Sunday, November 28, 2010
©2010 Carolyn A. Pappas, Avenida Niemeyer. Colored pencil, 8 x 10.5 inches.
I finished my submission for the Virtual Paintout (set in Rio de Janeiro) just in time. I skipped October and I didn’t want to miss this month as well. Instead of doing something really detailed and time consuming, this is more of a sketch made up of lots of lines. I really enjoy participating in the VPO, partly because I would never be able to actually visit some of these places in real life and this gives me a chance to get a taste of what it would be like. Rio de Janeiro, for example, is a beautiful city but a very dangerous place right now. It’s really a shame.
I also used this drawing to form a part of this handmade calendar. Although I already bought a 2011 desk calendar that I will use for my appointments and such, I wanted a “year at a glance” type of calendar as well. I also thought it would be perfect for my new (freecycled) bulletin board that I got last week. When I get sick of the picture, I figure I can just change it out for a new one.
Friday, November 26, 2010
I’m back at home after Thanksgiving and completely wiped out. I did do some sketching over the past few days but not as much as I would have liked. I feel like I got a cooking confidence boost yesterday though. My mom was sick so I cooked the whole Thanksgiving meal with Chris and my dad (with me doing most of it). I am good at cooking but I never did something so big before. Today I am just going to do some really easy sketching and watch some movies. I’ve got a Grapenut pudding in the oven right now and I can’t wait.
©2010 Carolyn A. Pappas, 11-24-10 sketchbook page (Katie). Ink in large handbook sketchbook.
©2010 Carolyn A. Pappas, 11-24-10 sketchbook page (fruit and veggies). Ink in large handbook sketchbook.
Tuesday, November 23, 2010
©2010 Carolyn A. Pappas, Brothers (11-23-10 sketchbook page). Graphite in 9 x 12 inch sketchbook.
I hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving. I’ll most likely be offline until Friday as I’ll be busy with Thanksgiving prep, although I’ll still be making drawings to show you when I get back. This year, I am most thankful for my family.
Sunday, November 21, 2010
©2010 Carolyn A. Pappas, Dried Rose Leaves. Graphite and watercolor in 8 x 5.5 inch sketchbook.
I’ve been doing a lot of little watercolors lately, mainly because I am trying to use up this certain sketchbook that I bought as an experiment. I have a long way to go, but I am really unhappy with the paper in it, so I just want to burn through the pages. It is made by Art Alternatives and it is made to look like a moleskine knockoff (it has the similar black cover and elastic band with the little pocket in the back). It is labeled as being for pen and ink and watercolor, but the paper only holds up to
very light washes. Besides extreme buckling, the surface of the paper also starts to break apart when you use a lot of water. In my older watercolor sketchbooks, I used to tape off sections of the page because I like crisp edges, but this paper tears when the tape is removed. I’m thinking of trying out just pen or marker on it to see if the paper holds up better. I have a Moleskine watercolor book to start when this one is finished, so we will see how it compares.
Edited to add: If you read the below comments, you can see that the book I have is apparently not intended for watercolor (only very light washes) and the wording on their packaging has since changed. Once I finish up the books I already have I might try out their regular watercolor book, because Moleskines are really too expensive for me to justify buying regularly.
Friday, November 19, 2010
©2010 Carolyn A. Pappas, Lake Eden Tree. Graphite and watercolor in 8 x 5.5 inch sketchbook.
is going well so far. I am so thankful for all the kind comments — it is such an encouragement for me. I also have twenty-five out of fifty drawings/paintings completed for
NaNoDrawMo. I have been counting the small watercolors as part of NaNoDrawMo just because of the time involved, but I would love to do more than fifty so I can count my watercolors as extra material.
I did this yesterday from a photo I had taken in 2008 at Lake Eden, Vermont. I was experimenting to see what a pencil sketch with watercolor wash would look like. I feel that my artwork is too “tight” and I am trying to loosen things up, especially in my sketchbooks. I wanted it to look wet and misty which was how it was at the time when I took the photo. It was about 7 am and everyone else was still indoors so it was very peaceful.
Yesterday I also ordered some MiniCards from MOO. I used about twenty or so images, mostly things that I did this year but I also some from 2008 and 2009. I used only bright and colorful pieces because I wanted the set to be consistent and those pieces are the ones that usually get more attention from people. Next time I do this, I will first sort through the images and pick out the ones that I want to use before uploading (to make the process faster). I also had some issues with some of the files not uploading, and had to go back (sometimes five or six times) to try again. In any case, I can’t wait to see what they look like when they arrive.
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
©2010 Carolyn A. Pappas, Deerfield River 3. Watercolor in 5.5 x 8 inch sketchbook.
After I painted this yesterday, I looked through some of the other watercolors that I had done recently. It occurred to me that I’ve been using a lot of blue and green. It is a color combination that makes me feel very happy. But, part of the reason is that I accidentally squeezed out way too much blue paint onto my palette a few months ago and I’ve been trying to use it up ever since.
Monday, November 15, 2010
©2010 Carolyn A. Pappas, 11-14-2010 sketchbook page. Ink and watercolor in 5.5 x 8 inch sketchbook.
Yesterday I was looking around on Google Street View for a good scene to use for this month’s Virtual Paintout in Rio de Janeiro. I didn’t find a scene that I wanted to use for the challenge, but I did find an interesting tree to sketch. I was attracted to the shape of the foliage and the gnarled trunk and branches. It was especially fun to draw the leaves.
I spent most of the day today adding a Contact Page to my site (it is one of the tabs on the header). I have wanted to add one for a long time, and I finally sat down and did it. It looks really plain and simple, but the contact form part actually took longer than I thought it would. And although I didn’t do anything creative in the art sense, I do think playing around with html and css is pretty creative (especially since most of it is trial and error for me).
Sunday, November 14, 2010
©2010 Carolyn A. Pappas, Three Leaves. Ink and watercolor in 5.5 x 8 inch sketchbook.
Every fall I make some sort of leaf drawing or painting. In fact, leaves seem to be a favorite theme of mine all year long. They seem to have a lot of personality and each one is different, which I love.
While doing a Google image search for “paintings of leaves,” I found the site for Vermont artist Gary Milek. He uses egg tempera, gold leaf and watercolor to create really beautiful and detailed landscapes and florals. He and his wife run a joint gallery and botanical garden called Cider Hill Gardens. I think I will add it to my list of places in Vermont that I want to visit next time I get up there.
©2010 Carolyn A. Pappas, Two Leaves. Marker in large handbook sketchbook.
Friday, November 12, 2010
©2010 Carolyn A. Pappas, The Last of the Apples #1. Ink and colored pencil in 5 x 7 inch sketchbook.
Last week we bought a bag (1/2 peck) of apples and I had the intention of drawing some of them, but I kept putting it off for another day. Until yesterday, that is, when I noticed that there were only three left! I finally drew them before they disappeared for good.
©2010 Carolyn A. Pappas, The Last of the Apples #2. Ink and colored pencil in 5 x 7 inch sketchbook.
And then I drew them again.
©2010 Carolyn A. Pappas, The Last of the Apples #3. Ink and colored pencil in 5 x 7 inch sketchbook.
And again for good measure.
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
©2010 Carolyn A. Pappas, Leaves Peeking Out. Watercolor, 5 x 7 inches.
Yesterday it was very raw and rainy out, so I felt that I needed a colorful boost. This painting is based on a photo I took on a sunny July day in 2009. I am glad that I have a folder of reference photos on my computer for times like this. It’s not raining today, so that’s a good start.
