koukla carolyn

Yesterday evening I filled up a page of sketches of my dog Ruggles. I drew him in every position he took for about 15 minutes, ending at 6:46. Since he is sick these days with a bad heart, he is more sedentary than he used to be—and it is a lot easier to draw him.

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.

I didn’t have much time to draw today, but this is a small sketch that I was able to do before leaving for work. I’ve tried to draw this vase and flowers a few times before but have always had trouble with the vase. I think I will have to try drawing it a few more times before I am satisfied with the results.

Ruggles has been sick lately. Here are some sketches of him as he was sleeping:

I don’t normally wear heels. In fact, I have never even bought anything like these shoes until a few weeks ago. Needless to say, since I have never owned a pair I have never drawn one either. It really threw me for a loop and I had multiple mess ups before I even got to these two sketches. I never thought that something that looked so simple would be so tough for me to draw! I am happy with how these came out considering, although I think the pen and ink sketch looks very immature with all the outlining.

These days I seem to be so stressed out that I’m having a harder time drawing than when I was in school. I’ve been trying to carve out a little time day by day to do some sketching. I have a day off coming up so I’m hoping to dedicate a few hours to some painting…

A few days ago I went to a Mexican restaurant with Jeet and I wasn’t very hungry so I just picked off his plate and talked. At the end of the meal I took my sketchbook out and started sketching some of the objects on the table. It was super dark in this restaurant and I could barely see what I was drawing, so I think I did a pretty good job. The waitress was pushy and I was concerned that she would clear everything off the table before I was done, but I managed to get everything down by the time she left the check. I haven’t been doing very much sketching lately so I think this was good progress for me. I’ve been feeling that I’m losing practice and I can notice the difference in my speed and confidence. I left the restaurant feeling like I had done something even though the rest of the day wasn’t very productive.

My mother got this rose at church a few weeks ago and I took the initiative to draw it in various orientations on different days, until it withered. It was just an experiment to see how I would draw the same subject differently. I think I like the second one (in graphite) the best. Interestingly, that sketch was the most rushed of the four.

The wedding was very beautiful. I got to see a lot of people that I haven’t seen in years and Jeet got to meet a lot of people for the first time. The ceremony was outside and it was very scenic, although the heat was oppressive. I actually wish I had my sketchbook with me so I could have drawn stuff, but I don’t think my sister would have liked that idea. I drew this sketch a few days ago when Jeet gave me these stargazer lilies. They were so beautiful and I wish I had been able to draw more pictures of them than I did, but they did not last too long.

I was going to make a drawing for the everyday matters spring challenge this morning, but it is snowing out right now and it feels more like December than April! Yesterday I stayed inside and did some sketching, but I was uninspired. I did a quick sketch of this owl that my Yiayia has in her den (no erasing!). I’ve drawn this a few times when I was a kid, but I always got frustrated because the smooth surfaces are actually pretty hard to get perfectly. I think this is the best version yet. I would love to paint this in watercolor someday or do a pen and ink wash version of it. Hopefully I will have better mojo this afternoon when I have some time to sketch. I feel like I just need more time to dedicate to practice, but whenever I really feel like drawing, I have something else going on. These days, whenever I actually have the time to draw it feels more like a chore than anything else. I’m not sure what I should be doing.

worship, graphite and marker

I’m goofing off today. I skipped my classes and I don’t have to go to work. In fact, I don’t have to do anything that I don’t want to do today. I haven’t had a day like this in a long time. Granted, there are some things that I should do if I want to be a proactive, good student. There is a book that I should read for school (Frankenstein) and I should do some reading in my economics textbook. But why should I do that when I can spend the day drawing? In all my years in college, I’ve always utilized Spring Break for something constructive—working extra hours, writing papers, getting my taxes done, organizing my bedroom. I have never traveled anywhere or done anything fun. Now that this is my last Spring Break, I regret that decision. I could have afforded to be more of a slacker and I should have been.