A sign of Summer

Summers are often full of warm weather and sunshine, but this year has been oddly cool and cloudy for the Pacific Northwest. Despite the tepid temperatures, one sign of Summer still sprung forth: Spiders.

One spider created this magnificent web on our deck:

I’m not sure what species of spider this was, but it created a very stunning web. I hope this sign of summer summons warmer temperatures soon.

Summer in the Lan Su Chinese Garden

Over the rainy weekend, I spent a day wandering downtown Portland. Towards the end of the outing, I managed to slip into the Lan Su Chinese Garden, twenty minutes before closing. Due to the weather and the late hour, the garden was wonderfully empty, and I wandered through the passageways and soaked in the rare serenity. Luckily, in the last ten minutes the rain tapered off, and I managed a few photos of the tranquility.

A duck found the perfect resting spot in the lake:

The exhibit of penjing, or landscapes in miniature, was taking place by the Four-Sided Hall:

This was my favorite penjing:

Here’s a view of the Mid-lake Pavilion through the leaves of the penjing:

With warmer weather in the forecast, I hope to visit the garden again soon.

Characters and costumes

I have several art projects in the works, and luckily my comic is amongst them. Here are some compiled snapshots of character and costume designs for the comic:

A minion, the main anti-hero, and the main character:

The heroes:

I am constantly reminded of how much skill and knowledge I need to accumulate just so I can create a believable world and unique characters. Comic artists will often need to gain skills in graphic design, fashion design, architecture, and typography, and we also have to dabble in several other professions like biology, geography, and astronomy. For now, I just need to design three more characters and a building, and then I can start drawing the actual comic.

Bubble Tea for the busy artist

While in college, I developed a taste for bubble tea, and would get one with my college work-study coworker. Over time, the local store closed, and I moved away to Oregon. Luckily for me, bubble tea exists and thrives in Oregon, and with the warm weather fast approaching, I find myself purchasing more of these tasty concoctions. My favorite place to get them is the nearby Bubble Bubble Tea store.

Here is a view of the inside of the uniquely designed store:

My favorite Bubble Bubble Tea concoction is the Mocha Coffee Slushy:

It’s a great snack and a cool drink combined into one. Not only is it delicious, it also improves my creativity and productivity. One of these giant drinks will give me enough buzz to keep me drawing well into the night. I’ll be drinking a lot of these when I get to drawing my comic’s pages.