|
||
 ©2011 Carolyn A. Pappas, Privacy Curtain. Ink in large handbook sketchbook.  ©2011 Carolyn A. Pappas, Skyline. Ink in large handbook sketchbook. I was always suspicious when I heard women say that childbirth was their most creative act. In my case, the only creativity involved was making some sketches from my hospital bed while waiting for the contractions to set in.  ©2011 Carolyn A. Pappas, Katie in the AM. Pen in large handbook sketchbook. Sketching is such a nice “warm up” for the day. Whenever I sketch in the early mornings, I feel like the day is productive, no matter what I end up getting done. I sketched Katie the other day when she was still sleepy and feeling cuddly. In the mornings she loves to get pets and curl up on the couch like a fox. Hurricane (tropical storm) Irene proved to be a real non-event for my family other than our power going out for one hour. There was a gentle, steady rain with almost no wind. I’ve seen the lake more choppy on a sunny day in fact. It was generally just a gray, yucky day. Thankfully, I baked up some tasty whole wheat blueberry-oat scones that morning.  ©2011 Carolyn A. Pappas, 8-28-11 Sketchbook (Hurricane Irene). Watercolor in large watercolor moleskine. Unfortunately, my friends in Franklin County didn’t fare so well. I was so sad to hear about the covered bridge on the Green River and the flooding in Shelburne Falls, including the idyllic Bridge of Flowers. Below is a watercolor I made last year of the Deerfield River as seen from the Bridge of Flowers. It is so sad to think of it as such a destructive force. I still have some reference photos of the bridge itself from that trip and I’ve been thinking of making a painting to remember it like it used to be. I’m sure they will fix it all up at some point, but it will be a long time and will take a lot of money.  ©2010 Carolyn A. Pappas, Deerfield River. Watercolor, 5 x 7 inches.  ©2011 Carolyn A. Pappas, 8-16-11 sketchbook (Garden Sketch). Pitt pens in large handbook sketchbook. Today was the first time that I sat down to do sketching of any sort in the past week and a half, because of various things that came up, namely: a death in the family I’m not going to have my drafting table anymore or a separate studio space, and I have had to make some hard decisions about my art supplies. I had already decided not to delve into any new media because I didn’t want to buy new supplies. Now, I had to make decisions to get rid of things that were nice and that I had spent good money on, but I probably wasn’t going to use for awhile and couldn’t store. Thankfully my ink and watercolor supplies don’t take up that much room, but I had to donate a lot of paper for lack of space. Also, I’ve gotten rid of a number of things that are nice to have, but not necessary because I don’t use them too much. These things have left me stressed out to say the least, not to mention that I am expecting at the moment (due in late October). I am very excited about it, but I wish I had a better handle on things right now. Wish me luck because I think I am going to need it in the next few months!  ©2011 Carolyn A. Pappas, 7/31/11 sketchbook (Leftover Plums). Colored pencil in large handbook sketchbook. I sketched these leftover plums the other day after baking one of my favorite fruit desserts, plum crumb (recipe below). It has been a really long time since I ever sketched something in colored pencil for practice. I felt rusty and I want to start sketching using colored pencils more often. Here, I used four different Prismacolor pencils: magenta, tuscan red, indigo blue and yellow ochre. Plum CrumbToss 4 cups quartered fresh plums with: ½ cup brown sugar, 3 tablespoons flour, 1 teaspoon cinnamon. Arrange in an 11 x 7 baking dish. Crumble together and spread over plums: 1 cup flour, 1 cup sugar, 1 teaspoon baking powder, ¼ teaspoon salt, ¼ teaspoon nutmeg, 1 beaten egg. Then drizzle 1 stick of melted butter over the top and bake at 375° F for 45 minutes or until golden brown and bubbly.  ©2011 Carolyn A. Pappas, Orange Lilies. Ink and watercolor in large watercolor moleskine. The other day I sat outside to draw these beautiful lilies. Unfortunately, it was much too hot for me and I was harassed by bees. I did finish my drawing, but I felt rushed. I added the watercolor later, indoors.
