I met these birds along the Ala Wai Canal this morning. One strange looking bird was fishing as was one of the white ones. The other is a pigeon. We have mostly white pigeons here in Hawaii….not sure why.

This was something I came upon in a book in my hotel room in Tokyo a couple years ago. The Life Size Project started on New Years Day 2001 at the Meiji Shrine. People make their first shrine visit of the new year on January 1st, so there are many people around and it is a good time for surveys. They ask people of varying ages how long they would like to live. Some of the answers really surprised me. I chose four women with interesting faces and copied their answers. The number on the left tells how old they currently are and on the right is the age they hope to live to. I used pencil and watercolors.

We stayed here for 4 nights as an experiment. Although the room was terrific, the hotel was much too grand for our tastes and the neighborhood a little too quiet. Lots of interesting architectural styles in this neighborhood though.

This is drawn from a 2009 calendar by Manhattaner’s artist Takashi Kuge. I love his works. The Japanese on the yukata reads “Shigeo”, which is the name of one of his cats.

I purchased some Izutsu yatsuhashi made fresh on site, and was very attracted to the Tale of Genji paper that their box was wrapped in, so I made this collage in my moleskine and added a ginko and a maple leaf I had picked up that day.

Looking out my hotel window towards Higashiyama and the Kamogawa. Egrets, ducks and sometimes blue herons are seen in the river. Snuggled up against the mountains are lots of beautiful temples surrounded by colorful maple and ginko leaves.

This is done with Sai Watercolor Brush Pens. The Maneki-Neko is a popular character these days and supposedly brings financial success to Asian businesses.

This was done in Maruyama Park in Kyoto on a beautiful fall Sunday. Children were dressed in traditional attire for the 3-5-7 ceremony blessings, moms were in formal kimono and young girls were sporting shorts, bare legs, and high heel boots, some with woolen scarfs and goosedown jackets. Maples were in bloom as well as weeping willows still green from spring.

I found this ad in a Tokyo newspaper and thought it was a fun idea. It reads:

Dr. Sketchy’s Anti-Art School puts the cheek back into life drawing. No drawing experience necessary. Just come down, sketch, drink, chat and have a blast! What. A burlesque-themed class, we combine cabaret, life-drawing sessions, complex costumes, smoking models and boozy fun! Fourth Wed. (Nov. 26) of the month, 8:30-10:30p.m. 1500 yen with a drink. Where. The Pink Cow, Shibuya. Phone (03)3406-5597. For info, send a mail to dillon@drsketchytokyo.com or visit http://www.thepinkcow.com or http://www.drsketchytokyo.com

Sharpie oil pen, Sai Watercolor Brushes
Sketching in the rain in Honolulu