15 Illustrations: Christmas at Bass Pro

Posted on April 22, 2017 by lksukany

I am working with Inktense pencils, Micron ink pens, and Canson Illustration 11×14″ 150lb art pad to create 15 illustrations (that is how many pieces of paper are in the art pad) of my current family life and inspirations.

This work is narrative in content and uses color in a monochromatic way accentuating one part of each drawing. These fun and quirky illustrations are a reflection of the current joy and activities I have been experiencing.

“Christmas at Bass Pro” was a memorable time to say the least. It was E’s first carousel ride, first time meeting Santa (which seemed to be more of a traumatic experience than of joy), and first time watching an automatic train set. There was also a very large Christmas tree, which is featured in the drawing and inspired the use of Inktense pencil Leaf Green for the color.

My favorite things about this drawing are the “Santa’s elf” photographer, Santa’s little log cabin set up, and my friend Stashia and her daughter Avi meeting Santa,

the line of families to meet Santa, our family portrait, and our fun patterned pants (I wish we had this many patterned clothes in our real wardrobe),

all of the over-the-top Christmas decorations, the presents under the tree (with the fun wrapping paper patterns), the Christmas trees, and it wouldn’t be a Bass Pro Christmas celebration without the taxidermy reindeer ya’ll.

Inspiration for this drawing

15 Illustrations: First Birthday Buzz

Posted on January 4, 2017 by lksukany

“First Birthday Buzz” was the big first birthday milestone for our daughter. We invited a big group of family and friends for an outdoor party. It was in early October and warm out with a cool breeze – perfect light sweater weather. We had a chili lunch aka “frito pie”, cake, singing, and presents in a short but very sweet hour. I used Inktense Ink Block Mustard because M said it would look the best and I wanted something bright and happy.

firstbirthdaybuzz

My favorite details of this drawing are the birthday singing group and all of their clothing patterns and styles, the little girl holding the balloon with the birthday hat bee stinger,

the decorated cake table,

the fun party pendant, garlands, and decorations, (the garland was also in “Key of G” Drawing”)

the fun family closeups,

and the table cloth pattern.

Inspirations for this drawing – these amazing photos were taken by Nikki fromNikki&Paul Photo/Film.

15 Illustrations: Finding Nemo with Friends

Posted on December 10, 2016 by lksukany

“Finding Nemo with Friends” features some of our friends from Arkansas (and Romania). Our friend Nana and her three kids were so amazing to help me navigate the land of having a kid. We were invited over – an open invitation – for whenever we wanted. Nana’s husband put together a “Finding Nemo” fishtank and E loved watching the fish. I used Inktense pencil Iris Blue for the color and used it on the water in the fish tank, the sky in the Romania painting, and placed a wave pattern on the rug.

Some of my favorite things about this drawing are Nana’s daughter reading to E,

Nana’s son playing cars,

Nana’s dog (and Ein’s friend Jack) watching W play with his cars,

Nana’s oldest daughter reading a good book,

the fireplace,

the painting of Romania that Nana commissioned for Livada orphan sponsorship,

the awesome “Finding Nemo” fish tank,

the fun wallpaper pattern,

and the waves in the carpet, which I put to not only use the color in an interesting way, but to show that our short time together (before we moved to Springfield) was in some ways metaphorically like the “Finding Nemo” dentist fish tank scene.

Inspirations for this drawing:

15 Illustrations: The Damsels in Distress Cakewalk

Posted on November 27, 2016 by lksukany

“The Damsels in Distress Cakewalk” is a piece based on an event that happened a couple of months ago. Our friend Mr. C invited us – The Damsels in Distress – to be one of the opening bands for Chris Staples who was stopping through Springfield on his “Golden Age” album release tour on a Monday evening Labor Day.

We were sitting in the kitchen and talking about what our set list would be when M asked me, “what would get you out on a Monday night to see a band play?” I immediately said that I would go somewhere if there was free food and if there was a chance for me to win a prize. And then I said, “like a cakewalk.” Then we both looked at each other and nodded vigorously. We would do a cakewalk! So, I made up some flyers.

We taped numbers on the floor and had a volunteer roll dice after each song. Whoever was standing on the number that was rolled won a cake from HyVee or coffee from the Coffee Ethic or the Mudhouse. It was a fun time. I drew this picture of what it looked like when I imagined it, and used Inktense pencils Iris Blue and Mauve blended together.

Some of my favorite parts of this drawing are the people walking in a circle,

this guy’s stubble and this girl’s crown,

this girl’s braids, this guy’s party blower, and this girl’s Lularoe bicycle dress,

The Damsels in Distress playing the guitar and accordion,

our baby and friend who carried her during our show (thanks Gallery Gal!),

the fun party decorations,

and all of the delicious looking cakes!

15 Illustrations: Family Time in Bed

Posted on May 16, 2016 by lksukany

I received some art supplies at Christmas this year – a Canson 11×14″ Illustration art pad 150lb with 15 sheets – and a set of prismacolor ink pens size .005, .01, .03, .05, and .08. This series is inspired by my family and all of the fun and interesting things we do together.

“Family Time” portrays a family get together in a big bed (the family dog being beside and not on the bed) with an inktense pencil sun yellow patterned wall in the background. I thought it would be fun to add one color (monochrome element) to this series using a different color for each piece. The coolest thing about this series is that I can work as little as 15 minutes a day and see quite a bit of progress. I mostly work on these while E.K. sleeps.