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acaseforpencils · 5 years

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Robert Leighton.

Bio: Mostly in The New Yorker and The Wall Street Journal, along with appearances in The New York Times and even SpongeBob Comics. But I’m a puzzle writer too, and my most recent book, Puzzlelopedia, is fully illustrated by me. I’ve also illustrated a number of non-fiction books for kids.

Here’s my favorite New Yorker cartoon:

Find this print here!

I chose this cartoon because the idea and exact wording came to me all at once; I instantly knew it would sell; it sold the first time I submitted it; I was happy with the finished drawing; when I added the washes, I didn’t ruin it. Just about every other cartoon I’ve done varies in one or more of those elements.

Tools of choice: My tools are nothing special or exotic. Decent brushes, Higgins waterproof ink, Winsor & Newton gouache, Faber-Castell kneaded eraser. My finished drawings are on Bristol Vellum 100 lb. paper. I don’t spend a fortune on the paper, but I don’t buy the cheapest stuff either. It has to hold up to my watercolor washes. I love going to art stores (I could have spent all day in Ginza Itoya in Tokyo) but I don’t really believe that better equipment is responsible for better cartoons. Just be comfortable with what you use, or find something you like better.

My favorite drawing pen for finishes is the Pigma Brush by Sakura. I think lots of people use these; they have waterproof, archival quality ink, and when they’re new, the brush is really tight and expressive. I sketch with any old pencil I happen to have around (mechanical or plain). I like my fancy Japanese pencils and my Tombows but I’ll grab whatever is handy.

Tool I wish I could use better: I’m so thankful for white gouache, both for corrections and for highlighting. But it never works quite the way I’d like. I always have to add a little water so I can spread it easily—otherwise it’s like toothpaste. But then it dries translucent, and I need to add layer after layer before I’ve masked what’s under it.

Tool I wish existed: We all wish our finishes looked as spontaneous as our roughs. I’d love a program that could take a scanned rough and tighten it up so it looks print-ready, but not labored over.

Find this print here!

Tricks: I can share some of the tricks that have allowed me to get the effects I get. But please don’t take my advice, because I’m rarely happy with my finished pieces.

In no particular order:

Rotate the page while you draw. I don’t tape down my artwork. My arm is more comfortable at certain angles; for example I draw long lines from down to up. So I turn the paper as needed to keep my movements smooth.

Use a smaller pen point on the small details. I use a broader brush for my main lines, but I don’t have the skills to get in there and use that brush for the smaller details like faces and fingers. So I switch to smaller points for those areas. If these uniform lines lack the feel of brushwork, I’ll manually add accents, but that’s often unnecessary.

I place anything that can spill into the center of a tape roll. That way I can’t accidentally knock over the ink, or the dirty water, and ruin everything.

This cartoon, with a reference to M.C. Escher, has been permanently installed on the 84th floor of the Empire State Building.

With few exceptions, like the Escher cartoon above, I don’t use a ruler in my finishes. I’ll use a ruler to work things out in pencil, but I’ll trace that line freehand to give it a more spontaneous feel.

If you’re not feeling it, walk away. I occasionally lose my touch in the middle of doing a finish—my line gets wobbly, or just doesn’t feel natural. It’s always better to walk away than to plow through. Come back later and it might go smoothly from then on.

Two more things about my process:

I work pretty large; the image area is usually about 8 x 10 (drawn on 11 x 14 paper); I use pretty bold lines so the work won’t appear too wispy once it’s shrunk down and printed. Lately I haven’t been too happy with the look of my printed line, and I may try to go a bit thinner, but it’ll be a long slow process of trial and error.

After I add washes, I scan the work and clean it up in Photoshop. (I use a Wacom-style tablet screen made in China by Yiynova.) I duplicate and darken the black lines so they stay nice and sharp, even if I change the exposure of the washes.

Misc: One of the things I’ve learned over the years is not to care too much about any one finished piece. It is, after all, a cartoon and not an illustration. Too many details, too exacting a drawing, can slow down the delivery of your point. I’ve seen people looking at cartoons while reading on the subway. Within five seconds they give a glance, understand the joke (or not), and move on—even if they love what they’ve seen.

Website, etc.:

www.robert-leighton.com

My most recent book of puzzles, written with my partners, illustrated by me.

...............

Editor’s Note: A Robert Leighton fan sent a letter asking for him to be interviewed a couple months back, though funnily enough, Robert and I had been in talks for him to be on Case since 2016! Well worth the wait!

