Sketching, Illustration, Design and Everyday Life.
Copyright by © Nina Khashchina except where noted.
Quieter October Vibes
Compared to last week outings, this week there was rain and much to do, so no outings to enjoy pumpkins on lawns or crazy Halloween decorations - but some quiet joy from the very first persimmon of the season and very nice chrysanthemums my little garden produced.
Drawing October Vibes
October here, and in California we have bright blue skies and very orange pumpkins everywhere - which means that my two favorite colors are on display, so I try to maximize my sketching outings before the rain comes (we need it!). Oh - and Halloween decorations are everywhere too :) 
Big Refill Part II
I recently did some maintenance work on my tools (big refill I including), but my collection of waterbrushes and all sorts of refillable brushpens was not part of that maintenance work. However, this week I got my inks and liquid watercolors out and enjoyed pure refills and some custom mixes!
Loss is Hard
I lost a tree. In a sense, I never had it - it was not mine. But it was part of my life - it told me about upcoming changes of seasons way in advance. It danced when the weather changed. It hosted a variety of birds and often one very loud murder of crows. It changed the shape of my sky. It was a large European Ash tree (Fraxinus excelsior).
Even if you know it is coming, loss is hard. Even if you think there is nothing you could have done, it is hard. Or if you have a list of things you think you might have done differently. I still want more time with it. It is a natural way of things. Birds are circling in search of a familiar perch. And I keep checking the spot.
Drawing helped. Walking helped. Remembering how Amy Stewart documented her loss in a "requiem for a tree" helped. People helped, of course. Earplugs helped. Remembering and visiting other trees too.
Drawing Bikes with Kids!
Another year - another opportunity to draw bikes with kids at a local event promoting biking to school and work. This year we had a heat wave and, understandably, fewer visitors. But it was a blast nonetheless!
I planned to bring lots of brushes and paint instead of drawing but did not have a way to bring it all and instead brought acrylic markers - I thought they would be a big hit - but kids cared only about colors and not what tool they were using! I hope to learn from them :)
This year's favorite/new/surprising expressions are:
- Strawberry is riding my bike! Wait - where do I sit?
- My bike has polka dots instead of spokes!
- And mine has hearts instead of spokes - this is the most heart bike ever!
- I know how to bike and make matcha. I also just started kindergarten - I will know more soon.
- I am drawing a city where I am riding - and need to add cameras - many cameras.
- This is me, and this is my mom - riding a bike together. She does not know how to ride a bike, but we are going for matcha ice cream - this is a drawing of our dream.
- No! My bike does not need a helmet! But I do.
Bell Peppers!
Farmer's Market bounty: bell peppers of all sorts in markers, watercolor and gouache, not to mention a mix between all of this and printmaking and collage!
A Vase and Some Dry Grass Collected on my Walks
I made this vase but did not draw it for some time since I was trying to find a good branch to put in it. But none worked. Leaves were not working either. But with time, some unknown grasses and remnants of sweet alyssum (Lobularia maritima), which I am trying to cultivate, made a somewhat working collection.
Drawing Trash Bins and Back Alleys with Friends
Back alleys were on my list for some time, but there was always something blooming or an event happening or a new building there or an interesting tree here. But this time I got my wish - a whole morning of drawing trash bins behind the actual businesses! A joyful way to spend time with friends - thank you for joining me, Suhita and Uma! Below are my sketches and process photos.
A Question About Changing Mind and a Mess of a Sketch of an Oak
I often wonder what makes me change my mind about a drawing. I liked it on location (see photo). I really did not like it later to such a degree that I tried to fix it. I did not like the results so much that I spent quite some time writing about all kinds of things about this sketch. And now I am kind of liking it. I know that changing your mind about work as time passes is a common situation - do you know why it happens to you? Click on the image to see my comments and questions. 
On My Table: Beginning of October 2026
October 2026:
I find myself using a lot of bullet-nib Stabilo 68 markers - they are not waterproof, but there is something about the quality of line and transparency of colors that gives me a chance to find shapes by movement instead of precision.
I made some very pink things recently - I will share them soon - but pink inks and watercolors are still on my desk.
My gouache and watercolor sets need a thorough clean-up and top-off, but I was able to draw with them later that week still!
I am trying to bring fewer art supplies with me to sketching outings - so instead of taking "all that was in the bag plus all from the table", I picked a small number of things and put them in this orange bag with pockets. It worked once, but on the next day the bag was so full I was having a hard time fitting it in my backpack. Should I get a bigger backpack? lol I know the answer and am getting my "core tools" sorted out to get to my goal of not looking like a walking art store.
I am working on some new pottery pieces and new projects - sketches all over the table.
Drawing With Friends in San Jose
When a sketching friend is in town, it is always a reason to get together with even more sketching friends and have a little sketching party! This time, a long-time reader of this blog, a art friend of many years, an unstoppable daily sketcher, pencil-connoisseur, art supplies conversation companion, and a Mazda Miata aficionado, Tina Koyama from Seattle (known on instagram as miatagrrl, was in the Bay Area! And we got to sketch, talk art supplies, all the urban sketching news, and try (first time for me) a bunch of sweets. It was such a great get-together!! Thank you, Tina, and I hope you will visit us again - I promise I know more wild power lines for us to draw!
Click on the image to read all the conversation bits I recorded.
Thank you Suhita Shirodkar and Uma Kelkar for the wonderful company, laughs and sweets!
My New Ceramics Adventures: Glaze Drip!
Two recent glazing experiments turned out very pretty (I am a human with a soft spot for everything blue :) but this glaze is runny (meaning when it is going through high-temperature firing in a kiln it becomes more viscous than other glazes and might drip. And that is exactly what happened to my two vases! But since it was minimal, I consulted with my pottery team, donned safety glasses and a particle mask, and picked up a Dremel tool. Now I thought that dremel was a tool - like a hammer or pliers. But it is a Xerox! (meaning Dremel is a company name - one of the manufacturers of compact rotary tools!)
And in just a few minutes I got sharp edges sanded down and vases suitable for drawing, filling with flowers and sticks, and gifting :)
Tomatoes With Stories!
My local farmer's market has several vegetable stands that sell tomatoes that are very tasty. Some of the stands also sell tomatoes that are worth drawing. These two circles do not overlap completely, but recently a new entry into my Venn diagram materialized! An unexplored stand appeared on the corner of the market and immediately caught my attention: their tomatoes had stories! And people were very much interested in reading all about what taste to expect, pairings that would work best, and such.
Somehow, after a couple of weeks, the stall disappeared - but I got some interesting tomatoes to try! Which reminded me that I have a family member who is cultivating tomatoes - even during war - in Kharkiv Ukraine - perhaps one day I get to draw all her amazing tomatoes!
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