Shiho Nakaza Illustration and Sketch Blog

Food Truck Sketch: Lomo Arigato

noreply@blogger.com (Shiho Nakaza) — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 07:31:00 +0000

Lomo Arigato is a food truck that serves Peruvian-Japanese food. I ordered lomo saltado, which is a traditional Peruvian-style stir-fried dish served with rice. It was neat to see flames go up inside the truck when the chef was firing up the wok to flash-fry the food!

The dish looked like this:

(Also posted on Urban Sketchers)

Midwest Airlines article on Urban Sketchers

noreply@blogger.com (Shiho Nakaza) — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 08:17:00 +0000

I am honored to be a Los Angeles correspondent and a board member for Urban Sketchers, which is an artists' blog network that celebrated its 1st anniversary. Midwest Airlines wrote an article about us for their in-flight magazine, MyMidwest, and my sketch was chosen to open the article in a very pleasing page layout that sums up what we do - you can click on the image above to read about why I like to sketch, and visit this Urban Sketchers link to see more sketches by fellow Urban Sketcher correspondents.

Birthday at Disneyland

noreply@blogger.com (Shiho Nakaza) — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 07:01:00 +0000

I celebrated my birthday at Disneyland. I grew up in a city nearby, so I went there a few times a year as a child until after I graduated from college. While I still live about an hour's drive away and even know people who work for Disney and have worked for Disney myself, this was the first time I visited there in over ten years. A lot of things were fresh and nostalgic at the same time - while there were tons of new attractions to enjoy, I also get to drink the mint julep and ride the same roller coasters that I loved as a kid.

I think this sketch captured the spirit of the Magical Kingdom - tourists posing for photos, a little girl walking in costume, large Mickey Mouse decoration for Halloween, cast members of the park being attentive - that day even had what I would call "storybook clouds" that are white and puffy!

Illustration Friday: Flying

noreply@blogger.com (Shiho Nakaza) — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 04:38:00 +0000

This week's Illustration Friday topic, "Flying", reminds me of traveling by plane. This is a sketch done at a small park near Los Angeles International Airport where airplanes fly directly above you, with wheels down for landing. It was a neat sight, with L.A. icon of In-N-Out Burgers next to the park - though I had to wear earplugs to keep out the noise!

Dessert on Wheels

noreply@blogger.com (Shiho Nakaza) — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 15:00:00 +0000

I came across an upscale cupcake shop, Sprinkles - in a truck form. While there is an actual Sprinkles store, the trend of restaurant-quality food served on wheels is gaining popularity in Los Angeles. My sketch of Kogi BBQ truck was picked up by the Food Section blog to illustrate resistance faced by traditional food vendors. Food and urban culture is always fascinating to me.

...and of course, before the fancy mobile food came on the scene, there was the ice cream truck! Here's a sketch of one such sighting earlier in the year: it's still a familiar part of American childhood.

(Also posted on Urban Sketchers)

Sunbrellas

noreply@blogger.com (Shiho Nakaza) — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 07:04:00 +0000

...and just when I thought it'll be autumn, it got very warm in Los Angeles today. This reminded me to post some sketches I've done in the summer, with umbrellas in the sun.

(Also posted on Urban Sketchers.)

Illustration Friday: Pattern

noreply@blogger.com (Shiho Nakaza) — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 07:23:00 +0000

This is an autumnal pattern I created before, and fits this week's Illustration Friday topic, "Pattern" - it's finally starting to feel like fall!

24th Worldwide SketchCrawl: Los Angeles

noreply@blogger.com (Shiho Nakaza) — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 06:21:00 +0000

Here are some sketches from Los Angeles edition of 24th Worldwide SketchCrawl that took place on September 19, 2009. A group of sketchers met at Grand Central Market and Bradbury Building in downtown L.A. - both are buildings that are about 100 years old and are still in use. Angel's Flight, which is a set of trolleys across the street from the Market, sadly, are not operational - though original gateway is still there.

Here is the view of the bustling market. The grocers and shoppers were moving about underneath high ceilings with electrical wires everywhere, so there were lots of things to draw - it was a fun challenge to get the feel of this place on paper!

Outside of the entrance to the Market was a bike rack with sculpture of pigs' heads - I thought that was an unusual way to mark the entrance, so I sketched it here:

We moved on to the Bradbury Building, which has quite a rich history and was used in filming of the movie, Blade Runner. I can see why; the interior is very ornate, and the skylight bathes the whole place in a very theatrical light. I think my sketch caught only a small bit of its essence; this is one of those places I'd like to revisit and sketch some more.

