koukla carolyn

Multicolor Rose, watercolor and pitt pen, 2008

Rose against Violet Background, watercolor, 2008

These are some roses from the bouquet that Jeet gave me some time ago. The top one was the front of Jeet’s Valentine’s Day card and I did the second one in my watercolor sketchbook. I am not happy with either of them but I also don’t have much experience with white and light colored roses because they are so much more challenging to me. Usually I just draw them in graphite or pass them over all together in favor of the pink and red ones. The multicolored rose was originally cream colored with peach edges. I bungled it up however and added blue in for shadows which was the wrong color to use. The bottom rose was all white but I did the shadows in blues and purples there too and I think I overdid it. All in all though, I think it was okay that I got the practice and I know my next attempts will be a lot better.

Pots on Stove, Pitt pen, 2007

Ann Taylor Loft Bag, Green felt tip pen, 2008

These are some of my better small sketches that I’ve done recently. I know I should be doing more of these, especially since there are more demands on my time these days. I think I’m going to start carrying my small sketchbook with me again just so I can capture little sketches like these.

Today I have off, which is really nice. I spent the whole morning doing errands and chores and other things that I needed to get done. After lunch I baked some oatmeal raisin applesauce muffins. I haven’t tried them but they do smell good. I haven’t done any artwork today yet, but I have been very productive regardless.

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

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.

Overlook, watercolor and dip pen (5×7), 2007

This is a watercolor I painted last week for one of my uncles as a Christmas gift. I painted it from a photo I took while driving along the Blue Ridge Parkway last October. I had been promising my uncle a painting for a long time and I wanted to paint this scene anyway. Everyone liked it so I take it as a good sign, although I would have liked to have made it a lot better. I have not really gotten the hang of watercolor yet and I still feel like it is hit or miss for me. I would love to take a watercolor class or read some watercolor books in the upcoming year.

Jeet and I are getting ready to move this weekend so everything is in flux. I don’t think I am going to be able to spend any real time on artwork until next week sometime and I am feeling a bit frazzled with everything going on.

Penguin Tealight, pen and colored pencil, 2007

First Snow, pen and ink, 2007

We had our two first real snowstorms of the year this past week. Fortunately, I did not have to drive in the stuff but Jeet did and he did more than his fair share of shoveling and digging out cars. Thursday was generally a yucky day and I didn’t do very much of anything, regrettably. Sunday, on the other hand, was very nice. I spent the day lazing around my parent’s house and catching up on blogs. I also got some productive work done: I did a mass scanathon and studied some Bengali besides taking a half hour out to do a little sketch.

Snowy House, pen and ink, 2007

I sketched this bag right before Christmas last year. I am already starting to get my ideas together for my Christmas shopping this year.

Hibiscus, watercolor and ink (on Strathmore watercolor greeting card)

I painted this flower a few months ago from one of the photos that Jeet took when we went to The Domes in Milwaukee, WI. This flower was in the tropical dome and I really enjoyed painting it. I have not been doing very many watercolor paintings lately and I am going to start again this week. I had a really long and tiring weekend and I spent most of today recouping and getting back into my old schedule. My sister’s wedding was really nice and I actually had a lot of fun at it. It was in my parent’s backyard and it was a really casual, Hawaiian themed wedding. I got a chance to see a lot of relatives plus some friends that I haven’t seen in some time.

Yesterday we all went to my brother-in-law’s family’s house for a 4th of July cookout. It was raining and chilly outside but it was still fun—even though I didn’t know most of the people there. We got to watch the parade before it started raining and Jeet and I just stayed inside to eat. It felt like a Saturday rather than a Wednesday though and now my whole week is messed up. Friday is the rehearsal dinner and Saturday is the wedding. I am really excited about it and a little nervous.

This pen and ink with watercolor wash was done from a photo I took while driving the Blueridge Parkway in Virginia last October. It was done in a spiral bound watercolor sketchbook which is why the scan came out with distortion on the left margin.