Going to a Garden Party

Day 23 #jyportraitcsllenge Loved Lyn @lynaylwardart Loved her big hat. To me she looks like shes heading to a garden party in her hat. Fluid 140# cp M Graham watercolor
The background was fun. I did it FIRST by wetting it down w a two inch flat then dabbying in pure thick color into the background-sap green, ultramarine and yellow. Then u just let it flow. DO NOT touch it. Hard to resist i know.
The photo
And i sketched. Too low too small
And i sketched. I got the head angle wrong and the eyes. Well i just done know. Sigh.
And i sketched
The final sketch. A little masking for the holes in the straw. Finally she arrived. Or I gave up.
The hat was also done all at once adding in hair color so it would melt into the brim. you have to use paint right out of the tube when you do that. Burnt sienna and quin gold with some mineral violet.
Close to done. The skin got too pink but not as pink as this. I used quin coral, light yellow permanent and mineral violet. The dress was done like the background wetting it down but adding in mixed and water downed colors.
Added a few more shadows and tried to lighten the pink. Not easy to lighten quin coral its staining. Mostly happy with her just wish she weren’t so pink

Margarer xoxoxoxo

How did i ever work?!

Most days around here are so busy I wonder.

Day 22 of 30 day portrait challenge. #jyportraitchallenge Jaxxon @hisarmystudiosA pirate? Well maybe. Still not happy with the skin tone but too late tonite to add burnt umber. Tried raw sienna and burnt Sienna and quin burnt orange plus some mineral violet and cobalt teal. Also need to soften a few edges but not tonite. Mgraham watercolor.
Photo
The sketch on fluid 140cp
Then i forgot to take pics. This one is the skin is raw sienna, burnt sienna and a dab of quin pink. I think hes too yellow and too light. Also gets lost in the background. Looks a little too cut out.
So I began the game of change his skin tone, the background and softening edges. Lost the back wdge of his head. Always makes them sit on the page better.
Colors off but he’s done for the moment. BYTW Jaxxon is doing the thirty day challenge too. Margaret xoxoxox

Oy Vey what a Day

Hope i spelled that right.

Day 21. Looks easy right??! Mar @marcastenada_model #jyportraitchallenge Cute Audrey Hepburn look. Love Audrey.
The sketch. Just didnt look quite right. I should have fixed it then but NOPE. Fluid 140#cp
So far so good
Cobalt was much better but three coats on the background. 1 teal 2 cobalt. 😵‍💫 Nothing easy today. Her face does not look right.
Better. I had a laundry list of tweaks. Her hairline lifted, her mouth got another quarter inch, i moved her right eye down , added some kore shadow under her left eye and softened some of the lines on her chest. I think thats it. Hmm. Anyway whether or not she’s right i quit.

Supper time Margaret xoxoxox

Being slack BUT oh so busy

Number 20! British model @Beth.Reeks.98 her red hair and those eyes yelled paint me. In my next life i want red hair just like hers. Just posting process pics tonight. Getting so behind with this challenge keeping me so busy. Totally enjoying the challenge and have learned alot.
The sketch. On fluid 140#
Funny how dark this looks. You can tell from the finished painting it wasnt
Lots of juicy drips. Course those will be under the mat.
The hair gave me a fit. Aka struggle.
Just because i can post the lovely drips again. Bwahhhh
Now
Margaret ready for bed. Xoxoxoxox

Another day another portrait or two

Katie. Lovely girl.
Lots of back lighting in this photo. And those blue shadows and golden skin. A scary mix for turning her green. Eeek
The sketch. Stillman and Birn Alpha
Drove me crazy trying get the eyes straight. Finally got out the ruler which i never do and drew a perpendicular line for them. kept drawing the right eye too high. 😵 And then i forgot to take any pics. Oops. Sorry.

Her skin is basically quin gold and pink. A very light mix. Then i added cobalt teal for the shadows. Her hair was splattered. More quin gold for a base. Added burnt umber and ultramarine splatter. Drew some curls with my Cheap Joes Scroogys Loose Goose saber brush. Always fun.
Out back today. The water was like glass.

Busy day so now putting my feet up. Margaret xoxoxoxo

Mom’s Fav – The cello

Day 15/30 portrait challenge #jyportraitchallenge Spent too long drawing the portrait around a bit. Mostly quin gold@and quin pink with cobalt turquoise and burnt sienna for the face. Hair is raw sienna, raw umber, and burnt sienna.
Mgraham watercolor may easily rewets but think its time to reload my palette. Thanks @judithyaws and @jaksics_judit_reka
The lovely photo. Mom played second chair violin in high school. She kept a cello for years but never learned to play it. I love cello music esp YoYo Ma buy have never aspired to play one.
The sketch took longer than the paintjng. Took a while for her to show up for a visit as i call it when i finally get the drawing right.
The face and hair. Really meant to do the background before i got this far. Oh well. The background of cobalt and Maroon Perlene which i cut in with my big cats paw brush. I also brushed it over and into the hair which i think lost the edges. The light streaks of hair where done with my fingernail. Something i am not fond of doinf because it makes your nails a mess but does make great hair.

