I'm moving

Hi everybody,
I just want to let you know that I've moved to WordPress. I'm going to leave my old posts up here but all my new posts will be at http://kouklacarolyn.com. Hope to see you there!
-Carolyn

Blind Contour #4

This is a carnation that was sitting on my kitchen table. I drew it in ballpoint pen on a piece of graph paper. I also added some graining from the table top. When I scanned it I inverted the colors because I thought it was more interesting that way. In the future I would like to spend more time on these blind contours and make them more detailed. We'll see what I come up with next week. Get links to everyone else's blind contours at InkFinger.

making better use of mornings

micron and sharpie on cardboard

There's nothing like freshly baked biscuits in the morning.

Blind Contour #3

This is my submission for Blind Contour Friday. It is a shadeless lamp that is sitting in my living room right now. I think this one is a bit easier to distinguish than last week's. I did this in black sharpie--you can see the hesitation marks where I stopped to regroup myself. I tried to do it as fast as I could though. I think I'm going to try to do this every week because it is kind of fun and I don't feel bad when it looks bad.

percolator

watercolor

This is for EDM Challenge #28: appliances. I decided that I wanted to christen my new watercolor sketchbook and get one of the challenges done as well. I used this coffee maker in my apartment to heat up water for tea and various microwavable foods. I like using old fashioned kitchen tools, like cast iron skillets and retro coffee percolators. I'm fairly happy with how it came out, although I know I need a lot more practice with watercolor. Chrome is pretty hard to do and I haven't painted anything reflective in years. I would like to try it again when I have built up some more skill with watercolor. It was fun to do in any case.

I'm afraid I won't have as much time for artwork pretty soon because I will be starting a new job and a new semester at school. I'm going to try to post at least twice a week no matter what though because I want to keep my artwork as a priority.

Wisdom

micron pen

It seems to me that when I really need some wisdom I find the best answers from the Good Book. The Bible discusses wisdom in more places than just Proverbs. Here is one of my favorite passages on wisdom from the book of James:

"If you are wise, live a life of steady goodness, so that only good deeds will pour forth. And if you don't brag about them, you will be truly wise! And by all means don't brag about being wise and good if you are bitter and jealous and selfish; that is the worst sort of lie...But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure and full of quiet gentleness. Then it is peace-loving and courteous. It allows discussion and is willing to yield to others; it is full of mercy and good deeds. It is wholehearted and straitforward and sincere. And those who are peacemakers will plant seeds of peace and reap a harvest of goodness." James 3:13-14,17-18 (The Living Bible)

just another pretty face

I thought perhaps that doing a portrait would help me get out of this funk that I've been in recently. I don't know if that was the case, but it was fun anyway. I used to draw pics from photos in magazines all the time and then I stopped and started drawing from life instead. It is more challenging that way and I think I've learned a lot more. And I know it's bad to copy. But I don't really know of another alternative when I want to practice and I don't have access to models. Tomorrow I hope to work on some more challenges and perhaps tackle Illo Friday's "wisdom." I'm still at a loss when trying to come up with an idea.

my dog is amazing

Ruggles is 12 and he has quite a few phobias (cameras and thunderstorms for instance). For the past few days we have had violent thunderstorms in Massachusetts and Ruggles was horribly upset. The poor guy managed to sprain his paw somehow and he was limping around so I made him a little nest in my duvet and set him up with an ice pack. He was so exhausted from not sleeping the night before that he fell dead asleep for 2 hours in the middle of the day. Normally I don't like to draw him from life because he likes to fidget (and we don't have a lot of photos), but yesterday I had the perfect oppotunity to draw him. I was in the middle of drawing something else when I saw him sleeping so I dropped what I was doing and drew him instead. I'm glad I got the opportunity.

rockstar jeans

It seems like my creativity/idea generating capability is going down the tubes. I'm not sure if it's just procrastination or a bad mood. I couldn't even pick up a pencil yesterday so I spent the whole day cleaning the house instead. Right now I am thankful for the challenges because I'd rather have someone tell me what to draw than have to think of it on my own. And since I have a lot of catching up to do, I have plenty of choices available. This is for challenge #22: clothing.

