Month: March 2021

Monday can be Funday too

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Looking at this boat makes me smile. Love the silly birds on top. Clyde and co!

The photo. I was trolling YouTube this am and discovered an Ian Fennelly paint along and I thought way more fun than listening to NPR and doing the Aigusta National golf club.

And I was right. Always fun to listen to Ian natter on. This is an old sailboat on the river Dee in Cornwall. Something about the river isn’t there anymore just the marshes?!

Stage 1. The pen layout.

Stage 2. Drawing the boat and environs with a Tombow fine tip end. A number 65 I think.

Stage 3. Coloring the boat w tombows and fine liners.

Stage 4&5. Color added then some more marker detail. Also the silly gulls. Limited palette Ultramarine, Burnt sienna, Orange, green gold, white gouache.

Margaret who almost forgot to post. Xoxoxox

Sacre Couer

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Sketching Paris – Sacre Couer which sits on the highest point in the city and can be seen from all over the city. There are a few tweaks coming sooner or later.

The photo.

Step 1. Lay out pens on your paper at the angles you will draw the buildings.

Step 2. Drawn with a very light Tombow on 140# hot press Fabriano 15×20″. Delicious paper. Sometimes I think it would be easier to start these off with a pencil. Then you can erase the inevitable oopseys.

Step 3. Ink it with a .03 permanent fine liner adding a few more details.

Step 4. Watercolor layer. Only four colors used. Ultramarine, cad red dark, burnt sienna or quin sienna and cobalt teal light.

Step 5. Adding more Tombow and darker tombows including black.

Step 6. Adding more details! Using the permanent fine liners. .03 .02 .01 And a bit more Tombows.

Step 7. And last add a bit more watercolor. And a few more splatters. I do love splattering.

That’s a wrap. The last Sunday Funday with Ian Fennelly. Ian’s been a very busy boy during the pandemic offering a ton of classes in Studio56Boutique.com.

Margaret tucked up in bed. Xoxoxo

Daffy for daffodils

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Got a little carried away painting daffodils yesterday over and over and over. Wanted soft edges and kept getting hard ones. I used up a half sheet of 300# Kilimanjaro painting these.

They range in size from 10×10″ to about 7×7″.

Some have salt added to them which gives the speckled look.You can still see salt on this one. Oops.

After lunch I forgot the salt and splattered them. Oops

Cad yellow light, Indian yellow, Daniel smith sodalite and green apetite, quin magenta and sap green. Oh and some Daniel Smith gold and opalescent blue.

I also added salt to three of them. Wish I remembered to do it to the last two.

Margaret xoxoxo

Wet on really wet

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Winter in St Petersburg makes me glad we don’t live in a cold cold clime like that. Half sheet Kilimanjaro 20×15″

These are some famous buildings in St Petersburg. Took an online class from Tatiana Assimova (she’s on IG) where you spoke Russian to us and Vlad translated simultaneously. How crazy we live in a day and age you can take a class live all the way from St Petersburg while it’s being translated in Sarasota FL on zoom?!

The sketch and my paper sopping wet. We wet both sides and let it sink into the paper. I used a big hake brush to do it.

Mine was so wet it was still dripping on the back side FOUR hours later. I kept trying to paint the people and my trees in the foreground and they just kept running.

The trees are painted with a half worn out chip brush. The cheap house painting brushes you can buy for $1 each. Or by the bagful at Michael’s.

Finally used a hair dryer on it. BOTH a front and back sides. C R A Z Y. Nothing was drying. Maybe because I had the windows open?! Usually everything dries quickly running the AC or heat.

sky wash of Daniel Smith neutral tint over a yellow ochre layer. All very wet. It does make great skies though.

Onto the buildings. Yellow ochre and neutral tint. I did not get the 911 at first that you had to use straight color to keep it from running a lot. Oops. I did by the time I got to the building on the left.

Colors neutral tint yellow ochre and a dab of burnt sienna.

More trees and buildings. My details kept mushing into the backgrounds. Oops. Too wet.

And now everything else was running together or running away. Sigh. I kept waiting for the trees to dry but no no no they weren’t. I scrubbed off the lilac grey in the foreground.

Hair dryer time.

Here it is now. A fun experiment.

Electric lines done w a liner neutral tint the gouache. The snow spattered w white gouache on a toothbrush. Lots of paint slinging. You should see the tv on my painting Table. Oops.

Oops I did it again

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Two paintings in one day and a nice long nap on the sofa when I finished.

I painted and drew from 9 am to almost 5! Guess my artistic block is over. Amazing how a vaccine takes the pressure off! Hope you get yours soon.

The drawing. 300 # cold press Kilimanjaro. Nice paper! Masking fluid was added to reserve the white of the whiskers.

Off to a wild start with Liz Chadderton. You too can paint a cute Easter bunny. She makes her animal paintings look so easy but let me tell you they aren’t. My paper kept drying out making hard edges. Sigh.

Almost done. This only took 40 minutes and about forty years of practicing. Only 3 colors used. French ultramarine, burnt sienna or burnt umber and opera pink. Masking fluid on the whiskers.

