Showing posts with label drawing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label drawing. Show all posts

Working Out My (International) Travel Stories

Saturday, August 22, 2015

Traveling is a sensory overload.

I'm winding down on my international tour through Spain, France, Italy, Greece, and Turkey. In a few days, I'll be back with family in Bangladesh trying to build a whole 'nother life on the subcontinent (though I'm sure my compulsions -- book buying, tea drinking, and writing about people in public -- will still stay much the same).

Drawing of Athens as seen from Mt. Lycabettus -- my phone overheated and so I took out my pens and sketched till there was no more light (thankfully I have been carrying red, black, and blue ink pens!)
On this trip, I've been drawing more than writing, photographing more than drawing. And each medium is so different. Drawing resonates with my emotions more than my eye; photographs give me a realistic slice of scenery, but not the depth (emotionally or physically). Writing just feels stubborn. How do you portray the visual and emotional in one line? How do you honor the place while not essentializing/stereotyping it or its people? I've been caught in the trap of overgeneralizing in my early drafts -- trying to capture the details in a very general way. Thus it's been my self-appointed writing assignment these past few weeks to capture the feeling of a place rather than its contours. I'm starting with a place that's in my near memory from just a few days ago in Istanbul. Stay tuned for more.

P.S. I'm also including two drawings that I've done on this trip -- both from amazing places in Greece. These pictures are straight from the notebook, so apologies in advance for the weird angles (neither, after all, is a photographic representation!). I think that they do well to capture the emotional energy of those places.

Drawing of a pebble beach against cliffs and the Aegean sea on Agistri in Greece, using pen and colored pencil.
She wasn't pretty like women you'd see standing on pedestals in the museums with their elegant robes draped just-so. She had hair that wound around her square face and eyes so dark and vacant that in the dim light they appeared pupil-less, staring past you. I stooped to look at her. The carved line of her cheekbone cast a shadow across the dark water below. Her head was upside down and, a few meters away, another version lay tipped on its side.

We had wound around the corridors - past the wishing spot and down a set of slippery stairs - to greet her. I turned to look over my shoulder at a patch of unlit columns, catching a glimpse of some fish encircling them as another amateur photographer's flash went off. I inhaled and turned back to her, her stone expression lit up and darkened as people drifted by. Many just went for the picture, a single burst, then power-walked back onto the path. I lingered. Then the next wave of paying guests arrived.

I was reminded of how often I've heard her name: Medusa. Snake-haired and turning people to stone (hence why she's been placed upside down/on her side). When I had safely returned to the dry and well-lit cafe area, I became aware of my shallow breathing. I was surprised at how much the eeriness had affected me; many tourist attractions lose their power due to the onslaught of people and gimmicks. The Basilica Cistern, underground and filled with dark corners, retained its well.

From being here, I've come to know a basic history of historical architecture: cisterns supplied the Ottomans with water before they installed pipe systems. I've come to know that several ancient empires had a lot in common, including their pantheon of gods. I've come to know that the way a few people find out about this place is through Dan Brown's Inferno. It makes me curious about how we put together the parts and pieces of our knowledge - popular literature, high school history classes, signs in museums - and reminds me of how terribly limited my own knowledge is from these sources.

It's hard to stumble upon these things in an American life. You have to want to know, then move from there. A day later, I stumbled into an English language bookstore and took a shot.

Posts from Memory Lane: Some Lessons I've Learned About Self-Image While Drawing

Tuesday, March 26, 2013

These posts were written during the summer while I was in Bangladesh, in preparation for the upcoming academic year. Long story short: when I looked back at the archive, I didn't have the desire or the time to put them up. But now, since I'm coming back to the blog, I decided that some of them aren't half bad. Read on!


My favorite drawing subjects are people. I like to draw faces and bodies; shaded grey pencil drawings surrounded by pen and full colored pencil images in all sorts of poses. Throughout my Basic Drawing class, I focused heavily on drawing different parts of peoples' bodies - legs floating in mid-air or a torso completely detached from its limbs. And if there's one major non-technique related thing I've learned while drawing from life, it is this: it is a combination of what your eyes are seeing and what your mind interprets.

That is a highly critical point. It means that, no matter how much I try to draw "objectively," I will still carry with me all the interpretations/biases that I have when doing anything else. And that includes body image perceptions.

When I Can't Write, I Draw

Friday, December 28, 2012

Working on some new visual material.


I have a cinematic brain - as I write, I'll see snippets of scenes and hear the dialogue. And when I can't pick out just the right words, it flows out in other ways.


For some things, I can't really imagine it any other way.

Art for Art's Sake

Wednesday, September 28, 2011

I've been thinking about the distinction between working art and art that is just for its own sake. I make art of both types, and often the line between the two is faded and blurred (pardon the pun).


For instance, this drawn collage of my left hand (hand-lage!) was created for its own sake. I wanted to draw hands, so I did. But functioning art, such as zines about a specific topic or an informative video piece, carry both entertainment and a purpose beyond being interpreted by the viewer.

