Learn Swimming in Australian Summer

Hi, Friends, how have you been?  I enjoyed swimming at Narrabeen in a storm! I sketched a wild sea from my car. This post is a "private swimming lesson" for you. Friends, show off your beautiful swimming to your friends and family next/this summer?! I've learned swimming all on my own. Friends, have confidence! 

 

First, be a jelly fish. Don't get panic. Lungs are natural air bags and tubes. We'll float. Tips are "keep your back straight like lying on a ground" and "relax yourself. Let hands and legs down in water." In salt water, it's much easier to float than an inside pool. Whilst floating, look up birds and clouds in a beautiful blue sky.

OK, a next step is to move hands or legs whilst floating. That's all what needed for swimming. See? You can swim! Then, choose a favorite style from below.

1) Back strokes = Sunny Side Up Free Style
Easy! After floating, move hands like a wind mill and kick water. No need to worry about breath taking.
In my understanding, "reversed back strokes = free style."

2) Dog Paddle
Stay still in water. Stand there and trust in your lungs. Slowly, float with a head up. Don't get panic. Remember, you'll never sink. In my experience, water might come up to the nose, but it never went up to the head or top. If you're not confident, look at a dog and any animal. It does swim naturally and very well. 
After floating, move hands and legs vertical! That's all! I used to do it for 50m to enhance leg muscles.

A bit like a "dog's life," as that style lacks elegance, in my opinion(excuse me, doggies. I love you all!). Well, after mastering dog paddle swimming, do you feel like challenging sophisticated skills? Try breast strokes.

3) Frog Style = Breast Strokes
"Move hands and legs horizontal" like a frog, not vertical like a dog. Closely look at frogs. They are the masters!

4) Free Style = Reversed Back Strokes
Free style took me more time to master than any other styles. Breathing is tricky. I often failed it at the beginning of learning. Then, I tried to look up or look back a blue sky and took a breath quickly. Wow, it worked! I made it! Got the feeling?
I observed each person's swimming. An individual has a different pattern to take a breath. Find a favorite side to turn up a face and make your own rhythm and tempo. "Count number" is a good idea. And repeat it.
Now, a free style is yours.

"Swim straight" was another problem of mastering a free style in an ocean pool. Many people have the same issue. Unfortunately, a rock bath does not have lines at the bottom. Swimmers tend to choose the first or the last lanes and avoid clashing in middle lanes despite a plenty of space. There isn't any traffic lights in a pool.
Tadadada~~~!! I found the solution. My solution is "check a pool side wall and remember a distance while swimming." Now, you can swim elegantly and confidently in the middle lane, a lot of space. Please show off your sophisticated free style?! For a long distance swimming,  swim gently and enjoy it! If you have any good suggestions to learn swimming, please let me know. 

Swimming is a wonderful stress buster between work. The ongoing picture book project occupies me most. It requires energy and time. Good illustrator friends and artist friends backup me well. Of course, you're one of them! Thank you for warm cheers.
Have a wonderful week and 
Happy Painting!! 

Learn Swimming in Australian Summer

Life or "Love" Passed On

Hi, Friends, how have you been?

This week, I'll chat over "life" passed on among people.
I saw a lady became a granny. The lady's joys were so beautiful. She got more excited than her daughter. The lady showed me the new born baby's photos. So sweet. The lady was an atheist, but she claimed loud over the phone, "It's a miracle, miracle!!!" that made me smile. Friends,  "life" is a miracle that makes even an atheist cry in awe and joy. 
Such a precious "life," it's hard to imagine that technology will be able to produce in a test tube at a lab.

But is that all? To some extent, I believe we pass on lives or I should say, we pass on "love" to someone ; that's a miracle.

I have met many adopted people. So, this is my etiquette not to ask "Where do  you come from?" That's too rude and lacking sensitivity. If a person feels comfortable with me, s/he tells a private story.

As far as I know, step parents are full of love. One professor gave us a lecture about adoption, showing research data and a case study was her, a childless couple. The couple overcame many obstacles and  procedures. Finally, they adopted a racially different girl. However, "so many backlashes, criticism, "hypocrisy" calls came to us," the lecture said quietly and calmly. While giving a lecture, she kept looking down at the paper, not us -- I felt her pains. How brave to talk of the experience! It touched me so much! That's love. Most students -- I regret to say --  were sleeping on seats. After the lecture, I asked other students, "Did you hear it? She's brave, talked about her adopted child." "Sadami, was it? I den kne." Ever since, I admired the lecturer more than ever. In my friends, some couples adopted children. I love to hear their happily showing off of their children. 

The other day, another lady told me, "I have two step daughters" and talked of their happy relations as a family. In response, I said, "You do not need to tell others, "step" daughters, each time. You love them all. If so, all are your daughters! Call them your "daughters.""   

Only love can make people without blood line into one family.

