koukla carolyn

Here are the last of my lily drawings. I did these a few weeks ago but I’ve been busy with other things so I never posted them. I have a few days off for Thanksgiving so I hope I can do some drawing then. Today I did some watercolor painting which was a nice change. Now I am off to Grandma’s house. Happy Thanksgiving!

I just got back from a whirlwind trip to Virginia, North Carolina and Tennesee. Jeet and I drove down Skyline Drive, the Blue Ridge Parkway and Great Smoky Mountain National Park. It was quite nice and I’m glad I went. I didn’t do any drawing on location because it was a little too chilly for me and we were on a tight schedule. But I hope to do some really awesome landscapes from my photos. Here is a colored pencil sketch I did about a week ago.

I took some time to draw Ruggles sleep while listening to the movie Dave playing in the background. Sunday afternoons tend to be a productive time for me to draw these days. And while I don’t like watching movies all that much, Jeet does and he likes it when I sit with him. Some movies require a lot of attention though, and even though I try, I cannot draw and listen / watch at the same time.

I was inspired to do a drawing in this grid format after seeing some other people from The Drawing Club do the same. Here is my version, around the theme of relaxation.

The days of the week have a whole new meaning to me these days. Saturday used to be just another day (that I was most likely working), but now Saturday is all about catching up on errands and other odds and ends. Today, for instance, I went to the gym, the bank, clothes shopping and magazine reading at the bookstore. Then I came home and did laundry. I am finally forming a routine and I like it.

The above sketch was done two Sundays ago after I visited the Mark Twain House in Hartford, CT. I got a little tin of lemon caramel gourmet tea at the museum gift shop. I colored the background with colored pencils because I thought it needed a little more zing.

I meant to write this post three days ago, but I got busy and put it off. Anyway, today has been one year and three days since I started kouklacarolyn.com. I am a little proud of myself for sticking with it for so long. I paid for two years of hosting so I will stick with it until then, although I have to say my interest has been waning. Sometimes I think all the time I spend online reading other people’s blogs and updating my own would be better spent actually creating more art. But I have been working on my art more in general since I started it, so I guess I am succeeding.

The drawing above was done in marker with colored pencils over it. I think this method made for especially vibrant colors. I did it on a blank greeting card so it will actually get sent to someone for their birthday or something.

Last week Jeet gave me an absolutely beautiful bouquet of orange roses and pink lilies. The roses have since shriveled up and the lilies are fading too, but I managed to get a few sketches before it was too late. I did this in Prismacolor colored pencils while listening to a documentary on Biblical archaeology. I love having weekends off these days. Yesterday I went to visit my grandparents and went clothes shopping at the mall. Today I went on some errands after church and then relaxed at home. I love it that my days off coincide with Jeet’s so we can actually do stuff together. Luckily, he encourages me to spend a lot of the time drawing.

My mother has had a certain silk flower arrangement for years and I have always loved it. I’m amazed that I have never drawn it, or elements of it, before. Here are some sketches of some of the individual flowers.

Take care not to casually discuss matters that are of great importance to you with people who are not important to you. Your affairs will become drained of preciousness. You undercut your own purposes when you do this. This is especially dangerous when you are in the early stages of an undertaking…Most people only know how to respond to an idea by pouncing on its shortfalls rather than identifying its potential merits. Practice self-containment so that your enthusiasm won’t be frittered away. -Epictetus, The Art of Living

I had this weekend off, which was a huge blessing. Not only did I get to miss no tax weekend in Massachusetts, but I got to go to Vermont. We stayed in a little house on Lake Eden and I got to spend time with my relatives, plus do a little sketching. I sketched this view of the lake as well as a single red carnation in a vase. The whole place was so scenic and I could have done so much more sketching if I had had more time. On the way home we went to the little shops in Stowe and we took a tour at the Ben and Jerry’s Factory. Overall, the whole trip was really nice and relaxing and I’m glad I got to go.