@Pencils4tea & paper drifts!

August 1, 2023August 1, 20233 Comments

Marcia! A lady with the boxing gloves you never know what people w pose w @pencils4tea which was zoomed live from Dundee, Scotland.

We had 17 poses in the hour. I am surprised I made it through. Was like chasing a lure for an hour. Never quite catching it but yes i will be there next week of i have time. A challenge is thrown. 👍🏻

My friend Ruth. You can follow her @Britpeach on ig one of my two favs.

General Hb charcoal pencil and watercolor in a 6×9 superaquabee. Its almost full. Either going to have to draw smaller OR buy a big stack of them. Lasting abt 2-3 weeks with their 60 pages because u cant paint on the back because of the charcoal. Maybe forced to. Hmm.

Any suggestions???! In the meantime roaring thru paper. Right now i like it in sketchbooks so we aren’t buried under paper drifts.

Hmm too bad I cant draw on a roll of toilet paper. Rofl.

Sleuthing Susanna. Love her big eyes. I took three screen shots of the less than two minute poses and finished later. All 3 were all less than two minutes to draw which left no time to paint. Had to go back later and paint this one, Ruth and Miss Marple aka Anna.

Anna Marple as one of the artists called her. Each person had a theme song from a tv show or a movie. Hers was Miss Marple, my fav Agatha Christie series.

Karen and a yellow rose accompanied by Henry Mancini’s Charade. Maybe she just oeft one of the flower vendors along the Seine?? One of my fav movies-Audrey Hepburn and Carey Grant. Her clothes and Paris! Perfection.

Silvia. 2:30 minutes to draw her. Slapping the paint on. Always gives it an immediacy.

Serena love her grey hair piercing blue eyes. The tilt of her head.

Audrey. Theme song Summer Place. Sweet face.

Ellas blue white and red perfect for her Inspector Clouseau theme song. all she needs is a beret.

Out of Africa. Did not catch her name. That purple vase was a trial. Turned out ok. At least i kept the white paper for highlights.

Michelle. You never know what her pose will be. Always something zany. Laurel leaves to go with the Gladiator music??

Lou not Katherine. A great drawing. But darn the wrong name. My friend Ruths high school friend who lives in London. Gone With the Wind theme song.

A nice quiet pose for sketch number 17. Amelie theme.

Time to go paint. Behind on the portrait challenge. Number 100 approaching. Xoxoxoxo Maggie aka Margaret

Marathon continues- Finishing edges

March 14, 2023March 14, 2023Leave a comment

Yeah its a thing. Spent most of the afternoon painting the gallery wrapped edge of the mountain painting w a 1/2 Winsor Newton imitation mongoose flat.

Thats a 12 FOOT strip about two inches wide trying not to get black paint on the front of the painting. Formerly stark white it’s now black. I tried ultramarine blue but didn’t like it.

I used blue tape to tape the edge off but was worried it would peel off the fresh paint.

Another problem w blue tape is that it always leaks when i use to to tape off walls. 🤪 I was NOT interested in painting it again ever. Then i realized using a damp paper towel i could wipe any leakage off the dry paint from yesterday. Zip and it was gone.

The blue tape DID help. Painting those edges is always an onerous task when you do an acrylic because they never stay clean.

One more day varnishing it w Miniwqx polyeurethane. Drying time makes the process take longer.

And i missed sitting out on the back deck today enjoying the gorgeous early spring . Tonite there are frost warnings. Brrrr

Margaret xoxoxo

The correct color

March 13, 2023Leave a comment

I actually took this out on our wet back deck to photograph when the rain let up. You get more accurate color photos on an over cast day or so they say. The great debate was on as to whether it was done. I decided it was.

Heres the photo i took inside last night. A BIG change in the color, isn’t it?! Anyway the new owner of this large painting pronounced it “wonderful” so i take it that he thinks its done. Painting the edges, varnishing, and adding the wire tomorrow. This will eventually end up in the owner’s cabin in the Western North Carolina mountains.

Nature does not hurry and yet everything is accomplished. (Lao Tzu) is the theme of this painting.