If you enjoy this blog, and would like to contribute to labor and maintenance costs, there is a Patreon, and if you’d like to buy me a cup of coffee, there is a Ko-Fi account as well! I do this blog for free, and your support helps a lot! You can also find more posts about art supplies on Case’s Instagram and Twitter! Thank you!

#Robert Leighton #how to draw cartoons for the new yorker #how to draw cartoons #cartoon process #art process #art supplies #cartooning #tnycartoons

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viktorbezic · 6 years

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Constraints Journal: How Yayoi Kusama started her path to becoming an artist after writing to one of her heroes, Georgia O’Keefe.

Discipline: Painting, Sculpture, Performance Art

Yayoi Kusama was born to an affluent merchant family in Matsumoto, Nagano Prefecture, Japan in 1929. As a child, her mother was physically abusive and would also send her to spy on her father who would frequently have extramarital affairs. This would cause Yayoi mental anguish later in life. She embraced art and early age. All Kusama wanted to do was paint. However, her family’s plans were for her to marry, become a wife and the head of a household. As there was no future in painting for women at that time in Japan. She dreamed of leaving Japan. Not only because of her family troubles but also Japan's conservative culture. Kusama described Japan at the time as, "too small, too servile, too feudalistic, and too scornful of women” (1). Yayoi had her sights on becoming an artist in America.

In a second-hand bookshop in Matsumoto, Kusama found a book of paintings by the American artist, Georgia O’Keefe. O’Keefe was the only American artist Yayoi knew anything about. She also heard from a friend that O’Keefe was the most famous painter in the United States. Yayoi would ride the train from Matsumoto to Shinjuku in Tokyo to the American embassy to go through their copy of Who’s Who and was ecstatic when she actually found Georgia O’Keefe’s mailing address. Kusama wrote a letter to O’Keefe of her desires to be a professional painter in America and enclosed some of her recent watercolor paintings. To her surprise, O’Keefe wrote back. O’Keefe let the young Kusama know how difficult it was to be an artist, especially a female artist. O’Keefe promised she would do everything that she could to help Yayoi out, but she was old and had retreated from the city to the desert of New Mexico. This was the first of many encouraging letters Yayoi would receive from O’Keefe. (2)

O’Keefe’s response inspired Kusama to find a distant relative to sponsor her to get into the United States. Her official purpose on her immigration papers was to have a solo art exhibition in Seattle. In Japan, It was against the law to transfer any significant amounts of yen to dollars let alone leave the country with them. When Kusama was preparing to leave Japan, she sowed the dollar bills into her dress and stuffed the others into the toes of her shoes. Her ultimate goal was to make it to New York as she believed it to be one of the world's art epicenters. At the age of 27, she landed in Seattle. After a year in Seattle, she did just that and finally made it to New York City.

Yayoi described New York City as hell on Earth as she had tremendous difficulty there. She lived in abject poverty. Her studio windows were broken, and she used a discarded door she found out on the street as a bed and laid the only sheet she had on top of it. Dinner during this time would either be a handful of chestnuts from a friend or soup’s she would make with discarded fish heads along with the rotting outer leaves of lettuce the green grocer tossed out. Kusama said the only way she could tolerate the cold and hunger was to paint relentlessly as it was impossible to sleep (3). She suffered mental breakdowns and panic attacks. After being rushed to emergency on numerous occasions, the hospital strongly recommended that Yayoi go to a psychiatrist and potentially a mental institution.

To Yayoi’s surprise, Georgia O’Keefe would visit her in New York and determined to help her introduced Kusama to her own art dealer Edith Halpert. She kept painting her infinity net series. Which consisted of paintings of black dots enveloped by white nets. The paintings were large scale and repetitive. Out of the thousands of dots, Yayoi referenced that a single dot was herself. A single point in the universe. A single particle among billions. She carried one of her canvases of infinity net paintings 40 blocks for submission to be considered for the Whitney Annual. It didn’t resemble the Whitney of today as it was far more conservative back then. She was rejected and had to carry her canvas 40 blocks back to her studio. Through her introductions, she had her first solo show at the Brata Gallery and got some favorable reviews. Kusama made her first close friend in the art world, the conceptual artist and critic Donald Judd (4). Not only did he buy one of her pieces but wrote her a favorable review. This show would open opportunities for other group exhibitions and shows in New York, Boston, and DC.

