koukla carolyn

This time I sat below the sculpture looking up.

Happy birthday Chris and Lis!

This is my Yiayia’s (grandmother’s) teapot which I have always loved because it looks so old fashioned and exotic. I drew it in brown but the designs are actually in red. It has awesome little cracks all over it which makes me wonder if it would just fall apart with boiling water poured in it. I have only had tea from it one time and I think Yiayia only kept it around for decoration because they always drank coffee. I had such a hard time drawing this because I just couldn’t get the shape and proportions right. In the end though I think I did a pretty good job and I am happy with it. It really was excellent practice in observational skills and I’m glad I finished it instead of scrapping it like I felt like doing. After I finished this, I realized that I have never really looked at it closely until now.

I was so happy when I saw that the topic for Illustration Friday was “tea” because I absolutely love tea and I’ve been thinking of doing a tea themed series for a long time. This is a little teapot that my mother gave me a few years ago—it is a personal size teapot with a cup on the bottom part. It’s not really blue and I didn’t draw the shape exactly as it exists either, but I really do like this sketch because it seems very playful and childlike. I think I’m going to draw all the teapots in my house one of these days. We have about six or seven of them.

I recently got a new 5×7 size sketchbook which I love because it’s small enough to take to school with me but is big enough to draw something decent in. It is spiral bound and has a red linen cover. Ever since I got it I’ve been inspired to draw stupid little objects instead of the grand scenes that I always thought I should be working on before. I’ve started to do the challenges again, but I’ve actually been drawing things that I’ve wanted to do anyway. This is for Challenge #43 (China or ceramic). I got this mug a few years ago for my birthday. I think it came from the Christmas Tree Shops or some other made in China cheap junk store. It’s ironic how when the term “China” was first used to describe ceramics it was to convey the expensive and exotic. Now, made in China just means cheap.

Things which matter most must never be at the mercy of things which matter least.

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
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I was really tired when I came home from work last night and I really just felt like moping around the house, but on a whim I decided I should do some sketching. So I decided to draw these flowers that Jeet gave me. I used an 01 micron pen that was on its last leg and my Tombow markers. It was fun to just sit and draw and it kind of made me feel better about things. I have so much work to do right now that I can never do everything that I would like to do. I hate that feeling when you know you have to put something on the back burner and you can’t decide what to put there. I think I would go crazy if I didn’t take some time to draw a little bit.

This is my dog Ruggles, who I love like my own brother. I was getting ready for work this morning and I felt like taking a break to draw a quick picture. I used to draw pictures like this when I was a kid, but sometimes its fun to regress. I used my .25 rapidoliner and Tombow brush pens. Lately, I’ve been drawing without pencils at all. I’ve been under so much pressure lately that the last thing I need is to try to be perfect in my sketchbook as well.

I start school tomorrow—I’m kind of excited about it but I’m also feeling a little apprehensive. This is my last semester and I’m feeling under pressure to savor every moment of this because I know I’m never going to have this experience again. I know I’m going to miss going to classes and writing papers when this is all over. I think I’m going to try to go to see a lot of guest speakers this semester, and otherwise be a good student.

This is for Everday Matters Challenge #17: draw a musical insturment. I had a hard time coming up with ideas today so I decided to draw one of the challenges. This is a Peruvian ocarina, a type of flute like thing. I can’t play it or anything—it’s just a nice little trinket that someone gave me as a gift. I felt like a kid drawing this and then coloring it in. Mircron pen and marker.

Tea! Thou soft, thou sober, sage, and venerable liquid, thou innocent pretence for bringing the wicked of both sexes together in a morning; thou female tongue-running, smile-smoothing, heart- opening, wink-tipping cordial, to whose glorious insipidity I owe the happiest moment of my life, let me fall prostrate thus, and … adore thee. -Colley Cibber

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This is a quick sketch of the remnants of my breakfast this morning: earl grey tea and a slice of cranberry bread. Of course the only evidence of the bread is the crumbs I left behind. I used my Tombow brush markers for this—they are very fun to use especially for quick things like this.