Author: Carolyn A Pappas

chenille plant drawing

Sketching at Magic Wings

Last weekend I visited Magic Wings Butterfly Conservatory. I had last been there two years ago, so I was due for another visit. This time though, the timing was not ideal. It was a rainy Saturday and the place was crowded with lots of other people who had the same idea. That, combined with all of the substandard photos that I took and a shortage of blue morpho butterflies, led to a rather disappointing visit. I did get to make a sketch though, which was the highlight of the trip.

chenille plant drawing
©2016 Carolyn A Pappas, Chenille Plant at Magic Wings (6/11/2016). Ink and watercolor in large moleskine.

tropical photos
Selected photos from my trip to Magic Wings. ©2016 Carolyn A Pappas.
mermaid dolls

Creative Detour

I took a break from drawing and painting to work on some sewing projects: mermaid dolls*. While I enjoy sewing, it can be very intense and time consuming because I don’t have a machine and do it all by hand. When I was done with this project, I was relieved to pack up all my sewing supplies for the time being. I am so ready to get back into my sketchbook!

*I followed a free pattern from Made by Marzipan. I added the yarn hair, a different face, a decorative button on the bikini, a belly button and sequins to the tail.

mermaid dolls
Hand sewn mermaid dolls.
new guinea impatiens watercolor

Outdoor watercolor sketching on a greeting card

new guinea impatiens watercolor
©2016 Carolyn A Pappas, New Guinea Impatiens (5/27/2016). Watercolor on a blank note card, 8.9 x 12.4 cm.

Lately I’ve been trying to expand my skills and get a bit out of my comfort zone. With that in mind, instead of sketching with pen outdoors as I usually do, I decided to paint in watercolor. There is so much information online about people’s ideal travel watercolor setup, but I never paid attention to it much because I never took my watercolors outside with me. Interestingly, my supplies weren’t the problem for me this time.

I used a size 6 Cotman III brush and my Winsor & Newton compact set. For water, I used my regular water cup. My seating was on the granite steps going down into the lake. I felt a little uneasy because I was sitting in an awkward position with the trunk of my body twisted in an odd angle to properly view the flowers. Minuscule bugs started crawling across the paper as well which concerned me because I didn’t want to squish them and then leave a mark on my card. I found that a strong puff of exhale blew them off my paper which worked nicely. It was late afternoon when people start taking their speedboats out, which generated pretty large waves and I almost got splashed a few times.

The whole experience left me feeling rather rushed and not relaxed. The next time I go outside to paint I am going to put some more thought into my seating location as well as my subject. I will pick something less detailed and easier to paint quickly.

tulips sketch

Tower Hill Botanic Garden

tulips sketch
©2016 Carolyn A Pappas, Tulips (5/11/2016). Watersoluble colored pencil and rubber stamping in large moleskine.
azaleas nature sketch
©2016 Carolyn A Pappas, Azaleas (5/11/2016). Ink and watercolor in large moleskine.

My mom, Cate and I visited Tower Hill Botanic Garden for the first time last week. What a treasure of a place! I can’t believe that I’ve never visited in over twenty years of living in Central Mass. There is a lot to look at and it changes seasonally with new things on display all year, even in winter I’m told. The tulip beds, planted in coordinated color combinations, were the highlight of the trip for me. There was also a display of fairy houses and an exhibit of watercolor paintings by wildlife artist Barry Van Dusen (on display until June 26, 2016).

