This winter seems more harsh than I remember in recent years. I like that in a way, because it makes me feel nostalgia for the winters when I was a girl and we got hit with tremendous Nor’easters just after moving back to New England.
Stacked Wood. Photograph ©2013 Carolyn A Pappas.
Here is my finished painting:
©2013 Carolyn A Pappas, Birthday Sunset. Colored pencil on Canson Mi-Teintes paper, 6.5 x 10.5 inches.
I chose the title Birthday Sunset because this was the sunset on the evening that I was hosting Cate’s first birthday party this past November. I was drawn to the peachy pinks and the dramatic clouds above. Although I based it on my own photo reference, I altered the final product a lot. In the end I stopped using the photo at all and it evolved into more of an abstract experience for me. My aim was for a looser style than my usual, and a look more similar to pastel.
I was going to crop this smaller, at 6 x 9 inches, but I decided on a larger size at the end, even though it is an oddball one. I spent much more time on this than I wanted to originally, and it was definitely a learning experience. I would have benefited from some preliminary planning and thumbnail sketching to work out the composition and the final dimensions ahead of time. I will definitely be thinking along these lines for my next piece.
My colored pencil painting is almost done and I am itching to get moving on the next one. I did more on the water, made some changes to clouds in the sky, and deepened the darks of the land mass.
©2013 Carolyn A Pappas, Work in Progress (Sunset). Colored pencil, apx 6 x 9 inches.
The snow drifted in front of my window made an impression on me. It was a fun storm!
Strata. Photograph ©2013 Carolyn A Pappas.
The storm was such a blessing to me, as I was let off work early on Friday and got to spend more time with Cate and on my colored pencil work. We didn’t lose power at all, but we did have a small plumbing mishap (unrelated to the storm) which was a small damper on my excitement.
Regardless of this, I made a lot of progress in my latest sunset painting. I had to replace a few pencils recently and I found a new color that I didn’t have before (Prismacolor Hot Pink, PC 993) which I started using on the sky and water reflection. According to the CPSA lightfast testing results, this color is on the bad list, or rather, not on the list, but it was the perfect color for my painting. I haven’t taken a hard look at my color selection yet, but it is a goal of mine this year to make sense of the lightfast ratings in reference to the colors that I own.
©2013 Carolyn A Pappas, Work in Progress (Sunset). Colored pencil on paper, apx 6 x 9 inches.
Recently I’ve rediscovered two small partially used sketchbooks and I’ve decided to make good use of them. I have since finished the first, and have now started on the second, a small moleskine journal I’ve had since 2005. I keep it in my car in the driver’s side door and I’ve been making small 10-15 minute pen sketches in the parking lot before I go in for work. I find that it calms any anxiety I may have before I start my workday.
©2013 Carolyn A Pappas, 2-1-13 (Peperomia). Pen in small moleskine journal.
On this particular day, I had brought a peperomia houseplant with me (to liven up my cube) and I sketched it as it sat on my passenger seat. To see more of my recent morning sketches, check out this post at Sketching in Nature.
Treasures. Photograph ©2013 Carolyn A Pappas.
Last December when I was doing my year end review, I found myself thinking about how I have changed over the years, especially in my style preferences. I turned thirty this past year, so I thought it would be a good time to reflect on some of the changes.
©2013 Carolyn A Pappas, Work in Progress (Sunset). Colored pencil on paper, 6 x 9 inches.
You can see that now I’ve moved onto the water. I’m not sure if this is the best way to work, or if I should try to develop the piece as a whole and then fine tune. I may try this approach on my next colored pencil painting.
Blue and white are one of my favorite color combinations.
Dusting. Photograph ©2013 Carolyn A Pappas.
I love having flowers in the house, especially at this time of year. If anyone knows what this is, please tell me in the comments.
Orange Sunlit Flower. Photograph ©2013 Carolyn A Pappas.