SEVEN Day 6: The Indian Breakfast

At morning, right after we dropped our daughters at school, we stopped by at Indian restaurant near our home. Son wanted chapati & we wanted chai haleeb (milk tea + ginger).

The restaurant was crowdy as usual, mostly taxi drivers. Yummy food & not a shabby place!

SEVEN Day 5: The Mural

"Kids. DO NOT draw on the wall! You have paper and...

Nevermind."



Those rebelious little artists cannot resist to 'scratch' the white canvas, the wall.
More story here.

SEVEN Day 4: The Dentist

We have appointment with the dentist today, kids. Brace yourself!
Let's make our teeth healthy & strong!

SEVEN Day 3: The Tapdance

One two three.
One two three.
Today is the day for tapdance lesson!

Vine: Capturing Moments of London with Sketches

If you have days for London trip, what will you do?
Taking picture with your digital camera? Snap shot & go?

Try sketching the city with paper & pencil (or digital tablet). Take a sit, relax & enjoy the view for a moment. That's what I did for capturing the moment of London.

Here are some of the Vine videos.


Regent's canal


Great Portland Street


Regent's Park Cafe


Regent's Park Orchestra


London Tower Bridge


Windsor Castle


This day I forgot to bring my sketchbook. So a digital tablet would do :)

Sketching Our Previous Adventure

Based on the photo from our previous trips, I make some sketches with Galaxy Note. I think it's possible (and convenient) to make on-the-spot sketching with it on a family travelling. 

A corner of Grand Bazaar Sultanahmet, Istanbul

A tram passing in Sultanahmet, Istanbul

The corner of Blue Mosque, Istanbul

In the top of Citadel or Jabal Al Qal'a in Amman, Jordan

The guard in Petra, Jordan

Next travelling, we're going to bring the Galaxy Note & do some on-the-spot sketching along with our kids.

Sketching Kuwait part 2

Sketching Kuwait with Galaxy Note II & AutoDesk Sketchbook Mobile app.

On the spot sketching: Hard Rock cafe Kuwait in the morning

Fatayer maker working at night.

An old Kuwaiti & his transistor radio in Mubarakiya (details).

Fateh El Kheir - 1938 sailing ship in Scientific Center Kuwait

A ballerina performs in a British Academy of International Arts event

Learning how to skate in Marina beach

Related story:
- Sketching Kuwait part 1 with original Galaxy Note

Samsung Galaxy Note II

How good is Samsung Galaxy Note II? See for yourself :D


Software: AutoDesk Sketchbook Mobile

Thanks to its speedy quad-core 1.6 GHz processor, it feels more responsive for quick hatch & sketch.



  

The display is still bright & comfortable to use under bright sunlight. Suits better for on-the-spot outdoor sketching. The best sketching tablet so far, with bonus features: phone & internet :D



Related stories:
- In the pursuit of perfect digital sketchbook
- Sketching Kuwait part 1
- Sketching Kuwait part 2

In The Pursuit of Perfect Digital Sketchbook

My experience of sketching on digital device started when Apple released Newton in 1994. Black & white. Bitmapped & pixelated stroke. Low resolution screen up to 320 x 240 pixels. But it was awesome! Finally I could sketch, archive it, share it through email, whenever wherever I want.

I was using the best painting software NewtPaint. I could send & receive file between Newton & Mac with desktop software. Good for archiving & printing. The screen was okay, 1 bit 320 x 240 pixels.

After Newton, I met Psion Series 5 in 1997 with built in Sketch app. 4 bit with 16 grey levels, 480 x 640 pixels. It was like, "Whoa this is it! The best sketching device!" But I hate its form factor. Series 5 was intended for business market, with folded screen & keyboard. Felt uncomfortable when drawing with palm of my hand rested on keyboard.

Then in 2000 I got second Palm device, Palm IIIx - the first was US Robotics PalmPilot - with 2 bit grey levels but smaller screen: 160 x 160. Though it was smaller with my previous 'sketching device', I love its form factor. Size wise, it fitted in my palm & my pocket. TealPaint software was my favorite sketching software, from year to year, device to device until Sony Clie PEG-UX50 in 2006.

2007, Apple introduced iPhone without stylus. It was a big disappointment for me since finger painting is not my thingy. I'm a Apple user at heart, but I never use it as sketching device. Not even iPad. Yes, there are tons of drawing app & unofficial stylus' available for iOS devices, but still, something is missing.

