Find me on Substack

©2025 Carolyn A Pappas, *Wachusett in Winter*. Digital painting on Procreate.

I think I have been the most productive in the past few months than in any other time in recent memory. I have been working on my artwork consistently on a daily basis since the beginning of the year and I am so proud of myself for that. I struggle with creating my artwork very slowly, in part due to my perfectionist nature and also because at the end of the day, my energy is zapped and I have a hard time focusing. Creating more work is my goal for 2025 and so far, I have been doing well.

I have begun to post my work on Substack, along with my thoughts on creativity and the sorts of things I would post in a blog. Really, it is just like a blog, except it has the feature of going out to subscribers via email like a newsletter. I have been making short weekly posts since the start of the year. I would have loved to have kept it all on this website, but I hope that Substack allows more people to find me in general. If you come across this post, please check out my Substack, Carolyn’s Sketchbook, and feel free to subscribe for free.

I will still update this site, of course, to keep it fresh and up to date. Once I have some more work completed from this year, I am planning on creating a portfolio page on this site.

To all who are reading this, thank you so much for checking out my artwork. I hope the rest of your 2025 is filled with creativity.

Some updates and a new drawing

Thank you all who have been praying for my eye. It has been a really challenging time for me but I have been committed to reducing my stress to help my eye heal. I went back to the eye doctor six weeks after my first visit and the fluid was completely gone, but I have some permanent retina damage now. A few weeks later, I had another flare up after a stressful couple of days at work, but it has mostly returned back to baseline now.

©2024 Carolyn A Pappas, *Sunflower Amphora*. Digital illustration on Procreate.

I still have been drawing this whole time, but it has been slow going. I’ve been doing a lot on Procreate, partly because it is easy to zoom in and I was having an incredibly hard time focusing right after I came down with this condition. I had to buy 2.5 diopter readers just to read normal text in a book and I had to enlarge the text on my phone to the maximum size. Now, I am back to 20/20 vision with my glasses on, although there is still some distortion all the time now.

One of the new purchases I got which I love is the Sketchboard Pro 2. It is like a sort of drawing board/easel that you place your iPad into. It makes you feel like the drawing surface is so much bigger and you don’t have to rest your hand on the iPad itself as there is a wide border. There are feet so you can draw on an angle, or you can remove them and lay it flat if you want. Since I have gotten it, drawing on my iPad has been much more enjoyable. It was expensive, but I really love it and would recommend it to others looking to elevate their iPad drawing experience.

Since my eye has healed, I have been consistent with drawing most days after work in the evenings, although it has been slow going. I have been mainly working on small botanical digital watercolor pieces, but on a whim I made the illustration above inspired by a real Greek amphora. I changed things up, of course, by adding the sunflowers. It was a fun little project to work on that is different than my normal subject matter.

Again, I would like to say thank you to everyone who has messaged me with caring words and have been praying for my eye. Losing vision for an artist is a worst fear scenario and I am glad that it is mostly behind me, although I will have to keep my stress low on an ongoing basis to keep it from returning. I would like to make a Youtube video on the subject to share my experiences more in depth. I will post a link once I make it.

My Sketchboard Pro 2 with a work in progress.

Unexpected vision issues

©2024 Carolyn A Pappas, *Geranium sketch*. Ink and watercolor in large moleskine sketchbook.

Yesterday I woke up with a weird, blurry and distorted vision that was very bothersome. By the end of my work day, it was irritating me so much that I went to the emergency department thinking I might have a retinal detachment. It turns out that I have a condition called central serous chorioretinopathy and it was probably brought on by stress. There is a good chance that it will go away on it’s own, but it may take a few months from what I read. Any healing prayers would be greatly appreciated. As an artist, losing my vision is one of my worst fears. It’s really distressing to not be able to draw (or even read) without a lot of difficulty.

I made this sketch earlier this week. I had been drawing a lot on Procreate and I felt like I needed a change and wanted to draw on paper again. I did not realize that this would be my last “normal” drawing for quite awhile.

Upgrading and continuing to learn new skills

A painting of a lake in winter, snow covered trees on the horizon line and a blue sky with some orange and yellow accents. — ©2024 Carolyn A Pappas, *Morning Light after the Storm*. Digital painting.

Last year I did more drawing on Procreate than I ever have before. For the first time, I started feeling comfortable in the app. I still have a lot to learn though. Learning to draw digitally is really like learning a new medium altogether.

This is my first finished artwork of the year and I did it on Procreate. I just upgraded my iPad to a newer and bigger type and of course, I wanted to make a picture on Procreate immediately after setting it up. This is based on a photo I took of the lake the morning after a big storm (the only one we have had so far this winter). I also got some new brushes and I was trying them out here. In this painting, I was using brushes meant to simulate fountain pens, alcohol markers and oil paint with a dry brush.

