Dug up my watercolors and watercolor block the other day and went out to Lake Elizabeth with a friend to do some plein air painting. Legit plein air this time, not view-outside-my-window pseudo plein air. :P

happiness is a warm cup of cocoa

One of my favorite feelings is being bundled up and drinking a hot drink outside on a cold day, the warmth of my scarf and cup contrasting with the chill in the air and the nippy sting on my cheeks.

I had a whole host of issues with the last illustration I did, mostly from not being properly prepared, so this time I tried to do as much planning as I could. Which means pages and pages of thumbnails and more value and color studies. I think it helped a lot in the end!

miles apart

I was at a restaurant once with my family when I saw a couple sitting at a nearby table. I was intrigued by the symmetry of their body language, sitting across from each other and hunched over, absentmindedly picking at dishes spread before them and completely disengaged from one another, focused instead on their respective identical smartphones.

Below is a little bit of process for the illustration, the thumbnails/sketches and color studies. I'll probably tweak the final a little bit based on some helpful critique I got from my instructor.

Sometimes you find yourself sitting at your desk, working into the wee hours of the morning. If you're anything like me, sometimes you'll suddenly get a craving for something, like noodle soup. But it's 2am and nothing is open...guess it's instant noodle time.

But oh, how I wish for so much more.