koukla carolyn

The LORD will fulfill his purpose for me;
your love, O LORD, endures forever—
do not abandon the works of your hands.
                           Psalm 138:8

I have done more painting and sketching this week than I have since July. I basically forced myself to draw after work this week, even though I would rather sit and watch tv. Another reason why I think I was more productive is that I have changed my schedule at work, now leaving an hour earlier. You see, I am a morning person and find it extremely difficult to draw at night. Now I am not quite so tired when I get home and it is a bit easier to get out the sketchbook.

I did read something on Nina Johansson’s blog which I liked. She is now doing weeklong spreads, so as to spread the sketching over multiple days. The whole idea is that even if you are really busy, you probably have time to add to a sketch little by little over the week. And at the end of the week, you still have something to show for yourself. I think I will try this out as well and will start tomorrow.

Hibiscus, watercolor and colored pencil on 5×7 Strathmore watercolor greeting card, Carolyn Pappas, 2008

These days the market has been on my mind more than any other topic. I keep track of it while at work during the day and the obsession seems to have followed me home for the past two weeks as well. I normally try to do some sketching after work, but these past two weeks I have been glued to the tv listening to all the updates on the bailout negoitiations and worrying myself sick.

Yesterday, I decided that enough is enough. I sat down and finished this painting that I had been wanting to finish for a long time. I had the flower sketched out and the blank greeting card taped down to my board but I had not gotten around to acually painting it for a long time now. I experimented by using masking fluid to retain the whites in the spots for the pollen. It was frustrating because I found I did not have a lot of control over my application. And the stuff dried so fast! I ended up going over the whole thing with colored pencils after I painted it in watercolor and I really love the bold color that I ended up with, especially in the background. I found that the few hours of distraction was beneficial to my mood and my outlook.

When all these people on the news are scaring us with images of the Great Depression, the one passage of Scripture that comes instantly to mind is this one from Matthew 6:25-33:

“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?

 ”And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.

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

Balcony View, dip pen and watercolor wash (5×7), 2008

This past weekend I spent some time reorganizing my Flickr page. I have things in there from 3 years ago and I haven’t looked at my old drawings in ages. I was very surprised that I have improved so much since I have really started drawing seriously three years ago. What surprises me the most is how much more colorful my artwork has become since then.

The above piece is a pen and watercolor wash sketch of the view from my sister-in-law’s balcony. I painted it on a watercolor greeting card and I am planning on sending it to India as a thank you card for our trip. I’m really happy with the way it came out because I was not very serious about it and I had no expectations of what the results would be. I didn’t even sketch the scene out in pencil first, which what I usually do when I work in pen and ink.

Pansies, watercolor (4×6), 2008

This is a small watercolor painting that I made last weekend. It was tough to do, especially being so small. I painted it from a photo of a planter near the entrance of my apartment complex. One good thing I like about the place I live is that it has nice landscaping and they really maintain it well. Right now I am getting a bit stressed out about my upcoming trip. The preparations have been the most stressful part because I am afraid that I’ll forget something. I hope to have a lot of amazing drawings when I get back though!

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.

Magnolia, watercolor and ink (7.5” x 4.5”), 2008

This is based on a photo I took of the magnolia tree in front of my apartment building. I spent a Sunday afternoon working on it and I am happy with how delicate the flowers look. Now that it is spring, I am excited about getting outside more and drawing nature.

Nesting Cups, watercolor (10×7), 2008

Lately, I have been trying to improve my skills by choosing subjects that are more challenging. This painting was a real challenge for me but I am especially proud the way it came out, even though there are things I would change about it if I were to do it again. I like the way the background came out and the inside of the top cup. The hardest part were all the elipses.

Spring Drive, Watercolor (5×7), 2008

This is a watercolor that I did for my aunt, based on this photo: Blue Ridge Parkway on Flickr. I wanted to do another landscape based on the Blue Ridge Parkway but I didn’t have any more good photos that I took myself. I did change it around a bit, by adding more shadows and making the road a dirt road instead of asphalt. I also made things more green in the painting. I am pleased with the overall piece and I want to do more landscapes like this in the future.

This week I failed miserably at my art goals, mostly because I was just dead tired when I came home from work every day. My job is not physically taxing, but it certainly is mentally exhausting. This week I am going to try to do small sketches when I come home from work. I think one of the reasons why I put it off this week is because I didn’t have enough time to get involved in a big finished piece. I think I will just do small things so I at least get going on something.