Reacting to “Strea Camilon Chooses The Difficult Path”

by Asthrea Camilon JET alum and former ALT PA Elaina Olmo interviewed me once upon a time, for her column, “Brief Interviews with Hideous JETs.” I still remember that day at the AJET Hanami Event. She approached me saying that she’d been enjoying seeing my art, and that I’d be an interesting person to interview … Continue reading →

Reasons to keep a sketchbook

by Asthrea Camilon In summer 2021 I paid a little bit over 4000 USD for a single room at a retreat center in the middle of the southern countryside in Spain. Lodging, day trip transportation, and all but 2 meals for 7 days were included, along with wine and tapas everyday of the retreat. I … Continue reading →

Designing my own Tattoo

by Asthrea Camilon April 15th, 2022: I walk into my school’s student store to say hi to the lady who sells pudding and bread and orders shoes and shirts for the students. I haven’t seen her in a while, and after the general niceties, I lower my voice and pause. She leans in and listens … Continue reading →

The Subtle Cascade

by Asthrea Camilon This will perhaps be my greatest contribution to the Aomori JET community: Do you have clumsy, clammy fingertips? Does the thought of passing out papers in front of curious but anxious children fill you with dread? Do you frequently overcount or undercount the number of papers, thus wasting precious seconds when a … Continue reading →

Making the Rough Guide to Aomori Covers

by Asthrea Camilon Hi everyone! This month I’ll be sharing the process of making the Rough Guide to Aomori cover from 2021, as well as a work in progress view of the 2022 edition. General Work Flow When I make illustrations, I generally follow these steps. Broadly speaking, you can divide the work flow into … Continue reading →

Why you don’t draw anymore

by Asthrea Camilon Hi everyone! No written post today. Instead, I wanted to share this short video I made. It’s still very experimental, but maybe someone reading this will enjoy it! “I used to draw when I was a kid” is a comment I commonly hear from people who find out I’m an artist. So … Continue reading →

Homework for Life

by Asthrea Camilon By December 11th, PTYA, the YouTube course I’m taking, will be officially over. Though, for me, it won’t be done until I submit my sixth homework (as of this writing, I’m still finishing up my fifth homework video). Here’s my channel if you’re interested! (Hopefully the video is up now!) I’ve learned … Continue reading →

Learning How to Make Videos

By Asthrea Camilon I’m learning the art of making video! As a regular consumer of Youtube content, I’ve come to like certain Youtubers and channels with a certain production value, creative framing, and compelling storytelling. But learning how to be a producer of video content has been a crazy ride, and I’m only about ten … Continue reading →

The Creative Bug Strikes

by Asthrea Camilon Here’s a link to my Instagram! Continue reading →

30-Day Drawing Challenges

by Asthrea Camilon *The story of the pottery class was originally published in “Art&Fear” by David Bayles and Ted Orland Continue reading →

Starting to Draw (as an Adult)

by Asthrea Camilon Hi everyone! I’m trying a new cartoon/comic/sequential format for Negative Space. If everything looks ok, I’d like to continue refining my process while revisiting the concepts I’ve written about in a more applicative way. I’m also trying to find more ways to produce more content visually, so with this format, I can … Continue reading →

Critique-al Thinking

by Asthrea Camilon Imagine: A university-style seminar classroom with bright but cold LED lighting. Tables and chairs are stowed away, and the bare walls betray the wear and tear of generations of students with hammer in hand. Nineteen twenty-somethings arrive minutes apart, balancing wooden frames of stretched canvas on the fingers of one hand, holding … Continue reading →

12 Things I Learned from Holding a Solo Exhibition

by Asthrea Camilon Thank you to everyone who was able to come to my exhibit, or otherwise support me online! During the PR period, I posted each featured illustration on my Instagram prior to the event. Then I realized that web resolution is unreliable as heck, and as a result the images look fine on … Continue reading →

I’m having a solo exhibition!

by Asthrea Camilon Hi everyone! It’s the first year anniversary of this column! Yay! I want to let you know about a solo exhibition I’ve been preparing for! Title I wish it were easy to say, “I’m beautiful.” 「私、きれい」って言えたらいいなあ。 Theme Moving from Southern California and living in Japan for 5 years spurred a second puberty. … Continue reading →

Art and Fear

by Asthrea Camilon This week’s post shares its title with a book of the same name by David Bayles. If you’ve suffered to improve in photography, film, dance, storytelling, or whatever creative pursuit, look no further for a talk from an art dad in Art & Fear. The Artist’s Strife Along with the underappreciated artwork … Continue reading →

Seeing the World with Kim Jung Gi

by Asthrea Camilon Drawing is breathing for South Korean artist Kim Jung Gi.  Learn more about the origin and perspective of a modern master of visual communication in this video (NSFW): Stan Prokopenko has several videos with Kim Jung Gi to follow this one, all of which I recommend. Without reiterating the videos too much, … Continue reading →

New Year’s System Update

by Asthrea Camilon Strong draftsmanship is the foundation of strong painting. When we study the portfolio of successful painters, very often their drawings reveal their proficiency in composition, shape, and perspective. While many artists do show natural talent or ability for spatial reasoning, like all skills, spatial sense can be — must be — practiced … Continue reading →

Goshiki: Five Colors of Food (not the Haikyu character)

by Asthrea Camilon As the saying goes, we eat with our eyes first. If that’s the case, let’s talk about how color and composition can create a delicious meal. Goshiki: 5 colors I recall a time when I brought my bento to work and one of my coworkers commented on its color arrangement, namely that … Continue reading →

Inflammatory Signage: Text as Art

by Asthrea Camilon Zoe Leonard’s “I Want a President” was made in 1992, in support for female artist Eileen Myles’ write-in candidacy for presidency in a fray already occupied by Bill Clinton, George R.W. Bush, and Ross Perot. 28 years later, feeling as relevant as ever, Leonard’s piece raises questions: Has anything changed? Who still wants … Continue reading →

When Story Beats Skill

by Asthrea Camilon After a one-month break, welcome back to Negative Space! Today we’ll look at a power as old as humanity itself, through the lens of a recent personal experience. The Fantastical World of Yoshitaka Amano On August 23rd, a friend and I went to Aomori Sangyo Center to see the annual Yoshitaka Amano … Continue reading →