Paintings & Drawings by Yasemin

Happy New Year!

2012-01-01T13:13:00.001+02:00

From rainy Istanbul, wishing you all a happy new year!

Story time

2011-11-13T12:29:00.001+02:00

WC, 25x17,5 cm

My dad and I

2011-11-13T12:24:00.003+02:00

WC, 25x15 cm

Grazie per la foto carissimo Luigi :)

2011-11-13T12:22:00.002+02:00

WC, 20x20 cm

Pearl

2011-10-16T17:00:00.004+03:00

A childhood portrait of a friend
WC, 25x35 cm
I hope she likes it :) I did...

This weekend

2011-10-02T15:44:00.006+03:00

After my decision to draw/paint more I've made a tiny sketchbook last week. I've divided a sheet of watercolor paper(70x50 cm) to 16 and binded them. The mission is finishing it with sketching daily till the end of month.

for reference photo

I think the size is a little bit too small. But if I can full it this month I'll make a little bigger sketchbook for myself. Don't want to scare myself :)

Do you also scare in front of a blank paper with a pen or brush in your hand?

Last weekend

2011-10-02T15:32:00.008+03:00

I don't draw or paint for a long time. And I feel guilty for that everyday. Last weekend I decided to fill an old sketchbook that I've made a long time ago. The paper was canson I think and got oily somehow and didn't keep paint well. But I wasn't up to create masterpieces. My motto was "sketch everything you see and draw/paint something!!". Here are results...

Holiday sketches

2011-10-02T15:27:00.007+03:00

I know they are not great but here are some holiday sketches that I made in late june.

Portrait of a friend

2011-06-19T14:59:00.002+03:00

WC, 30x23 cm

Portraits...

2011-03-27T14:56:00.007+02:00

I didn't paint or draw for a while. But finally I'm back :) All of these are app. A4 size and made with pencil+watercolor...

Have a nice sunday!

Leonardo ATCs

2011-03-27T14:52:00.002+02:00

I've read a book on Leonardo da Vinci by Michael White. And with this influence I made these ATCs. They're made with tea, coffee and stabilo pen...

Beautiful

2010-11-07T19:49:00.002+02:00

She comes when you google the word "beautiful"...

WC and WC pencil, 35x25 cm

random image from internet

New member in the family :)

2010-10-31T12:52:00.008+02:00

It has been almost a month now. He is doing great with Vito(the dog), but unfortunatelly no progress with Missy(the cat). Any suggestions?

A Turkish painter

2010-10-10T13:02:00.005+03:00

Happines that comes with "The Sun"

The joy of painting, I got it from my dad. He was a good painter in his youth. But sometimes working life lefts no room for anything else, so he put aside his brushes and pens. After his retirement, finally he was able to find time to pour his colourful world on to paper. Lately he is fond of painting portraits of Hollywood celebrities, and friends also.

This summer he drew a charcoal portrait of a beautiful young lady named Güneş (means "the sun"), the niece of our neighbour. The parents of Güneş loved the portrait and thanked a lot. A few days ago my father received a parcel, full of Bütün Dünya Magazines with the potrait on the back cover. What a beautiful surprise! What an elegant way to say "thank you"!

I love you dad, I'm proud of you! And thank you for sharing your talent with me :)

For more of my dad's works:
http://community.how-to-draw-and-paint.com/photo/photo/listForContributor?screenName=3bddp6g10fryz

For Bütün Dünya Magazine:
http://www.butundunya.com/

Have a happy Sunday!

2010-09-26T15:26:00.000+03:00

WC, 30x20 cm

random image from internet

2010-09-26T15:24:00.000+03:00

WC, 30x20 cm
random image from internet

Seascape 2

2010-09-19T16:59:00.000+03:00

WC and white gouache, 30x23 cm
Photo from http://pdphoto.org/

Seascape 1

2010-09-19T16:55:00.001+03:00

WC and white gouache, 30x23 cm
Photo from http://pdphoto.org/

The fisherman at Gümüşlük

2010-09-12T15:28:00.000+03:00

WC, 25x35 cm

Finally!