...and, as usual, I sketch people all the time, so here are some sketches of people at the Market. It was a great way to spend a Saturday!

Illustration Friday: Welcome

noreply@blogger.com (Shiho Nakaza) — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 06:30:00 +0000

This week's Illustration Friday theme is "Welcome". Actually, I'm not quite ready to welcome fall yet because the weather is still warm. Fall is steadily approaching as the days get shorter, though. (I thought the same thing last year and did another Illustration Friday artwork here.)

Illustration Friday: Caution

noreply@blogger.com (Shiho Nakaza) — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 18:11:00 +0000

This is a print I'm selling on Thumbtack Press here, which happened to fit this week's IF topic, "Caution". I can swim but never learned how to dive (I always get water up my nose!), so this image reflects the way I feel about being on the diving board.

Urban Plein Air: Ballona Creek

noreply@blogger.com (Shiho Nakaza) — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 05:41:00 +0000

I went sketching with a group of other artists from Urban Plein Air group to a section called Ballona Creek, where Los Angeles river flows into Pacific Ocean in the city of Marina del Rey. I struggled with getting the paint color down since I ended up using wrong side of the paper. It was bright and breezy, and a vast expanse of rippling water was glaring in the sunlight.

San Diego Comic-Con

noreply@blogger.com (Shiho Nakaza) — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 06:10:00 +0000

I spent a long weekend visiting San Diego, California, for annual Comic-Con, where a massive crowd of people dressed in costumes fill the floor to look at celebrities, comic books, movie memorabilia, illustration, and other entertainment- and art-related goodies. Being at the Con is a great opportunity for people-watching. Below is a collection of quick sketches of people with various headgear - the strangest one was a woman with an otherwise ordinary clothes who had an empty rice bag over her head.

(Another sketch from San Diego and larger version of above sketch is posted on Urban Sketchers website.)

Los Angeles River

noreply@blogger.com (Shiho Nakaza) — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 05:12:00 +0000

I've been painting with a group of other artists at Urban Plein Air Society, and we have been exploring the Los Angeles River. It's quite urban, with concrete bottom and graffiti, yet also lush with plants and wild birds. I enjoy capturing the different aspects of the river that can only be seen on foot. I'll post more as I do more sketches.

Los Angeles Sketch Crawl: Echo Park

noreply@blogger.com (Shiho Nakaza) — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 05:50:00 +0000

I was with about a dozen people for 23rd edition of World Wide Sketch Crawl, and enjoyed meeting fellow artists, both familiar and new. We chose to sketch at Echo Park in Los Angeles. There happened to be a festival and the weather was perfect, so that made for a pleasant time.

Angelus Temple:

Echo Park has a very large lake in the middle:

My usual roundup of people sketches:

It was a great day to spend outdoors!

Taco Truck Part 2: Border Grill

noreply@blogger.com (Shiho Nakaza) — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 07:46:00 +0000

I'm wondering: should I start a series of taco truck/food truck sketches? I started sketching them with Kogi BBQ taco truck, and now the mobile eatery that serves affordable, unique food is getting popular here in Los Angeles.

A locally well-known restaurant, Border Grill, now has a food truck. I happened to be there with other curious shoppers on its first day at the Santa Monica farmer's market. The tacos had fresh ingredients with homemade corn tortillas - yummy!

[Photo courtesy of Corey Takahashi]

[Also posted at Urban Sketchers]

Illustration Friday: Worn

noreply@blogger.com (Shiho Nakaza) — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 18:01:00 +0000

This is one of my lunchtime sketches, and thought it was appropriate for this week's Illustration Friday theme, "Worn". I like the look of this tree trunk, worn away by the elements. A worn surfboard is resting behind it, with a lizard idly getting sun.

IF: Drifting

noreply@blogger.com (Shiho Nakaza) — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 03:44:00 +0000

Here's a sketch I did this week, and thought it fits the Illustration Friday theme, "Drifting". Reading makes my mind drift to another world, like a floating boat, ready to set sail toward new experience.

Below is another page from my sketchbook that I've been using to sketch by the beach. Happy Summer Solstice, everyone!

Illustration Friday: Unfold

noreply@blogger.com (Shiho Nakaza) — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 04:38:00 +0000

The graduation season is here, when former students enter the world beyond school. Stories yet untold will unfold....
(This is an old illustration I did when I was a new graduate myself. I'm thinking of using this concept and reworking it into a new illustration for greeting cards - let me know what you think!)