For this drawing I used micron pens, marker, and colored pencil. I hung my jeans on the molding around a doorway so I could see them hanging up. But no, my walls are not bright yellow like this. I was just a little heavy handed.

praying feet

It was about 10:30 pm and I was dozing off while watching some creepy episode of Law & Order when my sister came home with her friends and woke me up. They went upstairs to watch a movie and I decided I should get some drawing done. For some strange reason I always do my best work late at night when I am really tired. I call it "praying feet" because it reminds me of Albrecht Durer's "Praying Hands."

I did this in response to the everyday matters challenge #23--draw your foot (feet). I wasn't planning on drawing this, but I have to say this is by far the best feet drawing I've ever done. It was a challenge because there is some major foreshortening going on here. I really tried to be accurate with this and I took my time (my feet were aching when by the time I was done). All comments are welcome!

blind contour friday

I've found this cool new site called InkFinger and they are doing this thing called "Blind Contour Friday" which I think is a really cool idea. It seems like there are a lot of "friday" type things out there nowadays: Photo Friday, Illo Friday, Blind Contour Friday, etc. (let me know if there are any more that I should know about!) Anyhow, I thought this would be a cool thing to do seeing that I haven't done it in years. I remember my childhood art teacher made me do these when I was in kindergarten--and I think I was a lot better then too. This is supposed to be a juicer if you can't tell. You can see some other blind contour drawings here and here.

blue juice glass

I got this at the Salvation Army store for $.25. I was about 14 or 15 if I remember correctly. I love this glass because it is sort of retro and orange juice looks so cool in it. I made this in response to Illustration Friday's theme "empty" although I also felt like drawing glass again after I did the EDM glass challenge. I used my Tombow markers and then used a little water on my fingertip to blur some of the edges and make it look more like a painting.

Note: It seems like I deleted all of my previous comments by mistake. Sorry!

plastic palm

I did this very quickly while watching Law and Order: SVU. I've wanted to draw it for a long time. One of these days I'm going to draw it again and actually spend some time on it.

Flower sketch 2

Tombow markers and graphite. I'm not really sure what kind of flower this is, but I thought it was pretty. This is really small--I'm not really in the mood for making a lot of artwork today.

I decided I'm going to stick with yellow, purple, green and brown for the time being. I'm going to wait two weeks before I fiddle with anything else in my template to see if I like it like this.

Aging

I did this self portrait for this week's Illustration Friday: Aging. Although I am only in my early twenties, I can notice the effects of aging already. Mainly because I have gained 10 pounds and am growing my hair long. I think I look a lot older than I did a year ago, although I don't mind it so much.

Lemon Scones

This is my entry for the EDM Challenge #19: handmade. Don't get me wrong--I didn't go off and start baking just so I could paint my homemade baked goods. I just felt like baking today and my scones looked so good that I wanted to try to paint them.

I haven't made scones in years. I didn't have a recipie so I went on the internet and found one here. I added the zest of one lemon and then made a glass on lemonade with the juice. If I make them again I think I will zest two lemons. Also, I used whole milk instead of heavy cream. I know that these look more like biscuits than scones, but I didn't feel like cutting them into triangles. They came out very well and everyone liked them, but I was disappointed that I didn't find where my mother put the turbinado sugar until after I was already done. That means I'm going to want to make scones again soon. If anyone knows a good recipie please let me know!

I also haven't used watercolor in years so this whole day was an experiment for me. I am generally happy with the way it turned out except for the plate which is not a perfect elipse. But I don't really care. I welcome all constructive criticism because I really want to get better with watercolor.

Wine and fruit

I did this for the Everyday Matters Yahoo group challenges #24 (fruit) and #25 (drinking glass). I'm not sure if doing one drawing to satisfy two challenges is against the rules or not, but I'll take the chance. I think it's more fun to incorporate more than one object in a drawing anyway. I want to feel like I'm being creative with these challenges instead of just going through the motions.