I only took photos and didn’t get the time to sit and sketch this time. However, I joined as a member and will be visiting again soon with my sketchbook and a big block of (undisturbed) time.

imaginary landscape sketch

Feeling Unwell

imaginary landscape sketch
©2016 Carolyn A Pappas, Imaginary Landscape (5/6/2016). Ink, watercolor and colored pencil in large moleskine.
Recently, I had the unfortunate opportunity to experience a concussion firsthand. It is not a pleasant experience. The doctor warned me not to make any “life altering decisions” or major purchases until it was completely resolved. But since I felt sorry for myself, I decided to treat myself to some new art supplies and I ordered a set of gouache paints. Specifically, I got a custom set of 10 tubes of Schmincke Horadam gouache hand picked by Roz Stendahl. The price was good, and I trust Roz’s judgment as far as colors go. Most importantly, if I am going to try out a new medium for the first time, I don’t want the experience to be spoiled by poor quality materials. After doing a lot of research, Schmincke is always one of the recommended brands. So now I will wait until my paints arrive. Thankfully, I am already feeling a lot better and I will be ready to get started.

Although I have generally been avoiding TV, I have been enjoying watching the four part Moving Art nature documentary series on Netflix. I love that there is no narration, only peaceful background music. Flowers is my favorite (not surprisingly).

watercolor tulips sketch

Watercolor Tulips in Moleskine

watercolor tulips sketch
©2016 Carolyn A Pappas, Tulips (4/27/2016). Watercolor, graphite, rubber stamps and pen in large moleskine.
It’s been a while since I’ve painted in watercolor without doing an ink drawing first so I decided to try it out in my moleskine (not the moleskine watercolor album). I used fairly wet washes. Granted, moleskine paper is not meant for watercolor, hence all the buckling. Still, it was fun and I enjoyed getting outside in the breeze to paint it instead of working from a photo.

paper butterflies

Paper Butterflies

paper butterflies
Butterflies on scrap watercolor paper. Pen and ink and watercolor.
A Recent Experiment:

I painted little butterflies on scraps of watercolor paper that were too small to use for anything else. Then I cut them out with an exacto knife. I am planning on using these little cutouts for some sort of collage project that I haven’t yet figured out. When I was drawing these, I looked up some images of butterflies online but I took a lot of liberties with the colors and patterns so they are not at all accurate.

weeds sketch

In the weeds

weeds sketch
©2016 Carolyn A Pappas, Weeds (4/17/2016). Pen and ink and watercolor in large moleskine.

I sat on the edge of a retaining wall and sketched some weeds in the dirt this particular afternoon. As I was drawing, I moved around in order to find different clumps of weeds that interested me, which explains the uneven lighting. I tried looking up this particular weed on the UMass Weed Herbarium, but I never managed to identify it. Please leave me a comment if you know what this plant is called. There are tons of them in my yard and garden, so I’m sure it is very common.

mail art postcard

Mail Art

mail art postcard
©2016 Carolyn A Pappas, Shimmering Leaves. Watercolor, silver gel pen and blue ink on a blank postcard.
This little postcard got sent on its way this past week to Greenfield Community College in Greenfield, MA. The Art Club there is putting on a show of Mail Art from June 14 through July 12. I have never been to GCC before, but I have driven by it many times. Whenever I pass by the school, I always get reminded of my days at a similar community college years ago. I didn’t know it at the time, but those were good years!

This is an article about the show from The Recorder.

imaginary landscape painting

Playing with White Gel Pen

imaginary landscape painting
©2016 Carolyn A Pappas, Secret Pond. Ink, watercolor, white and silver gel pen in large moleskine.
blue teapot design
©2016 Carolyn A Pappas, Blue Teapot with White Floral Design. Watercolor and White Gel Pen in large moleskine.

I got a white (and silver) Sakura Gelly Roll pen recently and tried it out in my sketchbook. For the fantasy landscape, I used it for the stars and on the teapot, I used it for the floral design. I haven’t used a white pen since I was a child but I remember the same frustrating feeling of inconsistent ink flow, ink that wasn’t truly opaque and visible scratches in the ink from the metal nib. Even still, it is satisfying to see the white lines on a dark background. In some of the facebook sketching groups I am a part of, the Uni-ball Signo Broad UM-153 Gel Pen is recommended because the ink flow is very smooth and opaque. I think I will definitely try the Uni-ball pen out in the future. If you have another recommendation for a white gel pen, please let me know in the comments.