Kusama would continue to receive favorable reviews for her work. However, artists who copied her work would get more credit for her creative breakthroughs than she would. Yayoi had an exhibition at the Green Gallery, where she created soft sculptures. The art consisted of objects that were covered in phallic soft sculptures. Claes Oldenburg was part of the same show and was working with stiff paper mache at the time. Sewing to create artwork wasn’t seen as masculine which is why Oldenburg stayed away from it initially. After Yayoi, went to see one of Oldenburg's new shows, he completely changed his approach and adopted soft-sculpture. Oldenburg’s wife and art assistant Pat, helped him sew his soft sculptures together. The influence was so blatant that Pat pulled Kusama aside and said, “Yayoi, Forgive us!” Oldenburg’s soft sculptures would gain critical acclaim and would launch his career as one of the first sculptor’s of the pop art movement (5).

Other artists, in addition to Oldenburg, found it irresistible to steal ideas from Kusama. This included Andy Warhol. But this isn’t as surprising as he built a career off of appropriation. At Yayoi's solo New York show at the Gertrude Stein Gallery in 1963, her work titled: “Aggregation One Thousand Boats Show,” she displayed a boat that was covered in her soft sculptures and on the ceilings, and walls were 999 black and white images of the sculpture covering the room. It was Kusama’s first foray into creating immersive environments. According to Kusama, Warhol came to her show and exclaimed, “Yayoi, what is this? It’s fantastic!” Warhol would later paper the walls and ceiling with silkscreened cow head posters at the Leo Castelli Gallery (6).

By creating environments, Kusama made another breakthrough. A pioneering move. Which was to create entire rooms that were works of art. In the Instagram age, this is commonplace now. Building environments people can take selfies in. One of the more well-known ones being 29Rooms created by the online publisher Refinery29. For Kusama portraits weren’t the objective. Immersion into the art was. She extended her theme of infinity nets on canvas into infinity rooms. With space exploration and the various scientific discoveries that were in the media, people collectively became more aware of infinity. In March of 1966, she would make the debut of her piece “Peep Show” at the Castellane Gallery in New York. It was a room with carefully placed mirrors with openings you could put your head in into and feel a sense of infinity through the mirrored reflections. The mirrors were arranged in an octagon shape with colored electric lights. The lights felt like stars in the illusory infinite space. In the same year a few months later in October of 1966, Lucas Samaras made a similar mirrored room at the far more established PACE Gallery despite ever having used mirrors before. It appeared to be a blatant ripoff of Kusama’s work (7).

Yayoi made critical, creative breakthroughs in her work that other artists had copied and made part of their own shows. They'd be taken up by the art establishment and collectors while Yayoi was ignored. In the latter part of the decade, Kusama staged “Happenings” that were performance art pieces that became popular during the beat and hippie movements which involved sexual acts and nudity. The happenings were used sometimes for collective creative expression and other times for political protest. By 1972 Kusama would be listed in the book American Who’s Who. The same book in which in which she found Georgia O’Keefe’s contact details that began their mutual correspondence.

In 1973 Kusama's health began to deteriorate. She was in Japan for a brief visit and checked herself into a hospital when she had an episode of anxiety and hallucinations. Her condition worsened, so she decided to stay in Japan. She checked herself back into the hospital in 1975 due to her flickering vision and hallucinations. By 1977 she would commit herself permanently to the hospital in Shinjuku. Right around the corner from her studio. She would leave the hospital only to work in her studio. Since her hospitalization, Kusama continued to produce art. According to Kusama, if it weren’t for art, she would have killed herself a long time ago (8).

In 1993 for the 45th Venice Biennale, she was officially invited to represent Japan. It was the first solo exhibition by a single artist at the Japanese Pavilion. Yayoi's previous appearance at the Biennale was in 1966, uninvited. She is now exhibited in galleries worldwide and has had significant retrospectives including one at the MOMA in New York. There are long lines and wait-lists to see her infinity mirrored rooms at many galleries including the Broad in Los Angeles. A large of a portion of her works now reside in her hometown in the Matsumoto City Museum of Art.

Reference

1. Frank, Priscilla (9 February 2017). "Japanese Artist Yayoi Kusama Is About To Make 2017 Infinitely Better". Huffington Post. Retrieved 11 March 2017.

2. Kusama, Yayoi. Infinity Net: The Autobiography of Yayoi Kusama. Tate Publishing, 2013. p.10.

3. Ibid. p. 15.

4. Ibid. p. 23.

5. Lenz, Heather, director. Kusama: Infinity. Magnolia Pictures, 2019.

6. Ibid.

7. Ibid.

8. Kusama, Yayoi. Infinity Net: The Autobiography of Yayoi Kusama. Tate Publishing, 2013. p.226.

#my writing #writing #long reads #constraints journal #writers on tumblr #yayoi kusama

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comicdiaries · 6 years

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comic diaries highlights: 2013

I’m continuing to post some memorable comics from the last 10 years to celebrate the decade I’ve been doing this crazy thing every day!