 ©2011 Carolyn A. Pappas, Sketches of Folds. Ink in moleskine cahier. Some ten minute sketches of a belt that fell off a sweatshirt of mine. My Noodler’s pen and bulletproof black ink seem to work well in my Moleskine cahiers. The ink dries quickly without feathering or smudging and the pen slides over the surface of the paper. I may actually find myself filling these books up with sketches! I am not a big fan of the paper in the Moleskine cahiers because it is so tissue thin that drawing on it is uncomfortable for me. It wrinkles easily and it is see through. It is only possible to draw on one side of the page because otherwise, the drawings on both sides will be spoiled. I have been able to deal with this issue by cutting a piece of Bristol board to insert behind each page so that I can draw without ink bleeding through. I can also scan my drawings without seeing through the pages.  ©2011 Carolyn A. Pappas, Noodler's Flex Nib pen test (pottery). Lexington Gray ink and watercolor in large watercolor moleskine. A few weeks ago I ordered the Noodler’s Flex Nib pen after reading a number of reviews online (see reviews from Nina Johansson, Cathy Johnson, and Roz Stendahl). I actually ordered two pens, in Lapis Inferno and Vulcan’s Coral, mainly because I wanted to be able to use two different colored inks. Also, so many people are going gaga over these pens that they are selling out very quickly and I wanted to make sure I got what I wanted. My main reason for getting this pen is that I wanted something that could replicate the lines that you can get with a dip pen, but portable. As you can see from my sketch (click to enlarge), a large degree of line width is possible, which is really different from the Lamy fountain pen I use for writing. I am still not really used to controlling the flex and I find that I have to concentrate and go slower than normal when I want a thicker line. The pen is also sensitive to the angle at which you hold the pen. To get more flex you need to hold the pen more horizontally to the paper. I did find the instructions that came with the pen a bit odd. Besides the bizarre drawing of “The Nib Creaper,” the instructions are one solid block of text that I had to reread several times before figuring out how to fill the pen. I had previously watched a video showing the pen assembly, so I was able to figure it out, but I wished there were some kind of diagram as well as the text. I still had some trouble filling the pen the first time (I got mostly air and very little ink), but I had better luck the next time. Once I fill the pen a few times, I think it will be easy for me. For detailed info on this pen, I recommend the videos that Brian Goulet has posted to his blog Ink Nouveau. I haven’t tried it yet, but the whole pen can be disassembled for cleaning. The nib and feed can also be adjusted to allow for more or less flex and ink flow according to preference. Some people complained about the smell of the pen (from the resin material that the pen body is made from), but I don’t mind it. It is noticable, but I think it is a pleasant smell, like scented soap or something similar. I purchased Noodler’s Lexington Gray and Bulletproof Black ink to fill these pens. I will write a seperate blog post about these inks after I test them further. The sketch above is of the two pieces of pottery that I made in my recent workshop and a mini ceramic pitcher that I bought at the Old Deerfield Craft Fair last weekend. I bought the pitcher just because it is cute, and I’m still not sure what I will do with the other two dishes.  ©2011 Carolyn A. Pappas, 6-5-2011 Sketchbook Page (At the Edge of the Woods). Pen and marker in large handbook sketchbook. This past weekend I went outside and attempted nature sketching again. I am trying not to expose myself to a lot of chemicals, which makes repelling mosquitoes kind of difficult. I read somewhere that mosquitoes do not like the smell of vanilla, so I tried using some vanilla perfume that I have from the Body Shop. It seemed to work well because I did not get any bites while I was out (about 45 minutes). It also was not a windy day, so I know it wasn’t the wind that was keeping them away. I also read that mosquitoes are repelled by Listerine sprayed on the ground in a little spray bottle, so I will try this if the vanilla thing starts to fail me. About halfway through May I quit my drawing project, because I got bored with it and wanted to do my own thing. I realize now that I don’t like being “told” what to draw. Instead, I started a new watercolor floral painting. I’m still working on it, but I might not post it because I’m not sure if I like the progress thus far. The plus side is that I spent quite a bit of time making a preliminary line drawing and working out the composition, SO if it comes out horrible I will still be able to start over again on a fresh piece of watercolor paper. Here are some other random pages from my sketchbooks (with my remarks) to show you in the meantime. Yesterday, I also posted this sketch of a rhododendron blossom on Sketching in Nature. I sketched this dried up tulip (below) and chatted with my husband as he changed the oil and the brake pads on my car.  ©2011 Carolyn A. Pappas, 5-13-11 sketchbook (Tulip Remnants). Pitt pen in large handbook sketchbook. This morning I tried to go outside to do some sketching, but the mosquitoes were too much so I had to come inside early. I don’t think I can go out again until I pick up some bug spray.  ©2011 Carolyn A. Pappas, Assorted Leaves (sketching attempt). Various pitt pens in large handbook sketchbook. On my way inside I picked up this flower sprig and sketched it indoors. It came from a large tree covered in these purple blossoms. I have no idea what it is called though.  ©2011 Carolyn A. Pappas, 5-31-11 sketchbook (Unknown Purple Flower). Graphite and watersoluble colored pencil in large handbook sketchbook. Later on, I sketched these random objects while waiting for the mailman to come and deliver a package.  ©2011 Carolyn A. Pappas, Some Things I Have. Pitt pens in 8.5 x 11 inch sketchbook. |
||
|
Copyright ©2012 Carolyn A Pappas - All Rights Reserved |
||
