Reading & Writing
Learning Notes
What I read, see and try, and what changes when I bring it back to my own work.
Articles
27 articles
How Do You Follow Up in a User Interview? Follow the Answer to Find the Sticking Point
How do you keep a chain of five questions going? A hypothetical conversation about relaxing before bed eventually puts even “she needs a lamp” back into question.
Marketing, sales, and growth: using one lamp to tell them apart
Helping people understand value, bringing about a specific purchase, and finding needs that remain unmet. I put three ideas from an interview into the story of a single lamp to see what happens at each step.
Who Is the Product Really For? Get Specific About People, Situations, and Problems
Moving from people who like beautiful things to a specific situation in everyday life. An eight-panel comic uses a moon lamp to practice asking questions, while leaving a question mark over needs that have not yet been validated.
Planning with Two AIs Almost Took the Topic Off Course
While planning an online session with Ask Runyu and Codex, the proposal grew more detailed but drifted toward an AI video class. I restored the main thread of my knowledge base and creative workflow, and recorded the actual back-and-forth over pricing, posters, and QR codes.
The Model at Home: Sanmu’s Memoir 008
Having a cat also gave me a model at home. From a challenging silver tabby coat to Mucha-inspired portraits surrounded by flowers, Sanmu has accompanied many painting experiments and helped me begin portraits of other pets. Includes a watercolor process video of painting Sanmu.
Waiting for Sanmu to Look at the Camera | Sanmu’s Memoir 007
To photograph Sanmu, I first need a way to make him look over. After many photos, I found that the same way of attracting him produced similar expressions. This entry describes waiting for his gaze and gathers a few cat-photography tips to help you keep a clear picture.
After “That’s Amazing,” What Else Can We Talk About?
After years of creating, I have come to distinguish praise, understanding, and making things together. AI helps me develop ideas, but I still hope for painting companions and conversations with people who are curious enough to try things themselves.
Does Painting the Same Subject Several Times Get Boring?
I don’t particularly enjoy copying the same painting repeatedly, but when preparing a demonstration class, I do paint and explain it again and again. When I return to a subject, am I trying to solve a problem or find a different way to express it?
Is an Hour or Two a Day Really So Little?
For nearly two months, I have hardly painted, though I have thoroughly enjoyed creating with AI. When I pick up a brush again, the rustiness is real too. Everything I enjoy takes time. Where would another hour or two a day come from?
You Can Understand a Painting and Still Not Like It
After collecting paintings for around seven or eight hundred days, I still begin with images I like. From choosing works to copy to seeing originals in Italy, I have gradually found that understanding a painting, liking it, and being able to paint it myself can be considered separately.
One Month After Upgrading Codex, I Started Making Small Things
From waiting for Plus limits to reset to spending a month on Pro20X, I have made some progress on my website, videos, and knowledge base. At first I wanted to make something big. Now I am more inclined to finish one small thing first.
I do not feel as though I am caught in the rat race
Other people say I am always pushing too hard, but it does not feel that way to me. Curiosity keeps me exploring. Seeing the same video receive different responses in different places has also made me reconsider what it means to create value.
Mom and I Both Want to Be Good to Each Other
I bought Mom a recording card; she prepared food for me. Neither of us used the gifts quite as the other hoped. Eventually, we put things where they would be more useful. The care remains, while we slowly learn to make each other comfortable.
Go Outside to See What Lies Beyond the Photograph
A photograph preserves one angle. Being there lets you see the life beyond its frame. From art study trips to sketching in Shanghai, this is a reflection on how going out changes what we notice and how we judge it.
From Asking Runyu to Being Seen by Runyu
From asking Ask Runyu about watercolor services to making six AI story films, building Ask Tee Sang, and creating the virtual character TEVIA, Tee Sang recounts how he came to know Runyu and how these experiments opened new directions for creation and collaboration.
What Are We Looking at When We Step Back from a Painting?
When you step away from a painting, what should you look for? Starting with experiences of details stealing the focus, I discuss composition, value relationships, overall color, and visual priorities, including when to strengthen the subject and when to quieten the details.
Before Critiquing a Painting, I Want to Ask a Few Questions
Before offering advice on a painting, understand its purpose, the painter’s practice, and the response they need this time. Drawing on teaching experience and work on Ask Tee Sang, I consider when to offer advice and when to hold off on a conclusion.
If you cannot draw without a photograph, imagination may not be the problem
Why does copying a photograph feel easy, while taking the reference away leaves you unsure what to draw? Imagination may not be the problem. The photograph has already made decisions about composition, proportion, light, and what to leave out.
Painting Does Not Mean Painting Everything
Facing a complex photograph, what should you paint and what can you leave out? Starting with a one-hour sketch in Fuxing Park, Tee Sang considers subjects and supporting elements, copying and original work, and how simplifying a picture begins before the first brushstroke.
What you really need before a watercolor outing is more than a bag of supplies
Preparing to paint outdoors takes more than a materials checklist. It means being ready to observe, frame a scene, and make choices as the wind, light, passersby, and your own state change. Drawing on my experiences at Shanghai's Paotaiwan Wetland Park, I suggest a lighter way to begin outdoor watercolor.
I Made Two Rounds of Ads with Six AI Video Models
What would six AI video models produce from the same perfume ad prompt? I then gave each a task more suited to its strengths. Two rounds showed me that model prices are only part of the bill: retries, repairs, and product accuracy also affect delivery.
After Five Billion Tokens, I Started Looking for Needs
After his cumulative Codex use reached five billion tokens, Tee Sang stopped inventing projects to use up quota. Instead, he began using AI to collect real questions from watercolor learners and add the findings to the Ask Tee Sang judgment library, changing how he looks for demand as an independent creator.
Why did AI turn customers away on my behalf?
Using old information, Doubao decided that I no longer accepted pet watercolor commissions. I began organizing my website and public information, then retesting with a GEO dashboard. Four or five days later, the metrics had shifted slightly, but discovery visibility and citations of my website remained at zero.
Why is it still hard to keep painting after taking a watercolor class?
Many people can follow along and finish a painting in class, then gradually stop once the course ends. The problem may be less about discipline or talent than about losing a setting that makes it easy to begin, timely feedback, and a reason to paint that truly connects with life.
My Toolbox Is Full Enough. It Is Time to Go Where the Problem Is.
As AI tools multiply, what is missing may not be the next piece of software, but a real problem worth solving. Tee Sang turns from intensive trials of Codex, Kimi, and video tools toward real-world situations, actual needs, and work whose delivery can be checked.
Mom Has Accepted the Real Me. I Am Learning to Accept the Real Her.
Being yourself involves more than refusing to please others. It also means seeing one another as we really are. Starting with life with his mother, Tee Sang reflects on acceptance, boundaries, and the learning that happens in both directions in a close relationship.
I Don’t Remember Keigo Higashino’s Face, but I Remember the People He Created
After hearing news that Keigo Higashino had died, Tee Sang realized that the author’s face might be unfamiliar, while his characters and stories were vivid. The article asks what a creator ultimately leaves behind: their own image, or works that enter other people’s lives.
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