Shiho Nakaza Illustration and Sketch Blog

Sketch of the Week: The Art of Urban Sketching

noreply@blogger.com (Shiho Nakaza) — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 10:05:00 +0000

Exciting news - my sketches are published in "The Art of Urban Sketching"! Many of you know that I am a Los Angeles correspondent for Urban Sketchers, an international online group of people who love to sketch. Now the group has its first book put together by Urban Sketchers founder Gabi Campanario and published through Quarry Books:

As you can see, it is quite a thick volume that has more than 300 pages and over 500 sketches from more than 50 cities around the globe. While I'm happy to see my work in print, what I love about this book is how different artists interpret their cities, allowing me to experience places I visited - like London, Tokyo, and even my own town of Los Angeles - with fresh perspective, while letting my imagination soar with cities I hope to visit some day, like Barcelona, Hong Kong, and Montreal. It truly is like traveling without leaving your couch!

Seeing drawings that are done on the spot is much more personal than photos, since each artwork and its caption tells a story about small moments that happened in a slice of time that were important to that particular artist. Another part of the book that appeals to me as an artist is reading about materials other artists use and learning how to sketch in different conditions. You can take a look at one of my sketches along with more enticing artwork in the post by my fellow Urban Sketcher Pete Scully here. This book is inspiring me to sketch some more!

The Art of Urban Sketching is available worldwide on February 1 through local bookstores and Amazon.

Sketch of the Week: SketchCrawl at Union Station and Olvera Street

noreply@blogger.com (Shiho Nakaza) — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 08:09:00 +0000

Los Angeles SketchCrawl group went to Union Station and Olvera Street for 34th SketchCrawl day. After a drizzly morning, the sun came out to be a gorgeous winter day. I took advantage of the weather by sketching outside and challenging myself to practice sketching buildings.

Here is the view of the clock tower from the courtyard inside Union Station. This building has a peculiar mixture of 1930s Art Deco style that blends with a bit of Spanish-style architecture - it is an icon of L.A., especially with palm trees and blue sky.

The group walked across the street to Olvera Street for lunch and more sketching. This church with Moorish-looking dome caught my eye. I like splashes of color from papel picado flags, and when a man wearing a red cap walked by, I decided to add him in to give the scene more bits of color.

[Also posted on Urban Sketchers]

Sketch of the Week: Another iPhone Sketch

noreply@blogger.com (Shiho Nakaza) — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 06:36:00 +0000

This is my second attempt at Brushes app sketch on my iPhone: a road near where I live with wintery clouds and blue sky. I still sketch with pen and paper - in fact, it is faster and comes a lot more naturally to me - but I've been practicing drawing on the phone from time to time to work on my color-blocking skills.

Sketch of the Week: My First iPhone Sketch

noreply@blogger.com (Shiho Nakaza) — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 05:55:00 +0000

One of the goals I want to achieve this year is to be better at painting, which also includes digital painting. I finally bought Brushes app for iPhone and have been playing around with it for a bit. Here is my first iPhone sketch, to mark the new year. It is my neighborhood, painted while sitting in my car at night - I thought big silhouettes and limited color palette will be a good place to start. I find it frustrating that there is no way to make lines thick and thin with one stroke like I can with Wacom products, but it's a good exercise in capturing colors.

Sketch of the Week: Highlight

noreply@blogger.com (Shiho Nakaza) — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 07:13:00 +0000

I was admiring a pretty golden light of late winter sun in an office park one Sunday, and realized that golden metal tables were the same kind as the black ones near them. The late afternoon sunlight was reflecting off a glass building and highlighting those tables. I wish you all a happy new year, with goodness and hope highlighted throughout the year!

Sketch of the Week: Christmas Tree

noreply@blogger.com (Shiho Nakaza) — Mon, 26 Dec 2011 08:40:00 +0000

I found a large Christmas tree at the local mall with giant "gifts" and "ornaments" under it. I enjoy looking at Christmas lights and ornaments and listening to the holiday songs, so I had to sketch this. I spent the Christmas weekend relaxing with my family. Hope you had a restful weekend as well!

Sketch of the Week: Peacocks in a Tree

noreply@blogger.com (Shiho Nakaza) — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 08:37:00 +0000

I visited San Diego Zoo over the weekend and enjoyed seeing Christmas decorations along with the animals. When the night fell, colorful lanterns that hung from the tree lit up, and peacocks roosted on the branches - it was a very pretty and festive sight.

