koukla carolyn

Whoever trusts in his riches will fall, but the righteous will thrive like a green leaf. Proverbs 11:28

Fig Leaf Sketch, ballpoint and colored pencil, Carolyn Pappas 2008

Garden Sketch (8/30/08), black pitt pens in kraft paper sketchbook, Carolyn Pappas 2008

Drawing leaves outside has been sort of a theme for me lately. I guess the main reason is that I figure that soon it will be too cold to do a lot of sketching outside and by the time I get home from work, it will be dark. I am already preparing a list of ideas for still lifes and reference photos to use for the colder season.

Despite having an extra day off, I wasn’t very productive in the art department. I have been so tired out from everything that has been going on in my life that I just lounged around at my parent’s house. I had a lot of fun playing around with the puppies, watching tv and finishing a Really Good Book. Sometimes not doing anything important is the best thing to do and I feel really energized now because of it.

Trip Preparations, 5×7 sketchbook, 2008

We got back from India last Sunday, but I was so jetlagged and screwed up timewise that I didn’t manage to do much of anything except go to work every day. I didn’t do much sketching at all on my trip, partially because we were in a car most of the time or shopping in malls where it wasn’t feasible to sit and draw. I need to get better at quick sketches! I did manage to do a few sketches though. This first sketch is from before we left—it is all the gifts we bought lined up and ready to put into the suitcase. All the shopping for gifts took a whole day in and of itself!

View From our Hotel in Kolkata, mini sketchbook, 2008

This sketch is part of the view from our first hotel room in Kolkata. We only stayed there one night because it wasn’t the cleanest place, but there was a nice view from our room of a pond with beautiful waterfowl and foliage. I absolutely love these trees with orange flowers, but I don’t know what kind of tree it is. One of the things I love about India is the incredible variety of plant life. If I spent more time there, I would love to document the plants through a series of botanical drawings.

Indian vase, mini sketchbook, 2008

This is a sketch of a small vase belonging to my sister-in-law. I was really tired and sleepy that day and I wanted to draw something small.

Kitchen sketch, mini sketchbook, 2008

This is a sketch of my sister-in-law’s kitchen. In India, kitchens are for food preparation only, and they are pretty small. People have small propane cooktops where they prepare their food and they have very small fridges as they buy their food fresh daily and don’t eat leftovers too much.

Indian Flower, 5×7 sketchbook, 2008

I drew this while visiting Dhanbad, which is about 5 hours from Kolkata. Some friends got me a bouquet of flowers and I sketched one of them in the hotel room before going to bed. I slept very late while in India because I usually took a nap in the afternoon. The time was 9.5 hours ahead of EST. It got dark around 6 PM because India does not have daylight savings time. It gets so hot during the day and people usually do a lot at night because it is a lot cooler. Even dinner is late—around 9 PM.

Suitcases and Shopping Bags, mini sketchbook, 2008

I drew this one night before going to bed when I was in our hotel room in Kolkata. We did a lot of shopping and this is a sketch of our empty suitcase with all our shopping bags and backpacks strewn about. I got a lot of clothes when we were in India—women there were very well dressed.

Kenilworth facade, 5×7 sketchbook, 2008

I drew this view from my parent’s hotel room one afternoon. It is part of the facade of the hotel where we stayed in—the Kenilworth. Most buildings in Kolkata are from the Victorian era and they would be beautiful if they were restored and maintained. Our hotel was one of the buildings that were in good shape. This is the last sketch I made before going home. I hope you liked reading a little about my trip!

I took full advantage of the tulips while they were out. Now, most of the petals have blown away thanks to a lot of wind and rain. I am most proud of the top drawing, which is the largest (9×12) and which I drew from life. It was a little chilly outside and the wind was blowing around a lot, but I think the drawing came out really nice. Click on each image to view at full size.

Banana Bunch, pitt pen and colored pencil, 2008

Flower Sketch, sanguine pitt pens, 2008

These are a few sketches that I’ve done after work. These days Jeet goes to his martial arts class and I have time alone to putter around the house. I’ve wasted quite a few of these nights by watching tv when I could be drawing, but these are some of the things that I accomplished.

Red Ink Rose, red gel ink and prismacolor, 2008

This is an experimental drawing that I did for my husband on a blank greeting card for our 8 month “monthiversary.” I did it from a reference photo on WetCanvas because I didn’t have any fresh flowers at the time.

Dried Rose Petals, Prismacolor colored pencil on kraft paper, 2008

In these two sketches, I drew the same rose in different stages of decay. The graphite drawing is of the rose when it was completely dried out, but still intact. I drew it in about an hour one day after work. After I tried to move it slightly, the entire rose fell apart in my hand and I ended up drawing the petals scattered on my drafting table. I tried to focus on giving the drawing a 3D effect and I am happy with it. I also think the tinted paper adds quite a bit and I have never used colored pencil on this paper before.

Rose Sketch, tombow brush marker, 2008

Inked Roses, black pitt pens and Prismacolor colored pencil, 2008

Here are some more rose drawings that I’ve done in the past few weeks. I really like the marker one and I’m thinking of doing more marker sketches in the near future. The ink drawing looks way too Victorian for me but by the time I realized this, I was too far gone in the drawing to justify quitting. I added some colored pencil to the roses in an effort to improve it but this just made it look like a hand colored black and white photo—even more Victorian! I did one more rose drawing (which I will write about soon) before I had to throw them away.

Ruggles sketch, ballpoint on kraft paper, 2007

Ruggles on Chair, watercolor and colored pencil, 2008

I did these two versions of Ruggles a few months ago from a photo I found while cleaning out my parent’s attic. I am going to do drawings from all the photos I found and maybe compile some sort of collection of all my Ruggles related drawings and paintings. Now that he is gone, I wish I had spent more time drawing him when I had the chance. I really do miss Ruggles and I can’t wait until my parents get another dog. I won’t be able to get a dog for a few years and my parents getting one is the closest thing available to me having one.

I still haven’t been doing any artwork and I miss it so badly. My big exam is on Monday and I have the day off of work so I think I will spend Monday afternoon getting back into my artwork. I can’t wait until I can come home from work and do my own thing instead of studying for hours on end. Working full time has been a real adjustment for me because over the past year I have gotten used to doing whatever I wanted with no real demands on my time. Overall though, I think that working is just what I need right now.

Rose Corsage (5×7), watercolor and colored pencil, 2008

I did this a few weeks ago from a photo of my mom’s corsage in my wedding. I did change the colors around a bit by making the background and the ribbon blue, but I really do like how it came out. The one thing I don’t like is that I taped one of the borders crooked and the piece isn’t completely square. I haven’t been doing any artwork whatsoever for a few weeks as I’ve been studying for an important exam. I take it in one more week so after that I should get back to my old routine, I hope.

Apple Still Life, Neocolor II crayons in 10×7 watercolor sketchbook, 2008

These are my offerings for EDM 24: draw a piece of fruit, and 91: draw an apple. I really tried to capture the shadows and reflected light in these sketches. I’ve begun to really like my kraft paper sketchbook and I’m surprised I have never gotten one before. I think working on tinted paper definitely adds a new dimension to drawing. In the above piece, I used my Neocolor II watersoluble crayons. About a year ago I bought a tin of 15 but I only used it once or twice. I really haven’t gotten the hang of it yet honestly. I felt like I spent most of my time scrubbing out the crayon marks with my brush and the wax congealed into little puddles that I wasn’t happy with. This medium will definitely take more practice for me to get really comfortable with.

Apple sketch, Prismacolor colored pencil on kraft paper, 2008

Tangerine sketch, Prismacolor colored pencil on kraft paper, 2008