For me, 2013 started off as a missionary in Kichijoji, Japan, and I got to learn all about New Year’s traditions there. (Switch Christmas and New Year’s in America, and you’ll get an idea of how the Japanese celebrate.) Wintertime was pretty rough thanks to frigid weather and a really slow schedule.

Seeing Japanese cherry blossoms in spring was super cool! They lasted about two weeks, so we took every chance to go outside and talk with people who were out enjoying nature. That’s something I admire about the Japanese---they have public holidays to mark the changes in season, and it usually involves family and friend time out in nature. Despite the crazy technology and fast pace of life in Tokyo, the people I met were so respectful of nature and the natural order of things.

In spring of 2013, a good friend and I got thrust into an unfamiliar situation and positions of leadership with little supervision and a lot of laughs. There were a lot of really difficult things about working out in the countryside, including a companion who hated my guts, so I’m glad I had a close friend to help bear the burden and help me see the humor in everything.

I left Japan in August, and although it was a relief to finish my time as a missionary, I was so sad to leave my friends in Japan behind. I’ll always feel like a piece of my heart is there. If you haven’t read my graphic novel about the experience yet, check it out on tokyomissionary.com! (If you’re in Utah, there’s a really good chance it’s in your local library!)

For about a month after returning to America, I took a break from daily comics and instead made experimental watercolor art. The transition from missionary to normal adult without a clear trajectory of the next part of my life was super strange, so I documented it in shapes and illustrations of weird dreams and little poems. I’m happy I took that break before diving back into comic diaries.

When I started comic diaries back up again in September, I switched to the four-panel format that I still use today. I can’t remember exactly why I stopped making horizontal strips in favor of this format. More mobile-friendly, I guess? I’d just gotten my first smartphone, so that must have been on my mind.

The highlight of the last part of the year was getting two puppies! My family’s dog had died while I was in Japan, so I was excited to help them find a new pet. Those two rascals got into so much trouble but were so cute.

The other thing of note in 2013 was that I got my first grown-up full-time job. While living with my parents, I found work as a copy editor at a local office. I didn’t super fit in with the culture there, but it was a great way to help me earn money while I figured out what to do with my life next. I still work for the company now, albeit remotely and only part time.

Thanks for reading! More comic journal highlights from 2014 tomorrow!

#comic diaries anniversary #journal comics #japan #graphic novel #work #puppies

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artsofruru · 4 years

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Artwork no. 36: ELEVEN . . . Yeah, she’s that girl from Stranger Things (Season 1), not looking exactly like her? Yeah, because I draw and painted that character in own my style. 🤷🏽‍♂️ Hope you don’t kill me for that. HAHAHA. I finished this last night, and posting it today due to GOOD ULTRAVIOLET MORNING LIGHT condition. 😂 . . . Art mats: Tokyo Finds WC Journal (8.5x11in), Round brushes from Raphael, Mont Martes Oval Brush, Superior WC paints . . . #watercolor #strangerthings #strangerthingsfanart #elevenstrangerthings #watercolorillustration #watercolorpainting #watercolorartwork #watercolor_art #watercolor_daily #watercolor_blog #watercolor_planet #watercolor_zone #watercolor_inlove #watercolor_illustration #artph #artistsph ##watercolor_guide (at Kawit, Cavite) https://www.instagram.com/p/CCreXCtF4XZ/?igshid=1vs9pnbri468d

#watercolor #strangerthings #strangerthingsfanart #elevenstrangerthings #watercolorillustration #watercolorpainting #watercolorartwork #watercolor_art #watercolor_daily #watercolor_blog #watercolor_planet #watercolor_zone #watercolor_inlove #watercolor_illustration #artph #artistsph #watercolor_guide

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studyablog-japan · 7 years

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A Reflective Summary of My Language Growth

Journal logs of language growth

Sept-October

At first, I thought my language skills were basic tourist level. I was able to ask how to get places, and went to the koban if I had questions. This proved to be useful my first night and the first few days. I found out my reading skills though were lacking, as kanji was a weak suit of mine. This month was more about finding my level than anything else. When I took my tests at the college and discovered I was mostly level 3, I was shocked, as the person who I considered the smartest of all the Japanese classes got into a level below me. It was strange, but kind of eye opening to me. I also was able to understand that I have a long way to go with particles. Japanese particles have many specific rules, and some of the things I had learned before seemed off, like for instance, the usage of “を” to indicate a starting or passing point. This was one of the first lessons we covered in my Grammar class, and was completely new to me.

