Day 1884 – 15 Shades of Grey with Mario

Barbette a million layers of grey

I used my grandmothers opera glasses to see the model better.

The drawing

Round one of the grey layer

Round two. Progress is slow after edges w water adding the same grey

What’s with the white bubble?!

I ran the same grey wash over the WHOLE painting top to bottom!!😳😬 SCARY stuff.

Adding more and more darks. Wetting the edges w a waterloaded brush to soften the next grey layer bas it was added. Hard to explain. I usually do it the other way around.

A coat of grey over the whole figure WHAT??!🤪🤪🤪🤮

Finally dark enough to start running flesh tones tomorrow. This literally took from 10-5:30 minus model breaks and lunch breaks. 😳🤨

This is Mario’s. Look below to see his progress from yesterday til today.

Mario’s palette

Mario’s shoes. 😂

Drawing with @marioarobinson @aliapainter #fabriano #watercolor #art #painting #artist #portrait #aquarelle #georgia #atlanta #charlesreid #watercolor #artist #painter #aquarelle #drawing #sketching #lifemodel #nudesketch #portrait #portraitpainting #portraits #portraitart

Day 1883 Hangin w Mario

Been drawing all day in a class with Mario Robinson in Raleigh.

Being a jack rabbit type I was drawing our model for the second time, no third time when I realized I could draw Mario at his easel across the room.

So I added him to my painting. 😊 140# cp fluid

This is the second time I drew our model Barbette. 300# cp Fabriano paper.

Tomorrow we will spend all day painting the shadows. 😳

Day three we will be doing the flesh tones I think. Stand by to see what we do!!!

Did I say I really want to paint. Oh well.

Margaret in Raleigh where it’s finally chilly. Hurrah!! Xoxoxo

Drawing with @marioarobinson @aliapainter #fabriano #watercolor #art #painting #artist #portrait #aquarelle #georgia #atlanta #charlesreid #watercolor #artist #painter #aquarelle #drawing #sketching #lifemodel #nudesketch #portrait #portraitpainting #portraits #portraitart

Day 1882 From I 95 at the NC SC Border

South of the Border. What a wild whacky place. All things Hispanic. Been there as long as I can remember. Can’t wait to paint this one. Crazy colors.

Reading the road signs aka billboards along the highway were our entertainment when we moved anywhere as a military family. South of the Border and Bermashave signs were at the top of our list making long trips shorter.

My parents never let us stop. Would u with four kids in the car?!!

Who could resist drawing this. The landscape is filled with oddball animals like a huge red daschund and I think a black cat. A whale flamingoes the alligator.

Can’t wait to paint this. Page 1 in my Raleigh to ???? Journal. Think the gator may be going on the title page. Came close to doing it today.

Stillman and Birn Zeta

Lamy Ef Noodlers Heart of Darkeness Ink

Margaret finally in Raleigh Xoxoxox

Whacky Wild #SouthoftheBorder #stillmanandbirn #ink #watercolor #art #painting #artist #painter #aquarelle #georgia #artist #charlesreid #urbansketcher #northcarolina #urbansketching

Day 1881 -10 days of crazy

Begins today. Show opens Feb 14 6-8 at the Aiken Center for the Arts on Laurens Street.

Show mostly delivered. 22 paintings. I left two in my cavernous garage so back to Aiken in the am on my way to Raleigh. A slight detour of twenty miles. 😵😵😵

The Key West chicken strip will be for sale.

I drew these sitting on a lawyers steps near the post office In Key West. There’s a huge flock at the post office.

It was so hot I went to the Starbucks on Duval St and drew this one.

Think lots of glass windows with a good street view from my table.

And yes there are chickens on Duval.

These are about 7″ tall. Ripped from a 40″ long piece of Stonehenge Print paper. Love that stuff.

This is from one of the 8×10″ stillman and birn Alpha sketchbooks that will be on display in cases at the show next week. Sketchbooks will NOT be for sale. Pentel Brush pen and a Lamy Ef. Noodlers Eelskin ink.

Hmm well if you give me 1000s of $$$$ mAybe.

I did tell Traci if the place caught on fire leave the pile of paintings and take the sketchbooks.

Margaret dreading the drive to Raleigh via Aiken. Xoxoxo

Sketch books will be in the show next week. Drawing the professor while taking notes. #aiken #usca #sketchbook #sketching #dailydrawing #stillmanandbirnalpha #ink #lamy #sketch

Day 1880 Downton Tea Party

The Fascinating Ladies who came to the Downton tea. You know I had to draw some of them. These two ladies were sitting at the table right next to us. I loved their fascinators. So I drew them.

Anyway getting ready to head to Raleigh for a class so that’s it doe now.

Twisbee in my stillman and birn. Deartrementis document brown ink. CharlesReid palette plus opera pink.

Delivering the show tomorrow the. Off to Raleigh. I begin my week do run run run.

Margaret who shouldn’t have taken that nap this afternoon. Xoxoxo

#aiken #ladilce #sketchbook #sketching #dailydrawing #stillmanandbirnalpha #ink #lamy #sketch

Day 1879 A Portrait is a painting

With something wrong with the mouth. – John Singer Sargent

some of these definitely qualify. I do like to take notes and draw people while I do. Some of the sketches of Joe turned out some bomb. Read the notes. Some of them are quite interesting. He never holds still very long. He did say today that painting is a dance. Aka he’s the dancer.

young and slim with thick black hair and penchant for plaid or striped shirts a very thoughtful young man.

