©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, Leaf Painted Bookmarks. Apx 1.75 x 6 inches plus tassel.
I was feeling like painting something not too serious, and I had some scrap watercolor paper on hand. I ended up painting some leaf-like patterns with various greens and blues and turning them into these two bookmarks. I haven’t had a proper bookmark in years so these will get good use.
I bought some crochet thread at Michael’s a few weeks ago and I used it to make a tassel. I have never made a tassel before and I am not the best with following written directions, but I’m happy to say that I was able to figure it out with some practice. These are the best directions I found online because they are the most specific and have the best photos.
On the back, I used my new Noodler’s pen to write this quote:
No great thing is created suddenly, any more than a bunch of grapes or a fig. If you tell me that you desire a fig, I answer you that there must be time. Let it first blossom, then bear fruit, then ripen. -Epictetus
©2011 Carolyn A. Pappas, Katie by the Firepit.
I hope all my American readers have a wonderful Independence Day celebration. Yesterday we had a great time on the lake with lots of fireworks and fires. Katie had an especially good time and she got a lot of exercise by running in and out of the lake to catch her ball. Today I am relaxing at home.
©2011 Carolyn A. Pappas, Bonfire on the Lake.
©2011 Carolyn A. Pappas, Lakeside Ruins. Lexington Gray ink on pink textured paper, apx. 5 x 5 inches.
I based this drawing on a blurry photo I took at dusk. It was more of a pen test than anything else, really. This drawing is of a certain place on the shore where geese like to gather. There is a crumbling stone wall and the remnants of an old foundation next to a grassy area. My favorite part about it is the silhouette of the trees against the sky. I might do another version of this some time, except drawing the water differently.
I tried out my new pen on a different sort of paper here. The paper is highly textured, which I wouldn’t ordinarily use for ink, but I thought the pale pink would go nicely with my gray ink. There was a bit of feathering but this paper is very absorbent so I did not have to worry about the ink not drying. When writing or drawing on a paper like this, the most important thing to keep an eye out for is little bits of paper getting stuck in the nib and causing ink spatters or dragging.
One thing I was pleased with was that I thought this pen was nearly out of ink but I was able to make this whole drawing (with hundreds of tiny strokes) and have yet to refill the pen.
©2011 Carolyn A. Pappas, 6/27/11 Nature Sketching (Red Maple). Noodler's Bulletproof Black ink in large watercolor moleskine.
As promised in my last post, here are my thoughts on the Noodler’s Inks that I recently purchased. I bought the Lexington Gray and the Bulletproof Black, both of which claim to be waterproof. Here are my conclusions:
I really love the Lexington Gray and think that this will be the main ink that I’m going to be using. It looks almost black, especially when I use a lot of flex, and it is really waterproof.
The Bulletproof Black is advertised to be waterproof on cellulose. Apparently my watercolor moleskine is not the correct paper because the ink did not want to “soak in” or even dry quickly. I actually even smeared some parts when I accidentally dragged my hand through the wet ink (I tried to cover it up).
When I went over it with a watercolor wash after several minutes of drying time, the ink proved to be water-soluble, especially on the parts that had more ink. You can see this on parts of the tree bark in my drawing above. The watercolor moleskine is the only paper that I have tested it on so far, but I have a feeling that any watercolor paper is not going to work with this ink because of the sizing.
I have read similar complaints about this ink elsewhere, so I had my suspicions from the start. People really love Platinum Carbon Black ink, but I was wary because of warnings that it might clog the pen without frequent use and a lot of maintenance. For now, I will only use the Bulletproof Black for drawings not involving watercolor and I will use the Lexington Gray for my pen and wash drawings.
©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, June Roses. Watercolor, 6 x 9 inches.
This is the watercolor that I’ve been working on here and there over the past few weeks. I was orginally painting white roses, but I made the shadows much too gray and drab. I ended up repainting the roses this much deeper mauve color. The color does work better, but now the flowers seem much too stiff–more like something you would see on a vintage floral printed fabric. I’m not sure if I’m really pleased with this painting or not, because it is really nothing like what I had originally wanted to do. I am happy that I finished it off in either case though.
©2011 Carolyn A. Pappas, Blue and Purple Flower. Watercolor on 5 x 7 inch greeting card.
I am attending a wedding later this summer. Instead of buying a generic card, I decided to paint my own, making it a part of the gift. I feel that it is a big risk and also an imposition to give someone artwork unless you are positive they will love it. Painting a greeting card, on the other hand, is pretty low risk because the recipient will not feel obligated to display it.
That said, most people really love a handmade card. My sister has framed the birthday cards that I have given her over the years. Now she has a nice collection hanging on her wall. Later on this year, I am going to have some of my paintings printed onto cards, so I have some already on hand. Also, it is more economical than painting an original every time.
For this painting, I used this photo for reference. I don’t normally use other people’s photos, but I did in this case.
After seeing it on my list of recommended movies on Netflix for months now, I finally watched Exit Through the Gift Shop, a documentary directed by famous graffiti artist Banksy. I really didn’t know what to expect from the movie, but I did enjoy it, and got quite a chuckle. The film follows Thierry Guetta (aka Mr. Brainwash) on his obsessive “film making” project about street art. In reality, this character comes off as more of a joke than anything else. As the movie goes on, I got more of a feeling that it was a mockumentary, rather than an actual documentary.
The movie takes a comic turn when, at Banksy’s suggestion, Thierry decides that he wants to become an artist as well. Making the art himself is the last thing on his mind, however. Instead, he takes out a second mortgage on his house to raise money and hires a team of graphic designers. He apparently comes up with an idea and describes it to the designers, who then scan copyrighted photos from books and photoshop them Andy Warhol style. He seems more concerned with promoting his big gallery show than anything else, and Banksy even hires outside consultants to help with the logistics because the show is so behind schedule. Once the show finally opens, people really seem to eat it up though. I wondered if they would have spent so much money on the artwork if they had seen what went on behind the scenes.
My conclusion: After watching this movie, my opinion of street art hasn’t changed, but I was entertained quite a bit. While I think that Banksy and other artists are very creative and talented, I can’t seem to get my (law abiding) mind past the whole defacing private property and copyright violation aspect. If you like this movie, you might want to check out Beautiful Losers, which follows a group of (slightly annoying) “underground” artists through their rise to fame in the late 90’s. The main difference is that unlike Mr. Brainwash, those artists actually made the artwork themselves.