I tried making crocodiles cute and I tried to make them scary, I tried to make them thoughtful and humorous - but they turned out to be what they wanted and only a handful of these I like:
Sketching, Illustration, Design and Everyday Life.
Copyright by © Nina Khashchina except where noted.
House with the roses
This house was not the one I planned to paint. The wind and bright sun were driving me mad. And roses proved to be as hard to paint as I remember. But I enjoyed this outing with my almost empty gouache palette and a wonderful, inspiring company very much!
Daily reports in the form of the portraits - war in Ukraine. April 23, 24. 2022
Kharkiv is being shelled every day by russian army since February 24, 2022.
April 23, 2022, Day 59.
On this day, we talk about colors a lot. Mom remembers watercolors that my grandpa was sending as a very special gift to his uncle, we talk about the names and chemical sources and formulas of different colors. Both of my parents are chemists (Dad is physical chemist, Mom biochemist) and they talk about chemical reactions, old chemical labs that they had a chance to work, how some of the experiments they did early in their careers would not be allowed now. But somehow it all goes back to colors again.
April 24, 2022, Day 60.
April 24 marks two months since the world turned upside down for many millions of people. Two months of daily shelling of Kharkiv. My parents are doing ok. It is relatively quiet where they are now, they can go outside without being afraid of russian artillery. They are still having hard time sleeping through the night and are constantly worried for the remainder of the family in Kharkiv. And friends, of course. And neighbors. And about their grandson in the army. About all the family and friends that are now displaced. Today is a Greek Orthodox Easter, my parents are atheists, but we always enjoyed the holiday: the communal cooking and eating, candles, traditional painting of the eggs. My parents made pancakes with the apples that volunteers brought a couple of days ago, and their neighbors invited them to an Easter feast.
On My Table: End of April 2022.
On the last day of April, I finished another sketchbook. And these were things on my table. Favorite fountain pen with the beautiful brown ink, lovely color pencils (super expensive but oh so lovely to draw with), gouache, moomins, and remains of another animal illustration.
Daily reports in the form of the portraits - war in Ukraine. April 20, 21, 22. 2022
Kharkiv is being shelled every day by russian army since February 24, 2022.
April 20, 2022, Day 56.
There is a black cat that is now visiting my parents daily. They say that the cat has too much of an attitude. He sprayed the door repeatedly and stole food from the dog. They sang me some songs from my childhood and taught me some new Ukrainian words. Mom repaired some clothing - so the day counted as productive.
April 21, 2022, Day 57.
Many hard things were discussed, and the mood was strange. My mom said that the weather wasn't so bad as the clouds were higher than yesterday. To which my Dad replied - it was only in your eyes that they were higher. But they got some fresh bread which was very tasty (they both are bread connoisseurs and eat it with everything - including pasta). And some cheese and even some oranges - and it was a good mood adjuster for them.
April 22, 2022, Day 58.
On this day conversation turned many times to their home. They miss it a lot. Little things just slip through in the conversation. They tell me that they made a cabbage soup - vegetarian. And then - "to fight the vegetarianism", they opened a can of patte. War is weighing them down a lot on this day but Mom found the very first grape snail and one of the trees started to bloom - so overall there are many things to be grateful for.
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