Bushes in the Parking Lot

I bought a new water soluble pencil the other day and have been looking forward to trying it out. It’s a solid cake wrapped in paper and is very soft. As I drew the pencil would bend like it was made of elastic. I used a cheap caligraphy brush to create the shading, then came back and drew on top of the wet paper with the pencil. I was happy with the way things turned out. Next time I’ll take more than 15 minutes to draw. This particular drawing was done in the parking lot outside my office at Disney during lunch today once the fog cleared. Very humid and getting hotter. I guess winter is over.

Castle Moat

In a secluded corner of the park, which by paradox is at the foot of the Disney Castle in the center of the park, is Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs’ sculpture garden. It’s out of the way, so not too many many people pass by, giving me a some room to relax and not worry about being jostled while I draw. This view is looking back towards Main Street. Today was overcast and chilly dispite being 18C. The humidity is still in the 95% range, and yesterday I had to toss some of my go0d watercolor paper due to mold.  Bummer. I’m looking for very large vacume seal bags to store my paintings in before they get eating. If I don’t buy a dehumidifier soon, I’ll be hanging nothing but acrylic paintings on my walls at home. :p

Castle Drawing

I ran out today at lunch and was surprised the park wasn’t too crowed. I was actually able to find a bench facing the castle at the end of Main Street. It was a little chilly with the wind and heavy cloud cover. In all, it was difficult to concentrate and stay interested in my drawing when what I really wanted was to sit in a heated room and drink hot chocolate.

Banyan Tree in Adventure Land

As I promised myself over new year, I’m going to get out and draw and paint more. And with the weather as beautiful as it is today, I’d be a fool to stay inside and stare at a computer screen. I drew this tree at lunch today in the Adventure Land portion of HK Disney. I am beginning to realize just how difficult it is to find a seat and draw in an amusement park. To begin with, it’s very crowded. And secondly, it’s get’s more crowded as time goes on. So I hugged a fence rail and took a little time to turn my back to the throngs of people and draw a tree. I didn’t capture the spiral motion of the trunk the way I had hoped, but had a good time taking in the warm sun and the smell of hot caramel popcorn. Think I’ll get some ice cream though. mmmmmm…….. ice cream.

Tarzan’s House

This is a drawing of Tarzan’s House at Hong Kong Disney Land. It is an amazing piece of design and engineering. In the background is a crane loading cement for the park expansion. Beautiful weather today. Hope everyone was able to go out and bask in it.

Kung Hei Fat Choi!

Electric Road, Fortress Hill

Happy Chinese New Year! It’s been a while since I’ve posted, but my new year’s resolution is to get back to work. So here’s a water color based on a photo I took the other day with my phone. The Victoria Park end of Electric Road has a lot of mirrored glass offices on one side of the street and 1960′s housing on the other. The reflections are fun to look at when summer heat begins to distort the glass. Kung Hei Kung Hei! Prosperous year of the Dragon!

Hot and Sunny Sunday – painting

Today was hot but not too humid. After lunch I headed down to the beach to paint. With the summer afternoon heat I bothered to rent an umbrella. The umbrella was a good move because every bit of shade was crowded with very young kids and grandmas and grandpa’s. Not only that, the main beach was so crowded that the only place to put my umbrella was below the high tide line in the damp sand. The beach was packed. If it weren’t for the fact that I parked myself next to the rocks around the life guard stand, my view of the beach would have quickly disappeared behind the incoming bus loads of tourists. Next week I’m getting out before the crowds and heat.

Those of you who have been following me will recognize life guard tower number 1. I must have painted this tower a dozen times now in all different kinds of light. I love this pile of rocks and the fact that there is a snack bar and public restroom on the edge of the beach is a great relief. When painting for a couple hours, this becomes very important.

18:09 on the 16:35

First and foremost, let me say that I will no longer be able to produce a drawing and painting a day as I have been. And I only have a full time job to blame for this. It’s too bad we have to eat to survive, not just for entertainment, otherwise I would just wonder the earth as a bohemian painter. But sadly, that is not the case. Hence my proper employment. I will however continue to do drawings and paintings of Hong Kong, just on a weekly basis instead of daily. On another note: Billy Potts of the blog “Dan Tat Monster” interviewed me regarding my art and was very kind to make my meanderings meaningful. Thanks Billy! You can read the article and follow the Dan Tat Monster at: http://www.dantatmonster.com/2011/07/23/john-hobbie-painter-of-hong-kong/ And now, but to your regularly scheduled program:

A funny thing happened to me on the way home the other day. By other day I mean the summer of ’97. I painted this while riding the ferry to Lamma Island. I recall running hard from the Central MTR station and just made it to the gangway as the reverse engine steam whistle blew. I was so happy to make the 4:35 ferry (outer island people live and breath by the ferry schedule as the boats are few and far between). I had settled into my bench seat with an ice coffee and was contently watching Green Island pass by when suddenly the boat got quiet. The constant rumbling from below decks ceased and it was very clear we were adrift. No one was worried or upset and we assumed we’d be on our way shortly. After an hour  of drifting west we saw the 5:30 ferry coming around Victoria Harbor. Hooray! we thought. For certain they would tie up to us and take us home. You could here a communal moan as the ferry went right passed. We waved to our friends on the passing ship then went back to our seats dejected. Long after that a tow boat came and tied up to us and towed us to Yung Shue Wan. It took another hour to be towed, or at least long enough to draw, paint and then watch the watercolors dry before we got to dock. A long day to say the least. And it gave me more time than I cared for to contemplate the irony of running to catch this ferry. Peace.

Southorn Park Windows – painting

On Laurd Road, directly behind the bleachers, is the best fresh juice in all of the SAR. And the best place to sit and drink this juice is on the upper row of the bleachers along Johnston Road. From there you can sit in the shade and watch the trams go by as well as catch a football game among the lunch time crowd. Across the football pitch is the Wan Chai MTR station and a few public service agencies; planned parenthood and a methadone clinic to name a couple. The walls of the government building are like a battleship. They are flat panels painted grey and it is very monotonous except for one section which has mirrored windows. I always enjoy looking at the windows and seeing how the distortions flow from one square to the other. And they are framed so well by all the grey paneling. I enjoyed painting this one. The juice was great too.

Rain in Seoul – drawing

Watching the weather the night before I knew rain was coming. I had planned on taking the train to Jongno-gu National Park just north of Seoul. Instead I sat in the window of my hotel room, drank coffee with donuts (a popular Korean treat not available in Hong Kong), and painted this picture of Jongno-gu and clouds. Overall it was a pleasant day and I spent a number of hours wondering the art district and the tunnel markets. Because the street vendors were run off by the rain, I spent more time in coffee shops. Two stood out: One was below the Korean Institute of Culinary Arts where I had a pumpkin latte and sweet rice cakes. The cakes we so beautiful I didn’t want to eat them. Luckily I soon got over it. What can I say? It was as good as it sounds. And wouldn’t you know it, across the street was the Chocolate Factory where I died and went to heaven drinking an Aztec hot chocolate. There were chunks of chillies at the bottom of my cup. Nothing perks you up in a rain storm quite like a cup of ground serrano peppers and hot chocolate. They also have espresso chocolate among other chocolate drinks that are made fresh while you wait. Both places were across the street from the palace. A must try.

But, got back to Hong Kong last night and will be up and running the daily paintings and drawings tomorrow. Happy Trails.