Sketch of the Week: Costume Drawing

noreply@blogger.com (Shiho Nakaza) — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 08:22:00 +0000

I found a sketch of a costumed model - though she is not really posing, just resting and holding a red egg-shaped timer for another model. Even at rest, she looked lively.

Sketch of the Week: Gnarly Tree

noreply@blogger.com (Shiho Nakaza) — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 08:59:00 +0000

Cypress trees that grow along the coast are exposed to gusty ocean wind for so long that they grow close to the ground with gnarly trunks and branches. They even bloom tiny flowers in the spring. I wanted to capture the beauty of strong and sinewy lines when I sketched one of them a few months ago.

Los Angeles was hit quite hard with extremely strong Santa Ana winds that uprooted trees in some neighborhoods. Hopefully we don't get more wind damage - though I think this cypress that I sketched is doing ok.

Sketch of the Week: Big Sunset

noreply@blogger.com (Shiho Nakaza) — Mon, 28 Nov 2011 04:31:00 +0000

Winter weather can be whimsical in Los Angeles - it can be blazing hot, or wet and cold. I was able to sketch at the beach twice, when the sun was setting and the clouds hung low. I continue to be inspired and amazed by the colors of the sky and the ocean!

Give a Little...Get a Sketch!

noreply@blogger.com (Shiho Nakaza) — Sat, 26 Nov 2011 06:09:00 +0000

One of my drawings is a part of Urban Sketchers 2011 Holiday Campaign: Give a Little, Get a Sketch campaign. This is a sketch of Castle Green building in Pasadena - a quaint couple dressed in Victorian costume walked by as I was drawing, so I had to put them in the sketch!

Take a look at more than 35 sketches by Urban Sketchers around the world that you can choose from with your donation in the Flickr set here. For a small donation, you can download high-resolution image that you can print out and display. If you make a donation of $75 or more, you can choose a print from this set, sent to you directly from the artist. More on how to donate is in this post on the Urban Sketchers blog.

The money that you help raise will go toward organizing an international symposium and cover a scholarship program to encourage artists to sketch and their part of the world, one drawing at a time. Thank you for your interest!

Sketch of the Week: Costumed Model

noreply@blogger.com (Shiho Nakaza) — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 06:47:00 +0000

It's been quite a while since I did a drawing from a costumed model, so I gave it a shot during Designer Con. This model was posing for around 10 minutes, and I used a different pen than usual (Stabilo Point 88) for additional challenge.

Sketch of the Week: Wild Animal Park

noreply@blogger.com (Shiho Nakaza) — Mon, 14 Nov 2011 07:46:00 +0000

I went to San Diego Wild Animal Park for the first time. I did a series of quick sketches - I spent most of my drawing time with the elephants, though I managed to capture various other creatures, too. (You can compare animal sketches from OC Fair and Los Angeles Zoo if you're curious.)

I enjoyed being able to see animals move around up close and walk through the landscape with a mix of exotic and familiar plants. Some parts of the park are quiet and secluded, giving me a feeling of a real hike through the woods - I'd like to take a moment to do a watercolor sketch or two next time I visit.

Sketch of the Week: People of All Stripes

noreply@blogger.com (Shiho Nakaza) — Sun, 06 Nov 2011 07:00:00 +0000

I jotted down quick gesture sketches at annual Halloween street festival in West Hollywood. I enjoyed seeing people of all stripes dress up in costumes. Speaking of stripes: where's Waldo? :)

Sketch of the Week: Big Clouds

noreply@blogger.com (Shiho Nakaza) — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 06:43:00 +0000

Big clouds appear this time of the year in Los Angeles, when long, dry summer slowly shifts to wet winter. I love looking at white fluff floating against the piercing blue of the sky, freshly scrubbed of smog after a brief rain.

Sketch of the Week: San Diego

noreply@blogger.com (Shiho Nakaza) — Mon, 24 Oct 2011 05:15:00 +0000

This is a sketch of Santa Fe Depot/Amtrak station in San Diego. It was an amazing autumn day - my paints can't compare to the sky that was so brilliantly blue!