Outside, during trips, I was able to gain a little more confidence however, in basic things, such as how to pay for bills or how to sign off on paperwork. I had troubles with my school check, so going through Western Union for money from my father was…very interesting to say the least. Luckily, they had a sheet that was able to help with information transfer, as far as filling out paperwork. This also helped with maps as well. My first few trips to the mini city within the whole of Tokyo, Tachikawa, was filled with mystery. The trains station maps were hard to navigate as I was unsure what a choume was, or which way a map was pointing. Learning how to read better for this helped me know my way around better.

November

This was when my homesickness was starting to hit, with birthdays and all. But my school visit I was able to do was very fun, getting to speak Japanese with grade schoolers. I realized that I still have a very low proficiency, but they did have a student who could speak English, so if my dictionary was unable to provide a word or phrase that I couldn’t understand, she was able to help.

I also was reinvigorated by being able to talk about American politics in Japanese, through my conversation course. Through this I was able to gain a bit more confidence in my speaking skills, which I was not confident in the least. During floor parties, I was always so focused on listening rather than speaking, so that way I could get used to verbal patterns and try to make sense. This made for tough communication with my RA, as I was not able to speak Japanese very well and he was unable to speak English very well either. Looking back, I would have been better being more proactive in my quest for speaking and building relationships in my dorm.

Outings were about 50/50 of me having a good idea of what to do and being lost. I figured out that gakuen, meant school, even if that school was not the college, as I became hopelessly lost and had to ask a very kind obaa-san for help. But as well, my language skills were getting better for purchasing goods as well. Finding brands and types of things that were essential, such as my obsession with watercolors, leading me to research types of paint names.

Overall I felt like I was growing in a sense, but I still had a long way to go.

December

School communication was exceedingly important. Midterms were few, but also had a lot of importance to them. I remember being in Kanji and just some of the kanji were really difficult. I believe we also had a midterm for grammar, and I remember getting it back and being disappointed, but knowing that I still needed work. mostly again, on particles. I really wish I had my particle guide with me during this time, or the ability to find one. But I was quite swamped for December.

The big part of this experience for language learning was through experience. I was able to talk about my country some in Japanese, and realized that translations were a lot more complex. I did tarot for a middle school to show them about Halloween, and the card translations were hard to put out there as complex words in english might have different meaning in Japanese, so I needed a teacher to help with this. However, after this getting to go out to eat was a very wonderful experience, with going to a traditional style restaurant, and trying to figure out what is what. I got to learn better about the ordering system for food, which is very nice.

During this time I also went to a drinking party with my professor and his students. I was able to talk much more than the last time, which surprised him as I was very withdrawn the first time we met. One large thing I discovered though is the ability to ask about landmarks and sizing. I went in to do kimono, and we had to figure out what could fit. As well, being able to read the charms we bought at Sensouji was very interesting. I was able to get some for my friends too, as it was for academic success. We still got lost though, and the difference in names of shops was very alarming. Still, it was a lot of fun, and I realized that I grew somewhat since I had arrived.

January

A strange time for learning. The focus in grammar turned to politeness forms, which I knew well in America, while in comprehensive we focused on graphing and interpretation. I remember being proud because I figured out the formula and my teacher complimented my skill with the area. I felt like I had come a long way. In writing I felt very frustrated though. We were writing about more complex issues, and this translated into more errors in translation as I didn’t have the skillset to talk about the educational issues I wanted to press about. Things like bullying, diversification, tailored learning were all very difficult. Listening though was a class I never felt different about. The teachers style was something that didn’t sit right with me, even if she was a wonderful and kind teacher. Being able to communicate effectively with my teachers in Japanese though was a real boost for my confidence, as I asked for some time off for a trip.

During this time, I wasn’t able to make real leaps and bounds as focusing on studying a reviewing took its toll.

