Tag: landscape

April 15, 2018

Explorers’ Sketchbooks

Although I have taken some memorable trips in the past, I am more of a homebody and prefer the comfort of my familiar environment. I do love to read travelogues and travel vicariously through other people’s photos though.

I recently found the book Explorers’ Sketchbooks: The Art of Discovery & Adventure by husband and wife Huw Lewis-Jones and Kari Hebert. It is a thick book (320 pages) and features photos of artists and sketchbook spreads from 70 different explorers’ sketchbooks, logs, and nature journals.

I haven’t had a chance to read all of the profiles yet, but I’ve been enjoying myself by reading one or two essays at a time in spare moments. I really like how there is a mix or photographs showing the book in its entirety (tattered pages, crumbling spine, etc.) as well as details of individual drawings and photos/drawings of the artists themselves. Another thing I appreciate is that the featured sketchbooks are from modern day explorers as well as those from the more distant past. Although many of the sketchbook pages shown are beautifully illustrated, there are also some utilitarian pages included with lists of figures, diagrams and penciled in comments.

I think my favorite sketchbook so far is from Edward Norton. He had some majestic mountain landscapes featured, as well as closeup studies of plants. His quote below reminds me of something that a modern day plein air sketcher would say.

“I sketched feverishly, my water freezing as fast as I put it on the paper, as also my fingers.” -Edward Norton (1884-1954)

Clearly this book was on my mind when I came across some of my late great uncle’s photographs while organizing through my reference photos on the computer recently. I couldn’t resist making an ink and watercolor interpretation of this mountain scene as if I were on location. Unfortunately, my uncle didn’t label or organize any of his photos so it is a mystery as to where he was when he took the photo.

If you can recognize this scene, or can suggest any similar books featuring the inside of sketchbooks, please leave me a comment below.

December 26, 2017

Gnome in the Woods

This is a small pen and ink and watercolor that I did last winter while I was on semester break, halfway through my nursing program. It was drawn partly from life and partly from my imagination (obviously!). Two weeks ago, I finally graduated from school and I am looking forward to huge changes for 2018. I am feeling relieved, excited, and a little scared all at the same time. In terms of my artwork, finishing school will mean that I will have more time to paint, draw, and do other creative projects.

I hope everyone had a relaxing festive season. I love this time between Christmas and New Year’s—it is when I review my past year and strategize for the upcoming one. Over the next few days, I will be posting all the remaining work from this year that I haven’t posted yet, along with a review of 2017 and some of my art goals for 2018.

September 20, 2017

Lost and Found Artwork, Part 1

My three week summer vacation went by way too fast and now I am back to school and pushing through my last semester. Although I did a lot of drawing on my vacation, I have gotten out of practice and don’t have a lot of work to show for it. I did find some artwork from 2016 that I never posted before. Here they are and thanks for visiting.

July 8, 2017

Painting from Other People’s Travel Photos

A friend of mine took a trip to Mexico a few years ago and gave me permission to make a painting from one of his snapshots. I have been planning to make this little painting for ages now, but never got to it until now. I haven’t traveled in the past several years, but someday I would like to visit some beautiful locations and make some paintings like this in person.

I used a Pigma FB brush pen and went over it with juicy watercolor and some Inktense colored pencils. I removed all the people and buildings from the picture because I wanted a more peaceful and natural looking scene. This little painting was a lot of fun!

May 10, 2017

One Year Ago Today: Nothing to do but Relax

What is the good of your stars and trees, your sunrise and the wind, if they do not enter into our daily lives? -E. M. Forster

I’m looking back into my sketchbook from one year ago today. I made this little sketch while sitting on the wall by the shoreline looking out over the lake. The weather was very pleasant and I remember taking my time making the individual marks with the pen. On that day I had no commitments and nothing special to do. It was lovely.

March 20, 2017

Pliny’s Allée

The first day of spring is one thing, and the first spring day is another. The difference between them is sometimes as great as a month. ~Henry Van Dyke

It’s actually feeling pretty spring-like today, but there is still snow on the ground. I can’t wait until it is consistently warm and sunny outside.

For this piece, I used my new set of sepia Copic Multiliner Pens. I really do like them and they offer a nice alternative to black. The only downside is that I wish they were just a tad darker and that the nibs were not so fine. I usually gravitate toward the thinnest nib in the set, but for some reason, these pens were especially fine.

January 27, 2017

Winter in Wales

Carolyn A Pappas, Winter in Wales. Ink and watercolor, 4 x 4.25 inches on blank greeting card.

I found myself inspired by this instagram photo by Michael Nobbs, who is based in Wales. He allowed me to use it as a reference and I came up with the above pen and ink and watercolor piece. I usually only work from my own photos, but in this case, I didn’t mind and I enjoyed myself in the process. Taking my time on the drawing was a nice distraction from school and everything else going on in my own world, as well as the bigger world.

January 7, 2017

Twitter Art Exhibit: Stratford-upon-Avon

This morning, I mailed my submission to Stratford-upon-Avon, UK for the seventh Twitter Art Exhibit. The organization that is benefiting from the show is Molly Olly’s Wishes, which supports terminally ill children and their families. Over the years, I have really enjoyed participating in the project, as it has given me a feeling of being a part of something greater than myself. I hope to continue the tradition in the future.

About the painting:

I based this watercolor sketch from a snapshot I took this past July from a hilltop at Tower Hill Botanic Garden. It shows the Wachusett Reservoir and Wachusett Mountain/Mount Wachusett in the background. In 1842, Henry David Thoreau traveled from Concord to Mount Wachusett on foot over four days and wrote about it in his essay, A Walk to Wachusett. It’s a really interesting read, especially his comments on the Worcester accent, which apparently was a thing even back then.

November 9, 2016

White Christmas at the Château

Recently I got the chance to work on some album artwork for my good friend Robert Louis. He just released his brand new collection of instrumental jazzy Christmas songs, A Robert Louis Christmas. I’ve been playing it in the background and wishing for the semester break.

This was a fun and challenging painting to make with all the architecture, snow and monochromatic values. I love winter scenes!

Check out Robert Louis on facebook, listen for free on SoundCloud, or download the album on cdbaby.

September 1, 2016

Sketching Rural Scenery

These are some pen and ink sketches I made while sitting on the porch of a beautifully renovated old farmhouse. The late afternoon/early evening light made it a very interesting landscape to draw and observe. When I was drawing the wires (not accurately, of course), I remembered this informational blog post from James Gurney, although I didn’t recall the specifics.