"Love" is the miracle and life must go with love, hand in hand.

Now, BTW, the picture book project is right on a track. I'll enjoy drawing and colour more and more! 
Friends, Happy Painting!!

Life or "Love" Passed On

Book Launch "Quotable Winston Churchill" By Running Press(US)

Hi, Friends, what sort of image do you have about Winston Churchill? I read his biography lots at high school and had interest in Winston Churchill.
Now, my international debut as an illustrator. Running Press will publish "The Quotable Winston Churchill," available worldwide on 26th March, next month.

Please see below. My caricature is used for the back cover and the title page! Yey! If you have a chance to come across bookshops, enjoy the book and my illustration.

>>>>>

Winston Churchill

by Running Press

Mar 26, 2013
Hardcover
UK £4.99
Available worldwide
ISBN: 9780762449835
ISBN-10: 0762449837
Published by Running Press

Description

The Quotable Winston Churchill has been updated and expanded to join our growing list of deluxe classic minis! Featuring a faux leather binding with embossed type and illustration to match the distinctive series look, Winston Churchill includes a new enlightening introduction and select speeches reprinted in full to complete this new deluxe edition. There are a few themes in the book such as Churchill on Life, Churchill at War, Churchill and His Contemporaries, etc.

>>>>>>>>

I admire Winston Churchill's beautiful English sentences, colourful life, unique character and brilliant humour.

"We are all worms. 

But I believe that I am a glow-worm." 

Winston Churchill

His humour is truly nice! The below is quite a famous episode included in the book. 

Lady Nancy Astor to Churchill: Winston, if you were my husband, I’d put arsenic in your morning coffee, 
Churchill:Madam, if you were my wife, I’d drink it. ʚ(ˆ◡ˆ)ɞ·.•*•♫°•♫·.•ʚ(ˆ◡ˆ)ɞ

My favorite one is serious,

I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears, and sweat.

His say often inspires readers, encourages the weary and lifts up us with laugh and hope.

If you want to read more, please purchase books.

The American project team is really nice and kind to backup me in Australia. I'd say special thanks for the team and involved people. Really a wonderful and precious experience.

Also, my picture book dummy goes very well and wins a unanimous support at the publisher's meeting today. Wow, I'm soooo happy! When Editor's detailed feedback gets back to me, I'll get on colour more. 

Friends, Running Press found the caricature in this blog. Then, we've worked together.  So, who knows, through blog posts, publishers will approach you and you'll make a debut as an illustrator!

Go for it and enjoy blogging!! Thank you for warm cheers.

Happy Painting!!!

 

Book Launch "Quotable Winston Churchill" By Running Press(US)

Draw, draw, draw your head off!?

Friends, soon I'll submit a dummy to a publisher. The project occupies my heart and mind (*A bit shame. It does not fulfil my stomach directly ʚ(ˆ◡ˆ)ɞ ).

"Draw, draw, draw," is my mentor Ann James's very good advice (she really enjoys my drawings and loves them all). Moving hand gives me solution.Think nothing, but I'm having fun. Indeed, Editor/Publisher Helen Chamberlin said at the beginning, "Enjoy! Have fun!!" I feel Helen is very thoughtful, who knows me very well. I'm producing lots of black & white images and enjoy colour experiments.

Ultimately, drawing skills decides other painting skills like any artist asserts. To refresh myself between colour works, I always go back to "black and white" and "value" again. Live models or sketching is the best way to improve my watercolour skills, too. 

When I attended the picture book illustration course a long time ago, a lecturer, Wayne Harris soon noticed my A4 sketches piled on a desk in a class room (I always brought them with myself to anywhere). Wayne looked up the drawings and said with a smile, 
"Sadami, with a few lines, your capture figures very well!" I blushed up at an unexpected compliment. Donna Rawlins, too, at once, recognised my drawing skills and phoned me in person. 

Wayne's say echoes in me. I've kept on drawing, drawing, drawing on. For me, lines should be "the fewer, the better." Confidently, strongly and rhythmically, lines must be drawn on papers. Yes, good lines dance on papers! The simpler, the better. Also, a well-organized simple line looks like "nothing special." But in fact, it's sufficient enough and right on spot and in space. I know a good line has a long hidden history or a result of tens of millions of attempts.

I hope myself to keep spontaneity on papers in a studio, too. 
Oh, yes, we will start a life drawing class from today!
I'll enjoy drawing and illustration more. 
Friends, you, too, Happy Painting!!

Draw, draw, draw your head off!?

Dummy & Roughs : Ongoing Picture Book

Hi, Friends,did you have a wonderful weekend? 
Thank you so much for many warm cheers and encouragements! With them, I'll enjoy picture book illustration more than ever!

Now, I'm creating a dummy and roughs based on the story board.