2010-08-01T17:45:00.002+03:00

Finally I'm satisfied with this portrait. What do you think?
WC, 13x30 cm

Another try...

2010-08-01T14:56:00.003+03:00

After a couple of miserable tries...
I ended with this:
WC, 16x21 cm
...not a good one, but at least more decent :)

My daughter is going to kill me...

2010-07-24T20:13:00.007+03:00

...for posting these. She doesn't like to be paint at all. And after these failures she could kill me. The good thing is she is not following my blog :)

I loved the portrait by David Lobenger, you can see it here, and see the difference between a pro and a so called watercolorist.

At the first try I started all wrong. Too much cool colors and they all turned to mud...

And the result is "The night of the living dead" :P

At the second try it seems like I started OK...

But again a lifeless poor painting. The right eye is so awful. I didn't even bother to put a background color. She looks like a zombie... Where did I go wrong??

Some photos

2010-07-11T16:37:00.019+03:00

And finally here are some photos from an unforgetable holiday:

Karaincir/the scene that I sketched

Bougainvillea from our garden

handmade lanterns at Gümüşlük

colors from Gümüşlük

more Gümüşlük

Gümüşlük again :)

cafe at Gümüşlük

fisherman at Gümüşlük

Karaincir bay

Karaincir

Karaincir again

Gümüşlük/you can see the couple walking to "the rabbit island" at the background

inviting huh? :)

PS. Lee, thank you for your comment. It reminded me to add the following note...

Please feel free to use any of these photos as a reference. Paint, draw, sell as you wish :)

10th day

2010-07-11T15:29:00.003+03:00

a melancholic scene for the last day...

an experiment with acrylics and pastel pencils...

That's all... Right now I'm thinking how will I go to the office and work tomorrow??!! :) Bye!

9th day

2010-07-11T15:22:00.004+03:00

That day we had to hide inside the house because of a strong wind. That way I had the chance to paint more.

from a magazine...

just doodling...

8th day

2010-07-11T15:13:00.004+03:00

Gümüşlük bay... done from a magazine...

That morning we had our breakfast there, in a modest cafe. The little island in the middle is called "rabbit island"; you can walk to this little island through the sea where lots of rabbits live.

boats at Gümüşlük...

7th day

2010-07-11T15:08:00.004+03:00

while sitting at the terrace...

a part of the view from our balcony...

Bodrum Castle... done from a magazine...

6th day

2010-07-11T15:06:00.003+03:00

A shady corner from the garden...

5th day

2010-07-11T15:04:00.002+03:00

Karaincir beach

4th day

2010-07-11T14:15:00.008+03:00

More color...

A humble attempt with pastel pencils...

Bougainvillea. Couldn't find the right color...

Hibiscus

3rd day

2010-07-11T14:11:00.002+03:00

A basket full of color and joy...

Just a simple sketch...

2nd day

2010-07-11T14:03:00.004+03:00

A colorful detail from our garden...

Petunias... I am definetly not a flower painter...

From garden door a beautiful green valley is seen...

1st day

2010-07-11T13:49:00.003+03:00

We arrived Turgut Reis at 10:30 am. After having our breakfast and settling a little bit we went to Karaincir, a beautiful bay on Bodrum peninsula. I made a sketch there later. That day I was able to start to paint late afternoon while having a cold beer in our garden :) And these are our towels resting under the sun to dry...

And a neighbour building, turned to orange with the sunset...
I binded a new book for this trip. Pages are 12,5x17,5 cm.

I'm back!

2010-07-11T12:55:00.004+03:00

Hi friends!

After a long silence finally I'm able to post something.

June passed depressed with work and I couldn't draw/paint anything. I couldn't even write answers to your kind comments to my recent posts. But I surely kept following my favorite blogs and feeling guilty about not being able to have a brush in my hand. Except this simple sketch:

EDIM continues: 27 - Draw a book or anythingelse you want

A friend of mine from the office, went to business trip to Copenhagen and brought us beautiful postcards as souvenir. I choose the one with the photos of the little mermaid on it. What a beautiful and sad story! And what a beautiful statue!