2012, I got Samsung Galaxy Note from a drawing competition. When I first ticked the stylus on the screen, I was surprised it recognizes my stroke pressure. Pressure sensitive stylus just like Wacom devices! This is it! So far it's the best digital sketchbook that fits in my pocket! And I couldn't stop sketching & drawing with it ever since.

Now I'm waiting for a smaller & cheaper Cintiq. That will be perfect.

Ramadan Sketch

Sketching the Ramadan festivity in Kuwait with Samsung Galaxy Note.
(updating..)

Arabic music in a tent inside shopping center (more)

Free tea & gahwa (coffee) kiosk for iftar

Tamar Hindi juice man offering free tamarind juice to people (more)

Gergean night when kids doing activity similar to trick or treat in Halloween with traditional costume, traditional song and treat candies and sweets. (more)

Free hinna painting for girls (and women)

Weekend Without Mall

Winter in Kuwait is beautiful. Not too chilly, around 5ºC - 10ºC with sun still bright shine. Time to get out from the mall at the weekend! Time to doing some outdoor activities!

Drawing



Bring the snacks, cookies & drawing tools. We're enjoying the sunshine while drawing in Kuwait Tower park near the beach. Find a spot, unfold the mat and start drawing. Don't forget to drink your juice, kids!





Playground & Amusement Park

The public playgrounds in Kuwait are fantastic. Relatively in good maintenances. Kids always get crazy & having fun for hours.



This is in Marina Beach & the other right is in Applebee beach. Decent playground for kids to waste their time for free.



Or going to the amusement park. Enjoying the view from ferris wheel or rising a horse chariot. Yeehaa!

Instagram



We are planning to introduce the social network to our daughter bit by bit. And we think Instagram is a good start. She can learn about photography, how to take better picture & meets another user (under our authorization & control) from around the world.

Going outside is a perfect time for taking Instagram picture. Great colors, awesome objects & our daughter can learn how to composite a scene with her iPod touch.

Zoo



Another good place to take pictures is the zoo! Kids love the animals, take tons of photo with the iPod touch & bring it home "I HAVE DEER IN MY IPOD TOUCH!"

Those live creatures amaze our kids. They realized that there are another life forms living in this planet & deserve our attention.

Travelling by Bus

Public transportation in Kuwait is not bad. Still better compare to Jakarta, but no commuter train or subway.



Kids were excited doing the bus trips. Though they prefer subway like in Singapore or tram in Istanbul or any other European countries.

Museum



Well. This activity is a bit tricky. Kids have a little interest with musuem, depends on the object though. We bring them to Kuwait traditional sadu textile museum as part of family art & craft experience. Colorful yarns & hand loom machines get their interest "Can we make our own dress with these colorful yarns?" our daughter asks.

Book reading




Reading books in the park & enjoying shawarma. And of course, hot coffee sipping.

So, there are the ideas. Winter is another purpose to ditch the mall & enjoy alternative activities outside. Let's go!

Digital Sketchbook

I never leave home without this sketchbook & always bring it everywhere in my pocket. Waiting is no longer boring.



In the clinic. An old man checking the prescription for his medicine.



In Leia's ballet class. Waiting with other parents (or mothers) :D

Related sketches
- Heroine from TV series
- Ramadan Sketches
- Drawing with G-Note

When Arwen was Born

There was a time when I always carried sketch book wherever I go. Just like when Dita was about to gave birth of our first daughter, Arwen 3 years ago. These are some of my sketches.


We were going to watch midnight movie and she has had a 1 cm dilation (a day before we're going to hospital).


There she was. Arwen arrived on earth.

Dita was so exhausted. Poor her, after struggled to gave birth.

Breastfeeding for Arwen 24 hours.

Sketching

We do love sketching. Pinot like to draw a lot. He born with the talent and he went to the art school. I don't do draw but I love to make patterns sketch for hand embroidery. We both grew up in the artistic environment. His dad and mom are an artist, so is my father (what a coincidence, my daddy and his dad went to the same art school).

Now, we want to bring our little family to the same environment. We are trying to fill our little home with the artistic air. Arwen and Leia are free to draw, sketch, paint and to make handycraft. We believe that art activities could stimulate their physical and psycological development.



This is what they are doing when watching me sketching some patterns. Sometimes, they fill my sketchbook with their doodles.



Yes, I'm preparing to start embroidering again since I left this hobby for almost 8 years. My friend, Sili, really give me such an inspiration to start needlework again, thanks Sils...you're the inspiration! I've put the sewing machine in my wish list :).



Ohhh can't wait to do my first hand embroidery project.