Carolyn A Pappas › art inspired by nature

Dahlias, Part 2

Tuesday, January 25, 2011

Here is the current progress on my dahlia painting. The colors are not perfect, but I did my best to adjust the photo to match the original. Although I am using a photo reference, I am painting without any underdrawing so it is not as exacting as I would normally work. I’m trying to be a little less planned with this. I’m also waffling between making the colors really bright or more muted. The flowers were more red in the photo but I’m thinking I might actually like the pink now.

Filed in Watercolor, Work in Progress | Tagged floral, watercolor | Comments (7)

Something New (Dahlias)

Saturday, January 22, 2011

Here is a early preview of a new painting I started. I’ve been feeling lately that I need to do something more colorful and fun, especially since life can become slightly depressing in the wintertime. This is really an experiment for me, and it is a little scary having no idea how it will turn out. I am planning on using colored pencils once I finish with the watercolor, because I want it to be very bold.

Filed in Watercolor, Work in Progress | Tagged floral, watercolor | Comments (7)

Stop.Draw.Run

Thursday, January 20, 2011

The other day I was uploading some work to flickrÂ when I got sidetracked and started sorting through some of my groups. I was in so many groups on flickr that it was becoming unwieldy, and many of them didn’t even apply to me any longer. In the process, I (re)discovered Stop.Draw.Run, which I joined months ago but never participated in until now. The whole point is to sketch for ten minutes and then stop. Now that I am placing a higher priority on sketching, I thought that it would be the perfect group for me, and I already use my timer for sketching.

I have a certain 6 x 6 inchÂ square format sketchbook that is perfect for this activity. It doesn’t have the nicest paper — it is too thin and scratchy for me. But I definitely won’t feel guilty about burning through the pages. Here are some sketches I made yesterday (each about five minutes).

Filed in Ten Minute Sketches | Tagged marker, still life | Comments (2)

Tuesday Morning Pears

Tuesday, January 18, 2011

I’ve been trying to get a good amount of artwork done in the mornings before I turn on my computer or otherwise get distracted. This morning, I drew some pears while listening to people on talk radio go back and forth about Chinese Mothers. I am so glad I didn’t have a “tiger mother” because I would have hated to get roped into playing piano or violin. Painting and drawing is much nicer in my opinion.

Filed in Drawing | Tagged graphite, still life | Comments (3)

Sketchbook Update

Saturday, January 15, 2011

Below are some things that have appeared in my sketchbooks recently. I’ve been setting a timer for myself when sketching and so far this has been really successful with keeping me on task. I keep sketchbooks mainly to practice drawing and to make thumbnail sketches. I’m rarely inspired to do art journal spreads like some people. Even so, I have really enjoyed reading Cathy Johnson’s new group blog Artists’ Journal Workshop, which she created to expand upon and promote her forthcoming book.

30 minute sketch.

Filed in Sketchbook | Tagged graphite, self portrait, still life | Comments (5)

Escapism

Wednesday, January 12, 2011

I was doing some sketching earlier from some photos I took in Maine last summer. It was a mental escape from my actual environment right now, as seen over at Sketching in Nature.

Filed in Sketchbook, Watercolor | Tagged seascape, watercolor | Comments (1)

Drastic Measures

Sunday, January 9, 2011

A 15 ml tube of M. Graham cerulean blue paint, squeezed out.

I thought I’d share an interesting issue I had recently, in case the same thing happens to anyone reading. About a year ago I purchased some tubes of M. Graham watercolor paints which I have been, on the whole, really happy with. The only issue I had is one tube of cerulean blue that separated in the tube. Every time I squeezed any out, it would be mostly binder and very little pigment. This caused issues with the paint being very sticky and not wanting to dry (as well as the color not being as intense).

On the advice of Jane Freeman of Watercolor Mania, I squeezed out the entire tube into a small saucer and mixed it up really well. Thankfully, M. Graham paint rewets very well because from now on I am going to be using this saucer like a giant pan of watercolor paint. I am planning on storing this flat in a zip-lock bag to avoid dust becoming embedded in the paint. This could become very cumbersome if other tubes develop this same issue! Apparently, M. Graham paints have honey as one of the ingredients in their binder, although I am not sure if this is what caused it to separate. Has anyone else had similar problems with watercolor paints separating in the tube?

I was able to find out a solution to my problem via the facebook group Artists’ Tips and Tricks, which I highly recommend. Incidentally, Jane recommended Daniel Smith watercolors. I think I will try these out when I use up my current paints, as a number of other artists I have come across say they use Daniel Smith as well.

Filed in Product Reviews | Tagged art supplies, watercolor | Comments (7)

Completed Portrait, At Ease

Saturday, January 8, 2011

I started this portrait back in September, but I put it on the shelf and didn’t work on it for months. Finally, I decided to finish it off so I could move onto other things with a clear conscience. I did remember to scan it at different stages of completion (see below). The baseball cap was my favorite thing to draw as I loved the strong contrast. My intention was for this to have a more sketchy look, but I ended up adding more detail than I had originally intended. Even so, I am happy with it, and it bears an excellent resemblance.

Filed in Drawing, Work in Progress | Tagged graphite, portrait | Comments (6)

Homebody

Thursday, January 6, 2011

I’ve been settling in at home after being away for a few days. We are supposed to get snow on Saturday but nobody knows how much to expect. I wouldn’t mind getting a lot.

Filed in Pen and Ink, Sketchbook | Tagged pen and ink, still life | Comments (2)

2011: The Year for Getting Things Done

Friday, December 31, 2010

This post outlines my 2011 Art Goals. I love this time of year when I can read other artist’s recaps and goals. If you have made such a post, please leave a comment below and I would love to check out yours. I have tons of ideas and I could easily make a list so long that it would be impossible to complete, but I limited myself to four main areas.

Increase Production
I want to focus on expanding and improving my portfolio this year. If I complete, on average, at least one “good” piece per week I will consider this goal completed. When I say “good” I mean that I want to feel good about it and it could be something to potentially sell (see the last point).

Using Sketchbooks in a Different Way.
I want to make sketching more of a habit in 2011. For years, I used to only work in bound books. I would spend hours on drawings that I should have done on a separate sheet of paper so I could have framed them more easily. This past year I started making more of these “finished pieces” that were suitable for framing, but I found that I was neglecting my sketchbooks for actual sketches in the process. I’m not going to pressure myself to post them all online, but if I spend some time sketching every day then I will feel successful with this goal.

Experiment with New Subject Matter
I’m really curious about still life and I want to complete a number of still life drawings and paintings in 2011. I find some still lifes to be without a soul and I’m not interested in them merely as an exercise in rendering difficult subject matter (think lots of reflections on metal objects). I do, however, have a number of sentimental objects that I would like to capture. I have some ideas for a series, but I don’t want to set a quota on how many pieces I need to produce. I have already added a number of still life painting blogs to my RSS reader and any recommendations would be appreciated!

Start Selling My Work
I am not going to rush myself on this one, but it is something that I have been thinking about. For a long time I held off because I thought my work was substandard, but I have gotten to a point where I feel I am ready to start looking into it seriously.

I also have a few other projects that I have started work on, but they are not ready to unveil yet. I hope everyone has a very happy and productive New Year!

Filed in Art Goals, Drawing | Tagged graphite, still life | Comments (11)