And the second reason for my absence lately: at the 30th of June I ran away to Bodrum for ten days holiday and I'm back this very morning. The only bad part of going on vacation is not being able to take your pets with you I think. I've missed my little ones :) Except this , everything was perfect... the sun, the sea, the food, sleeping, not carrying a watch, throwing away the cell phone, laziness, etc. And drawing of course! I tried to draw/paint everyday. Some of them turned OK, some of them not. But it was great anyway!

I'll be posting my sketches day by day. I would like to know what you think if you find something worth to write about :) Have a great sunday!

Everyday in May-June 26

2010-06-05T10:19:00.003+03:00

26 - Draw anything you like
The eye of Riccardo Scamarcio from the poster of "Mine Vaganti"

Everyday in May-June 25

2010-06-05T10:13:00.004+03:00

25 - Draw a glass
I drew them three...

Everyday in May-June 24

2010-06-05T10:11:00.001+03:00

24 - Draw a piece of fruit
peaches...

Everyday in May-June 22

2010-06-05T10:09:00.001+03:00

22 - Draw a piece of clothing
My humble attempt to paint my jeans...

Everyday in May-June 20

2010-06-05T10:04:00.003+03:00

20 - Draw something "Dad"

always together...

Shame on me!

2010-06-01T20:39:00.003+03:00

I couldn't complete all the challenges on time. The work keeps me busy lately and although I've done a few more challenges I couldn't post them yet. But I didn't give up, I'll continue till the sketch book is full. So you'll see the rest of the list in june.

I congratulate all the participants. I think they did a great job, being creative everyday isn't easy. As far as I can see, they all took it very seriously and produced wonderful and unique art. It was a pleasure being part of this lovely project. I thank you all for your encouraging comments.

Hope to post soon...
Ciao :)

Everyday in May 23

2010-05-26T21:43:00.001+03:00

23 - Draw your foot

Well, I did... :)

Everyday in May 18

2010-05-26T21:40:00.002+03:00

18 - Draw the view from a window of your house...

I'm having a depressive week at the office. Is it too obvious?

So far so good

2010-05-24T20:38:00.005+03:00

WC, 50x30 cm

I came this far this weekend and it seems ok to me. The sky is a little bit too dark. And I'm working region by region, which I don't do that on purpose, it just happens. I had much lighter, more loose "image" in mind, but... We'll see how it will turn out...

Still Water

2010-05-24T20:32:00.002+03:00

WC, 35x25 cm

I've finished this one this weekend. I didn't do much really. A little touch there and here... I added some contrast and for me it's finished.

50mila

2010-05-19T20:15:00.002+03:00

I want to share this song with you. Lately I'm obsessed with it...

It's from the last movie of Ferzan Ozpetek, Mine Vaganti.
by Nina Zilli and Giuliano Palma

Cinque Terre

2010-05-19T18:02:00.008+03:00

This is my latest "big" project: a landscape from Cinque Terre, Italy. It's a little bit complicated; it has everything in it:sky, sea, buildings, people... So much detail! As a matter of fact I'm scared. I'm not sure that I'm capable enough to struggle with this subject. But I'll give it a try anyway. Because I want this painting on my wall and I want to be proud of it :) We'll se...

The source picture is a collage of 3 photos from internet.

Till now I've traced it on the paper and masked some white areas. But I think sooner or later I'll use gouache for whites...

And I've made some close-ups for practice. And I'm not happy with them. They're all messy and lifeless. I'm not sure how to handle with so much detail and texture and color...

At this point I want to ask you a question: do you have an "image" of the finished painting in mind when you are in front of a blank paper? I mean, are you painting to reach a destination image or just improvising? When I look at a reference picture, I generally have an image of the finished painting(I have a photoshop filter in my brain :D). But naturally the final painting becomes something totally different; sometimes good, mostly bad... I'm asking this silly question because I can't imagine the result of this landscape. HELP ME!! :)

Everyday in May 19

2010-05-19T12:25:00.000+03:00

19 - Draw something you've made

my bookbindings...

