Day 209 – Pretty Sketchbooks

January 31, 20152 Comments

After a conversation on Facebook about nasty covers on sketchbooks yesterday I decided to cover mine. I had a great box of hand made paper from Paper Mojo, a large bottle of Modge Podge, and a foam brush or two.

Four Strathmore journals, a Stillman and Birn Zeta and one Moleskine.
It took most of the day but I think they look great!!

A lot of the blocks with the word Sketchbook is made with scraps of watercolor paper that I tested pa don’t colors on.

This was a black moleskine.

I think they will look a lot better in the shelf than the old brown and black covers like the old one in the stack that’s still not covered. It does have stickers all over it. If that counts?!

Thanks for looking!

Day 208 – Dr Sketchys and some InK!!

January 30, 2015January 30, 20154 Comments

Every month we look forward to Dr. Sketchys Anti Art School in Augusta. Its always the last Wednesday of the month at Chat Noir on 8th and Ellis in downtown Augusta GA. THE most fun an artist can have all month. Fast sketching, interesting off the wall models – we have had strippers, burlesque dancers, performers, side show performers, automatons, actors and actresses…next month a circus performer.

I arrived with the intention of drawing with my Noodler Creaper loaded with Carbon Platinum Black ink and my Black and brown pentel brush pens plus hmm then I discovered the water brush and the Tombow markers…and it was history! Most are done in my 8.5×11″ Strathmore 500 Mixed Media journal….LOVE that paper. Nice and crispy. Took the water very well.

My Warmup Sketch

First I did a warm up sketch in my Stillman and Birn Alpha with my Noodler Creaper Ahab. I LOVE that pen…such great lines. I like to do a quick sketch before I get serious because no telling what I will draw. I am getting better at quickly sketching body parts…been practicing that since November or so drawing out and about in Atlanta, Key West and Augusta. Looking at her she actually has the right body shape!! I think I have improved since I started figure drawing a year ago.

Waiting

Strathmore 500 Mixed Media Journal

This was a ten minute sketch. I got the figure done quickly and drew in the background…Kind of fun. I had limited pens to use. I drew all the sketches first with my Noodler Creaper. Then I filled in the colors. I only had a red, a green and a purpley blue Tombow and some grey Tombows, a brown and black pentel brush pen and the noodler when I drew this, And two gel pens….gold and white. I used a brush pen to let the colors loose…TOO fun. I had my one and only martini at this time!! I used the red Tombow for all the skin tones. Some of the brown pentel brush pens for the darks.

It was fun not having all the colors though at first I wished I had brought my portable watercolor box….but later I was pleased with what I had done just using pens.

The gold gel pen was used for the necklace the stockings and the table.

The Valkyrie

Strathmore 500 Mixed Media Journal

Loved the horns…and I discovered a few more markers in my bag. Three Wink of Stellas – gold, pearlescent and black. They twinkle with glitter. Another silver gel pen and a pack of 7 Varsity fountain pens in every color but black…thank goodness they were super on the flowers!! I drew the flowers with the varsity pens and hit them with the water brush!! AWESOME stuff.

I twinkled her with the wink of stellas. She definitely has the glitter going on!!! You can get Wink of Stellas at Binders in Atlanta. I had to control myself at $8.95 a marker but oh my is the glitter in them sparkly and wonderful. I used all three of them on her…the black on her clothes, the pearlescent and gold wherever. Silver gel pen on her antlers. A picture does not do her justice because she just SpArKLeS!!

Sarah with whips

Strathmore 500 Mixed Media Journal

I really liked the costumes she had. And this pose was one of my favorites. I get tired of just drawing nekkid people. I like a little fabric to play with….she had a great kimono with alot of gold. And a huge pearl necklace. WoW!! All the pen colors are the same as the first one! I used alot of gold on the kimono both the gel pen and the wink of stella. Also on her necklace. The background is the pentel brush marker and the Wink of Stella Black marker.

Sarah Birdsong

Strathmore 500 Mixed Media Journal

This is my imitation of my friend Ruth’s style. She’s just the most awesome artist with people. LOVE her work. You can follow her at BritPeach on Instagram. Nobody does a better nude!!