February

With the close of the semester brought about a realization, that while I have grown, I have a long way to go. After a mishap with my wallet being stolen, I had to conduct business with the police, with immigration, with my bank, and with my insurance which was from city hall. I had to ask for help a lot. Government labels had me very confused on where to go and what to bring. As such, I had a hard time with some of the vocabulary. It was very frustrating, as I thought I had made a lot of progress. And I had, just not to the extent that I could deal with filing all of this on my own. However, with help from my Residential Director, my school, and the police, I was able to file everything fine. Intermediate proficiency plateau’s are very difficult to handle, especially in a situation as complex as this. I had more confidence in my speaking afterwards, including talking a bit more formally and asking for help when I needed it.

March

School’s still off at this time. However, my friends and I had a trip to Osaka that helped me learn more about my proficiency growth. Having to rely on your own language skills to get around in a new area is very invigorating. I remember all of us were very excited at the thought of a bath, so we went to LUSH, and we legitimately held a conversation with three of the store clerks. I remember feeling very proud at the fact we held conversations on our own with these ladies who didn’t speak English at all. Being able to rely on my own skills was very uplifting. As well another issue was that I had left my iPod on the Shinkansen and figuring out how to retrieve it briefly, before opting to procure a new one. Figuring out specs in Japanese and being able to discuss them with the clerk in Japanese also showed me that I was growing in my confidence to speak at least.

April

I was able to take a placement test to figure out where I would be put as far as level wise. I was decidedly placed into the same levels. This was kind of discouraging at first. It felt kind of like I hadn’t grown, and I was tempted to do as other students had and go to the class to show my grades and bump up a level. However, what happened first semester had a thought behind it. I was surrounded by a variety of speakers, some I knew were above my level, and some who were about the same level. The plateau of intermediate held a large amount of students and is hard to get out of, and while I thought I had made progress, I realized I still wasn’t proficient enough to make that just out of level three yet. While this hurt, I knew that this next semester would get me some new teachers who could help me lay down pat the foundation for better understanding of course content.

In this, much of what was gone over the first month was review.

May

Despite the same classes being taken, the use of new books and different teachers for a few classes has made a huge difference. Kanji is much more comprehensible. Conversation is less speech based and more based on studying and completing everyday conversations. A new book makes comprehension have more grammar points, which are easier to comprehend. Composition with a different style has more similar vocabulary and more grammar patterns that were easier to comprehend. This month was highly focused on conjunctions and consequences.

Thanks to all of these factors I felt I had a stronger grip on the material. Even though new material was being introduced, it was mixed with familiar, evolving into a great mix of scaffolding to support further learning.

Reading had been harder before, but during this month it seemed to be a strengthening skill. I was able to read menus and labels more effectively, including at the Gudetama cafe and working on reading ingredients while cooking more complex dishes.

While cooking I was also able to be more involved in conversations more actively in the kitchen. One of my floor mates was pushing herself very hard in her studies and I was able to appropriately express concern for her in Japanese.

June

I continue to get stronger in review areas, being more apt to do the proper way to write in Japanese and do comparisons. However, it seemed like my speaking ability in more open situations went down. Such as during an interview assignment, my shyness was a discouragement from talking with native speakers. Its difficult to talk to strangers in Japanese, even though it’s more acceptable to bother others as a foreigner.

My reading ability continues to be strengthened thanks to my composition class. As well, outings in my spare time with friends continues to help with reading as well.

Overall June has this feeling of learning, but in smaller bits. it wasn’t as quick as before, but it wasn't dull either.

July

This month was very hectic. A lot of learning was done. I did volunteering and school observations, as well more active learning with composition and conversation. Conversation focused on being able to hold a conversation about issues, such as a noisy roommate, or having a problem, and figuring out a solution. Comprehensive was more active in solidifying sentence classification as well as reinforcing writing style.

During this time, I felt I was able to talk better and read better. Getting to volunteer with school children and speak to them in Japanese was very fun, as well getting to learn more from a guide who was kind enough to help translate for a school sporting event so that way I could better understand the school.

This month had both active immersive learning and in class learning equalled, though I still had a lot of trouble in the last week, as I was saddened by having to leave.

August

This was a sort of culmination of skills. I was able to close out my accounts independently in Japanese, being able to navigate beyond where I had been before. Final parties and thanks were given, in Japanese. Everything seemed to fall together, and it felt more sad than anything else. As though I was making more headway and having to return home. It wasn’t a pleasant feeling. Though I was able to increase my listening skills in the last few days I had as well.

Overall, this experience has lifted me up to new levels of Japanese, and I feel more capable than I did before my study abroad experience. However, I feel ideally that more time abroad would have bolstered my levels to a more professional level, such as that of N3, or N2 of the JLPT. I am proud of the progress I was able to make however, and glad that I was able to experience life in Japan.