Everyday in May 17

2010-05-19T12:21:00.002+03:00

17 - Draw a musical instrument

I always liked guitar. At the university I took several lessons but unfortunatelly I have zero talent for music...

Everyday in May 16

2010-05-19T12:17:00.000+03:00

16-Draw a favorite tool
What can I say? I love wine :)

Everyday in May 15

2010-05-15T14:23:00.003+03:00

15 - Draw a tree or trees, leaves or branches

... same tree... from kitchen window this time...

Everyday in May 14

2010-05-15T14:18:00.003+03:00

14 - Draw what you see in the morning when you get up

... a window and branches with fresh leaves... summer is coming at last!

Everyday in May 13

2010-05-15T14:16:00.000+03:00

13 - Draw your telephone

...boring...

Everyday in May 12

2010-05-15T14:12:00.001+03:00

12 - Draw what you ate for dinner

I had some chicken salad that night but I couldn't sketch it (I was hungry). So here are some ingredients of it...

Everyday in May 09

2010-05-15T14:06:00.002+03:00

09 - Draw a bit of "organized chaos" - your messy desk, your table stacked with books, etc.
This is a detail from my book shelves. They were "organized" a while ago :)

Everyday in May 11

2010-05-11T22:15:00.000+03:00

11 - Draw your glasses or sunglasses

just a quick sketch...

Everyday in May 10

2010-05-10T21:21:00.003+03:00

10-Draw your hand

I skipped the 9th challenge, "Draw a bit of “organized chaos” - your messy desk, your table stacked with books, etc.". When I have enough courage and time to draw my book shelves, I'll give it a try :)

Everyday in May 08

2010-05-08T17:13:00.002+03:00

08 - Draw your watch or other piece of jewelry
I don't use watch :)

Everyday in May 07

2010-05-08T17:11:00.003+03:00

07 - Draw a bottle, jar or tin from the kitchen
Just an ordinary olive oil bottle...

Everyday in May 06

2010-05-08T16:58:00.004+03:00

06 - Draw your favorite well-loved object … or a childhood toy

I'm not obsessed with objects, so this challenge was hard for me, not to draw but to find something suitable for the subject. After some come and goes I've decided to draw my bicycle. An old friend and a good subject...

Everyday in May 05

2010-05-06T07:05:00.002+03:00

05-Draw your bed

I couldn't post this last night but I did my homework :)

Everyday in May 04

2010-05-04T21:50:00.003+03:00

04-Draw your cup or mug

I'm definitely a "tea-person". And I like to see the beautiful color and transparency of it. For this reason I prefer glass. This cup looks too ordinary but I like it. It is comfortable to hold, big enough and tranparent! :)

Everyday in May 03

2010-05-03T21:27:00.002+03:00

03-Draw a bag

Everyday in May 02

2010-05-02T18:34:00.002+03:00

02-Draw a lamp

This is my daughter's old lamp. She's a teenage now and didn't want a childish lamp like this. So we've changed it a few months ago. Contrary to my girl I still like it...

Everyday in May 01

2010-05-02T18:04:00.005+03:00

I couldn't draw or paint lately... because of work, because of laziness. To force myself to be more creative I'm trying something new: Everyday in May Challenge. Means I'll be drawing something everyday in this month(list is here) and hopefully will continue other months as well.

My handmade "Everyday in May" sketchbook :)

And my first daily challenge: a shoe...

Critical Mass

2010-04-25T09:34:00.017+03:00

Yesterday we've celebrated 1st anniversary of critical mass here in Istanbul. It was AWESOME! We were more than 200 and acted like a giant fish flock. Of course it was an unpleasent day for people who sits in their cars but we got the support of pedestrians. We had young participants too, even babies sitting back of their parents. It was a wonderful day :) I love my bicycle...