Back to the picture. LOTS of red and the brown Pentel Pen. Then wetting them with the waterbrush to let them flow. Gold gel pen on the pearls. Rather like this one the best even though I did it in under ten minutes!

Thanks for looking!!

Day 2o7 – Shoe Time

January 29, 2015January 30, 2015Leave a comment

When I was a kid going to UGA we had to draw 150 drawings per art class each quarter. At times I took 3 art classes, a full load. That was 450 drawings besides 6 hours of class daily and lots of homework. We would run out of ideas for drawing.

One of my friends Carolyn Cates drew her shoes. I decided to draw my favorite Pappagallos. I loved these shoes. Expensive for a student but not meant for walking the campus in all weather. They were notorious for falling apart in a sudden rain shower.

Anyway, you are not here to hear me reminisce but to talk paint. That painting and the shoes have long disappeared so I decided it was time to recreate them.

I googled Pappagallos to see if there were any photos online. I didn’t find mine but I found a few similar pairs for sale on etsy.

Cute aren’t they?!

These are for sale on Etsy!!

Love these. Too bad they are the wrong size I would say SOLD!!

These pics revived forgotten details like the blue striped interior, the turquoise sole, the small stacked heels.

So I drew my old long gone favorite Pappagallos with my Noodler Creaper Ahab.

I was cleaning up the lettering. I thought it was dry. OOPs, it wasn’t!!! A smear!!!

What to do??!

TIP– You can always glue some of that paper we all save over your mistakes. Glue some of my vintage ledger paper over it.

Oops, that didn’t work. Look at all the feathering around the pen line!

Finally I found a piece of scrapbook ledger paper. Tested it with my pen. NO feathering. Hallelujah!! Modge podge it down!!

TIP- Modge podge is great for gluing down great for SECURELY gluing paper down in your art journal. Learned that from Mary Ann Moss!! Thanks Mary Ann!!

Here it is finished?! Wait – no it needs something in that wide border. What?

FINISHED Finally!!!

Colors? Dark blue cobalt outer border and a double black line done with my Noodler helped. And the ultramarine blue line around the title with another double black line helped to make it pop. I am
Not a faded out kinda girl. Vivid and bright is me!!

Once again contrasting colors helped with that. For the background I used yellow ochre with a little grey mixed from burnt sienna and cerulean. The cobalt blue border made it pop. The cobalt also brings out the blue bows on the shoes.

The green is manganese blue and yellow. The almost black dark on the bows and x’s is ultramarine blue and burnt umber.

And that’s it. Go forth and paint your shoes. The brighter the better. Maybe some of the snazzy sneakers in wild colors! And use contrasting colors. You will be glad you did.

Thanks for looking!!!

Day 206 – Fast and Slow 2

January 28, 2015January 28, 20152 Comments

Kind of describes my day. Today I signed up for Fine Arts America. You can sell prints through them. Don’t go look. So far after four hours of trying to scan not a thing ready to upload. Scanners are not usually so difficult. Hopefully problems will be resolved shortly.

This is another fast slow painting I did yesterday. Clutter on my Art Table aka Kitchen Table -This was fun…think I should have colored the letters? I really wanted a neon green to go whang…settled for cad yellow new gamboge and maganese blue which is a brilliant blue.

I knew what colors I was going to use because Lime is my favorite color but I can not wear it. Makes me look yellow. Not a good look!!

Pink goes with lime and so does purple…so picking the colors was easy. Splattered with purple on the pink and a darker blue violet on the bottom.

The pink is quinacridone magenta. The purple is made with the manganese and Quin magenta. Top splattered with the purple. Bottom splattered with some darker blue violet. Aka I added more blue to my purple mix.

Flipping thru my almost full sketchbook I had the thought that I had drawn/written a book. Yes it’s about my life but still a book. People are always telling me to make a picture book and I tell them too many pages. It takes 32 drawings to make a picture book. And I have filled 70 pages. Maybe I will rethink that picture book?!

