Haircut Instruction

I saw my hair in the wedding pics form my niece, and I was appalled by how much volume I had in the back, so I resolved to get a haircut in Tokyo. Fortunately my friend Yuji was able to hook me up with his regular guy, Kinoshita, and when he asked me what I was interested in, I sketched it out really roughly on my phone.

Umeda Gal

I was struck by the fashion sense in teh stylish Umeda district in Tpkyo, because everyone looked like they were all in on the same trend report, wearing similar colors, similar oversized coats, and similarly styled scarves. There was an Umeda gal prototype, and my niece Zoe confirmed it. This is a sketch I did before leaving Osaka, and heading to Tokyo.

Zoe On The Couch 3

I had to put in the aforementioned couch! This is hte procreate process vide that shows even the previous steps I did, although all in one feel swoop.

Zoe & Koh Card

My brother Marv and I gave my niece and her hubby-to-be Koh a cash wedding gift, as is tradition, so I made a digital card to go with it.

Zoe On The Couch 2

I really did very little drawing in Japan. Like, incremental, haha.

Zoe On The Couch

My niece Zoe came to our AirBnB to pick us up to take us to Kyoto for a visit to a shrine/temple up there, and I decided to make a quick sketch of her in a more simplified style akin to what I saw in Japan.

Umeda Attempt

I was pretty struck by the gals in Umeda and made an attempt to sketch out a prototypical Umeda Gal outfit, but lacked both time and enthusiasm, so for my first Japan sketch this was an aborted attempt.

Wet Tilt Brush

Another makeup sketch since I was too busy being new to Japan at this point.

Trying out a brush I don't recall ever seeing before, but which I have in brush sets. It's kinda good esp for calligraphic strokes.

Plumbline 2

Another makeup sketch since I was too busy being new to Japan at this point.

A plumb line is the line that runs through a sketch to show the balance and center of gravity. It's something I learned later than I should have, but better late than never. This is another pose sketch just to show more contraposto in my pose.

Plumbline

This is a make-up sketch that I did in February because when I left for Japan today, I just didn't have it in me to draw for a few days! So for the next 4 entries these are all done post-trip. This was a runway walk sketch I did to channel the straighter cut pants I saw all throughout the Japanese men I saw on my trip.

iPad Gal

I have no idea when I drew this, I think it might have been in 2020 or 2021, but she was a doodle I left on my iPad, and when i opened her up there to inspect, it appeared on my recent documetns on my desktop too.

I'm heading out for two weeks to Japan for a wedding, and I plan on drawing with my iPad from there. Here's hoping I can make headway in learning how to use it properly.

Smoothie 2

I thought I'd add a Prada silhouette to yesterday's runway walker.

Smoothie

The menswear shows are in high gear in paris, and I was inspired by the pants on one pic I saw, and the Belgian Comics brush just totally nails that flou.

Belgian Comics Brush, Too

Trying out more very inky looks. Although as much as I love a pure ink line, I dunno if people tday like that sort of thing. Either that, or they don't know how to use them. So many online illustrators I've seen feel too computery and don't have the confident line older fashion illustrators have.

Loose Boots

Been playing more with the Belgian Comics Brush and the Smoother version as well and now I understand why it's a fave—it's sooo smooth. Reminds me of the Mongoose brush, although this one has a smoother feel even more than that. So I thought I'd take a stab at the big boot trend that's appeared in the past couple of years. On an otherwise naked guy, of course.

Year of the Rabbit 2023

I got inspired to do an Instagram graphic, so here's this year's bunneh. I do love me some pink and red.

Men's Tableau 2

I thought I'd dust these guys out for possible posting on Instagram, because between teh Covid from the past two weeks as well as the upcoming trip to Osaka, I've been swamped with stuff that's not drawing! I did some triage and cleaned up a lot of details and color fields, so it's really not as evident. But stuff has been done to these guys!

Rabbit Rabbit!

It's the year of the rabbit, and I was thinking of doing some bunny sketches. Here are a couple of trials.

Belgian Brush

Kyle Webster of KyleBrush was saying on one of his tutorials how his Belgian Inker brush was one of his most popular, and I don't think I ever really used it before, so I took it for a spin with this guy.

Couch Man 2

Yeeehh, I feel like it's a little too porny for me nowadays, no?

Couch Man

I know this pose so well, I've seen many a photo of it in various ways in various years. Hell, I've evemn tried to draw it a couple of times but never finalized it because it was maybe too raunchy for Instagram. Probably still is.

In Store 20

Ugh, this series is so what I want to do right but I'm too sick to do a good job of anything. So I thought I'd try a new pose just in case I fuck any others I already like but which still need finishing.

In Store 19

I just realized that the lips I wanted to be able to reproduce—a sort of cupid's bow puck—on a guy, is very trendy right now on many of the models chosen. It's a common enough lip shape to find in Asians, but I just noticed a lot of the buys I liked had similar ones too. Anyhow, I had to do and redo it with this guy's face, as it's a subtle thing I still don't know how to render right.

Solo Time

I finally contracted the Coronavirus after testing positive yesterday, and while it feels just like a cold so far, I'm both relieved and trepidatious about this. Relieved because it's the other shoe to finally drop, and naturally afraid after being so fearful of it all these years (years! It's actually been years now. And why does it also still feel new? Maybe because it keeps evolving?). Anyhow, this all I could muster to draw, an appropriately wistful sketch...

In Store 18

An image on Zara inspired the pose of this face, but while I referred to it, I put it away and didn't draw directly from it. I liked the positioning of his gaze as if he had to crane to look our direction. I don;t know what the clothing will be but often with this series, I tend to put layout first.

In Store 17

I was walking around  town today and thought to myself, is it just me, or are Asian men happening more now in fashion? I certainly feel more inclined to draw Asian men as models than I did last year, when I was all about African men, whom I still draw but now I want to do more Asian guys. Anyhow, I was thinking about refining this guy's face more and decided he was too mature and had to scale back his details so he looked a bit younger.

Pink & Red 2

 I thought I'd refine this guy a bit more to post, but not sure if it's ready, although I do like it as a layout. There's something missing for me and I can't quite place what.

Black Man's Profile

I'm trying to add an accompaniment to my drawing yesterday, with a beautiful black man's silhouette, but I'm having trouble drawing just from memory, at least to my satisfaction. So I referred to some of my reference tears but not copying directly, just studying, putting away, then trying to sketch from memory.

Not Quite White Shirt 2

 

Just some minor detail tweaks, and the ironic removal of the white shirt. I like this much better now.

Not Quite White Shirt

I was just doodling and I liked how this fashion sketch turned out, and yet I had no desire to draw any fashion so I went with homoeroticism once again. So what started as a white shirt ended up as a white shirt revealing the body underneath again. Although I'm still fiddling with the color.

In Store 16

I decided to sketch out a silhouette based on a Richard Holiman Vogue Pattern sketch I saw online, but as a man. I took a look at it, marveled, put it away, then sketched from memory. Happy New Year!