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doodlewash · 5 years

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Hello friends! My name is Milena Guberinic. I was born in Yugoslavia and moved to Canada during the Yugoslav Wars of the 90s. I have mostly lived in Toronto since then. I always loved drawing, doodling, coloring, and creating all kinds of contraptions, but my first memory of falling in love with capturing something out in the world on paper was just before my family’s move to Canada.

I wanted so badly to keep close the image of my grandparents’ summer house that I spent hours and days working out exactly how to draw, shade, and render the thing to my satisfaction. It was in the course of that drawing that I figured out how to handle perspective, and it was in the course of that drawing that I first felt the true thrill of discovery in the art process. After that, I wanted to do nothing else! But life has its ways (and opinionated parental units) and those steered me away from art, into science and math, and finally, Japan.

I ended up learning Japanese, attending a university program in Tokyo, and later working in the south of Japan. While there, I finally had time and space to breathe and felt inspired by my surroundings to resume my childhood art ventures. I spent a great deal of my free time drawing everything I could, but didn’t do any painting, as the process of “proper” (i.e. oil) painting was just too laborious and demanding for me.

Upon my return to Canada, I became a Japanese-English translator. I also started a board game blog and Instagram account that grew in popularity, but I soon realized that my favorite part of doing any of it was producing the vibrant visuals. And so, I turned my eyes back to my pencil box and started drawing again… and eventually painting.

That was about two years ago. I felt like I was starting from scratch, but having access to online resources like Artists’ Network and Schoolism gave me a wealth of material to devour. And devour it I did. I learned everything I could and explored a great variety of media. In fact, I continue to do that daily and believe that we are all students for life.

I truly latched onto watercolor when I discovered the watercolor works of Charles Reid. Since then, he has been my greatest teacher and inspiration, and watercolor has become my greatest comfort and joy. I love the fluidity, immediacy, and quick turnaround time of watercolor, the ease of drawing the brush across the paper, and the wondrous effects that the pigments produce. And with a full-time job and a slew of health issues, I don’t have much time or patience to wait for oil paint to dry or to fiddle with cleaning supplies and toxic solvents.

Ultimately, watercolor simply suits my personality. It can be as spontaneous and fluid as it can be meticulously controlled and as soft and polite as loud and demanding, but it is always a lot of fun. I think everyone needs more fun in their lives. And I do try my best not to take things too seriously in art or life. It isn’t always possible, but I think that watercolor encourages a more fun and fluid approach, at least in producing the watercolor work I tend to find attractive.

As for subject matter, I am primarily drawn to life. I most love animals and humans and life drawing/painting and portraiture are my primary means of expression. I’ve had to leave many beloved humans behind and lost my closest family members far too early, so I wish to immortalize people in paint. I sometimes use multiple faces to imagine what my father might have looked like if he had had a chance to grow old. And, I often paint relatives. Ultimately, life attracts me because it is so short and fleeting and I feel a strong need to give it a more solid form.

Materials

As for materials, I am a shameless art supply junkie. I love paint, markers, pencils, and papers of all varieties, but most of all, I simply love color itself. I have no qualms with using funky assortments of craft paint like Prima when I just want to practice, play, and explore. And I love learning about other artists’ preferred palettes. In fact, Charlie’s “Vintage Trio” set from Da Vinci was the first artist-curated sets of paint I ever bought!

However, most of the time, I will use my own palettes of artist-grade paint from Daniel Smith, Schmincke, and Holbein. I also recently discovered Roman Szmal Aquarius watercolor and have been hooked on that since, as it is very affordable and rewets beautifully into gooeyness I can slap onto paper with abandon. I tend not to mix my paint on the palette and do tend to use a lot of paint, so my palettes are extensive and filled either with fresh paint from tubes or with highly rewettable pans like Schmincke and Roman Szmal.

I am attracted to a broad range of colors and pigments, but there is one thing that I never compromise, and that is Winsor & Newton PB 35 cerulean. I have a terrible addiction to cerulean and wish Winsor & Newton would make their PB35 available for sale in buckets! I go through it like a woman possessed, truly.

When working in ink, my favorite thing to use is Rohrer & Klingner Sketch Ink. It is suitable for use under watercolor as it dries very quickly and is nice and matte. The shade “Thea” is my favorite grey. I also use a variety of ink brush pens, but my most highly used ones are the Pentel pocket brush pen and the Akashiya thin line brush pen – the Pentel is great for covering larger areas and the thin line for very tiny details. I like to make very small drawings and the Akashiya thin line pens just feed that addiction.

