Why Visit a Temple in Japan And Only Sketch Koi Fish?

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The 3 elements to look for when choosing what to draw.

My sketch compared to the photo reference.

A beautiful location is a wonder to behold, but all the details can be a pain to draw in your cartoon journal. Here’s how I did it, with a short video showing the process, too.

You don’t always have to choose the most complicated view to make a good illustration. Urban sketching can be of any subject you choose, even if you think it’s going to bore other people.

Look for:

1. Interesting shapes in the composition.

2. A variety of colors.

3. Something that interests only you.

At a small temple I like to visit regularly while in Osaka, I always notice the area with the large koi pond.

This time, I thought, “Why not take a photo and draw it later?”

I wish I had the confidence to urban sketch it right there, but it was crazy hot, and I really wanted to make art in the comfort of home.

the koi fish were having such a great time swimming, i had to draw them.

I love watching koi fish swim. Their whiskered faces and large mouths fascinate me. That day especially, probably because it was darn toasty outside, I was drawn to the water. The whole scene grabbed me.

Making time to create art should be around something that excites you (for whatever reason). The yellow banner hanging across the door in the photo below looks regal and quite elegant to me. Only me? I was looking forward to drawing it.

the full photo reference i took.

When I got back home, it was time to create. Pulling out only an ink pen to draw from the photo above can be a bit scary, but I like how the fish tank comes toward you and how the koi swim in different directions. The mix of reds, yellows, and white got me excited about painting the pen sketch later.

If you have several parts of the piece you can’t wait to work on, it can keep you moving forward more easily.

I like how the final piece turned out, but I think it’s a little too rough. That kind of look works well with urban sketching, though.

Here’s a YouTube Shorts video of me visiting the temple and then working on the sketch afterward.

Thanks for tuning in to see the latest Cartoon Journaling adventures.

What will you draw next?

Using The 3 Things Method for Cartoon Journaling Ideas

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Writing about your life is as easy as 1, 2, 3…

Ever stare at a blank page in your journal and feel like your brain is just…empty?

The three things method gives you an instant list of ideas of what to draw and write about — without overthinking. In your journal, you could choose to express only the difficult, frustrating events from the past day, week, or month, if you want to, but why not break it up and add variety?

I love writing down the challenging parts of life, but reflecting on what I learned also helps.

The past month was full of ups and downs. I’m working on improving my ability to share more of my personal challenges with the world online, but you don’t have to. Your cartoon journaling can be private—just for you.

Here’s what I wrote for each category. It’s written in a cartoon font style, with a little bit of drawing a face or using bubble letters here and there.

3 Things You Liked (From last month)

You don’t need to ‘come up’ with anything. Just react to your own life.

Celebrating twenty years of marriage felt remarkable and pretty surreal. Time moves so fast that stopping to appreciate what you have makes it unique. If I wanted to expand on this answer, I could. My wife and I went to dinner at a Brazilian steak restaurant and had a lovely time eating too many pieces of delicious sliced meat. I didn’t put that down there, but if I see this entry again in a few years, I bet I’ll remember that evening.

I was proud to consistently work on new gag cartoons for my series The Rabbits Next Door and complete thirty-five new comics. These journal prompts do the heavy lifting, you just have to show up with a pen.

3 Things That Annoyed You

Have you ever noticed how compelling stories come from things that annoyed you?

Use that to your advantage — your Cartoon Journal deserves some drama.

In mid-February, everything spiraled downward for me. I got sick, then sick again, and ended up in the hospital. During this time, I was disappointed that none of my more than 1,400 newsletter readers signed up for my online Cartoon Journaling class, which was scheduled for Feb. 19th.

It was a sad time. Life can be that way, though, so having a place to write or draw about it helps. I’ve worked through it all emotionally, but it makes me wonder if and when I should offer a class again.

3 Things You Learned

By listing three things in each category, you’re covering a range of emotions — good, bad, and surprising. That variety makes your journal more interesting and keeps your ideas flowing. Taking a look at it all makes life easier to process.

For example, the next time I want to teach an online drawing class, I can email a short survey to readers and find out what they want to learn the most. Maybe the cost felt too high? Either way, people aren’t interested in paying for my drawing instruction yet, or I need to attract more newsletter subscribers.

Writing out these concerns allows me to make them feel and look real, to fully ‘see’ them.

Imagine flipping through your journal a month from now, seeing your thoughts, feelings, and funny little doodles all in one place. It’s like a time capsule of YOU.

It’s your turn now. Open up your cartoon journal.

What are your 3 Things from last month?