Shodo ink and kanji practice

 

Framing design sketch studies for Entry Gate

 

Detail of joinery on entry gate

 

design study for entry gate

 

Ten Drawings from Japan on Amazon Kindle

 I am preparing my next book to come out on Amazon Kindle

1600:Fairlady sketch,, front view, headlights

My Daughters "best lunch ever!"

Place a bowl of rice mixed with egg and seaweed with a topping of ikura in front of my daughter and she will be very very very very very happy...

A young boy and his mother and wooden blocks plus Nihongo message

Tokyo Sky Tree, the tower and the features illustrated...

Tokyo Skytree 東京スカイツリー,)))  is a broadcasting, restaurant, and observation tower located in Sumida, Tokyo.   It  reached its full height of 634.0 metres (2,080 ft) in March 2011, making it the tallest tower in the world, and the second tallest structure in the world after Burj (829.8 m/2,722 ft).
You can ascend the tower by high speed elevators and reach two observation levels shown in the illustration.  The wait in line can be quite long, so reservations online are highly recommended.   Once you do reach the upper branches of the tree, the views are spectacular, and Mount Fuji looks larger than ever before!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tokyo_Skytree

Tokyo Sky Tree, single frame view

The story about the Tokyo Sky Tree is very interesting, especially in view of the recent articles about architects and towers reaching higher and higher each year...

Here is a view of my illustration right after the organic growth of solar leaves sprout...

Tokyo SkyTree, Tokyo, Japan, including the leaf version

Ginkakuji temple in Kyoto, sand garden setting..."sea of silver sand"

The Silver pavilion's two stories are constructed in two different architecture styles and within there stands a statue of Kannon, the goddess of mercy.  The interior of the pavilion is not open to the public.


The Silver Pavilion was never really covered in silver like the Golden Pavilion.  More likely the thought is that the name arose as a nickname more than a century after the building's construction to contrast it with the Kinkakuji, the Golden Pavilion in western Kyoto, or it might have been that moon light reflecting on the structure's dark exterior (which used to be covered in a type black lacquer in the past, love to have seen that) gave it a kind of silvery like appearance.  A setting in front of the pavilion is an expansive, meticulously maintained dry sand/gravel garden feature known as the "Sea of Silver Sand", with a massive and perfectly formed truncated sand cone named "Moon Viewing Platform". 

On the day of my visit, it was hot, very hot.  95 degrees and the sun was intense.  Around the base of the truncated cylinder and around the base of the whole sea of sand, there were small holes created by digger wasps, creating harbors in the sand for their future offspring.

Japanese wooden bath stool, sketches and prototype...

conceptual design sketches and constructed prototype of the wooden bath stool, typically used for Japanese bath ofuro...

 

Diamonds among pearls in the rough

Diamonds among pearls in the rough, a photo by douglaswittnebel on Flickr.

A view of two shop buildings, Boss and Tods, on Omotesando dori...a set of diamonds among pearls in the rough...

Counting rocks with my daughter in Japanese...

 

 

On a warm Sunday morning, sitting outside on the patio, counting rocks in Japanese with my daughter...great fun....

I remember back in 1991 of my life, starting up with early lessons of Japanese, and practising first attempts of hand lettering and kanji numbers...and then I went to Japan and stayed in Asia for over 13 years...