Thanks for looking!!!

Day 205 – Fast and Slow

January 26, 2015January 26, 20152 Comments

Taking Sketchbookskool beginnings and Seeing. This is the homework for Seeing, Danny Gregory’s Fast and Slow assignment. Yes HOMEWORK!!!!
Despite the fact that it was the h word it was a lot of fun. Betting I will do a few more.

I had already collaged the background with old accounting paper and a piece of paper bag from Little Shop of Story’s in Decatur Ga – our favorite independent bookstore. It has quotes from story books on it- Wild Things is my favorite.

First choose an intricate object to draw. I chose Henry’s Rocker. Rockers usually give me fits.

Next you make a soupy puddle of any color watercolor and using a big brush you try to paint the object quickly. I used Daniel Smith piemonite and American Journey cobalt with a size 8 sable brush.

Let it dry. Take a fairly thick pen (Noodler Creaper Ahab) look at the object carefully and attempt to draw it. Add in details with a finer pen(Lamy Vista Fine Nib).

And that’s it. Of course I had to decorate the page. The words Henry’s Rocker are painted in his favorite color in this case Holbein cad red light. Background is Daniel Smith new gamboge with a touch of Holbein cad light.

Lettering done with my Noodler Creaper Ahab loaded for business with Platinum Carbon Black INKC 1500.

Tonites sunset.

Thanks for looking.

Day 2o4 – Stuck on Birds

January 25, 2015January 25, 20156 Comments

Drawing birds out my back window at the feeder this am. Not many cardinals but a wren that hangs around eating suet and chirping away in the Rose bushes, chickadees and tufted titmice diving in for seeds and those pesky red finches. Red finches an invasive species have run the beautiful purple finch out of this area.

I tried to draw these in as few pen strokes as possible. Looking at the birds as they landed. Thank goodness the wren hung around. Such cute little fat things.

Colors- Burnt Sienna, the greys were made with Daniel Smith Primateks purple hematite and piemonite with cobalt or ultramarine. That combo makes such a yummy grey. The Daniel Smith Primateks are wonderful because they granulate as they dry adding nuances of color. In case you haven’t guessed I can’t get enough color!! 😃

Black was made with burnt umber and ultramarine blue.

Shadows cerulean and burnt umber. Then I went back in with the Piemonite and purple hematite mixes to grey them some more.
Soupy American Journey Orange for the background.

Yesterday when we left life drawing the tree near the parking lot was loaded with cedar waxwings gobbling berries. Instantly I knew what they were because as a child they would descend on our bushes and gobble outside the kitchen windows. And I can hear mom saying the cedar waxwings are back. What a racket they can make.

Here’s the story!!

I also looked them up to write the left hand page. Then I remembered sitting in class in third and fourth grade entertaining myself making bird books from some little bird guides someone had given me. Those involved notebook paper and pencil sketches. I guess I have come full circle!!

Colors New Gamboge and virisian to make that Limey yellow. New gamboge is such a bright clear gold. Once again the greys were made with purple hematite and piemonite with cobalt or ultramarine.

Those Daniel Smith granulation colors!! You guessed it!! The greys were made with purple hematite and piemonite with cobalt or ultramarine.

Here are the greys with purple hematite and piemonite with cobalt or ultramarine on my pallette done. Great colors I think!!

Somebody asked me how I splatters so I took a pic of the cedar wax wing prepared for splattering. I used a soupy mix of cerulean and yellow ochre. Remember that paint will also go allover your table. So cover it up unless you want speckles.

Thanks for looking!!

Day 202 – Time Flies!!

January 24, 2015January 24, 2015Leave a comment

Especially when you have something interesting to do…I seem to draw and or paint something or someone just about everyday now. I am taking TWO Danny Gregory Sketchbookskool online classes at the same time…Beginnings and Seeing.