Girl Has Icecream On Lips

A story board shows a visual info flow and a page break. Understanding a relation between a text and a page structure is crucial to create a book. A board reminds me of movie film cells. I often feel a picture book illustrator is very similar to a film director. We understand a scenario, set characters = actors & actresses, give them roles, choose locations, etc, etc. Get my feeling? In deed, often picture book illustrators study movies and film making.  

A dummy stands for a "dummy book." It's is experimental.
With a dummy, an illustrator checks how pictures tell a story or not and so on. Each illustrator has an individual taste and create a unique dummy.  Some illustrators make small dummies like miniatures, others make a book size ones and so on.  Some illustrators make lots at once and others produce only a few for one project. Once, I made three small dummies for one project. I chose the best page structure and combined better images from the dummies.

But this time, I'm working with "one" nearly "real book size dummy." A page or a rough should be changed, if necessary. So, alternative and potential images are ongoing, while I'm checking the storyboard,too.  

View St Mary Cathedral from Archibald Fountain side

I'll enjoy black & white roughs and colour roughs! 
I hope my lines and colours will keep dancing on papers whole through the project. 
Spontaneity is my strength.

Also, it's important to refresh myself apart from work. 
I had a wonderful time with Sydney sketch club members on Australia day, last Saturday. So nice to catch up with friends! We hugged each other and good to meet new members. We sketched many events and had lots of chats over lunch.
The fountain water showered us and made dots on the cathedral roof in the sketch. Children played around in it! Splash!
The sketching refreshed me so much. I'll enjoy drawing! Yey, we are having a long weekend right now.
Friends, Happy Painting!!



   

Dummy & Roughs : Ongoing Picture Book

Rokia Traoré in Parra Opening

Hi, Friends, did you enjoy your weekend? 
Sydney Festival is a big event (Jan 5 to 27). I really enjoyed Sydney Festival Parramatta Opening on 19th Jan. Parramatta had many exciting "free" events last Saturday.

The most impressive concert was "Rokia Traore" late in the evening. I heard a beautiful sound from a school yard on my way home. When I went down there, I missed out more than the half of the concert. I listened to Rokia for the first time. 

Both songs content and her voice seemed to have strong messages (*I could not understand her language). One song she dedicated for African mothers was very touchy (she explained about it in English).  Her guitar sounded so sweet and caring. 

Despite patchy and slight rain, people stayed in the field and shared wonderful time with Rokia and her band. People around me began to enjoy looking at my sketching. We smiled each other.

Other day time events were for kids and parents such as "megaphones."  Children really loved them all. Hahaha. Quite cute. 
I shouted, "I luv ye~~~!" Could you hear it? 

Another nice one was a "pyrophone." That's an amazing ship and instrument! When I saw it from a distance, I mistook it for a xylophone. My friend said, "No, it's a pyrophone." He told me about the similar instruments in Fiji and other countries. Wow, he was right! My friends and I all loved this ship sailing across a dream.

I met a creator Steven in person later. He was very approachable. Steven kindly explained about the code theory and the ship design from his childhood memory. All the crew were very nice. We enjoyed a chat. This close-up sketch was done before sunset. 
Now, Friends, why did I sketch it in a day time?   

Yes, your guessing is right! "Fire!" 
The crew and the captain, Steven used "fire"! Very eye catchy. Strong visual effects, a story performance ( fire on a ship and the crew dashed to a board) and music changed into up beat. It excited all audience.  
It's really lovely to see a person pursuing a dream and making it come true.

Friends, let us sail into our dreams and enjoy our journeys. 

I really enjoyed the Parra Opening and refreshed myself.
I'll work on picture book illustrations! 
Happy Painting!!

Rokia Traoré in Parra Opening

Ongoing Picture Book Illustration

Hi, Friends, 
Good news has come! I can work on a bit "bigger" size to a real book size after consulting Windy Hollow Books and Editor Helen Chamberlin. I'm relieved. Finally, book dimension info has come to me today. 
Then, I've set the paper size for double spreads. A2 is good enough.

Once, the lecturers showed us their bigger original works (*They were pastel work on A2 for a tall book and other A2s were for landscape books). Their work surprised at us, students.

However, an original work size should depend on medium, an illustrator's taste and  how a book will be -- a tall book or a landscape? (I actually rang up the old teacher and got whys.)
My watercolour work will be a bit landscape book and nearly a square. So, it's not necessary to create a huge work for a single page. Also, it's important to keep a same ratio throughout the work.

OK, if so, Sadami will certainly have fun in making "roughs"! 

Thank you for warm cheers. 
Sadami's advenutre will continue.

Friends, have a wonderful week and 
Happy Painting!!
(*Ehum, I did not put colours in communion..., although, yes, a drawing is my prayer. I put colours in the studio ʚ(ˆ◡ˆ)ɞ).  

      

Ongoing Picture Book Illustration