koukla carolyn

Apple Still Life, Neocolor II crayons in 10×7 watercolor sketchbook, 2008

These are my offerings for EDM 24: draw a piece of fruit, and 91: draw an apple. I really tried to capture the shadows and reflected light in these sketches. I’ve begun to really like my kraft paper sketchbook and I’m surprised I have never gotten one before. I think working on tinted paper definitely adds a new dimension to drawing. In the above piece, I used my Neocolor II watersoluble crayons. About a year ago I bought a tin of 15 but I only used it once or twice. I really haven’t gotten the hang of it yet honestly. I felt like I spent most of my time scrubbing out the crayon marks with my brush and the wax congealed into little puddles that I wasn’t happy with. This medium will definitely take more practice for me to get really comfortable with.

Apple sketch, Prismacolor colored pencil on kraft paper, 2008

Tangerine sketch, Prismacolor colored pencil on kraft paper, 2008

Bananas Under Shrink Wrap, Black Pitt Pen and colored pencil, 2008

These are my contributions for the recent wrapped in plastic challenge. This was a very interesting and challenging challenge for me. Lately I’ve been intrigued with doing multiple drawings of the same subject/theme. I am more fond of the banana sketch because I like the black and white drawing with the simple yellow colored pencil. I could have gone crazy and done all kinds of shading, but I like the sort of cartoonish quality of this sketch. I tried to just suggest the plastic by doing a few lines and I think it worked out well. I didn’t put so much forethought into the other sketch. I had these taffies sitting on my counter for awhile and I just grabbed them and did the sketch.

I’ve been feeling better since getting my wisdom teeth extracted, although I’m still on a liquified diet. I can’t wait to be able to eat a real meal with lots of chewing involved!

Salt Water Taffies in Baggie, Sanguine Pitt Pens, 2008

Brown Paper Bag Drawing, graphite in 9×12 kraft paper sketch book, 2008

Brown Paper Bag Drawing 2, graphite in 9×12 kraft paper sketch book, 2008

These are my contributions for EDM 92: draw a brown paper bag. I had gotten this kraft paper sketch book months ago but I had never christened it until recently. I thought this would be a good use for it, because it is similar to the material of the bag itself. I did these in graphite and I spent quite a lot of time on them, although I could have spent quite a lot more if I wanted to be even more accurate.

The first drawing I did by first blocking out all the large areas of the folds and then lightly outlining all the areas of shadow. Then I filled them in kind of like a coloring book. In the second drawing, I sketched out the large folded areas first and then did all the nuanced shadows by observation, without first outlining them. I like my method for number 2 better because it was more fun in general and I don’t normally like a lot of planning. In both drawings I worked from left to right to avoid smudging the pencil. I do have a habit of skipping all over the drawing but I was very disciplined in these cases.

I have been doing quite a lot of drawing lately, compared to my usual standards. I am not sure how much I will do during this week though because I am getting my wisdom teeth extracted today and I’m not sure how I will be feeling.

Big Flowers, watercolor (8×10), 2007

I did this watercolor back in the summer. I like the boldness of it, but it was really more of a practice sketch than a finished piece. I painted it from a flower arrangement that Jeet bought me, although I altered the composition and made it more of a closeup.

Daisy on Sink, watercolor (5×7), 2007

Jeet and I were married six months ago today. I painted this little watercolor from a photo I took on the mini honeymoon we took in Stockbridge, MA. This daisy was on the sink in our bathroom and I knew that I would want to paint it eventually. I am not entirely happy with the way it came out so I think I might want to do another iteration at some point in the future. One of the problems I had was that everything was white in the photo. The background was originally white beadboard but I changed it to a blue wall because I felt it needed more contrast. I think next time I will try to paint it more like the original.

Mixed Floral Sketch, watercolor (4×6), 2007

Although this is something I’ve done a long time ago, it is really similar to the things which I have been doing lately. (I’m hoping to get my scanner set up soon.) I’ve reverted back to florals again, probably because I am overwhelmed with things going on in my life and I feel safe and comfortable with florals. I have to say I am disappointed in this trend I see in myself. It is not because I do not like florals. They have been my old standby for years and I have been drawing flowers since I can remember drawing as a child. I just feel like there are too many botanical artists out there and I’m not doing anything new or exciting by painting more flowers/plants. I feel like I need to go in a new direction.

Happy New Year everyone! This New Year’s has been particularly stressful for me because I moved over the weekend and I’ve been unpacking and getting everything arranged. I like my new place so far and once I get everything set up, I will have enough room to have a small art area for myself. In the meantime, I do not have my scanner set up so I will not be able to scan my current stuff but I do have a backlog of things that I haven’t put up yet.

I have never been much into making New Year’s Resolutions but this year I am going to give it a try. My general resolution is to do Bible study more frequently and to take better care of my health (mentally and physically). My art goals are to 1.) Practice daily sketching. I have been better at this in the past and I need to make it a habit again. 2.) Continue to work in watercolor and try reading more books and getting more information on the technical aspects of watercolor. I feel like I need to learn more of the basics because I am still having frequent “accidents” and mishaps. 3.) Take some sort of workshop or art class. I feel that the critique will do me good and it is hard to get an honest opinion from people who know you or are not knowledgeable about art.

Smokies, watercolor and pen (5×7), 2007

This painting is from a photo I took while in the Great Smokey Mountain National Park in North Carolina and Tennessee. It was in October when I took the trip but I made things a bit more green and blue in this painting. I do like how the color palette and ink work came out. I painted this watercolor for my father as a Christmas present and it does look really nice in a frame.