I am always looking for brushes that would most closely approximate my own drawing style with ink and watercolor. In this case, I deviated from my normal style, but I had a lot of fun. I’m looking forward to doing a lot more experimenting this year and building up my confidence and competence in Procreate.

The end of the year and starting fresh.

A drawing of a field with trees on the horizon. — ©2023 Carolyn A Pappas, *Fall Field Sketch*. Pencil, ink and watercolor in large moleskine journal.

This year I had such lofty plans, but things didn’t work out as I had expected. After my medical issues from last year, I put a lot of focus on my job which had some definite positives, but it took a toll on my artwork. I was not very productive this year and I have gotten out of practice and feel like I have stagnated quite a bit.

Here are some of the highlights and accomplishments from this past year:

I organized all of my digital files, specifically my reference photos that I use for my artwork. I now have them backed up, and organized by theme so I can find things easily.
I completed two commissions (ink and watercolor florals).
I traveled to Wisconsin for a work trip and I captured a lot of inspiring nature photos that I want to paint next year.
I got a new computer that is better equipped to edit video.
I celebrated my first wedding anniversary.
We got a German Shepherd puppy. She is six months old and a lot of work.

In 2024, I am primarily going to focus on making more artwork. I just haven’t made enough and that makes me sad. I also desperately need to clean out my studio. Besides doing all my artwork in this room, I also work from home and use this room as my main office space. The clutter has really started to weigh down on me mentally. I have a lot of supplies for things that I am no longer going to use and I think it would be best if I lighten my load.

Even though there were some negatives from this past year, overall it was a good year settling in as a family in our little house. I have a lot to be thankful for and a lot to look forward to. I wish everyone a happy new year full of blessings of all kinds.

Mid year review

A digital pen and ink style drawing of a robin's nest in a brown color with a single egg in the nest, set against a brown kraft paper background. — ©2023 Carolyn A Pappas, *Robin’s Nest with Egg (with paper texture background)*. Digital painting on Procreate.

I feel a shift in energy now that half the year is over. In June, I took a nine day trip to Wisconsin for work for training and I am feeling so relieved that I have finished my project and passed my exam. (Check out my instagram for some reels I made from my trip.)

We also threw a big 4th of July party which took a lot of prep work and planning. I have also done a few other bigger chores around the house which were hanging over my head for some time. Now that I have cleared some mental space, I feel like I can start working on some more art projects again.

These are some drawings that I have done recently on Procreate. I do miss working traditionally in my sketchbook, but I also know that I need to continue to practice in order to learn all the features within Procreate and just get comfortable with it. I was gifted the robin’s nest and it was fun to draw it from life. I drew the monarch from a photo but did not trace it. I have a few ideas for some other things I want to draw on Procreate in the near future so keep your eyes peeled.

A digital drawing of a monarch butterfly with open wings. — ©2023 Carolyn A Pappas, *Monarch*. Digital painting on Procreate.

Learning Curves

A winter landscape featuring early American buildings in front of trees and a blue and pink sunset. — ©2023 Carolyn A Pappas, *Christmas by Candlelight at OSV*. Digital painting on Procreate.

When I was a young girl and my family got it’s first Windows computer, I remember sitting in front of it for hours making pictures on Microsoft Paint. I remember filling it in pixel by pixel, making incredibly detailed drawings using the mouse. I wish I still had those files to look back on. Ever since then, I have been fascinated with digital art. If the iPad had existed back then, I would have absolutely loved it.

I have had Procreate on my iPad for quite some time but I really haven’t used it to it’s full potential. I have used it several times to make line art which I have printed on paper and used to transfer to watercolor paper to finish with traditional painting. It has come in very handy for that.

This is the first “finished painting” that I have made with Procreate. It is based on a photo I took at Old Sturbridge Village in 2019 during their Christmas by Candlelight event. This was about four months before covid started and I remember that it was so incredibly crowded with people that it was a little too much for me. I remember what I loved about this picture was the pink and blue pastel sunset and how it really felt like I was in a different era.

Some people love drawing on Procreate because they say it is much faster than traditional drawing and painting. But for me, this took much longer because of the constant undoing and redoing and also not being quite sure of what I was doing with the layers and such. I tried to draw this in the same style that I would use if I were working traditionally. I do think that this feels very much like “me,” even if I don’t usually draw architecture. I’m looking forward to making some more digital paintings in the future and sharing them here.

Clean Morning

Winter landscape watercolor painting of bare trees with the sun peeking through at sunrise — ©2023 Carolyn A Pappas, *Clean Morning*. Watercolor and graphite, 8 x 10 inches.