Margaret who kinda wishes she has done this on watercolor paper. Oh well. Hmm i may go back and make the background a dark chocolate brown ultramarine. It would make her pop and the cello blend in.

Loosing edges

Day 14/30 portrait challenge #jyportraitchallenge Clueless as to why I posted this painting on ig earlier taken w my iPhone instead of my ipad pro. Duh is all i can say. She is so much brighter than the pic my phone took. Spent about a half an hour twitching the portrait around a bit. Lifting the green shadows on the right arm. Adding a few more dark blue greens and finding her chin again. Wonder where it went?! 8×10” Stillmanandbirn alpha. Mgraham watercolor easily rewets. Thanks @judithyaws and Amanda @queenamanda25
The sketch.
This is the iphone photo. Always looks greyish to me. So i decided to take an iPad pro photo to post on ig. Sat on the sofa and looked at all kinds of small problems. I wanted to loose the edges of her hair and paint the background first. i used my cats paw brush which is very big esp for this small picture. But as Mary Whyte says use the biggest brish you can. Got me into trouble when i brushed over her arm with it. Then some of the green ran down the same arm and across the shoulder shadow. Lost any edge which isnt bad in the shadows but too much here.
The twitching began. Cleaning up those green shadows. Took another photo.
Still not happy. Worked on that green shadow some more but finally gave up. It would not lift. Sap green. Not suppose to stain. Oh well. . And added some blue and green in the background aka negative painting.

Anyway. Color me tahred but still wondering what Judith will post for us to do tomorrow. Margaret xoxoxox

Busy busy

Lovely sweet photo for Day 13. Thanks #jyportraitchallenge and @ latestqq Stillman and birn 8×10” Alpha always a nice size to draw on. Not too big and not too small. Really got loose with her clothing and finally her hair with my Cheap Joes scroobys loose goose saber brush.
Pencil sketch spent too long fiddling with it. Abt an hour
What can i say love the shot of turquoise. Used alot of indian Lake on her. Or is it Indian yellow mixed w quin pink for her skin. Never can remember.
Then i decided to give her another try just painting. No drawing. i quit shortly as too annoying to deal with.
I couldn’t resist painting this awesome photo of Jessie @rextion_arts instead. Somehow i missed there were two options yesterday.
Not perfect. The face is a little fatter but alot looser which i think is due to the lack of a drawing. Anyway like this one alot despite its imperfections.

Margaret ready for bed. G’Nite xoxoxox

Tahred. Busy busy day

And tomorrow is the same. 12 Days done. Woke up and checked my phone to see Judiths post at 1:45am. And there he was. Day 12 #jyportaitchallenge. And still going strong.

Jesse! Thanks @judithyaws and Jesse @rejextion_arts Love the hat, the scarf and the tude. A fun look. So hard to draw. He looks like i got carried away with the beard on the left! And I think he’s slightly crosseyed the way i painted him. Oh well.

Working on getting looser which isn’t easy and loosing edges. Stillman and Birn alpha which usually loves watercolor but think my hands were greasy so it repelled it somewhat. Note to self NO hand lotion when you use watercolor. Mgraham watercolor which always rewets was not happy with the bits of grease. Or was it hand lotion?!😵🧐

The sketch. Was a pain. Took ant half an hour. The angle on his head was difficult to do. Then i painted for abt an hour and a half more.

Something to remember from my dear friend Ruth Pearl on fb and britpeach on Instagram.

Todays #jyportraitchallenge The longer you spend the more details and alterations you need to make but at some point you have to call it a day. Thank you Jesse @rejextion_arts – and yes, his neck really is that long!

What??! Two. Probably would have picked this one darn it.

Mary Whyte palette colors Stillman and Birn Alpha.

Margaret xoxoxo

Triple threat I mean Treat hmmm…

Three people instead of just one. 😵😵😵😳 This watercolor painting was done without a pencil drawing.
First i eyeballed the placement of the faces on the page and painted approximateshapes with cad yellow and quin rose.
Then i started painting the left guy. Probably went to far but never done the no pencil technique this small or on three people in one painting. Usually do it on a half sheet. Cobalt, UB and browns
So i got too detailed and moved onto the other two. Should have listened to Charles Reid who said never paint a face smaller than 4”
Doesn’t look bad but does not look lie the guy in the photo. Trying to loose some edges. Should have left the teeth like this one. Ez fix.
Hmm i know this is different but clueless how.
Still not happy. Left face is off. The woman is a bit too fat. Oh well.
Really don’t like his teeth. Think i need to lighten the lines a bit. I also fattened his face a bit. Anyway took way too long. But good to be doing a wc portrait again. Stillman and birn alpha w the Mary Whyte palette colors.

Margaret who painted too long on this 8×10 xoxoxoxo