Ana the Catalyst

Valentine's Day has been special this year, as I did not celebrate it with my significant other (who is far, far away..) and was celebrated with friends in Kyoto. I, who have long been a Valentine's Day skeptic, preaching to others about it being an over-commercialized practice aimed to milk away our hard-earned money..... bla bla.... decided to engage in a gift exchange game with good friends in Kyoto. To make it more exciting, all of us met in a restaurant and each picked secret Valentine to give a gift to.

...... And then I received this from Ana!!! I got 2 mugs with pink heart motif and some chocolates! Thank you!! Since today is also Chinese New Year, and I am given a second shot at new year resolutions, I have decided to sketch more, and not let my pencils and colours etc go to waste. My biggest influence? Amy and trumpetvine, a travel sketchblog. So here you go, Ana, my little tribute to you!


Valentine's mug (ink and watercolour pencils)

And to give myself a well-deserved pat on the back for reviving this long-buried hobby, I decided to pour myself a glass of homemade limoncello. As an ode to glamorous deceased famous painters, especially my personal favourite Van Gogh, I have decided to sketch "under the influence", by allowing myself some firewater, just to see if I could produce better sketches.

I started to get myself ready for another attempt, with my little glass of limoncello perching elegantly the table against my mess-of-a-table ready to be consumed... it became the perfect subject matter! I had no choice but to delay gratification, and sketched it before downing it!


Still life with limoncello and mess (Ink and watercolour pencils)

This is not perfect (little mistakes in terms of proportion), but i vow to practice more!!

I love quick pen-and-ink sketches with a wash of watercolour which can be done under a few minutes. I find sketching liberating.


(Sketches were done to The Wine Song by The Cat Empire)