A few weeks ago, I painted this abstract painting (thinking of leaves) on a blank watercolor card. I thought it was fitting to post, as I just showed you the blue and green abstract colored pencil drawing I made in my last post.
I have also done another watercolor painting (more in my regular style) in a similar color scheme. I will post it soon.
©2012 Carolyn A Pappas, Blue Green Leaves. Watercolor, 4 x 6 inches on 5 x 7 inch blank greeting card.
My latest colored pencil class was a bit unusual for me, as we worked on abstracts. Although I have made abstract drawings in my sketchbooks before, it’s rare that I have the desire to dabble in them. We started off by sketching in the Contemporary Gallery, featuring the exhibition Carrie Moyer: Interstellar. We were to choose a single painting that inspired us, make notes about our observations and impressions and make a sketch (on the left). The painting I liked most was The Tiger’s Wife.
Back in the studio, we wrote down our observations, exchanged them, and made an abstract drawing based on what we randomly chose. I got the words underwater, seaweed and feminine voluptuous shapes. I didn’t get very far in my drawing because I was trying to build up many layers of saturated color. I chose a color scheme that I’ve been using a lot of lately, partly because I wanted to test out how the colors looked on this orange toned paper.
 ©2012 Carolyn A Pappas, Abstract Sketch. Colored Pencil in sketchbook, 3 x 6 inches. |
 ©2012 Carolyn A Pappas, Blue Green Abstract (unfinished). Colored Pencil on toned paper, 7 x 3.5 inches. |
“right now” staying focused on the present, mindful and in the moment, an image from the week, with no words or a few words, that acknowledges the “right now.” Inspired by Ann.
We worked on still life in my second colored pencil class. As a warmup, when people were still filtering in, the instructor gave us an object in a bag and we were to draw it only by feel (no peeking). I got a pulley and I didn’t recognize what it was, which I think made it more fun. Afterwards, I drew it again while looking (on the right).
We took the rest of the class to draw a still life. We were supposed to concentrate on the plane changes and the instructor wanted us to sketch out our drawing using only straight lines. This is not the way I normally work, so it felt unusual, but I did my best. I was the only person in the class who drew the whole still life instead of just zooming in on one part. I took it as a challenge to try to piece all the elements together. I didn’t have the time to build up a lot of intense colors, and I never would have drawn this subject on my own, but I think it was good practice.
In the end, we all pinned up our drawings and looked them over. It was so interesting to see how everyone approached the still life in different ways.
“right now” staying focused on the present, mindful and in the moment, an image from the week, with no words or a few words, that acknowledges the “right now.” Inspired by Ann.
This was one of the cups from my grandparent’s house years ago and I recently found it in a pile of stuff to throw away. I used to love to drink orange juice out of it because it looked so nice against the blue stripes.
Now I am going to use it for my watercolors. The advantage of this cup over my old one is that it has a wider base and is more stable. Also, it is transparent so I can easily see when the water needs to be changed. I painted one time with it so far, and it feels nice to have a piece of the past with me when I work.
Last week I attended the first class of a four part colored pencil workshop at the Worcester Art Museum. We sketched in the museum (European galleries) after hours, which I’ve never done before. Then we went back to the studio and sketched some simple still lifes. I will have a review of the whole class after I finish.
 After Una Calle de Toledo by Joaquin Sorolla y Bastida. Exercise: Taking a line for a walk (i.e., a contour drawing without removing the pencil from the paper). |
 After Portrait of Mr. Morley by George Romney. Exercise: Gesture sketching. We weren’t supposed to show the edges of shapes and I didn’t follow the directions here. |
 After Lake Avernus by Richard Wilson. Exercise: Gesture sketching. I followed the directions better with this sketch. |
 Details of various paintings. Exercise: We were to zoom into a small detail of a painting and block off all the light and dark areas. We were supposed to reduce the picture to two tones only. I was partway finished when we stopped. |
 In the studio we did still lifes from various pieces of fake fruits and veggies. I ran out of time and didn’t finish. |
“right now” staying focused on the present, mindful and in the moment, an image from the week, with no words or a few words, that acknowledges the “right now.” Inspired by Ann.
A family friend saw my last sketch of the mini petunias and requested a similar style drawing of poppies for her husband. Not having any reference photos on hand, I used this photo I found online as a reference. Although I strive to use my own material whenever possible, advanced search in flickr is a great way to find creative commons licensed photos if I need to use someone else’s photo.
By Carolyn A Pappas, Poppies. Ink and Colored Pencil on 5 x 7 inch greeting card.
“right now” staying focused on the present, mindful and in the moment, an image from the week, with no words or a few words, that acknowledges the “right now.” Inspired by Ann.