My child is the Hulk
Kingston’s going through a temper-tantrum phase recently. More than just your typical lie-on-the-floor-stomping-your-feet tantrum…more like blind rage grab anything that he can find to toss kind of tantrum. His face turns Hulkish (with the exception of the green color), he growls & screams, and his hands start wailing. It actually a bit scary. One time he had this rage session at the playground after-school and the teacher went as far as to suggest we take him to a psychologist. I’m not opposed to seeking outside advice...
read moreInk Dot Drawings
[vimeo id=33091687] Here’s yet another example of an artist’s ability to make a photo-realistic photo comprised of nothing but ink dots. This technique I’ve actually practiced before…one of the basic staples of art instruction. For the life of me I can’t remember the point of learning this technique in class other than to practice patience? None-the-less the result of artist, Miguel Endara’s, skill at creating these portraits by skillfully placing ink dots is nothing short of amazing. (via...
read moreI want a wood table. Why is that so hard?
My wife and I had completed our remodeling ordeal at our home for almost 2 months now. We love the results but I don’t feel like we’re completely done just yet. There are a couple of boxes that remain sitting outside our kitchen and some pictures and paintings waiting to be hung. I still have to work from our kitchen countertop because my extension cable doesn’t easily reach across to my dining table. Why aren’t we completing these last few issues? Well I’m waiting for a perfect desk. We have this little nook in...
read moreAnother Lego build
“What is it with guys and legos?” a colleague of mine asks. I don’t have an answer for that. Suffice to say this is only a recently discovered hobby of mine. I spent a good many years between my intermediate school days all the way through adulthood looking at Lego from afar. I appreciated it, but it was never something that justified the high price for the kits. My only answer to her question…it’s just something I use to relax me these days. It’s a replacement for the exercise or the music jamming sessions...
read moreHappy Valentines
Valentines day hasn’t always been a winner for me. When I was single I didn’t see the point. And now that I’m married, my attempts at finding perfect gifts for my wife hasn’t always been winners. This year I spend the last few weeks trying to be observant…a few weeks back she had been complaining about allergies from the lint coming out of our washed clothes. I thought, “oh maybe she’d love an air purifier?” It’s nothing suggestive like a vacuum cleaner or a new cooking pan (I’ve...
read moreLego Riddles
I’ve obviously been on a big Lego kick recently. I got another one coming in the mail. What’s especially nice is that Kingston is starting to show an interest in those toys so there’s less resistance from the spousal unit. What…is that a bad thing to call her? 😉 Anyway, there’s a fun series of Lego inspired riddles I ran across today. Can you figure them all out? (via Toxel)
read moreAmazing pencil artwork
Yet another example of pencil art. These are pretty unbelievable…the fact that artist Paul Cadden drew these photorealistic pieces of art with nothing but a pencil and paper. Pencil is one of my favorite mediums…somewhat the same practice I used as a kid drawing ninja turtles between homework assignments (yes, geeky I know) What inevitably happens whenever art like this is presented is a discussion whether this kind of work is considered “art”. “How is this art when the person accomplishes nothing more than what...
read moreWork out of the office
I found one really good by-product of being self-employed was the fact that there wasn’t really one spot that tied me down as my “office”. Yes, I had set myself up very comfortably with my own home office…painted it up really nice, bought myself a nice desk with fancy lap and just about all the tech conveniences I need to do my work. But I liked the fact I could pick up my laptop, jump out to my living room sofa behind the TV and continue working. Beyond that, a good deal of my time was spent on the road, either...
read moreMy thoughts on being self-employed
I’ve had a few friends make comments lately about their love and success about their own businesses. In my many years of networking I know quite a few business owners now. I think each of them shared stories about leaving high paid jobs and taking a leap a few years back to start their own business. Today they feel much happier that they made that move. I don’t doubt them for a bit. And a certain part of me misses that feeling of waking up on my own time each day, looking for my own work, and getting paid as a direct result of my...
read moreSecret to a successful vacation
Finally after almost 3 decades of independent travel, I think I finally found the secret to having a real vacation such that I feel much more refreshed than I have been in a long while. You know how you can go off to a long vacation and feel even more tired than you left? You feel like you need a vacation from your vacation? I didn’t feel any of that this time around. You know what I did differently this time? NOTHING! That’s right….I didn’t plan to see anything, I didn’t schedule to go anywhere, I didn’t...
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LoweStudio Inc was founded by me, Raphael Lowe, a Honolulu based illustrator and web designer. I presently design and manage a few dozen commercial websites, but my main focus these days is acting as the head developer for Kapiolani Community College and teaching