Saturday, February 25, 2012

Making A Better Bento (Part One)


This is assuming that you've either read my guest post on Bento Anarchy or know about some of the bento basics. The first step in improving your bento is to draw it out - its kind of like a great movie scene. What is your bento going to be based on, what will be in it and when are you going to eat it are great factors to consider. Other factors are the healthiness and balance of the bentos - for example my first bentos were total messes with just about everything being made out of either bread, rice or both as well as a lot of processed foods. Not only will you save time when keeping everything basic such as fruits and vegetables as bulk with a small serving of carbs, your choice of protein and whatever you're using to make it special (is it kyara/charaben? Will it use anything that can melt?)

Bad bento example.

My favorite way of making sure that my bentos are balanced is to do a color check. If you have all of the colors of the rainbow (including white, black, pink and purple) in the correct serving sizes then you're doing great! But if all of those items also happen to be corn chips...not so great. My next favorite way is to doodle it out - it doesn't have to be pretty or sophisticated looking, again, think of it as a movie - you always have a storyboard and things to work off of. I like to doodle in the vegetables and characters and then write them down just in case I forget or my drawing doesn't come out as expected.


See the picture below? Just having a basic plan can make everything go right! Hopefully you take all of these tips and tricks into mind when making your next bento - and don't forget to comment and tell me what you think about this! Feel free to ask any questions and I hope that you enjoyed this post! ^^

7 comments:

  1. Great tips, especially sketching it out first!

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  2. Great lesson Aiko!! I will definitely apply these tips to my future bentos! I even bought a little note pad only for my bento doodles!Really for next class hehe!

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    1. Thanks berrygirl! ^^ Heh its great to hear you getting the note pad!

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  3. Wow! This is art! Thanks for this! I'm starting to be more and more interested in Bento art now! I will give it a try. One anime I would seriously like to do a bento for is One Piece. Do you watch this one? Naruto is another one too! I'm a great fan of anime, have watched a few now...

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    1. Haha, thanks Lovlie! ^^ I can't wait to see your bento art - I know that it will be fantastic! And I absolutely LOVE One Piece! I think I might have to do a few tutorials just for you now - hehe! ^^

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    2. Oh yes please! A tutorial will be awesome! :D

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