Black and white and everything in between

I'm really sorry for playing possum for such a long while. I've been up to a lot (again - life has a tendency to get in the way, hasn't it?). Like, starting to play roller derby (now that's some huge euphemism - but more on that in a later post, possibly in form of a comic). Or learning how to develop my own negatives and make prints (b/w). I love it (and the chemistry geek in me does so even more)! Here is my very first "handmade" photo:

It kinda feels like a terrible blasphemy to upload a scan of an analog, manually developed photo on my blog...

There are definitely some "errors" and things I'd have done differently that I see now, but on the whole I really like it. This is, by the way, the beautiful owner of a neat little Berlin based shop called Lashopp (she's still working on her online shop I believe, but there's also some stuff on her dawanda, if you're interested).

Also, my beloved favorite sister sweetheart sent me a real ...err... Japanese ink stone (?? what is the correct name of that stuff?). Here's my first attempt of using it (you may recognize the subject ;) This quick sketch was done earlier already from the first tiny contact print):

I can't seem to get a really dark black from it though. Not sure if I'm even supposed to. Anyone got some experience with this kind of ink?

Dr. Sketchy's "Tiki Session": Part II

Here comes the second half: (as for Mopsy sitting/floating on the left in the first one: I'm obviously really bad at human/chair interactions... need to practice some perspective... and, uh, looking closer? Lalala...)

On a sidenote: that evil Dr. Sketchy's jingle is totally stuck in my head. Help!!

Dr. Sketchy's "Tiki Session"

Today I participated in another Dr. Sketchy's session, this time featuring fabulous Miss Erochica Bamboo and equally fantastic Mopsy Meyers.
Not among my best drawing days I'd say. I wasn't quite happy especially with my results for the first quick poses, but I do like some of the 10 and 15 minute ones (for psychological reasons I'll put one of the nicer ones first, haha!). Here comes the first batch:

Rest of the scans comes tomorrow. Thanks for your patience! ♥

CoE and sketches

I know it's been a long time since my last post. That's usually a good sign (for RL-me - I've been doing lots of stuff: visiting my hometown and seeing family and friends, finding new great friends in Berlin and spending time with them, adopting two cute little rats to save them from going to the shelter, studying Korean, end-of-the-year craziness at work...) but I do miss having time to draw. I guess I need to improve on making priorities...

Here's two quick sketches I did while I was in Graz. I'd really like to make a painting based on the first one...

and a poster based on this:

Tata for now. Hope my next post won't take that long...

Dr. Sketchy's Berlin September 2012: Part II

Here comes the second batch of drawings from my latest Dr. Sketchy's adventure. It's always such a visual overload (definitely the good kind though)! And the poses are mostly rather short. Impossible to catch all the little details of the fantastic costumes (and models)! And that decision: should I hurry and try to bring it all down to paper? Can I afford a second or two of pure visual indulgence? Of course, I could just focus on a smaller area to draw in detail, but then I'm too greedy, I must capture the whole scene (or die trying)...

This was the longest pose (the only one that lasted for 20 minutes) and I think it's my favorite, maybe.

This one was a shorter pose and for the "contest". We had to add some details to show why "those birds were kicked out of paradise" ("birds of paradise" was the theme of this session). I don't like it that much, though.

Yes, there even were soap bubbles! :)

Dr. Sketchy's Berlin September 2012

Oooh! I made it to another session of Dr. Sketchy's! This time featuring the fabulous Roxy Diamond and Marlene von Steenvag. 
I always find the 1-minute-poses at the beginning a little bit stressful, but on the other hand they're a terribly good way to practice letting go of perfectionism... Here's the first batch of my "results". The second half will follow as soon as I get around scanning them (exam stress - oh noes!).

Korrasami farewell

It's time to say good-bye! Well, at least for a while. I need to send my beloveth (but unfortunately critically ill) Wasabi (my Macbook in case you don't know) on travels. To Austria. Without me. And I'm not sure when I will get it back (teh horrorz!!!11!elf!!!). No computer, no blog updates. Please accept this Korrasami fanart as a temporary farewell gift:

Hope to see you soon! ♥

First round

I ran my first round of training yesterday evening. If you think nothing can go wrong during a (supposedly) 20 minute round - stand corrected.
I'm not proud to say this but these stories are 100% true...
(Also: do not draw tiny pictures with a brush.)

Yes, I got lost. I was so excited to get started that I completely forgot to memorize the street where I would have needed to turn right to finish the "round" and get back to my flat.
In my defense: I only recently moved to this area of the city. ^ ^° And the streets in between all those concrete slabs seriously did all have the same name! I've never seen this before but it seems to be some weird Berlin residential area thing?!

To be continued...

PS: If I'll miss my morning run tomorrow it's because I stayed up till now drawing this comic.

Nighttime TV doodling

I'm really no good at multitasking in general but I can't watch TV shows without doodling around. These were done during some episodes of Big Bang Theory.

Quick life sketches with the help of Posemaniacs:

The yummy licorice liquor on our table:

Two girls and a cat.

Silly doodles... (Moleskine sketchbooks and watercolor - ackh!)

