©2012 Carolyn A Pappas, Road through the Meadow. Colored Pencil, 6.5 x 10 inches.
Here is my finished colored pencil piece. I used Derwent Coloursofts and some Prismacolors. I did this for the Virtual Paintout (
St Petersburg) so I’m glad I finished it before the end of the month! I ended up cropping some of the bottom off, which makes it an odd size, but I think it improves the overall impression.
I have always thought of Russia as a very beautiful country. When I had tendinitis, I listened to Anna Karenina on cd (unabridged, all 20 discs). There was a lot of wordy language describing the countryside, and I guess it had an impression on me.
©2012 Carolyn A Pappas, Work in Progress. Colored pencil on Canson Mi-Teintes paper, 9 x 12 inches.
I spent another few hours on my landscape, this time concentrating on the sky. The sky is the most dramatic part of this picture, and I want to finish it up before moving onto the rest of it.
©2012 Carolyn A Pappas, Snowdrop (unfinished). Colored pencil on 9 x 12 inch sheet of Canson Mi-Teintes paper.
I just finished up a two part class on botanical illustration at Mass Audobon. As always, I didn’t create anything particularly amazing while I was
in the class, but I got a lot of value in the information that I took home with me.
The instructor was a well spoken woman who was very informed on many aspects of natural history and botanical illustration. She gave us a good understanding of the conventions of botanical illustration, and differentiated it from “botanical art.” (I’m definitely more interested in botanical art as opposed to classical botanical illustration.) She also rambled quite a bit about all kinds of other art topics, which I found pleasant and informative.
We were working in colored pencil, which is part of the reason why I’ve been inspired to get back into it lately. I was able to talk to the instructor about some things I’ve been curious about, like what she thought of sanded papers (I’ve never tried any).
I’m really glad that I went to this class because it was an opportunity to do something art related and get out of the house by myself for a few hours.
“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.
Wednesday, March 21, 2012
I made a color chart for my Derwent Coloursofts. I don’t have very many colors, but I definitely think I will add to these. I have never taken the time to make a color chart for anything before. I’m actually surprised because I am a very meticulous kind of person. I can really see this helping me out when choosing colors for a new painting. I am going to start a new colored pencil piece pretty soon and this is getting me excited.
I arranged the colors according to what pleased me, and it was interesting to compare my choice to the manufacturer’s numbering system.
©2012 Carolyn A Pappas, Work in Progress. Colored pencil on Canson Mi-Teintes paper, 9 x 12 inches.
I did a bit more work on my colored pencil landscape, with Cate sitting on my lap. She seems very interested!
©2012 Carolyn A Pappas, Work in Progress. Colored pencil on Canson Mi-Teintes paper, 9 x 12 inches.
This morning I took out some colored paper and did a little sketching with my Derwent Coloursofts. It’s kind of fun to work on the colored paper and I think I will try out more of this in the future. (This photo was taken in dim lighting, so the colors aren’t very accurate.)
Colored pencils have been more appealing to me lately because they are non-toxic and very portable. The negative is that I can only do a small amount at a time because it tends to irritate my wrist and arm. These days I have to work slowly anyway though, because I get interrupted with baby duties often. In the next few years, I can see myself doing more colored pencil than watercolor.
“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.
Wednesday, March 14, 2012
The Saw Mill River
Last Friday afternoon we were driving through Montague, MA on our way to look for a certain waterfall in Sunderland. We came across an old mill that had been renovated and filled with shops. There was a cute little co-op gallery,
Saw Mill River Arts and a bookstore, the
Montague Bookmill. We stopped for a bit and browsed. There were rooms and rooms of used books and new books connected by narrow staircases. I felt almost like I was snooping through someone’s house. I would like to come back and spend some more time there and perhaps eat at their little cafe.
We ended up finding the waterfall and it was quite impressive. I filed away my snapshots into my “future paintings” file.
©2012 Carolyn A Pappas, Cate on her Morning Nap. Graphite in 8.5 x 11 inch sketchbook.
Cate is four months old now. The time really is going by quickly and she is already so much different than when she was born. She has been trying to roll over for the past two months and she finally managed to do it last week. I am thankful for her every day!