Tag: nature studies

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.

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.

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.

sedum garden sketch

Outdoor Moments

I’ve been making an effort lately to spend more time outside in the sunlight, and on a few occasions I’ve brought my sketchbook out with me. I don’t really care about the result, but I find it very relaxing to sit in the sun and make some little drawings of whatever I see on the ground. I also like to record what I see happening out there as the weather gets warmer.

lakeside nature sketch
©2016 Carolyn A Pappas, Lakeside Sketch (3/30/2016). Ink in large moleskine.
sedum garden sketch
©2016 Carolyn A Pappas, Sedum Shoots (4/13/2016). Ink and watercolor in large moleskine.
blue feather pen

Blue Feathers

We found a clump of goose feathers down by the water and I had fun sketching them in blue ink. I think I drew them more stylized because I was using the blue, which isn’t at all realistic.

feathers ink sketch
©2016 Carolyn A Pappas, Sketch of Feathers in Blue Ink (3-16-2016). Ink and watercolor wash in lab notebook.

blue feather pen
©2016 Carolyn A Pappas, Blue Feather Pen. Luxury Blue Ink and watercolor wash on a blank note card, 8.9 x 12.4 cm.
sedum garden sketch

Getting Outside

sedum garden sketch
©2016 Carolyn A Pappas, Sedum (3-5-16). Ink in large moleskine.
driftwood sketch
©2016 Carolyn A Pappas, Driftwood (3-9-16). Ink in large moleskine.

Even though it was a mild winter, I really feel like spring has arrived because I have been getting outside to sketch in the garden and down by the lake. Last spring and summer I stayed inside most of the time to study, but I want to try to get outside much more this year.