) Tomorrow will be a different subject. Stay tuned!

Day 163: The Bridge over the Rappahannock River

I was wanting to paint since I got back from the trip. Unfortunately I had to finish two construction drawing sets 2 days in a row. Yep I worked on Sunday.

But I made it. This is a bridge over the Rappahannock in Fredericksburg. You probably already saw a sketch from the previous day.

Update 6/12/12: Read about my trip on my paddling blog.

Day 162: A Local Store

I guess I am creating a series of sketches from my visit at Fredericksburg. This is a local store not too far from a city dock.

Day 161: Rappahannock River, Fredericksburg

Such a long day with a long drive. But it's well worth it. My friend and I went to "Celebrate The Rapp - An American Canoe Association Paddle Green Event" in Fredericksburg, Virginia. A small lovely town with a stretch of Rappahannock river for itself. Everyone there seems to own a boat and they paddle or fish as their daily routine. I took tons of photos and there are a lot to tell since we helped cleaning up the city dock, taking a 2-hour historical tour via river and watching nine paddling movies/documentary right on the river front. They're very very good. It is always nice to see people passionate about what they do. A bunch of them related to Environment concern.

Please stay tuned. I'll try to post it later this week. (Sorry I have deadline at work.)


Update 6/12/12: Read about my trip on my paddling blog.

Day 160: Yanni at Wolf Trap

My friend and I went to see Yanni tonight at Wolf Trap. Such a great concert even though I don't much of his work. The solo parts for each instruments were awesome. 

We will go to Canoe Festival tomorrow!

Have a wonderful weekend!

Day 159: A Thank You Breakfast

My supervisor bought me the baked egg souffle from Panera as a thank you breakfast this morning after I worked long hour yesterday (and another 12 hours today...and probably this Sunday too, ugh!). 

But isn't it nice when your hardworking is appreciated ?

(Okay. The souffle was really good too. Try it!)

Day 158: Another Flower

Another flower today!

Day 157: Blue Roses

I think there is nothing wrong with roses in this icy color. Don't you think ?

Day 156: A Table Top Daisy

There is Independence Day on TV and a pot of table top daisy in front of me. I decided to go with flowers instead of aliens.

Day 155: Thank you, Noah Scalin.

Today I would like to say thank you to Noah Scalin, the artist of the award winning project "Skull-A-Day" (yep, skull) and the author of "Unstuck", for mentioning my 365 project on his blog. No wonder I got over 400 pageviews that day (which is very very abnormal if you must know.)

And thanks for inspiring us.

Day 154: Fail to Roll

...yep. Just like that.

You can read about my kayak class today on my paddling blog.

Day 153: From Work

It has been soooo busy at our office that I feel I forgot to breathe. It's so intense with constant requests and deadlines on several projects that I try to keep my hour at 8-9 hours a day. Just to keep my sanity.

I bring this schematic design home to work on over the weekend. We need to propose 3 options. BUT I am going to put my kayak class tomorrow and lunch with my friend as my top priority  ha ha. So work has to wait!

Hope this is not considered cheating since I had already been drawing and coloring all afternoon.

Such lovely rain tonight. Best to be in bed and under a soft and warm blanket.

Hope you all have a great weekend.

Day 152: Working Process

Good morning, everyone! Yesterday was such a long busy day (so I fell asleep again) but there was a small little email my project manager forwarded to me that brightened up my day. 

The client loved one of the schematic design I proposed. The design was almost axed during the in-house review because "we thought" that it's not for this client.

I bet you have heard a comment like this from your boss or others before.

First don't get upset about it. Listen to them. Their comments are most likely based on their experience (or it might be purely just an opinion sometimes). But be sure that your idea is based on good observation and an analysis that makes sense and can be understood by others. Then work your _ _ _ _ off  to make it happen (wow, I curse a lot this week.). Finally, express your idea confidently (and strategically because you need to make them listen).

In my opinion the observation is the most important part of the design process no matter how good you are as a designer. This raw data is a great resource that I can grab, process and tailor my idea for any particular problems with a custom design approach. It is dangerous to just design based on what you like without an observation or listening to your client's requests and critiques because you will end up with a generic work instead of the custom one.

The schematic design I proposed was purely based on my site survey. The building we are renovating is in the metro area where art is appreciated. You can find huge sculptures along the streets. So why not bring art onto the site if we want people to come here ? Architecture is not only about designing a building it is about accommodating people.

I found that an observation is also a great tool to live through this chaotic world and stay true to yourself especially when there are so many people out there express themselves so loudly that sometimes you hardly hear your own voice.

Have a great day! Gotta head to work now!