koukla carolyn

Logs, pitt pen in sketchbook, 2008

On Saturday I took a class at the Worcester Art Museum called Living with Art. It was an art advice workshop and the instructor was Nan Hass Feldman. I have had good luck with the classes that I’ve taken at WAM thus far but I’ve never taken something that wasn’t focused on an actual art technique so I wasn’t sure what to expect. We discussed various art related topics such as the importance of time management, keeping sacred studio time, getting involved in art associations and the dichotomy between making art and going public with it. I really got a lot out of it and feel inspired to get more involved with other local artists. I have a lot of online art friends but I don’t know anyone in the real world so I think now I will make more of an effort to get myself out of my little bedroom studio and make some connections with other artists.

One of the most important things that was impressed upon us was how critical it is to be disciplined with your time, especially if you work a day job and do art on the side. I have known this for a long time but only recently began to get serious about it. It really is true that the most important thing is actually making art, not thinking about it or planning on it or finding other ways to avoid actually doing it. I used to hate actually drawing or painting it but I loved the results that I got. Now I have shifted more to actually liking what I’m doing regardless of how it turns out. I have also found that my quality has improved with more practice so it’s really a positive in all accounts. I have basically cut out TV completely as I think it is a huge time waster, but the internet is still a major stumbling block. That will probably mean being more selective about the blogs I read, but I do think that it will improve the quality of my life.

Nan was a really great instructor—I would definitely recommend any of her classes to someone who is looking for an upbeat, fun and encouraging teacher. She has a ton of experience as she’s been a practicing artist for over 37 years, with three studios and a huge body of work. She has a really unusual mixed media technique that she described to us. She showed us her pieces and her materials and described how she goes about it but we didn’t have time to actually see her do a demo. She makes a charcoal sketch first and then uses oil pastels and Caran d’Ache Neocolor I crayons to color it in. Then she takes watercolors and paints them on top of the oil based colors. This forms a sort of resist and the watercolors seep through any white parts and pool up and form interesting little blobs of colors. It is really striking with the metallic colors. You can see examples of them here. It seems like a really innovative technique and a fast way to get some really bold color. I think I will try it when I can stomach spending some more money on art supplies.

A note about the sketch above: I was visiting my parent’s house for the weekend and only had my Pitt pens with me so I couldn’t do anything in color, even though I was inspired to do a big, bold colorful drawing after that class I took. I drew these logs not because I really wanted to, but because the only warm place in the house was next to the wood burning stove in the garage!

My Features, black pitt pen and graphite in kraft paper sketchbook, 2008

November has definitely been my most productive month of the year so far, in terms of how many days I’ve drawn. I’ve done something in my sketchbook for most of the days this month and already I’ve done more sketching than some past months. I’m still working on portraits—here is another self portrait. I really do have beautiful eyes, although they often go crossed on me and they are always covered up by glasses (so no one ever notices them).  I would wear contacts but I am “not a candidate” as my eye doctor puts it. On another note, I have never attempted to do a self portrait with pointillism. It is incredibly slow going with all the constant glances back to the mirror!

I am also trying out some drawings from old family photos. Here is a drawing of my Papou when he graduated from college after WWII. I have left this one unfinished as I did not quite capture the expression correctly. This is already my second attempt and I am trying to decide if I want to try another iteration. I think I would like to get it framed if I ever do it again though, so doing it in my sketchbook is not a very good idea anyway. I do like the sepia ink on the tinted paper so maybe I will hunt around for some brown paper suitable for ink.

Papou upon Graduation, unfinished; sepia pitt pen in kraft paper sketchbook; 2008

Sanguine Leaf; Pitt pen in kraft paper sketchbook; 2008

I really admire someone who can handle a pen. The reason behind that is because it is so difficult to hide mistakes that one must have a clear vision and real drawing skills to be successful. For me, pen and ink is not easy but it does have a sort of meditative quality that makes it ideal for calming my nerves after a long day at work. In this sketch, the parallel lines that made up the shadow were tedious, but relaxing so I could let my mind wander. Another reason why pen and ink is very appealing to me now is that it is one of the cheapest mediums out there—perfect for recessions. It’s been a long time since I’ve done a serious pen and ink drawing, but I have been considering tackling something quite impressive in the near future. We’ll see if it ever works out.

Leaf, face down; ink and colored pencil; Carolyn Pappas, 2008

Leaf, face up; graphite; Carolyn Pappas, 2008

“The artist must find an environment, a pattern of living, that will protect his or her energies: the art must be cultivated, must be given priority.”

