Karudden's Blog

Painting on cardboard I’m sending as a postcard to a friend (librarian).

I remember when I was working at jobs with the public, having daily interactions with multiple people, like at the drugstore and the independent senior living home, I often thought I should write about and draw some of the interesting characters I met, but I only did that a couple of times. I’m going to make a promise to myself to start carrying a small sketchbook so I can do that when I think of it, even though I’m not out in public regularly anymore, then I can put it down instead of putting it off. Cheers to keeping promises you make to yourself!

This drawing is maybe 20 years old? I found it while trying to make a little progress on my art room space clutter. I like it a lot.

This is an experimental drawing from an intuitive drawing class from a couple years ago. It’s a continuous line drawing, with eyes open, and then we also did them “blind.”

This drawing intrigues me still, every time I find it again in my paper/art piles. It’s at least ten plus years old, and I know I was trying to do something reminiscent of Picasso-style sketches. I don’t know why I don’t date things. (I do occasionally.)

A “mantra for appreciating life’s fleeting phases.” That’s how I feel when the seasons start to change, from Winter to Spring, and Summer to Autumn. I had a loose plan to share pictures of the clutter fest that my art-making space is currently (and has been ever since I removed a table several months ago, which seemed to tail-spin every other area), but I don’t want to do that. It feels pointless unless I have “after” pictures as well, which I don’t. I don’t want to say: “Check out this awful, unwelcoming, constricted space and see how bad it is!” unless I have the happy ending photos to show the results of the makeover.

I’ll do it someday (I say, fully realizing that someday never comes … usually, but hoping it will anyway); for right now, I want to keep my posting commitment, so I am sharing a painting I found in a sketchbook from a few years ago, because I like parts of it very much (the shadow under her chin, her expression, the hand), and that I wasn’t too heavy-handed with the watercolor.

And just for fun, a pretty sunset from a few days ago, because why not.

I was playing with my watercolor on the cardboard and the drips and bleeds of the paint on the surface. Watercolor is interesting to experiment with because you will have a different experience and results depending on the absorbency of the surface, the quality of the paint (and brushes), and, obviously, how much water you use.

I ended up washing off the color experimentation layer and using more earthy tones, cut it down, and turned it into a postcard to send to my friend Katharine. I decided the eyes were lined up strangely, but I didn’t want to paint on it more (though I ended up adding some definition to her left eye), so I collaged over her right eye (but I didn’t snap another photo).

I guess I need to practice WordPress (and watercolor) some more, because I still can’t figure out why I can’t add to or edit a text block I already wrote, once I click out of it. Peace and Love and Cheers to experimentation (and PLAYING!) with paint!

edit to add: I just tried something I hadn’t seen before, opening the code editor version, and adding directly into the html; which is working 🙂

Here is a “try not to pick up your pen” style drawing I added some watercolor to (done on cardboard scrap, obviously), and then I put a note and a stamp on the other side and sent it to my friend, Barb.

I could have added more to it, but I’m glad I stopped and didn’t mess with it to try and add details it doesn’t need. Knowing when to stop is a big part of making art, and it only comes with repeated trial and error and practice and experience.

Let this cat be a lesson to me! Don’t overdo it and stop overthinking it! The more you do, the more natural it starts to feel to know where to put marks on page and when to say, that’s good (enough)!

And let this cat be a lesson to relax and play some calming music, and slow down. Take a mindfulness drawing break where you aren’t trying to do anything but breathe, and follow the lines as they appear.

An old letter I discovered in a box of letters from and to my mom (who passed away in 2007)…I really like the sketch and it coincidentally resembles art teacher Karen A. who has awesome stuff in her Sketchbook Revival retreat online workshops.

Two drawings I made on the front and back of an envelope based on an illustration on an advert card from a 1960’s magazine.

Random sketch from last summer trying to draw a hand, which I used to hate drawing, but have improved at over time.

Here are a few of some of my old, favorite artworks I made. The first one is my old friend and neighbor Laurence, (chalk pastel on paper from a photo), the next is a close-up of an oil painting on canvas I made for a class, the next is an acrylic portrait on paper (from life) of my mom, Donna, and the last one is a self-portrait (I can’t recall or tell if it’s oil or acrylic … on canvas). Peace, Love, and blessings this holiday season, and good luck and wishes to you for the Lunar New Year (beg. Feb. 17, 2026).