What is critical mass? Wikipedia says:
Critical Mass is a bicycling event typically held on the last Friday of every month in over 300 cities around the world. While the ride was originally founded in 1992 in San Francisco with the idea of drawing attention to how unfriendly the city was to cyclists, the leaderless structure of Critical Mass makes it impossible to assign it any one specific goal. In fact, the purpose of Critical Mass is not formalized beyond the direct action of meeting at a set location and time and traveling as a group through city or town streets on bikes.

Here is the facebook page(although I'm not a facebook fan):
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=89351698456&ref=ts

Original Video - More videos at TinyPic

More bookbinding

2010-04-23T16:19:00.005+03:00

They're getting better :)

Bookbinding

2010-04-18T13:40:00.008+03:00

Lately I'm obbessed with bookbinding. As I'm working in an architectural office we use tones of paper. Of course we recycle waste paper but lots of them blank and I thought they can be recycled in a creative way :) So I started to search about bookbinding on internet. I found lots of blogs and tutorials etc. These are my first tiny tries:

The first one is a coptic binding. It's 6cm width and 7cm height. Cute but I failed about the stitches, they're too loose. I'll give it another try...

And this one has 5cm width and 7,5cm height. Looks like a school kid's project but taught me a lot...

So I'm organizing, tearing, sewing, glueing papers whenever I'm free. As a result of this; no watercolor lately :(

Have a great sunday! :)

Marine theme continues...

2010-04-04T17:41:00.002+03:00

A quick study at the office ...

WC, 13x16 cm

Reflections

2010-04-04T17:35:00.004+03:00

After busy weeks at work I've finally found the chance to post something. Although it's not finished yet I'm really happy with this one. It needs more contrast on the boats... Any other suggestions?

Work in progress

2010-03-07T12:40:00.002+02:00

Another quarter sheet... First washes...

Luigi, ti ringrazio per la foto.

My Hong Kong

2010-03-07T12:33:00.007+02:00

WC, 35x25 cm

Finally finished. It's my first serious work after a loooong time. I'm really happy with it :)

You can see early stages below...

Another twenty minute challenge

2010-03-07T12:30:00.001+02:00

WC, 12x18 cm

Work in progress

2010-02-28T17:18:00.003+02:00

35x25 cm

After practicing on teeny tiny papers for months I think it's time to paint something more serious :) Here is my Hong Kong attempt! Surely will be bigger than previous one. Once more I've traced it on the paper but this time, before the first wash, I've used masking fluid for whites. And for the rest... wish me luck :)

Hong Kong

2010-02-28T17:04:00.005+02:00

WC and gouache, 18x12 cm

This is not mine, done by my illustrator friend at the office.

The original image is from a postcard. I liked the bright colors of the busy street and beautiful chinese calligraphy. So I did the pencil work and the first wash. But then realized that it was too dark for the first layer and got frustrated a little bit. So my friend has completed it for me to show me that i mustn't give up on any painting...

Safranbolu Houses

2010-02-28T17:01:00.001+02:00

WC, 23x30 cm

A present for a close friend is completed... at last! They were on my easel for 1,5 years...

Twenty Minute Challenges

2010-02-28T16:54:00.003+02:00

Random images from magazines...

WC, 20x14 cm

WC, 12x15 cm

Recent works

2010-02-28T16:48:00.004+02:00

My PC was at the service so I couldn't post lately. But kept practicing and here is what I've done...

WC, 12x18 cm

WC, 35x25 cm

WC, 18x12 cm

Joseph Zbukvic

2010-02-07T13:27:00.004+02:00

A great watercolor painter.
Here is his site: http://jzbukvic.com/

I've tried one of his paintings. Well... I must study more...