“A journal as an experiment in consciousness. An attempt to record not just the external world, and not just the vagrant, fugitive, epemeral ‘thoughts’ that brush against us like gnats, but the refractory and inviolable authenticity of daily life: daily-ness, day-ness, day-lightness, the day’s eye of experience.”

-Joyce Carol Oates  

I’ve been reading The Journal of Joyce Carol Oates: 1973-1982, although I haven’t read much of her fiction writing except for a few short stories for college. I love reading about her process and the struggles she had with balancing her day job of being a college professor with her writing demands. It reminds me a lot of how I feel with my artwork. I have recently been really driving myself to draw daily, even if only for an hour after work. It does invigorate me and I enjoy tracking my progress on a little grid that I keep. I’ve been trying to really challenge myself even if that means making a lot of drawings that I would never post. I think there’s really no way that I will ever improve unless I take some risks and try to do something different.

Self Portrait with Lipstick; graphite, marker and colored pencil in 9×12 sketchbook; Carolyn Pappas, 2008

Self Portrat, circa 1987; Sepia PITT pen; Carolyn Pappas, 2008

Self portraits are one of the hardest things to draw for me, and I think for most people. It’s hard enough to draw a likeness and drawing yourself often brings up a lot of insecurities about appearance and expectations. I find it strange that this weekend I drew these two self portraits. In fact, I have drawn four in only two months or so. Perhaps it is because I am a free agent again and I want to establish myself as an individual. Another reason is that I am interested in improving my portrait skills and when you don’t have a model, you can always look in the mirror. I am not so sure the reason, but it is definitely a subject I will return to again.

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.

Concert on the Green, staedler pigment liners in 5×7 sketchbook, Carolyn Pappas 2008

After work on Thursday I went to see the Valley Swing Shift Orchestra play on the town green in Windsor, Connecticut. It was a really nice show and I took the time to do a little sketching of the spectators. Unfortunately, I had to leave early because of the bugs. They came out in swarms—big green mosquitos—and bit me right through my socks! The tops and sides of my feet are covered in giant red welts and it is so uncomfortable. Next time I do sketching outside I am going to take bug spray.

I have been without a scanner for some time and I finally got it hooked up to my new computer today. I got a nice lime green Dell and I love it! So I will be posting more updates to my blog and my flickr pages now that I am set up again.

Organic Root Beer Bottle, neocolor II crayons in watercolor sketchbook, 2008

Daisies, black pitt pens in sketchbook, 2008

This weekend I ended up being very productive, but not in terms of art. It seems like I did all kinds of things except doing artwork. Today I cooked an unbelievable quantity of food (scones, macaroni and cheese and a big batch of oatmeal), went shopping and cleaned my bathroom. I put drawing off until the very end and now I am do tired I don’t think I can do much more. For some reason my right arm has been aching for the past two days. Yesterday I was feeling sort of fearful to do any drawing for fear of making it worse but today I did a lot of manual labor and my arm doesn’t feel worse for the wear. I think that I have just been trying to avoid things that have been bothering me lately, sort of like my TMS days.

Dried Maple Leaves, watercolor and ink (5×7), Carolyn Pappas 2008

I have been putting off trying my new M Graham watercolors for weeks now. I think it was the same sort of thing that people face when they start a brand new sketchbook. I think I was afraid that I would somehow screw something up or forget everything I’ve learned about watercolor thus far. Last weekend I just bit the bullet and did this little painting of some leaves I found in my parking lot. They were dried to a crisp and the colors that I ended up were hardly realistic, but I wanted it to look sunny and happy. I painted this on a watercolor greeting card and am going to send it as a thank you card for someone who gave me a very nice gift.

I am excited about this weekend because I am anticipating a lot of time to spend on my artwork. I also have a few days off from work coming up this month, so I am planning on doing a lot on some of the behind the scenes projects that I’ve been working on.

I was looking at a photo of the inside of someone’s house and I saw this saying on a poster on the wall. I did a little reading and found that it was on a British propaganda poster made just before WWII. Right now it is the perfect piece of propaganda for me. I seem to be very depressed lately and when that happens my usual tendency is to just mope around and do nothing. But this time, I have been trying to keep working on my art and trying to be as productive as I can. This weekend I’ve done more artwork than I usually do:

Magnolia, staedler pigment liners in kraft paper sketchbook, 2008

Guest House View, Dhanbad; dip pen and watercolor wash on 5×7 Strathmore watercolor greeting card, 2008

Onion Sketch (EDM 179), graphite in kraft paper sketchbook, 2008