Anggi Lakes of Arfak Mountains

Lake Anggi Giji

In my previous sketch about the Traditional House of Arfak Tribes, I said that I visited Anggi Lakes. They were very beautiful. Perhaps, you want to know they look like. Well, Google could help you find them.
I have just finished a sketch of one of the two lakes. Its name is Lake Anggi Giji or Lake Man. I stayed there for a few nights in the traditional houses of Sougb tribe. They were very friendly to me and my friends. It was very cold over there. And there were a lot of colorful flowers along the shores of the lakes as well as on top of the mountains that surround the lakes.
If you are interested in visiting the lakes and need me as your guide, please, contact me by email to: peace4wp@gmail.com

A Nearly Empty Bottle of Chilli Sauce

Chilli Sauce

I visited a cafe in the downtown this afternoon. I did not have a cup of coffee though. I had a place of rice and a bowl of chicken soup locally called soto. It was delicious especially if it was added with some chilli sauce. Soto is famous in Indonesia. The chicken soup is cooked with turmeric. That's why the soup has got yellow colour.
The focus of my drawing that lunch time was not the soto but the chilli sauce. If you visit most of Indonesian eating houses, you will see a bottle or a small bowl of chilli sauce on every table. Indonesian people like chilli sauce.
When the worker of the cafe brought my soto chicken soup, he also brought a very small plate of freshly fried chilly sauce.
There was one bottle of chilli sauce on the table (it was nearly empty but was more than enough additional ingredients for 5 to 7 people's lunch). Still the waiter of the cafe gave me a small saucer of chilly sauce.
While my soto was being prepared in the kitchen of the cafe, I spent my time drawing the nearly empty bottle of the chilli sauce. Every body knows that it is hot. Well, there was the word "delicious" printed on it.
Well, the soto was getting colder.  Bon Appetit.

Traditional House of tribes from Arfak Range

Rumah Kaki Seribu

I spent 5 days in Arfak mountains last week visiting some villages around Anggi lakes. The scenery was very beautiful. I also went hiking in the tops of Mount Kobrey and Mount Sensenemes. There were a lot of species of high altitude flowers including Anggi gladiol, nepenthes, rhododendrons, orchids, ants nests. During the tour, I stayed in the houses of the indigenous people called Rumah Kaki Seribu. Local people burned firewood to keep the room warm. Unfortunately, their houses did not have chimneys. I could not stand the smokes that filled in the whole spaces of the house.
I like the trip in Arfak mountains. It was a nice adventure. I hope to be back soon.

Male Lesser Birds of Paradise

Male Lesser Birds of Paradise

I bought a Samsung Galaxy Tab A last week. It has got an S-Pen which I could use for drawing or digital painting. After making some sketches of basic shapes, I decided to draw a bird. I used Autodesk Sketchbook free edition to create the drawing.
I haven't bought the professional version of the application but I feel that the free edition is powerful enough to create complex drawings. The bird that you see in this post is called male Lesser Birds of Paradise (Paradisaea minor). It lives in the jungle of New Guinea particularly in the lowland and lower montane forests. Local people call it Burung Cendrawasih or Burung Kuning. Male birds are usually active in the mornings and in the afternoons. They compete one another to attract female birds for mating.
Paradise birds have been hunted since hundreds of years ago for their beautiful feather. It is important for us to protect them so that they will not extinct from their natural habitat. 

Sand Castle

Here is another drawing that I made in 2004. I shows how a boy was building a sand castle by the beach. He concentrated all this intelligent to build the castle. Playing with sand at the beach is fun. I used to do the same thing as the boy. I still go to the beach to swim and to enjoy free diving. I used watercolor and an A4 size white paper to make the painting.

Building Sandcastle

It is important to keep our sea clean so that no more plastic bottles will land at the beach. Let our children play at the beach that is free from wastes. Also, fishermen will be able to catch more healthy fish.
I also have created a lot of artworks that are available for anybody to purchase in zazzle store. Some of them are listed below:

Bird Knitting Nest Adult Apron
by tropicalart

Paradise Bird T-Shirt
by tropicalart

Arm Wrestling

This is an old drawing of mine that depicts a father and a son were playing Arm Wrestling. Actually its real title is "David Against Dad." I made this drawing in 2004 when I was still living in Malang city of East Java. I think I used colored pencil manufactured by Faber Castell and created the artwork on an A4 size drawing paper.

I still have the original drawing. So, if you are interested in buying it, you can send me an email.

Reclining Nude Siesta

This is my drawing entitled Reclining Nude Siesta that I created using charcoal pencil. This black and white drawing was made two years ago and I began studying how to sketch using charcoal. This media was similar to graphite pencil but darker.

Reclining Nude Siesta now available in Redbubble store

I did this figure drawing study to improve my skill in sketching human figure. It was not a perfect artwork but I was satisfied with the result.
I feel that I need to practice drawing more human figures until I feel that the result of my drawing is well balanced if not 100 percent perfect. We see people everywhere. If I make mistakes in drawing an arm, people can easily recognize it.
If you want to give comments or suggestions, send your message to my email: leororing@gmail.com

Bush Flowers T-Shirt
by tropicalart

Paradise Bird T-Shirt
by tropicalart

Nude Lady by Waterfall

Here is another watercolor painting of mine a Nude Lady by Waterfall. I made it in 2004 when I was still living in Malang city of East Java. I have just bought a set of watercolour pencils from Derwent. These high quality art materials are imported products from the United Kingdom. I made the painting on Canson paper. I think it was from France.

Every artist knows that drawing or painting human figure is one of the most difficult subjects in visual art. 

Even though I have practiced drawing human figure for years, I still feel that it is definitely a difficult subject. Human being has got standard proportions that every artist has to follow but every person is unique. One is fat but another is slim. Some are short but the others are tall. Even an experienced artist still needs to see a model when he or she wants to draw someone with accurate details. So, I consider this artwork as a drawing and painting practice. In my opinion, it is not perfect.

Green Snake in Dark Night Watercolor on Paper

Here is an old watercolor painting of mine. I made it in 2004 when I was still living in Malang city of East Java province of Indonesia. I made this painting based on a photograph that I saw in the internet. The artwork was created using Maries Watercolor which is a product from China.

I think I have to show the artwork here because it was one of the few paintings that I made while living in Java. I spent approximately three and a half years in the city whose atmosphere was quite cool. I don't know when I will be able to visit that city again.

Charcoal Sketch of a Nude Lady

I have just finished reviewing my external hard-disk. It contains files that I copied from my old computer. When I was looking at the files, I found a drawing of a nude lady who was kneeling on the bed. I made this sketch in 2012 after buying a charcoal pencil. To test the pencil, I made some sketches of human figures, palms, moth, birds, eyes, human heads and this nude lady. I also created another drawing of a nude lady in reclining position. All artists know human figures are the most difficult subjects to draw.

I like using charcoal pencil because it gives me strong and darker lines on the paper. But it leaves black smudges on my palm. It is an important lesson for me when using charcoal pencil. Next time, when I make a drawing or sketch with this media, I have to cover the drawing paper with a piece of clean paper to protect my palm or fingers from direct contact with my sketch.
By the way I lost the original drawing of this nude lady. I don't know where it is now. It is not in my sketchbook. Perhaps, it was drawn on loose paper. I hope that I can find it again, one day.

Please, support this blog by buying some of my artworks in the form of printed products such as t-shirts, bags , pillow, or smart phone cases at the following link: portfolio - thank you.