Kerala, Karnataka and a few days in Mumbai

These are already the last three pages of my India travel journal (I think I already mentioned I got a bit lazy towards the end of my travels...).
More or less coincidentally, I ended up spending two weeks in Amma's ashram in Kerala (and joining her on her Kerala/Karnataka tour afterwards), mainly digging through trash ("recycling center work") and doing other kinds of Seva. And, of course, being hugged.


I wouldn't be a proper tourist if I hadn't been in Hampi. Definitely one of my (approximately fiftyeight) very favorite places (and surprisingly calm off-season). Also featuring: the first temple elephant I've seen which seems to have a reasonably happy life, at least every morning when she gets to enjoy a bath in the river, being scrubbed for hours all over her body, while everyone else in the village is washing their clothes and themselves just next to her (again: huge-sketching-audience alarm! ;D ).


Too busy with finding the best lonely beaches, sipping fresh sugarcane juice, and throwing myself into gigantic waves in Gokarna, the next and last sketch is already from Mumbai, where I also got to see my friend Vineet (I first met him via an IAESTE internship in Scotland four years ago). After all that travelling in the South, trying to stick to smaller places, Mumbai felt as if I had already left India (at least around Colaba/"downtown"). A huge metropolis, full of hip students and business men which made me feel tremendously underdressed in my stained Ali-Baba-pants* and washed-out T-shirt...

* Incredibly comfortable! So loose that it feels like running around naked but actually long and "safe" (elastic bands under the knees). I shudder to think about wearing tight jeans ever again (at least during the summer I can escape wearing dresses and skirts...).

DIY without tigers

In Tamil Nadu, there is a (famous) temple for every element - in Chidambaram for akasha (ether). So, the central enclosure holds.... nothing. Err. The invisible akasha lingam.


Since I was too lazy busy to draw in Kumbakonam and Rameshwaram (and again, Madurai...), the next sketch is already from Kumily where I took a room in a lovely homestay called Blue Mangoes (don't ask - the mangoes in front of my window at least were green). Lots of spices, lots of tea and lots of essential oils. I visited a plantation and got to see and taste and smell all sorts of spices. It was funny to see i.e. cloves grow on a tree. I'd just never really thought of them coming from anywhere but a little plastic bag in the supermarket.


Oh, another favorite, definitely: bamboo rafting (and hiking) trip in Periyar Tiger Reserve! I didn't spot any tigers unfortunately, but lots of elephants with their babies, boars, bisons, butterflies, monkeys (OK, they're everywhere), birds, snakes, and "jungle chicken"...


My DIY incense cone kit. It took me a while to figure out that there's a plastic cone mold buried in the powder. Messy fun (better turn off the fan while doing this!), a little bit like sand castle building.

Stone breasts, peacocks and crocodiles

A sketch from Trichy/Srirangam (most of the stone goddesses look as if the sculptors back then had been taught using hentai mangas as anatomy books...).


Now, to all the people who keep telling me I shouldn't be shy about sketching in public because "realistically speaking, nobody is interested what you're drawing anyway". Realistically speaking, whoever says that hasn't ever been in India (sketching, that is). I was drawing this Nandi statue peacefully sitting on the stairs of the temple and within minutes I was surrounded by a huge knot of curious people who didn't only block my view but eventually took my sketchbook, passing it around and asking for my email and complete biography... I was almost thrown out of the temple by a brahmin who thought I was giving autographs (after he understood what was happening, he just chaised away the crowd and told me to continue drawing immediately). However, only a few minutes after he had left, everything started over again... (I took flight and finished the sketch in the evening in my room).


Mamallapuram/Mahabalipuram - very touristy (actually, the first time I saw any tourists other than myself) but stunning (all the rock-cut temples, monolithic monuments and sculptures...) and comfortably small. And not to forget: the SEA!


Probably one of my favorites: a trip to the nearby crocodile bank in Vadanemmeli. They also have lots of turtles and snakes, and you can watch the venom extraction (which they do without harming the snake).

Puris and biscuits

Probably the most popular karma yoga assignment in the ashram: Rolling chapatis (or here: puris).


Alfie, our little sweetheart. He'd kill for a biscuit (or, well, just look at it very longingly until someone shows mercy).


My journey across Tamil Nadu:


First stop: Madurai (where I got myself a sari for undercover missions).

Saris, chapatis and Norwegian singers

There we go, another four.
This shows the awesome woman we met on a walk. It's fascinating what a nice time you can have together without speaking the same language (I must admit my Tamil is... substandard).


In the ashram I met a Norwegian girl who wrote her own songs (the lyrics in the next sketch are totally Christin Larsen's and not mine!). She had the most angelic voice on earth, seriously.


Everytime I look at this one, I feel the urge to apologize. Sorry Shannon and Polina. I didn't mean to...


This lady isn't only a great yoga teacher but also a fantastic ayurvedic cook. I loved the food but I know my(lazy)self too well, so I didn't even try to remember any of the recipes except this one: Chapatis - one of my favorites and simple enough to make it at home (Yes! I swear! I actually already did!).