Lots of fun! Some great teachers. I highly recommend it. Each one is six weeks long with a different teacher every week…and theres that dreaded word HOMEWORK!! aka Assignments….OH MY!! But since I am drawing and painting sometimes all day long it’s not a problem!! All those skies started out as homework…we only had to do one…I did EIGHT!! OPPS!!! And have one more in mind to do…

Today its rained all day. Skies were an uninspiring grey grey grey so I drew this perky violet that seems to resist my best attempts to kill it. A friend gave me a small piece last winter saying it would root easily in water. Hers was huge!! More than a foot across. I thought uh huh…this wont last long. Lo and behold it rooted…I planted it in an old McCoy pot of my grandmother’s it continued thrive. It sits on the kitchen counter where it gets little sun except thru the backporch skylight. So today I drew it…growing against impossible odds…thriving!! I also journaled about my mother and grandmother -both famous for their green thumbs.

Now to get my homework drawn-draw a piece of bread. In my case a biscuit. Near enough!!!

Thanks for looking!

Day 201 – A Sunset and some Ink!!

January 23, 2015January 23, 2015Leave a comment

The contest winners are Karen, Rena Lewis and Peg. Thanks for all the comments. There will be another contest soon!! Please contact me at m c m h u n t @ m e. C o m so I can mail you your prize!! I will also try to contact you!

I had another go at Tuesday’s sunrise. I was tired of painting the sycamores so I traded them for firs.

I got my bottle of Platinum Carbon Black ink from Goulet today. So excited. I drew this pic to see if it would bleed. Not a smidge. The ink didn’t even lift. Hurrah!!!
Get a bottle at Goulet Pens

Pictures of the box just in case you need them.

Your ink should have INKC 1500 on it. Beware of the one with 1200 on it. It’s not waterproof. Now to get some. De Artmentris (sp?) document ink. Also supposed to be waterproof and comes in colors!!

Day 200 – Sky Practice

January 22, 2015January 22, 201513 Comments

Don’t forget to leave a comment and a like to have a chance on a watercolor. Contest is over at midnite.

My 200th day of consecutive blog posts!! Who would have thought I would get this far. Originally I was trying for 50 days of posting, and here it is Day 200!! No skyrockets but a wild sunset.

A redo of last nights sunset. This picture is bluer than the actual painting. The treeline and foreground is purple and blue not blue in the original. I used quinacridone Rose instead of the red in the first version. This is the third try and I think the best. The first one got glued over with a fresh piece of paper. I think I am ready to paint some new trees. Some firs?! My neighbors are looking better and better.

Tip: wash sky starting at top with cobalt shading to burnt sienna. It won’t go green like yellow will. With a hog bristle brush add bits of the pink and purple blue at an angle for the clouds. Darker at the top, brighter toward the horizon. Some thinned Sienna or nickel Azo gold on the bottom of the clouds makes a nice yellow glow.
Tip 2: Fuzzy tree and bush tops Paint them while the sky is wet. Add some burnt sienna for a glow on the tree tops. Hmm should have tried that on the bushes and the trees.

Here’s the first one so you can compare them. Have fun.

Thanks for looking!!!🎉🎉🎉

Day 199 – Two Skyscapes!

January 21, 2015February 5, 2015Leave a comment

Don’t forget the giveaway. Leave a
Comment and a like.

Second go at this post. WordPress crashed after I finished the first one and it evaporated. 😜

This is my fourth go at this early morning view out my back window.
I painted the background a very pale yellow and let it dry. The. I washed it with water. Added cerulean and some piemonite mixed with cobalt for the grey clouds.

The tree line is piemonite and cobalt as is the water and the foreground trees.

The trees are done with my wonderful Isabey #2 I bought at Utrecht dick Blick with my Christmas money. Love it. Long and a narrow tip. I have 1s and 0s that are bigger. I smeared some of the branches to make them look fuller. Twiggier.

Some negative painting in the tree line. A little sponging on the river to make fog.

Tonites sunset. Aglow with pinks and touches of yellow. I laid down lines of Quinacridone red and aureolin yellow. Then I filled I with cobalt and cerulean. The treeline is cobalt violet and ultramarine blue with a touch of burnt umber. Trees painted with the same paint.

I will try to add the other skyscapes. But saving this in case of crashes.