WC, 24x16 cm

Studies

2010-02-07T13:18:00.003+02:00

WC, 24x16 cm

WC, 16x12 cm

Mooo

2010-01-24T15:51:00.002+02:00

WC, 24x16 cm

Studies

2010-01-20T11:41:00.004+02:00

WC, 12x16 cm
WC, 16x12 cm
WC, 16x12 cm

2 unfinished paintings

2010-01-10T10:19:00.007+02:00

Istiklal
WC, 16x24 cm

Eren
WC, 12x16 cm

And, I know I'm a little bit late but...
HAPPY NEW YEAR TO EVERYONE! :)

Watercolor Class

2009-11-21T16:36:00.004+02:00

My new subject is Istanbul... (photo is from a National Geographic calender)

WC, 24x16 cm

WC, 16x12 cm

Watercolor Class

2009-11-21T16:26:00.006+02:00

Yes, we've finally started to study watercolor at the office again. Only 2-3 person unfortunately...

This time we're trying to experiment one subject at a time. The first subject was "rose"...

WC, 24x16 cm

WC, 12x16 cm

WC, 16x12 cm

After a long break...

2009-11-21T16:23:00.003+02:00

... something not very exciting...

WC, 12x16 cm

Ne Mutlu Türküm Diyene!

2009-10-29T12:14:00.004+02:00

Today we're celebrating 86th anniversary of the establishment of the Turkish Republic.
Ne mutlu Türküm diyene!

I'm exhausted

2009-10-25T12:17:00.010+02:00

After 2 months of non-stop working, this weekend, I'm finally at home, resting. Yesterday I was busy with cleaning, washing, etc. But this morning I got up with a smile on my face, knowing that whole day is mine, all mine... I put myself a cup of tea and visited the my favorite watercolor blogs which I couldn't lately, and realized that how much I missed my watercolors and brushes. Hope to have more time to paint from now on.

Have a great lazy sunday! :D

Sorry for my absence...

2009-08-27T23:36:00.000+03:00

...lately.
Hope to get back soon...

Streets of San Fransisco

2009-08-12T07:03:00.002+03:00

WC, 25x17 cm

It has been a long time since my last post. I feel tired lately and I don't want to do anything. But I didn't want to miss the "Different Strokes from Different Folks Challange" of Karin Jurick's... So here is my attempt. I hope I wasn't late...

DSFDF

2009-07-26T12:46:00.004+03:00

Different Strokes from Different Folks
Week 41&43 Challenge
Charcoal, 28x23 cm

Charcoal, 23x23 cm

Green eyes

2009-07-25T18:27:00.002+03:00

Watercolor, 24x16 cm

This one is my favorite :) She is soooo beautiful that it was a pleasure to paint her...

...

2009-07-25T18:24:00.001+03:00

Watercolor, 24x16 cm

Another failure... Too 2 dimensional... I must add more contrast to this little girl...

Another green study

2009-07-25T18:22:00.001+03:00

Watercolor, 24x16 cm

I'm not very happy with this one. It's so 2 dimensional. No values...

Bodrum castle...

2009-07-25T18:20:00.001+03:00

...with boats
Watercolor, 16x24 cm

Study of greens

2009-07-25T18:19:00.002+03:00

Watercolor, 24x16 cm

Serenity

2009-07-25T18:16:00.001+03:00

Bodrum House
Watercolor, 16x24 cm

I'm back...

2009-07-25T17:54:00.002+03:00

Days pass so quickly in holiday. After 4 short days full of sunshine, sea and laziness, I'm here, front of my computer again. I couldn't post earlier because I was too busy with arranging things at home, getting used to work and passing the time with Missy and Vito. I was busy at Bodrum too. Every morning I got up with the sun, enjoyed the serenity of the nature and painted. Here is what I've done...

Taking a break

2009-07-16T22:03:00.002+03:00

After two weeks of non-stop hard working, finally I'll have a break. I'm leaving for Bodrum this weekend... not much, just for 4 days but I'll enjoy every minute of it. I'll swim, sleep, relax... and I hope I will paint and turn with lots of works to blog :)

Thank you for stopping by...

Watercolor Class VIII

2009-07-12T06:03:00.002+03:00

Watercolor, 30x21 cm

Watercolor Class VII

2009-07-12T05:56:00.002+03:00

Watercolor, 24x30 cm