Category: Aiken

Its Saturday

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Aslyn So far. 15×22″ cold press Fluid

Needs a background which will set off the face and right shoulder. Maybe a dark blue?!

Annoyed I didn’t draw her 1/2″ to the right so I could have gotten her whole right foot in.

The drawing at forty minutes.

Second break.

An hour and a half of painting.

Colors used. Quin gold raw sienna cad red light burnt sienna Andrews turquoise. Alizarin burnt sienna and mineral violet for shadows. Hair burnt umber and ultramarine

Charcoal Coach Larry

Al Beyer oil. Funny story. I thought he was painting a skeleton at first glance. All the stripes in the blanket. Duh.

Acrylic Drew Murphy

Fredlianis mondrian. 🤗

Eve!😳🤗

Bill oil on metal panel

Margaret whose going to stare at Ashlyn a while til she tells me how to finish her. Aka tired from a very busy 24 hours. Xoxoxo

It’s Saturday

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After lifemodeling at noon.

Already changing her.

So far right now. Ilaina and I continue our torture. 🤣. Think this one is the best so far though her face is a little to red and the grey stripe on the left needs to be lifted.

The drawing at first break. Her face was still not right. And the right hand too narrow.

Second break. Before her face got too red. Sigh.

On the whole I like her But check back tomorrow for minor changes.

My favorite bit of the painting. Almost abstract.

Colors used cad red light cad yellow light cad orange alizarin cobalt Cheap Joes Andrews turquoise and mineral violet. Hair ultramarine and burnt umber but needs to go darker.

Greys burnt sienna cobalt and/or ultramarine and burnt umber.

140# Fluid cold press paper

Drew Murphy acrylic

Al Byre oil

Eve Crit charcoal

Fredliani as I have nicknamed him or Fred as everybody calls him. Rather like the wild colors in this one. Fredlianis letting his fauvism show. He’s even messed up his palette. Usually it’s surgically neat and orderly.

Ruth Pearls photo of a daff in the snow in Chickamauga Ga today.

Margaret xoxoxo

Having fun

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Filling my tiny stillman and birn with memory pages. They are starting to add up. True story of a tiny mouse yesterday. It might have been two inches long.

The guys were just standing there looking at it seemingly afraid of it.

I took the broom from Fred and told him to put the dustpan down on the floor and swept it up.

Appropriately painted with my tiny whiskey painters box with a basic winsor newton set of paints that I bought years ago. The expensive plastic box broke soon after purchase but the paint endures.

I have refilled a few like cerulean and added a few Daniel Smith quinacridones but the set marches on.

Darkened Ilaina’s left eye

Added a few shadows to her hand.

Pronouncing her D O N E!!

Margaret xoxoxo

Tuesday

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Did I say exhausting?

Nothing like a sixty mile drive to paint and hanging out with friends to make you Tahred. 🤣But I managed to nap after the tenth correction after I got home anyway.



The sketch.

I thought the pose would kill me drawing it. Arms and legs going every which way. And that hand and foreshortened arm on the right. Eeekk.

I drew that arm and hand over and over again til I finally figured out you can’t see her forearm duh.

No idea which break

But maybe this is how she looked when I left?! Her face was squinchy but like the body.

And what about that neck. Groan.

The things you don’t notice in an hour or so of painting.

So here she is now. As Mike pointed out her eyes were NOT right. Too close together. So I fixed that. I also lightened her chin and widened her weird neck that I had given her.

Added a few shadows and called it quits. Well till I decide more Ilaina torture after I stare at it for a while.

Drew Murphy painted his gesture drawings. Kind of fun in all the bright colors.
Drews painting.
Marilyn Hartley charcoal. Did I say LOVE!!
Another Marilyn Hartley charcoal
Also Marilyn Hartley charcoal Love that left hand. And the feet. Yummy lines Marilyn Rocks.

Margaret going back to her nap. Xoxoxox

My Bird Count

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The birds have been flocking on the back porch feeders like crazy lately. No idea why. Sometimes there a just a few for days and other times they just swarm out there. Lately it has been the swarms.

Seven cardinals 30 or more finches 3 or 4 doves plus titmice and chickadees. They also fly off and lands in swarms.

Audubon back yard bird count coming up soon. How do you count them ?!! One lands and another takes off. Hmmm

Bet a few of these get some color like the cardinals predictably.

Sepia F Pitt pen aka extra fine brown. Stillman and Birn Alpha sketchbook

Did I say more rain predicted for Tuesday.