The vultures have been gathering on our sycamore alot recently.

One was on the pool fence today feet from the back door. Fascinating creepy things. According to my husband they only eat meat once its rancid. No feathers on their head lets them get right into that rotten meat. 🤪

I had to take these pics thru the bars on the back deck rail. I was afraid to go outside for fear of scaring him off.

Pretty cool catching him with his wings wide open. Well at least part of them. There were several more in the yard. Our attack cats ran them off.

Margaret xoxoxox who had enough excitemnt for today. Lol.

Somewhere in Italy

May 5, 2021May 19, 20211 Comment

On the whole I like it but feel it’s a little light. I will sleep on it and decide. Paint along with Vladislav Yesileyev

Even before painting I managed to smear the worst color of all to remove- Alizarin- on my lovely pristine white paper.
Eeek.
I did blot it off a little. By the end it seemingly became much less noticeable. Thank goodness.

First wash. Boy that took forever. While it looks dark right now it really dried to become very light. cobalt alizarin yellow ochre and cad orange

Sky wash done. I managed to keep my fingers out of for once. Cerulean neutral tint dioxzine violet

Adding shadows. Cobalt yellow ochre dioxzine and neutral tint

Suddenly those darks make the first washed look so light. How strange is that?! The blooms aka rocks on the foreground are made by splattering water on the greys once it dries a bit.

And done for now. You can only see a bit of the alizarin smears. Handy the lady has an alizarin top isn’t it!?

Margaret all in for tonite. Michael’s tomorrow for some fixative I hope. Otherwise waiting til I go to Blick this weekend.

Xoxoxo

Today I painted.

March 13, 2020March 13, 20201 Comment

Not the usual a journal page a la Juliana Coles style. I have taken two or three classes from her. Ps her classes are fascinating and cathartic.

It’s not done but thought I would share it with you. I woke up thinking about this. When you do that you have to make it.

Going to write the number of cases world wide and the deaths on it sooner or later.

The start. I journaled across a piece of Canson watercolor board with a soft pencil and smeared it.

Circled random words with a grease pencil. And added yellow paint. Wish I had a nasty green yellow but nope.

Notes on possible words to use.

Adding words with a grease pencil. Dots were done with the end of a paint brush dipped in paint.

Improving

Notes from the news. Reminds me of watching Hurricane Dorian last August.

Using my Pentel brush pen to add lettering like on his chin. A white gel pen on the scarf and eyes.

Now. Trying to take away some cuteness. Paint on eyes was dabbed on with a finger then swirled around with the end of the paint brush. White paint lettering on scarf so it shows more.

Painted with that cheap acrylic paint. The kind in the small bottles. It has a tooth you can write on unlike the expensive stuff.

Next up cases and death toll world wide.

Try it. Very cathartic.

In the meantime. Knitting. Yarn at my feet on the stool.

Sock progressing slowly but looks like I will have plenty of time to finish this pair.

Margaret whose going to be sticking closer to home.

Day 644 – that couple at PCM

August 3, 2017Leave a comment

Making progress on the big painting. The guy definitely needs more work. Eek. Funny how different they look in a small photo.

No matter how many times I walked a way from it I didn’t notice it. Hmm I was tired. I think everyone in the studio had spring fever. Nobody stayed late painting like we usually do.

Colors heavy body Golden and liquitex Tutanium white, nickel Azo gold, burnt umber, napthol red, ultramarine blue, dioxzine purple, pyrrole red. Thanks for looking.

So why use artist grade besides they will last forever. The pigment load is higher. That means you get more intense color with less paint. You can actually use more paint when you use the cheaper student grades to get the color you want and you may never get intense color.

Thanks for reading.

Margaret xxx

Day 1064 Comissions

June 21, 2017Leave a comment

A problem when you are suppose to paint the same thing twice. Eeekkk this is the second one. Thinking it could use a few more greys in the center!?

This is the first one. I drew my friend Monica who giving her talk at the DuPont Planetarium at Ruth Patrick Science Center, USC Aiken. She really does a terrific job.