A thinking painter. Read the notes.

All the frames are done. Hurrah. Delivering the show to the Aiken Center for the Arts on Wednesday. HURRAH. thanks Kristin and V at Art in Broad!’ I highly recommend them.

Cake row at Betsy’s in Aiken

Margaret off to meet w friend for dinner. I have managed to meet friends TWICE for meals today. Interestingly one friend LOVES to indulge in cake looking not buying for dessert. I told her I liked to indulge in cake licking. 🤗

Xoxoxox

Drawing the professor while taking notes. Really need to paint these. #aiken #usca #sketchbook ching #dailydrawing #stillmanandbirnalpha #ink #lamy #sketch

Day 1878 It’s Saturday

Practicing for my class with Mario Robinson next weekend. He’s been compared to Andrew Wyeth.

The drawing on 12×16 Canson Plein Air art board

The grisaille layer. Grisaille means greys in French. You start with that layer and then lay in the flesh color over it once the greys are dry. Supposedly you are finished when you get to that point.

Typically Grissaille is used with oils not watercolor. This method is known for being highly transparent.

And a problematic approach when you only have two hours to paint the portrait.

As my friend Mike said NOT my favorite of Macy.

I decided I was annoyed with her face being too dark and whipped it out with a damp Kleenex and daubing at her face. Also the right eye was too low. One of the great things about the board is you can literally wipe it off.

Right now leaning toward putting this in the recycle bin. Can’t paint on the back or maybe I should put some gesso juice on it and see what happens. Aka Fun Sunday.

Katie Padgett pastel

Our latte barista Fred’s fun acrylic 2×3’

Al Beyer oil

Tim Needham Watercolor in Canson plein air art board

One pair done.

Margaret hot on knitting another sock and watching the Hour on Acorn-Riveting-I should be getting a drawing for class tomorrow. Oopsey.

Hmm who needs wool socks when it will be 70 all week?Xoxoxo

Macy- 11×16” Canson Plein Air Watercolor board #watercolor #art #painting #artist #painter #canson #aquarelle #southcarolina #aiken #artist #lifestyleblogger #lifestylechange #drawing #sketching #cansonpaper #charlesreid #lifemodel #pleinair

Day 1877 Sketches popping off my pen

More of the EarthFare ladies. Twisbee seems to be a hot pen for me the last few days really enjoying the D”Artrementis Document Brown Ink. Hope it does NOT run out in the near future because it’s scarce as hens teeth.

If the maid is familiar it’s because

She’s our former model Ilania. ❤️❤️❤️❤️

We wandered into a. downton abbey tea today at La Dolce after sketching. Who knew!? Such great photos and of course I had to draw a couple of the ladies with their fascinator hats.

Margaret trying to finish a sock today. Xoxoxo

#twisbee #stillmanandbirn #ink #watercolor #art #painting #artist #painter #aquarelle #georgia #artist #charlesreid #urbansketcher #urbansketchingaugusta #urbansketching #augusta #earthfare

Day 1876 done! ladies who Listen!

Really like the way this turned out. I also got another water tower inked. Ready to paint when the mood strikes.

Most of these ladies were intently listening to the lady on the bottom right. Charles Reid palette colors. Twisbee pen, deartrementis document brown ink and stillman and birn Alpha journal.

One sock done and the last one underway. The book has the pattern for it in it. My go to vogue sock book.

Margaret who whipped up a Pepe’s Coconut Cream pie for sketching tomorrow. Yum Xoxoxox

Meetings at EarthFare #twisbee #stillmanandbirn #ink #watercolor #art #painting #artist #painter #aquarelle #georgia #artist #charlesreid #urbansketcher #urbansketchingaugusta #urbansketching #augusta #earthfare

Day 1875 Sometimes u have to draw

I hadn’t just sat down to draw people in a while. So today I went to EarthFare for a few groceries and drew the people in the cafe. Loved doing it.

Haven’t done in it in a while. This is how I learned to draw people – sitting in a coffee shop or cafe a doctors office a public place and drawing the people.

Going to post these on urban sketching on Facebook and see if they bounce them. I did get out and draw them in an urban environment right?!

Twisbee Pen deartementis document brown stillman and birn Alpha.

Only a few pages left til the book is done. HURRAH.

Did I draw that last watertower aka Porkchops Tower 3. Yes but not painted yet.

Had to take care of the thriving squirrels that knocked the top of the bird feeder and SAT in it gobbling.

New bird feeder with a screw on top. So far they can’t even slide down the plastic wire wrapped cord to sit on the roof.

Brown thrasher on the old one. I taped the top on with packing tape. Won’t be attractive BUT I bet the squirrels can’t get tape open.

Zoe and I went for a nice walk and collected photos of the Canadian geese in the old rice paddies in our neighborhood. I even took the BIG nikon with the telephoto lens. Better pics still on the camera card.

Too pretty a day to stay inside painting all afternoon.

Like my sketchbook almost done!! One more inch til the toe!!!

More manana. Back to my sock.

Margaret Xoxoxox

Meetings at EarthFare #twisbee #stillmanandbirn #ink #watercolor #art #painting #artist #painter #aquarelle #georgia #artist #charlesreid #urbansketcher #urbansketchingaugusta #urbansketching #augusta #earthfare