Keep Calm Kobo & Interactive Paint

Not mean to be absent for this long ...

It's just the neck pain has come back and seems like no matter what I do or don't do, it just sits there and refuses to go away .... :(

And in order to pick myself up, I had given in to two of my whims.  I got myself a Kobo and ta-dah ... acrylic paint. ;)

The "Keep Calm" Kobo and "Interactive" acrylic paint. 

OK, a bit of Hybrid J trivia here: I love reading and have been an avid reader since the age of 2.  (I used to flip through magazines sitting in my crib when my mum was out doing grocery shopping.  Or at least that's what my mum told everyone.)  And you would seldom see me without a book or carrying some sort of reading materials.  When eBook came out quite sometime ago, I thought it was the most ridiculous idea in the world.  I remembered I told my friends that they'll never catch me reading a book from a computer or any electronic devices.

But over the last few years, I began to see that no matter how often I buy book cases to store my forever growing book collections, there are always books lying around the house waiting to be sorted, read or put away.   And since I started to draw and paint, buying art books become a must.  And gee, those art books are gigantic!  A few of them could easily take up an entire shelf.  I'm sick and tired of doing this "storage catch up game" that I gave in to the idea of eBook.

As soon as the local Borders started selling Kobo about month ago, I bought one.  Well ... there's also another reason I got myself this little gadget.  The Kobo comes pre-loaded with 100 free ebooks of the English Classics. Now, how can anyone walk away from freebies!  Plus when I look at the price of the average eBook - it is almost about 1/3 to 1/2 of the  paperback / hardback version.  By switching to eBook, I'm saving space and money.  Plus I'm now carrying 100 books in my bag and could read it anytime, anywhere!  I think I just became a convert of eBook. :D

I'm re-reading my favourite crime stories - "The Adventure of Sherlock Holmes".

(BTW, my Kobo is actually of black color. I bought a "Keep Calm" gelaskin for it.  Check out the little history of "Keep Calm" by clicking this link.  I also got a Union Jack gelaskin as well.  And yes, you're right, I have a sweet spot of Englishness ...)

Now for the acrylic paint.  Honestly,  I have no idea why I bought it as I'm still learning to use ink. But I guess apart from using it as some kind of retail therapy, I must be under the influence of some of my favourite artists (see the Artist Link on my side bar).  A lot of them are either using acrylic or oil for their paintings.  From fellow blogger / creative, Lisa, I learn that it is easier to correct mistake from acrylic painting.  Probably that's why I want to give it a try.  The brand I bought (Atlier Interactive Acrylic Paint) is an Australian made re-wettable acrylic paint.  It is a new kind of acrylic paint which allows longer drying time for painters to work with.  I won't pretend to know what it means until I use it.

Anyway before I plunge in to use acrylic to paint, I decided to practice a little bit more of color mixing. So far I got my oranges, greens and a few browns.  I'm having troubles of getting more than two shades of purple. Been scratching my head to understand why.  Maybe I should just forget about it and use whatever premix purples the market could offer! ;)

 As of my drawing projects:

- Continue to develop "The Holeys" and will post them as soon as I think they are ready.

-  Hope to be able to start "Sketchbook Project 2011" this month.

That's all for now, my dear fellow bloggers & creatives!  Hope you all have a nice week ahead.  :)