I drew the basic outline with pencil and then I added color using my Tombow brush pens. These markers are unbelievably fun. It was expensive for the whole set, but I have had mine for over five years and I haven't had to replace any colors yet. The grapes were originally red, but I changed them to green at the last minute because I thought it would be more interesting.

Flower sketch

This is a very quick sketch I did while watching Iron Chef: Soybean Battle. I did it in pen and ink with prismacolors, although I'm not happy that the ink smeared when I used the pencil. I'm not sure what happened because I have done this before with no issues. The only thing I can think of is that the paper wasn't absorbent enough and the ink did not dry properly.

Tranquility

I did this quick sketch of my dog Ruggles this morning for this week's Illustration Friday: "tranquility." I used a photo reference for this one, although I have been trying lately not to use photos at all. Ruggles is normally afraid of cameras because the flash reminds him of lightning, but my sister took this photo of him with her cell phone. He was peeking out from under her bed being very tranquil. And no, he's not really green.

Lilac leaves

click to see larger

I drew these leaves from the lilac bush this morning (while it was still cool). It was so peaceful--all I could hear were the birds chirping. I took my time on this and made a point to try to do all my blending without any tools (tortillions, stumps, tissues, etc.) I only used my kneaded eraser a few times. I like how it came out overall, but I wish I had been more consistent with the lighting. It was changing constanly and I had a hard time keeping things straight. But I guess that is the whole point about drawing outside.

Getting out again

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It feels so good to finally get outside and start drawing again! I haven't been doing a lot of work at all recently and it has been so hot recently that I haven't had the guts to go outside and draw. There was a horrible storm yesterday afternoon but it was dry and cool by evening.

I did this sketch yesterday around 8 o'clock pm. I didn't have much time to do a lot of detail because it was getting dark so this has a very sketchy quality. The dark background was an experiment. I remember my old pen and ink teacher talking about how light against dark is often more effective than the standard white background. It would have been a lot easier if I was using pastels on tinted paper or something like that, but I was outside with my sketchbook. If I can find my gluestick I am going to print out a copy of this and make a very nice greeting card to save for someone's birthday or Easter or something. Today I'm going to do some more sketches--I'll post my best one tomorrow.

About Me

Since I deleted the blogger profile, I thought that I should write my own “about me” so as to give you a slight idea of what I’m like. My name is Carolyn and I’m a senior history major at UMass Amherst. This blog is a place for me to write about myself and my artwork, which is my biggest hobby. I work in pen and ink, graphite, colored pencil and watercolor. I have taken private art lessons as a kid, but other than that I am totally self taught. For a brief time I thought about going to art school—who knows, I might actually go someday. But as for now, I study US history and economics.

When I am not working on my studies or artwork I like to do a lot of reading and journal writing, as well as taking advantage of my beloved TiVo. Although some might think I’m boring, I am generally content with my life right now. I like my introverted nature. Please comment on artwork as I love feedback.

FYI: Koukla is my childhood nickname--it means "doll" in Greek.

A whirlwind of activity

I have been doing an amazing amount of work lately, but it feels good. I took my finals and finished my summer classes on Thursday. It felt amazing to get them done and over with, although taking exams all day grated on my nerves. I heard from one of my professors and I got an A (not surprising) and I assume I got an A in the other class as well.

This morning my parents and I drove out to my apartment and got the last of my furniture. I'm glad that I'm finally out of that apartment because now I can sleep well and I don't have to worry about getting intestinal parasites from the bad water. My next project is now getting my bedroom just the way I want it. I set up my low shelves, stereo, desk, etc., but now I have a lot of clutter to get out of the way. I also have moutains of artwork to make. I have had a recent desire to do botanical drawings and this is just the time of year to do it.

more sketchy than most

click to see larger

I found this while cleaning my room over the weekend. As you can see I did it a year ago, but I never did anything with it. I did this with dip pen and I remember I was proud of myself because I didn't have a pencil drawing underneath. I have no idea what photo I used as a reference--probably some magazine or something.

mouth self portrait

click to see larger

I haven't been putting a lot of stuff on flickr lately, but I found this the other day while cleaning my room. I did this about a year ago if I remember correctly. It was for a mini zine that I never got around to finishing. I did this with my rotring rapidoliners although I don't know what sizes I used.