As for brushes, I prefer the Escoda Perla range. They hold plenty of pigment and water while providing good control. I also use various synthetic flats, some of which are better suited for acrylic painting. I tend to use flats for quick studies and tests because they allow me to cover a lot of ground in a short time and make very definitive shapes with ease.

For daily work, I love to use watercolor sketchbooks. I live in a very small apartment with many things and not a lot of space, so I have no special storage space for work on loose sheets of paper. Any work in such a format ends up crumpled and stained. I also feel much less pressure when working in a sketchbook, so I stick to that when I’m working for myself.

With many fine options made of cellulose and even 100% cotton from Stillman & Birn (I love Delta and Zeta) and Strathmore (specifically, their new cotton travel journals and 400 Series watercolor sketchbooks), I don’t feel a need to stray too far from my preferred “book” format. The Stillman & Birn Zeta is a particular favorite because of the unorthodox effects it can help produce. However, I do also work on Fabriano Artistico and Arches cold press when doing work I do not intend to keep for myself.

Truly, I could go on about materials for ages and pages, but I’ll stop here. If you would like to discuss art “stuff,” I am always open for a good chat!

Closing Words

I will forever be indebted to the online art community and to Charlie’s generous gift of the space to share my passion with the world. I suppressed my natural urge to create for many years, but it always managed to manifest itself in my life in some form. I didn’t feel like I deserved to make art, and I didn’t feel I could create anything worthy of sharing.

However, starting an Instagram account during Inktober taught me that planning, creating, and sharing daily can be a worthy and awarding endeavor. With encouragements and opportunities to learn and create every day, like the Doodlewash prompts and community, it is easier than ever to find a place to belong. And to feel deserving of that place. Thank you.

Milena Guberinic Instagram

GUEST ARTIST: "Ends and Beginnings, Beginnings and Ends" by Milena Guberinic - #doodlewash #WorldWatercolorGroup #watercolor #watercolour Hello friends! My name is Milena Guberinic. I was born in Yugoslavia and moved to Canada during the Yugoslav Wars of the 90s.

#WorldWatercolorGroup #animals #doodlewash #drawing #featured #figuredrawing #illustration #painting #portraits #sketching #watercolor #watercolour

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casssac · 6 years

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Diary 25 May, 2011 when I was in Australia. At the moment I thought Japanese to children in a private school of a small town. I have asked about birthday for two aboriginal girls. We were just hung out at a doom of the school, the girl s were around 14 year-old. Who told me “we don’t have birthday” at the time I wasn’t good enough to speak in English, thus I couldn’t get it well because I believed that every children known about own birthday. The girls told me more “we don’t know our mother” I couldn’t find words for the girls. And I find that I know my mother, I know my birthday, I able to know other countries when I am traveling. Nevertheless someone else who haven’t all. Yesterday I remember about this because my friends and family wished my birthday, I become happy with just that. If I could I would like hug to the girls, because who thought me many things. ————— 今日はどうしても共有したいことを思い出したので、日本語でも書きました。2011年に私はオーストリアにある小さな町の学校で日本語を教えていました。寮で一緒に遊んでいた2人のアボリジニーの女の子に何気なく誕生日の話しをしました。女の子たちは口をそろえて、自分の誕生日がいつかわからないと教えてくれました。当時の私は英語がままならなかったので、自分の耳を疑いましたが、続けて自分たちの母親が誰なのかわからないと口にしました。彼女たちになんて言えば良いのか、何一つ言葉がみつかりませでした。私は自分の母親が誰かを知っているし、自分の誕生日がいつなのかも知ってる。何処かの国を旅して知ることもできる。けれど、誰かはその全てをすることができない。昨日は自身の誕生日を介してそのことを思い出しました。私には祝ってくれる家族や友人もいる。それだけで十分に幸福であるということ。もしできるなら、彼女たちにハグをしたいです。何故なら私にそれを教えてくれたのだから。 ————— #cassdiary #2018 #birthday #gift #illustration #watercolor #diary #journal #tokyo #toowoomba #japan #australia #chupachups #birthdaycake #誕生日 #ドッキリ大成功 #ぼるが #新宿 #日記 (at ぼるが)

#japan #新宿 #watercolor #gift #2018 #誕生日 #cassdiary #diary #birthday #tokyo #chupachups #birthdaycake #illustration #日記 #ドッキリ大成功 #ぼるが #journal #australia #toowoomba

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