I don’t have enough time in the day to do all the art that I want to get done. I also have been working in my studio for my full time job (because it’s warmer) and then staying in that very same room during the evening to do my artwork. That has led me to have this weird, closed in feeling at times. I can’t wait until it warms up outside and we are in that sweet spot where you don’t have to run the heat or the air conditioner. I will feel more comfortable working in other areas of my house and I can reserve my studio for my art activities.

I’ve been doing a lot of drawing on my iPad, using Procreate, and also editing photos in Affinity Photo on my iPad. I figured out how to remove the backgrounds from my drawings, which I had a good method for in Photoshop, but I wasn’t sure how this new program would work. My process is not the most efficient, but I enjoy it and the results have come out to my liking. Even on the days that I am not drawing new artwork, I have been working on my art in one form or another. Not a day goes by that I haven’t been working on something.

This is my first proper painting of the year, called Clean Morning. I took the reference photo about a year ago, the morning after a late February or March snowstorm. This watercolor does not contain any pen and ink, but uses a sketchy style pencil drawing for the trees (I used a BIC disposable mechanical pencil). What attracted me to this scene was the dramatic light shining through the trees and the long shadows cast over the snow. It was really a perfect snowy atmosphere that morning, and I took a number of interesting photos on that occasion that I have in my reference file.

How things are going

I’ve been feeling a LOT better since my surgery, although I have really fallen off the wagon with my healthy eating. I think that is in part because I feel better, so my diet is not always a priority on my mind like it was a few months ago. Some things that have stuck are that I have been eating quite a bit of fruit for the first time ever, and I haven’t eaten cold cereal with milk since November.

I have still been focusing on my health in other ways though. I started reading the book Mind over Medicine and it discusses the effects of stress in healing quite a bit. I’ve always known that I feel better overall when I work on art, but this book does a really good job of explaining why. I’ve also been trying to get better sleep at night and I’ve started taking melatonin which has helped my sleep tremendously. I bought a sauna back in December but I started using it recently and it’s incredibly relaxing.

Last year I did not get much artwork done, mostly because of all the upheaval in my life.
My schedule should be more routine for me now and I am going to focus on my artwork a lot more. Instead of just drawing random things in my sketchbook, I’ve decided to work on projects this year – things that will result in a tangible artwork to frame or a product (either digital or physical), or work in a series of some sort. With the limited time I have, I need to be intentional about what I focus on and I would also like to have something that I am able to sell at some point.

I’ve started by making a little series of flower drawings in sepia toned pen and ink and watercolor (see one of them below). I still need to edit the images and remove the backgrounds, etc. but I have an idea of something I would like to make with them. I recently cancelled my Photoshop subscription and purchased the Affinity suite (because there is no subscription). That means that I have to learn how to use the apps, which should be fun but will take me extra time.

Pen and ink and watercolor illustration of an orange poppy flower. — ©2023 Carolyn A Pappas, *Orange Poppy*. Sepia ink and watercolor in moleskine sketchbook.

Quiet Christmas

A lake shoreline with autumn trees drawn in pencil with watercolor wash — ©2022 Carolyn A Pappas, *Last Boat Ride*. Pencil and watercolor wash in A4 moleskine.

Last week my surgeon called me and said they reviewed my case at Tumor Board and determined that it was a borderline tumor, not cancerous. This was amazing news to hear, and unexpected, because the report originally said cancer. (Also, weirdly stressful in a way.) However, after doing some more research, I found that borderline tumors can still recur and come back as cancer in the future. With that in mind, I have still decided to pursue a better lifestyle and do everything in my power to stay healthy. I have given up meat and dairy and have been eating as many raw vegetables as possible. I have also purchased an infrared sauna (haven’t tried it yet). I have an appointment with a naturopathic doctor to see what else I can do to get healthier. I have been feeling a lot better after my surgery and I’ve been getting dressed in the morning which makes me feel like a more normal person.

I have been reading a book called Radical Remission, which is all about people who have healed themselves from advanced or incurable cancers without or despite modern medicine. It is encouraging to read positive stories and realize that it is possible to get better after a terrible diagnosis. I’ve also been listening to Chris Wark’s videos and interviews. He is an inspiration.

I’m not supposed to drive yet, so I’ve been staying home most of the time. I haven’t minded it though. I’ve been really enjoying my quiet time during the day. I’ve started a few art projects that I’m excited about. I joined a Facebook group called Creating a Cozy Life – Hygge style. It is full of beautiful photos and ideas and everyone is so kind. I’m thinking of doing some small, crafty sewing projects. I have a number of patterns from Ann Wood that I haven’t tried yet and I want to work on some of them.

I have a follow up appointment with my doctor at the end of the month. She said that until then, all I have to do is have a good Christmas and that is what I am trying to do.