Kids come from all South Carolina to visit the Science Center and see the Planetarium.

It took me a while just to figure out how to transfer this identically to a piece of 300# lb watercolor.

I traced the original.

Transferred it with Saral.

Traced over it with a pencil.

Traced over it with my Lamy Safari.

And the. I tried to remember how I painted it. The whirlpool vortex was not easy to ain’t the first time let alone another time. Eeekk.

Finally it was time to splatter the night sky with white gouache stars. Be sure to use a stiff toothbrush. I got a soft one first. Oops. Worked much better with a nice stiff toothbrush.

Touched up the Whirlpool Vortex again. And calling it done. I hope!

Painted with lamp black, burnt umber , Ultramarine Blue, alizarin, aureolin yellow, and some Joe’s turquoise.

Margaret who has another commission to get done. Xoxoxox

Day 1057 – Those Sta Wet sponges – A Cheaper Way!?

June 13, 2017June 14, 20174 Comments

If you have a sta wet palette I bet you have one of those EXPENSIVE yellow sponges in them.

Occasionally my palette gets infested with mold. Yuck. And I need a change. I clean it out with bleach to kill the molds but then I reuse that same old sponge.

UPDATE: After I posted this I reposed you could sanitize sponges in the microwave just like you do for your kitchen sponge. Hopefully it would kill mold. Or maybe freezing it would. Of course at the cost of these sponges vs the coast of paint might as well toss it if mold grows and start fresh.

Today I realized that my Trader Joe’s sponges would work just as well and be cheaper at 2 for $2.59. They are 10×14 instead of $6.80 for one 12x 18″ Sta Wet sponge. Math is in favor of Trader Joe’s sponges.

Sta wet on left Trader Joe’s on right

I love these for wiping up counters, dripped watercolor. I usually have one on the floor and one on the sink. AND you can throw them in the washing machine or the dishwasher to clean them.

Bytw the Trader Joe’s sponge is slightly thicker too so would hold more moisture.

Going to be buying a couple more packs when I go to Atlanta this weekend. LOVE Trader Joe’s.

Margaret xoxox who loves saving $ on art supplies. Leaves more $$ for when I can’t save it on art supplies.

Day 1011 Some Grafitti aka Extreme Journaling

April 28, 20177 Comments

Well let’s hope I don’t accidentally delete this post this time. ROUND TWO!!

This is the assignment for week five of the Juliana Coles The Book of the Night class. Based on the Persephone Demeter Greek Myth. As usual first we journaled. Then I painted it out.

And I painted collaged and stamped it.

I added some red paint wiping it off and some purple on the spring side.

Added the white lettering with caran dache neocolor ii and scribbled on it some of the neocolors.

I also used my new favorite toy a 6B lead that I bought at Cityart last Thursday for $1.29. They have a storefront and gallery in the Vista.

The lettering on the leaves was done with the lead. I also enhanced the skulls in Hades on the bottom right with the caran dache neocolor iis. They didn’t show enough

Then I added some more red to the wrap on the girl on the left. I was hoping it would add to the flames of hades. Not sure it did But it’s done for now.

Ttyl. packing one more day til I leave for Charles Reid class. Margaret xoxoxox

Day 1001 One day at a time.

April 18, 2017April 18, 20172 Comments

Another day another post. If I quit now I am back to day one. Onward. One day at a time.

Trying to catch up my Book of the Night journal the online class I am doing with Juliana Coles as teacher.

The assignment from the week I was in Charlotte is very long and involved. Though I took notes in it I did this page wrong. Oops.

It now looks like this.

But I keep trying to figure out how to use the other figures. This option orrrr

This one. The added paper collage is old citrasolv National Geographics I did several years ago. I have quite a stack.

The bottom layer of this page is purple tape painted black. Then journaled on with white gel pen. Never have the news on while journaling. And then a haunted forest added. I had to turn off the news and the first song on was The Night With a Thousand Eyes. Perfect. Then I added the eyes.

Here it is when I started this morning.