So I added some more dark grey to separate the ears from the sweet face.

And that’s a wrap. Back to my nap. 😴 Margaret xoxoxo

La Tour Eiffel

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Done for the moment. Sunday Funday with Ian Fennelly. Who could resist drawing the Eiffel Tower with Ian??! Really enjoyed it despite I wore my hand out inking it. Should have taken a lunch break. One of my fav places in Paris esp when lit up at night.

I sat under it on one Saturday nite drawing it. Heaven for someone who loves to sketch.

Of course I can’t find the picture of the sketch right now. A double page spread too.

The photo

The sketch. Tombow time.

Firming it up with permanent ink markers. Like the lettering but little matchbox cars. Oops. Oh well. Can’t have it all, right?!

First layer of watercolor. Four colors. Winsor Newton Brown Madder, WN Cerulean, WN Prussian Blue, and M Graham Azo Orange. Oh a dab of ivory black used as a grey.

Close up. Yummy colors. The weird brown red is the the brown madder.

Adding more tombows. Coloring with the marker end. A range of greys and black. Second sweep with watercolor. Cross hatching underway with permanent fine liners .05, .03 and .01.

Finished exhale or it got a little dark. One good thing abt fluid hotpress. You can wipe some of the color off.

Here it is now. My fav bit are the cobble stones near the crosswalk. No idea why but there it is.

But this one is still my fav.

Next Sunday Sacre Couer!

Margaret watching Bull again. Not listening to it again. Xoxoxox

The Road Less Traveled

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Done. For sale 15×20″ cold press 300# Kilimanjaro

Love my trees. Painted with Daniel Smith Payne’s grey a yellow mix used for the trees yellow ochre Holbein lilac and a cad yellow light. A few bits of cobalt cerulean mix.

Oh and most importantly painted w a saber brush and a dagger brush uncontrollable but make wonderful lines for trees.

The snow was done w cobalt. I tried adding cerulean but always get a nasty opaque grey with it so wiped it off. Scrubby scrubby.

Other colors used burnt sienna burnt umber and Prussian blue in his jeans.

I got carried away having fun painting the trees on the right. Finally decided to wipe some out by scrubbing with a paint brush. They are not the focal point.

My morning greeting. Anyone need a kitty kitty?!!

Margaret who can’t let them starve. Xoxoxo

Bits and bobs

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Prague Half sheet Hahnemuhle 15×22″Paint alongs with Vladislav Yesileyev

Spent most of the day cleaning and cooking. About two I sat down to work on a stack of not quite finished paintings. I think these are done now.

Old Towne Cuba

Cafe du Monde Paris

Now putting my tired feet up. No kitty or doggy picks.

Margaret ready for a nap. Xoxoxox 😴 😴😴😴😴😴

Archibald Butt Bridge

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Done for the moment. Quarter sheet of fluid hot press paper. The bridge is an Augusta landmark on 15th Street and spans the Augusta Canal. The mills in the background once were powered by the canal. Archibald Butt was an Augustan who died on the Titanic giving up his seat in a lifeboat. He also served in President Roosevelt and then Tafts administration who came to town for the dedication. Butts is buried at Arlington.

The ink sketch. This stage was not easy for me. Took about 4 hours of thinking and scheming deciding how to draw the bridge.

Watercolor washes. Colors used Thalo blue, quin gold, quin burnt orange, dioxzine purple, cad red.

Last step adding more pen and tombows.

Gorgeous early spring day today despite tornado warnings. Lots of gusty winds.

Margaret who didn’t sleep a lot thinking about all those tornadoes that never got here. Xoxoxox

The Gallant Lady

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The Gallant Lady is done for the moment but thinking about working on the sand some more. I put those dark bands almost evenly spaced. Oops.

I was doing a mad online paint along with Randy Hale. This 12×16″ painting was done in 45 minutes. Oh my. A wild chase. Lots of wet juicy color.

The Gallant Lady is a famous 1997 Hurricane Mitch shipwreck off Bimini in the Bahamas. You can read more about her on this link. Hard to believe it’s fallen apart so quickly.

Love the way my sky turned out. It was done with ultramarine of cobalt and then opera was dropped in along with raw umber for the greys.

Randy has a great sky technique. I am terrible at painting skies. But this one I actually like. He’s doing a lot of online teaching as are multiple other artists right now. Such a gift to all of us. Access to these great paintings tees from our own homes.

First layers on. The sand is quin gold burnt sienna and raw umber. I should try to make it look less regular but not sure I care enough to try.

I think I used quin burnt orange on the boat or quin sienna along with raw umber. I don’t know why I don’t use raw umber more because I really like the color.

Water is Thalo blue applied painting downward. Also cobalt teal watered

down like tea. The purple is added after its dry. Coming along. I like that most of the color is transparent. Love transparency in watercolor. Gives a lovely glow.

Darker greens Thalos and purples added to give depth.

Done for now.

This kitty is off to get spayed tomorrow. Don’t ya wanna come help me catch her?!! Hard to believe she used to be a rack of bones. She’s a gorgeous cat now. Don’t you want her. All neutered with shots!!

Margaret xoxoxo