But who determines that a piece has this special meaning? Does it have to be a direct one? These questions I have yet to answer for myself - what are your thoughts?

Take a look at some of the different types of art I myself create, such as my DIY collage, photographs, and Creative Every Day project roundup.

CED Round-Up: Run Ragged

Thursday, July 21, 2011


This and last week, I experienced a meteoric slow down in my novel-writing experiences. This was informed, in part, by the increase in busy experiences that were required of me at my job. Last week, we canvassed the neighborhoods Wednesday night, hosted a fancy fundraiser at the Chihuly Boathouse in the evening, and journeyed to Yakima on Sunday. All of these experiences were undeniably fun, but they did take away from the two things a novelist needs in abundance: energy and time.

Basically, lacking those two things, I had a brain explosion.

So this week, I will show you some of the doodles I'm doing in recovery from that explosion and hopefully next week I will have more to say about my noveling progress.

(by the way, I am at 20,000 words when I should be at 32,000 by now - there's still time yet, however!)

Check out some of my stories and advice for writers while I get back my own novel chops.

CED Round-Up: Summer Writing Camp

Thursday, July 7, 2011

This week was all about writing and on-site photography. This week I began writing a novel for Camp National Novel Writing Month, the summer version of November's amazing race to 50,000 words. It is totally nerve-wracking, but what makes it even scarier is that Camp NaNoWriMo goes on for two months! That means that I'll be writing 100,000 words over the course of two months, and I hope to do it all for the same story, so that in and of itself is absolutely terrifying. But I really want to top myself out this summer, so I am going for it. As a result, however, I have suspended work on my serial fiction The Observer until further notice. In the meantime, enjoy the miniature updates about my novel coming at you in the CED posts!
On the other side of things, I got to attend some stellar events this week - namely, Seattle Zombie Walk and the 4th of July at Gasworks Park! Pictures abound.


This is my poor attempt at being a menacing zombie for Seattle Zombie Walk.

Like The Cowation on Facebook to see more of the pics!

CED Round-Up: Bones, Cyborgs and Flowers

Thursday, June 16, 2011

This week, I introduced a new artistic medium and harkened back to the old as well. Below, you'll find examples of my coding efforts, my writing, drawing in two ways, and my severe need to move my hands while watching TV. Enjoy!


Creative Every Day (CED) Roundup

Thursday, May 26, 2011

After listening to this great presentation by Nick Campbell on the "creative gap," I have decided to take one of his main points to heart and start creating a short project everyday. So, as of this Monday, I have been creating new work by the bucketloads (or, at least, once a day, everyday), and would love to share it! I hereby deem Thursdays as my new roundup day for all the creative things I've done for the week.

 Monday's project was to use a pen and grease pencil to create a drawing. This is what came out of it! Also, the weird lens flare was my camera having an awkward flash moment...

"Taligunge watched the man sift through the drawer; his hands lingered over bits of cloth, pieces of paper, all the little odds and ends she had collected from surveying at different meet ups and gatherings. His fingers on her possessions made a spark jump inside her."

Tuesday, I wrote about 250 words of my first serial fiction experiment. This is a teaser sentence from it, so expect more of the story on the blog in weeks to come!

Wednesday I decided to start using the mannequin I bought to do some creative Photoshop work. This is a work in progress cartoon figure that hopefully will be starring in some later work.


Interested in other creative projects I've done? Check out the DIY Interlude series to see both tutorials and works in progress, or my Project by Project series to see the final results.

Breaking New Work: Draw-a-Thon Recap

Thursday, April 14, 2011

Oh my, this week has been photo-heavy! Below are two views of the final drawing that I did during the 5 hour Draw-a-thon last weekend. I felt like the first four hours were really a warm-up, consisting of shorter poses and some medium length ones. I am notorious, however, for not being able to adapt myself to very short poses - I need to work on that! So, when the final hour-long post came up, this is what I produced.
As for the Draw-a-thon itself, it was a really great experience! I drank more soda than I have in quite some time that day (perhaps an attempt to stay awake, perhaps because I am a sugar-fiend sometimes). I also decided to take off my headphones and come into the "real" world, which was great because they had a pretty awesome playlist for this shindig. I always enjoy going to Friday Night and Saturday Morning Sketch, but I think this one really fostered a lot of camaraderie between us artists because it was so long. Anyway, enjoy the pictures and check out the rest of my photographic journeys with DIY Interlude and Project x Project this week!


Check out some more of my drawings and photography.

Gearing Up for a Draw-a-thon!

Friday, April 8, 2011

Tonight I am on a mission to draw like I have never drawn... since last semester! The Columbia Artist's Society is having their end-of-the-year Draw-a-thon starting in just a few minutes; that means a five hour figure drawing bonanza like you've never seen before. That also means, unfortunately, I will not be putting up my regular Caught My Eye post tonight. Never fear, however, because I will get it out tomorrow afternoon. "See" you all then!

