koukla carolyn

This is a little metal fish dish with a huge mouth. My Yiayia and Papou keep spare coins in it. I practiced drawing it from two different perspectives. In real life it is not really blue and it has a lot more detail in it, but I like the results I got.

Everyday Matters Challenge #34 is to draw a leaf. I think the idea is to draw fall leaves but the leaves haven’t really turned yet, or at least not in Massachusetts. (I have a feeling that the leaves will not be too spectacular this year anyway.) Instead I have drawn the leaves of some houseplants: begonia, calla lily, cactus, and something else that I can’t recognize. These are quick sketches and I did not use my blending stump to make everything nice and smooth. I wish I had my colored pencils or watercolors with me right now because I know it would have come out really nice. I do not feel bad for only doing quick sketches though because it is far better than doing nothing. I am a very busy person right now.

I also changed the look of my blog. I wanted something that had less bright colors and was more simple. I like the white for now as it is more “gallery-like.” What do you think?

I hope you can recognize who this is supposed to be. If you can’t, this is Michelangelo’s David. I think the nose is pretty good. My Yiayia and Papou have a painting of David in their living room and I drew it the other day. One of these days I’m going to draw it for real, actually using my eyes.

I didn’t study today even though I should have. I drew these trees for Everyday Matters Challenge #15 instead. I am not very happy with the foliage though. I got impatient and the leaves turned into one big mass of crosshatching. I am looking forward to drawing trees in the winter when I can concentrate on the branches.

I love drawing eyes so I couldn’t resist drawing them for Everyday Matters Challenge #33 even though I have drawn hundreds of eyes before. These are my eyes right before I went to bed last night. I was very tired.

Yesterday I was waiting for my macroecon class to start and I couln’t find anything interesting to draw except the emergency exit sign and the drop ceiling—so I had to draw myself. Luckily, I was able to cross Everyday Matters Challenge #10 (hands) off my list. It seems like all I’m doing these days is EDM challenges and Blind Contour Fridays but I’m honestly not drawing anything I wouldn’t have wanted to anyway. I’m actually pretty happy with this sketch, considering I’m not the greatest with hands (like most people) and I only spent 10 minutes on this.

My Yiayia (grandmother) keeps this bronze swan in her bathroom next to the sink. This is for Everyday Matters Challenge #32: draw something metallic. There are a million things I could have drawn, but I have always wanted to draw this swan. If I had my watercolors with me I could have painted it, but a quick pencil sketch is good enough for me. I might use this for a greeting card, maybe.

This is a collections of a lot of small drawings—things around my bedroom. I drew my feet, my stereo speakers, votive candles, my cell phone and charger, my makeup mirror, my sketchbook and my windowsill. Some things are sideways. I drew this with a varsity disposible fountain pen. I love the color of the ink, but the pen skipped a lot. When I looked at my drawing afterwards, I didn’t get consistent lines.

A bit of history for you:
The University of Massachusetts, Amherst was founded in 1863 as Massachusetts Agricultural College or “Mass Aggie.” Some nice Japanese folks decided to start a school in Japan modeled after the agricultural school (I forget the year). In gratitude for the help, the University of Hokkaido presented UMass Amherst with this sculpture carved out a single block of wood.

I’ve always wanted to draw the bear. It was fun but I had a hard time with the glare on the front of the display case. And random passers by kept staring at me which was a little weird. Even though I have a two hour break between classes, I will be forced to go to the library and study because there is a very expensive textbook that I REFUSE to buy. So it looks like sketching during the schoolday is out.

This is supposed to be a woman. Believe me, she was very beautiful in the photo, but not quite in my drawing!