Sketch of the Week: Descanso Gardens

noreply@blogger.com (Shiho Nakaza) — Mon, 17 Oct 2011 02:18:00 +0000

For 33rd Worldwide Sketchcrawl, Los Angeles group went to Descanso Gardens. The day was the perfect combination of summer and autumn, with warm air and long shadows. I also met my fellow Los Angeles Urban Sketcher, Virginia Hein, for the first time!

These sketches fits this week's Illustration Friday theme, "scattered", because sunlight was dappling through the leaves. I played more with dabs of color and negative spaces in my painting to emphasize the patterns created by light and shadow.

A curious boy peering into the pond at the café near the entrance to the gardens. Amid all the green, an orange pumpkin placed in the background to celebrate Halloween really popped against the background.

(Also posted on Urban Sketchers)

Sketch of the Week: Cars at Work

noreply@blogger.com (Shiho Nakaza) — Sun, 09 Oct 2011 19:30:00 +0000

I see interesting and colorful utility vehicles and electric carts around town - thought I'd collect more recent finds here.

Sketch of the Week: Los Angeles Food Truck: Lidia's Dominican Kitchen

noreply@blogger.com (Shiho Nakaza) — Mon, 03 Oct 2011 06:13:00 +0000

A bright orange-red food truck caught my eye. It was on a Sunday, when many food trucks take a day off, so it was especially surprising. Here is Lidia's Dominican Kitchen truck, parked in front of Los Angeles County Museum of Art. People stood around and some sat on foldable chairs to enjoy the meal under the sun.

This was my first time eating Dominican food since Latin cuisine in Los Angeles tend to be Mexican. I tried green plantain sandwich with avocado sauce with pulled pork (pernil pitacon pisao) - it was tasty overall, and adding green chimichurri sauce gave it an extra dimension. Plantain "bread" was hard and dry, though it did add interesting texture to the sandwich.

(Also posted on Urban Sketchers)

Sketch of the Week: Eaton Canyon

noreply@blogger.com (Shiho Nakaza) — Mon, 26 Sep 2011 08:41:00 +0000

This is another painting in "urban nature", only minutes away from the city. I went hiking and sketching in Eatin Canyon in Altadena with a group of artists. It was fun to hang out with like-minded souls and refreshing to see a waterfall.

Sketch of the Week: Blue Heron

noreply@blogger.com (Shiho Nakaza) — Mon, 19 Sep 2011 06:57:00 +0000

Here is a dose of urban nature. A blue heron was wading in a pond in a park. It was relaxing to see this large, graceful bird in the middle of the work day in the middle of the city.

Sketch of the Week: Tim Burton Exhibit

noreply@blogger.com (Shiho Nakaza) — Mon, 12 Sep 2011 06:44:00 +0000

Through sheer luck, I was able to view Tim Burton exhibit at a special event at Los Angeles County Museum of Art. I decided to sketch some of his sculptures to learn the shapes and lines he revisits (and photography wasn't allowed, anyway). It's interesting and inspiring to know that his unique style comes through across different media - the sculptures I've sketched show his unique blend of macabre and playfulness that are in his movies.

Sketch of the Week: By the Water

noreply@blogger.com (Shiho Nakaza) — Mon, 05 Sep 2011 03:28:00 +0000

Usually when I draw a body of water, it is the Pacific Ocean with a usual beach scene filled with people, sand, and palm trees. I found a different kind of waterside sketch: this is a small creek in Temescal Canyon that I drew in the beginning of this summer.

Sketch of the Week: Mixing and Mingling

noreply@blogger.com (Shiho Nakaza) — Mon, 29 Aug 2011 07:34:00 +0000

I have re-visited Santa Monica Food Truck Lot (which is sketched earlier here when it first opened). It attracts a lot of people looking to get some dinner, and this food truck gathering also had on-site bartenders who can mix drinks to order. Here I caught the bartenders mixing and crowds mingling, with Global Soul truck in the background.

Sketch of the Week: Paradise Cove

noreply@blogger.com (Shiho Nakaza) — Mon, 22 Aug 2011 06:16:00 +0000

I went to Paradise Cove in Malibu over the weekend to paint with a friend. This was my first time there, and it felt like a vacation even though it's only a 30-minute drive away from my home! I tried to do a watercolor sketch of the secluded part of the beach with majestic cliffs and small tidepools. The sun was setting quickly, and the area was awash in shadow by the time I finished painting. I feel that I need to practice more, but painting outdoors is a challenge that I enjoy.