Into the Midday Heat: Outdoor Drawing in Donam-dong, Tongyeong

Into the Midday Heat: Outdoor Drawing in Donam-dong, Tongyeong

Brazil 3 : 1 Japan...

Korea may have already been knocked out, but I wanted to see how far Japan would go.

Thinking about the World Cup lately just makes my blood boil, and I have so much to say... But then again, it’s just another event that will fade into history. Getting angry isn't going to change anything anyway. After sacrificing my sleep at dawn to watch the match, I completely crashed in the morning. Thankfully, yesterday and today were my days off.

Wait, it’s 8:00 AM, and a phone update pops up. Sure, why not, I tapped update and drifted off to sleep without even realizing it.

When I opened my eyes, it was past 10:00 AM... Oh, right. You have to log back in after a phone update... What was my 8-digit passcode again? I finally managed to turn it on, and right away, Teacher Kang calls.

Ah, right! We had plans to go out for a sketching session early today... Oh no, he said he tried calling me four times, but my phone was turned off... I felt so terribly sorry.

We set a new appointment for 11:00 AM and headed toward the seaside in front of the Tongyeong International Music Hall in Donam-dong...

No matter how I looked at it, I just couldn't find a good composition.

After spending about 10 minutes pondering the scenery by myself, I called Kang, and he said he was on his way.

It's always such a joy to see a familiar face. ^^ We went drawing at the Haman Eco Park two weeks ago, and time has flown by so fast.

Three drawing sessions in Haman...

And now, our final drawing session of the month here in Tongyeong.

Because I rushed over, I forgot to pack my absolute essential—coffee. But he tossed me a canned LetsBe coffee right away! ^^

As always, coffee is even more essential than oil paints for an outdoor sketching trip!!



I remember this time last year, when I went out sketching alone like crazy for more than four days a week.

It’s hot... But a cool breeze blows against my back.

Just as I get used to the refreshing breeze, it stops again... And instantly, it’s hot.

Still, compared to Haman, this place is relatively cool. With the cool sea right in front of my eyes and a pleasant sea breeze blowing from behind, it doesn't get any better than this.

It’s a parking lot where you can park right away, there's a grove of trees just 3 meters away, and how often do you get the good fortune of setting up your easel under that tree shade to paint like this?!

I started getting ready at 11:35 AM and focused on my work for about 100 minutes.



At first, I thought about laying the canvas flat to paint...

True, no matter where you go, it's always tricky to compose an empty expanse of the sea to fill the whole canvas.

Of course, you could capture the waves and clouds vividly to make it look like a masterpiece, but today, for some reason, I wanted to paint it upright.

And the white yacht right in front of me shifted its position along with the wind, almost as if it was throwing a tantrum begging me to paint it, which stirred my heart.


Right! Being a man-made structure, it might be tough to sketch quickly, but that sounds like fun too.

Let’s just paint it...

I roughly did a pencil drawing in my croquis book first—though I usually tend to apply paint directly to the canvas without sketching in pencil!!


Yeah, it’d be fine to paint it this way.

Always painting the exact same composition gets a bit old, anyway...


It didn't turn out 100% the way I originally intended, but the emotion, feeling, and mood of today came out just as I hoped.

As time goes by, my physical body is breaking down a lot, too.

Unlike last year, fatigue rushes over me in no time.

Since some time ago, my disobedient right leg and shoulder have already started protesting.

..

..

On days like today, the best course of action would be to rest in a cool place and get physical therapy for my leg!

Yet, looking at how happy I am whenever a canvas and paints are thrown my way no matter how tired I am—seeing that, I guess I truly am a painter at heart.


The last day of June!!

I fill the canvas peacefully with moments that will never come again.

.

.

— From Tongyeong

— Gyeom




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