koukla carolyn

Balcony View, dip pen and watercolor wash (5×7), 2008

This past weekend I spent some time reorganizing my Flickr page. I have things in there from 3 years ago and I haven’t looked at my old drawings in ages. I was very surprised that I have improved so much since I have really started drawing seriously three years ago. What surprises me the most is how much more colorful my artwork has become since then.

The above piece is a pen and watercolor wash sketch of the view from my sister-in-law’s balcony. I painted it on a watercolor greeting card and I am planning on sending it to India as a thank you card for our trip. I’m really happy with the way it came out because I was not very serious about it and I had no expectations of what the results would be. I didn’t even sketch the scene out in pencil first, which what I usually do when I work in pen and ink.

Kolhapuri Shoes, pitt pens and tombow markers in kraft paper sketchbook, 2008

I only did one after work sketch this week, which was this sketch of my kolhapuri shoes. I bought these shoes the day before we left India to come back home. I spent a lot of time trying to find a pair that fit me properly—I have wide feet to begin with and Indians have exceptionally small feet in general. Each pair was different and they were all handmade and embroidered with gold thread. Interestingly, there is no distinction between the right and the left shoe. I would often see this style of shoe painted on the backs of buses as decoration. Now I just have to find an outfit to wear them with!

Trip Preparations, 5×7 sketchbook, 2008

We got back from India last Sunday, but I was so jetlagged and screwed up timewise that I didn’t manage to do much of anything except go to work every day. I didn’t do much sketching at all on my trip, partially because we were in a car most of the time or shopping in malls where it wasn’t feasible to sit and draw. I need to get better at quick sketches! I did manage to do a few sketches though. This first sketch is from before we left—it is all the gifts we bought lined up and ready to put into the suitcase. All the shopping for gifts took a whole day in and of itself!

View From our Hotel in Kolkata, mini sketchbook, 2008

This sketch is part of the view from our first hotel room in Kolkata. We only stayed there one night because it wasn’t the cleanest place, but there was a nice view from our room of a pond with beautiful waterfowl and foliage. I absolutely love these trees with orange flowers, but I don’t know what kind of tree it is. One of the things I love about India is the incredible variety of plant life. If I spent more time there, I would love to document the plants through a series of botanical drawings.

Indian vase, mini sketchbook, 2008

This is a sketch of a small vase belonging to my sister-in-law. I was really tired and sleepy that day and I wanted to draw something small.

Kitchen sketch, mini sketchbook, 2008

This is a sketch of my sister-in-law’s kitchen. In India, kitchens are for food preparation only, and they are pretty small. People have small propane cooktops where they prepare their food and they have very small fridges as they buy their food fresh daily and don’t eat leftovers too much.

Indian Flower, 5×7 sketchbook, 2008

I drew this while visiting Dhanbad, which is about 5 hours from Kolkata. Some friends got me a bouquet of flowers and I sketched one of them in the hotel room before going to bed. I slept very late while in India because I usually took a nap in the afternoon. The time was 9.5 hours ahead of EST. It got dark around 6 PM because India does not have daylight savings time. It gets so hot during the day and people usually do a lot at night because it is a lot cooler. Even dinner is late—around 9 PM.

Suitcases and Shopping Bags, mini sketchbook, 2008

I drew this one night before going to bed when I was in our hotel room in Kolkata. We did a lot of shopping and this is a sketch of our empty suitcase with all our shopping bags and backpacks strewn about. I got a lot of clothes when we were in India—women there were very well dressed.

Kenilworth facade, 5×7 sketchbook, 2008

I drew this view from my parent’s hotel room one afternoon. It is part of the facade of the hotel where we stayed in—the Kenilworth. Most buildings in Kolkata are from the Victorian era and they would be beautiful if they were restored and maintained. Our hotel was one of the buildings that were in good shape. This is the last sketch I made before going home. I hope you liked reading a little about my trip!

I took full advantage of the tulips while they were out. Now, most of the petals have blown away thanks to a lot of wind and rain. I am most proud of the top drawing, which is the largest (9×12) and which I drew from life. It was a little chilly outside and the wind was blowing around a lot, but I think the drawing came out really nice. Click on each image to view at full size.

Flower Pitcher, pen and ink (10×7), 2008

For the past week I have made absolutely no artwork. I pulled a few muscles in my wrist and my leg and thought I should baby myself for awhile. I stopped working out, studying Bengali and doing artwork. I am just starting to get out of my funk and I have a lot of things to do before my big trip in a few weeks.

This is the last major thing I did a few weeks ago. It is impressive I have to say, because it is HUGE compared to what I normally do. I didn’t want to leave it half done, so I pushed myself and I was happy I did.

Banana Bunch, pitt pen and colored pencil, 2008

Flower Sketch, sanguine pitt pens, 2008

These are a few sketches that I’ve done after work. These days Jeet goes to his martial arts class and I have time alone to putter around the house. I’ve wasted quite a few of these nights by watching tv when I could be drawing, but these are some of the things that I accomplished.

Magnolia, watercolor and ink (7.5” x 4.5”), 2008

This is based on a photo I took of the magnolia tree in front of my apartment building. I spent a Sunday afternoon working on it and I am happy with how delicate the flowers look. Now that it is spring, I am excited about getting outside more and drawing nature.

Red Ink Rose, red gel ink and prismacolor, 2008

This is an experimental drawing that I did for my husband on a blank greeting card for our 8 month “monthiversary.” I did it from a reference photo on WetCanvas because I didn’t have any fresh flowers at the time.

Turkish Shoe, Sanguine Pitt Pens, 2008

Better ‘N Ben’s Wood Stove, Sepia Pitt Pens, 2008

Yesterday I went to my Papou’s (grandfather’s) house to do laundry. While waiting between loads, I sketched these two drawings. The shoe is a little metal nicknack that Yiayia (grandmother) bought on one of their trips to Greece. I’ve always admired it but never drew it before. The wood stove has always been one of my favorite things about Papou’s house. It is in the garage and it heats the whole house. Unfortunately, it was very hot in the garage the whole time I was doing laundry. I’ve always been intimidated to draw the stove because it looked too complex. I’m glad I made the attempt though and I might even try it again.

Rose Sketch, tombow brush marker, 2008

Inked Roses, black pitt pens and Prismacolor colored pencil, 2008

Here are some more rose drawings that I’ve done in the past few weeks. I really like the marker one and I’m thinking of doing more marker sketches in the near future. The ink drawing looks way too Victorian for me but by the time I realized this, I was too far gone in the drawing to justify quitting. I added some colored pencil to the roses in an effort to improve it but this just made it look like a hand colored black and white photo—even more Victorian! I did one more rose drawing (which I will write about soon) before I had to throw them away.