Margaret already onto another pair of socks. Xoxoxo
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New Ilaina torture

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Ilaina today after an hour and a half of painting. Already thinking of corrections. Drew was not there to light her so she had the lamp full in her face the whole time. It was maybe a foot above her head. Good way to go blind but also made her eyes narrow and squinchy and also made dramatic shadows. the sketch and a toning wash of ochre and turquoise First break aka 40 min in. Washed of alizarin cad orange cad yellow cad red mineral violet ultramarine blue. Second break. More of the same colors. Maybe a bit of cobalt and burnt sienna. Aka avoiding the face for some reason. Wonder what color the background will be. We shall see. Amy Lockhard Ness pencil dr bill oil Fred who I have renamed Fredliani since he loved Mondigliani and tries to paint like him. Eve charcoal Mark who might be 20. Impressive Coach Larry knocking them out. Charcoal. Lees pastels loves the angles. Margaret putting her feet up. Xoxoxo

Done I think

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Can u tell how I changed her?! It now looks like Ilaina. I only changed five or six very small tweaks. Take a guess and I will list what I changed tomorrow.

Here’s how she looked about ten minutes ago. That’s about how long it took to make the changes.

Drew Murphy’s. I forgot to post these yesterday. He’s been using a new kind of acrylic paint from Holland that he loves. Thick and buttery.

I took a pic when I thought this was Alexis’s but I think it’s my a lady named Amy who was next to Alexis.

And the gestures. Half an hours worth.

One minute vine charcoal on cheap newsprint

She did some fantastic yoga poses.

Next up three five minutes to complete the half an hour of gesture poses.

really like this one a lot. They were drawn with a general charcoal pencil Liked drawing with it much better.

And that’s a wrap for Tuesday life modeling.

Oh Dr Doolittle too much fun in a movie. Great cgi. And RObert Downey JR to swoon over. Think I will take my grandkids to see it.

Margaret Xoxoxox

Clean up

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Shortened her torso. Still looks off but she’s done. No more messing with her. It’s possible her torso is still a little too long but I don’t care enough to do anymore to her.

Great thing about watercolor paper is you can turn it over and use the back!

I also changed the background on this one. Thought it was too much blue of course now I think the dark background is too dark.

Color me never quite happy with my paintings especially life modeling ones.

Margaret off to to see 1917 in a bit.

Always watching

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On the back porch a cardinal male is always watching to be sure there are no cats or squirrels lying in wait while the birds eat seeds on the back porch. He stands up tall and swivels his head.

I painted this with my tiny whiskey painters box and a water brush. The paint box was great the water brush not so much.

Thank goodness I had an old sable paint brush handy to the sofa where I sat as I painted. Did I say a new off white lazy boy cloth sofa. Oopsey. Well it survived and so did I.

Stillman and Birn Alpha Lamy Ef with brown noodler Ink

Cad red and alizarin bird cobalt and burnt umber in background and his mask.

Just back from Just Mercy. Highly recommend both the book the movie and the audible version. A true story of justice gone wrong in the south and how it was fixed. W

Margaret ready to knit.

In Aiken paintin’

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Don today. Hope you click on him and see him bigger. The background may change tomorrow. We shall see.

The sketch.

15×22 cold press Fluid. Hmm I have a whole roll of gesture drawings too. Was not thrilled doing another reclining pose. To top that off he went to sleep and his head started tipping toward me. And I mean tipped ALOT!! Not just a little.

Next break. I don’t know how I managed to get the holiday in his nose. It’s straight. Hmm.

Really like his hand.

Next break. Or was this when I was done. Not sure. Painted for three 25 min sessions. Since I wasn’t thrilled with the pose I had fun playing and really like all the colors. Lots of alizarin mineral violet Cheap Joes Andrews turquoise. Some cad red and yellow and burnt sienna plus ultramarine.

Always fun hanging with my Aiken peeps.

Drew Murphy’s. His first nude male.

Eves. She and I had fun moaning about Don going to sleep. Really messed with our drawings. Thank goodness I took a pic before he went to sleep.

Loved Joya Jimenez- Stefanos pastel – that leg coming forward is so dynamic.

And Bills oil- lovely soft pastely colors that don’t show well in the light I took this in.

Wish I had gotten a photo of Amy Lockhard Nesss oh so interesting scribble drawings she made with a weird Mephisto pencil she got in Bulgaria. It only smeared when she used a tortillon. Hmmm.

Well that’s a wrap people. Come join us for some Aiken fun. T or Saturday. Oh and Plein air on Fridays.

Margaret tucked in for the evening. Freezing cold. A high of 39. Whaaaaatttt??