New York City Sketches

noreply@blogger.com (Shiho Nakaza) — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 06:20:00 +0000

Here is a slideshow of some of the sketches I've done in New York City recently. I was pleasantly surprised by the mild weather and I'm glad to discover some waterfront views that I've never seen before on this trip. As always, NYC is full of endless things to draw!

Illustration Friday: Contagious

noreply@blogger.com (Shiho Nakaza) — Sat, 16 May 2009 02:27:00 +0000

For this week's Illustration Friday topic, "Contagious", I thought of something positive that can pass on from person to person besides the scary Swine Flu that is sweeping the headlines at the moment. This is based on a sketch I did of a Brazilian ensemble; listening to them made me happy, and other people in the audience also had smiles on their faces. Good feelings that come from infectious beats are indeed contagious!

Happy Mother's Day!

noreply@blogger.com (Shiho Nakaza) — Sun, 10 May 2009 08:33:00 +0000

Limited Edition Print Available 5/2/09

noreply@blogger.com (Shiho Nakaza) — Sat, 25 Apr 2009 18:39:00 +0000

I created an artwork titled City of Angels above. It will be available as an archival, limited edition print priced at $75 to benefit Stoked Mentoring, to be unveiled on May 2, 2009 at charity event. Stop by if you can and say hello! The details are below:

Update: here's a photo of me in front of my piece:

22nd World Wide SketchCrawl: Los Angeles

noreply@blogger.com (Shiho Nakaza) — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 06:17:00 +0000

For Los Angeles version of 22nd World Wide SketchCrawl, a group of us artists went exploring downtown L.A. It was originally going to be a Metro crawl, where we ride the train from place to place, though in reality we covered a lot of ground by foot, encountering different people and landscape along the way.

First off, we met at Union Station and headed across Alameda Ave. to Olvera Street. Coincidentally, Blessing of the Animals ceremony was taking place, so I've captured the various animals and their owners waiting in line to get a blessing of holy water from Cardinal Mahony:

Here's a fun one below - do you think the dog owners (and a rabbit owner) resemble their pets?

Next up is Los Angeles Mall. It has a beautiful plaza, but the place was very desolate. I hope it's filled with office workers enjoying the space on weekdays. It had a clock and lampposts that were like artifacts from a bygone era, like something out of Tomorrowland in Disneyland - they looked "futuristic" as imagined in the early 20th century. The object in the middle is an empty glass case - I remember it used to hold advertisements in the window during 1980s, but now I think it looks like a time machine - very steampunk.

We ambled down to Little Tokyo, where we stopped at Kinokuniya bookstore. I got my favorite sketching pens (Uni-ball Signo) since all the ones I had finally ran out of ink and this is one of the only two stores in Los Angeles that carries these Japanese imports as far as I know. The one with squared-off cap is non-waterproof, and the one with angled cap is extra fine point (0.38mm) and is waterproof - they both have brown-black ink, which is basically a sepia tone:

Here's a sketch of Little Tokyo Village Plaza with the new 0.38mm pen. Most of the time we kept eating various snacks among us - imagawayaki (Japanese pastry with red beans), dango (essentially a mochi on a stick covered with syrup made of soy sauce and sugar), mochi ice cream, chocolate-covered chocolate cream puff...

We ended the day at an old-fashioned Chinatown eatery, Won Kok. The ornate columns caught my eye, so here's a sketch of a diner at another table near one of the columns.

I had a great time exploring the city with team of artists and a fresh set of pens! For more art from fellow Los Angeles SketchCrawlers, you can visit the forum here.

Illustration Friday: Fleeting

noreply@blogger.com (Shiho Nakaza) — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 18:25:00 +0000

Here's a sketch I happened to do, which fits this week's IF topic of "fleeting" - the sky becomes gorgeous pastel shades of oranges, pinks, and blues when the sun is setting in southern California, and it lasts only for about 10-15 minutes. I like the challenge of doing a quick watercolor study of sunsets - it helps me remember the beauty of the moment, which is fleeting indeed.

Spring Sketches

noreply@blogger.com (Shiho Nakaza) — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 06:10:00 +0000

Here are two sketches from one sunny spring day in San Fernando Valley. The leaves of the trees lining suburban streets were bright green and the cherry blossoms were blooming in Balboa Lake. It's all beautiful, yet springtime is very short-lived in Southern California - summer is right around the corner. Unlike cherry blossom seasons I remember from my childhood in Japan, the weather in the Valley was already hot and dry.

(...and it rained today. Maybe summer is not around the corner after all.)