Update: I am taking my final exams this Thursday. I can't wait to be done.

The Introvert Advantage

Everyone should read this book. I was shocked at how insightful it was.

Highly Sensitive Persons

For a few years now, I've subscribed to Robert Genn's email newsletter The Painter's Keys. Twice a week this guy writes a short essay on an art related topic and emails it to you. Oftentimes I am too busy to read it and I end up deleting it, but sometimes it really gets my attention. Recently, he wrote a letter on Highly Sensitive Persons. This essay describes my personality very accurately. Here is a quote I like: "HSPs have valuable assets that have traditionally been given a bum rap by the not-so-sensitive majority. Highly sensitive persons often grow up feeling they're outsiders." -Robert Genn

Regretful

I have a big economics exam tomorrow and I just can't bring myself to study for it because I just keep thinking about my cousin. I was alright over the weekend because I didn't want to cry in front of my parents and I was kind of in shock. But now I can't get my mind off it and I start tearing up constantly. Today in class I caught myself dozing off...I've barely slept all week.

Everyone left today to go to the funeral and I'm going to be by myself until Sunday night. I am so upset that I couldn't be there with everyone. If I went to Oregon then I would have had to drop my classes which I'm more than half done with. Everyone said that it was okay that I didn't go, but I still feel like I'm not a part of the family. I can't even be there for people when something tragic happens...

Sorrow

I am unbelievably sad right now. On top of being sick with a summer cold and having the pressure of these classes hanging over my head, I have stuff on my mind that I will not be distracted from. No matter what I do I can't stop thinking about it, even at night when I should be sleeping. I'm not sure what to do.

Amazing Hand Paintings

This is so cool. I wish I thought of it. Via Superhero

I'm a dog person

Although you can't see this too well, it is my roommates' cat named Gabriel. I really can't stand the cat as I can hear it attacking the other cat in the early morning hours. But the cat is cute and I drew it one day--almost a year ago actually. I used to really want one of my own, but living with one for some time has made me realize that I really prefer dogs. I can't shake the image of a cat jumping from the litterbox to the kitchen counters--how unsanitary! I really think this past year will be the only time in my life that I live with cats. Dogs, on the other hand, are a different story.

1/3 done!

My test wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it would be. Although I didn't get it back yet the teacher handed back the first assignments and I was one of three people who got 100%. I am now officially 1/3 through my summer classes. I have four weeks left and I really hate it but I think I can anticipate being done. Even though this is really painful I am really happy that I am doing it now rather then later.

Planning

I have never taken summer classes before and I didn't quite know what to expect. Let me just tell you I don't recommend taking two classes at once--especially not upper level econ courses. It's completely overwhelming. I guess I will be thankful when I only have to take four classes my last two semesters. I have a big exam today in my economic development class and I'm dreading it. I just want to get it over with.

Yesterday I went to my cousin's high school graduation party. I'm happy for her because she is going to RISD next year. At one time I considered going there myself. I know I could have gotten accepted but I didn't want to take out $100,000 in loans. The idea of that much debt still scares me. Instead I went off and majored in history. I really can't see myself as a "historian" or teacher, but I have learned a lot and I know how to defend an argument.

Experimenting

Yesterday I decided to do this for real. I miss not having a blog and I really think I'll be able to stick with it this time. I did some experimenting yesterday with the colors and some of the code. I hid the navigation bar because I think it's really ugly and I removed the profile section because I don't like the way it looks on all the blogger templates. I also got one of those flickr badges to link to my flickr page. I really like the way it looks so far. I disabled the comments because I don't like blogger's comment feature either, but I might put in haloscan after awhile. Oftentimes I find that comments can be so competitive among blogs and don't contain anything of substance. Perhaps I will put comments on when/if I get more readers. I did put a link to my email though, but I'm not sure if I will keep it.

I'm going to try to update this a couple of times a week. I want to be able to stick with something!

crowded

This is my first post. I'm doing a test to see how easy it is to post images from flickr. It seems to work very well so far.