Check out some of my drawings, including one from this Draw-a-thon!
You can also see some of my photography.

Project x Project: Drawing as Stress Relief

Tuesday, March 1, 2011



As all college students know, you can get in over your head pretty easily with the reading, essays, and exams required of you in your collegiate life. And sometimes you need a break.
Crashing for a couple extra hours doesn't usually fit into my schedule, so to take time off yesterday, I zoned out and used a different part of my brain to draw the pictures above. I have been working a lot on shading and trying to figure out the "appropriate" uses for colored pencils - I'm still not quite comfortable with them, but they're getting easier!
I eventually want to take more drawing classes and use them as an outlet for the rest of my intense work schedule - for now, it's just a nice mini-project to be done in my break time.
How do you relieve stress? And what do you do in your "down time" usually? Let me know!


(by the way, late post tonight, so sorry if they all smoosh into one this week!)

Take a look at some other drawings that I've done.

Project x Project: Skirts and Artwork

Tuesday, December 14, 2010

I am working now on my second mysterious knitting project - a teal wool pleated skirt (pattern courtesy of Knitty). I won't show you a picture of it just yet, but I am about halfway done with that and I am working towards the finish line hopefully before I leave the country - and my knitting needles - behind.
I have also made the decision to launch my Etsy shop once I have returned to campus in January because I don't believe it would be possible to sell my things from Bangladesh. In the meantime, I'll be working on some new pieces for it, which is really exciting!
In the meantime, enjoy a new drawing that I made to celebrate the end of classes and tie a lot of my photographs together:
(click to see it better)

And, as for goals for the winter break and the future, I really want to learn some cooking and hand sewing. I know the simple work of both of them, but it will take some dedication to get me past just repairing a hole or cooking a very simple curry. Wish me luck!

See the finished skirt project!
And check out some more drawings and art that I have created.

Project Check-In: Great Success!

Saturday, December 4, 2010

(click for a larger version!)

There's nothing like completing something to make a week complete, and this week resembled a stress ball like no other, let me tell you.
I made good on four claims this week: finishing Phase 1 of Etsy preparation, making a micro-mini zine, emailing the zinesters that I have admired from afar in my zine assistant job, and (the biggest one) finishing my life-size final drawing project.
The final product, pictured above, is probably one of the hardest and most stressful projects I have worked on in a very long time. It is 4 ft x 9 ft in size and, although I could have done a traditional life-size version of me, I decided to go abstract and multi-media on the assignment. Thus, it is a mixture of ink and brush, pencil, and pen drawing. Although I "started" by making outlines and studies before Thanksgiving break, this project boiled down to me doing a little work here and there in class and then spending my Saturday from 10am to 5pm (7 hours) in the studio to finish it up. Just like my NaNo novel, it ended up with me as a crazy marathon artist plunging into the depths of prolonged creativity.
This week was a great success on many fronts, but I think the best one is that I found that I could beat stress by confronting it head on and pummel at least some of it into the dust. While I still have papers and other work to do, I allowed myself this week to give into the temptation of working on other projects and finally finishing up a grand one. Let's hope next week goes just as well!

(click again!)

Check out more of my creative projects in my Project x Project series.

Art Crash!

Sunday, September 19, 2010


Sometimes, when you work on a project for too long, it starts to look like a mass of craziness. You heave an internal sigh whenever you look at the thing and hope to God that it passes for something not hideous. That, my friends, is what happened to me with my negative space note card project.
Negative space, defined to us Basic Drawing students as "the spaces around an object," is hard to see if you're not looking for it. Shown above in its final form, the assignment was to isolate negative space, draw 100 note cards of it, and then paint in a colored ink around the negative space you drew. But, in this pursuit of exalting negative space, many mishaps may arise.
The first one was that we were supposed to isolate negative space rather than draw the entire area around an object; that means that what you get are non-distinct shapes rather than something that looks like, say, a necklace or something. I had already finished 10 note cards by the time I knew this.
My second mistake was underestimating the drawing time it takes to make 100 cards. I spent a 2 hours during the week and 5 hours at the Met on Saturday working on drawing those cards - it catches up with you if you don't plan ahead!
Finally, my third mistake was thinking that taping and painting was going to be the quickest part. While it took 3 hours less time than drawing the cards, a few issues arose. I couldn't get the studio door lock to open. My tape ran out. I didn't bring any music. My brush skills make me cringe... but, after 4 hours in the studio, this piece was finished.
Looking at it now, I think the whole looks much better than the sum of its parts. It is a work of art when looked at not as a laborious process of 11 total man hours, but as a piece that I myself made from start to finish. Overall, I am glad that all the individual mistakes did not hinder this project's outcome - but I am mostly glad that it is now finished for good!

Take a look at further art and drawings that I have created.