Category: Art

Day 595 – Dad

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Dad – 30x 40 Acrylic 
So one is done and time to start the next one. You have to draw with a paint brush. Not easy. Try it sometime. 
   

 I am drawing it from this photo I took of dad a couple of weeks ago. He’s 93!  

  
I couldn’t resist dumping it into Waterlogue. Kinda liking this. May have to paint it in watercolor too. 

  There’s also one of mom who’s a mere 90. This was taken four days after her birthday. Zoe was hiding from my parents mean schnauzers. 
Mom was supposed  to save her from them. Lol. 
Thanks for reading. Don’t forget to leave a comment if you want to be in the drawing in Five days.  
Margaret xxx

Day 594 – Is she done?!

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The Party is  Over -30×40″ Acrylic 

I have been told to put my name on it. And some say it needs more tweaking. What do u think?! 

 

  I was told the roses were a little plain so I tweaked them some.  
Here’s how they look now.  Did I say I am NOT fond of painting roses?! They are such a problem but I like how these turned out. 

So am I done?! Don’t forget to leave a comment so you can be in the drawing on day 600. 

Thanks for reading. 

Margaret xxx

Day 593 – Back to Rouen 

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  Somehow I forgot to post this sketch I did of Rue Martainville from the square in front of St Maclou in Rouen.

 These half timber frame houses proliferated in the Rouenduring the medieval period.  More still remain here than anywhere else in France. The medieval Europeans thought they were more fireproof than timber houses. Hmm?!

  
 Notice how the bottom leans. Oh my!! 
 Rouen has them in great variety and shape, overhanging streets, leaning crazily. Often doors and windows are totally leaning a kilter on the front of the houses. Nothing is square though we were told they were inside. How is that possible. Je ne sais pas. I don’t know! But I have seen them with my own two eyes. Now you have too. 

  
   Lining an alley. 
 And how is it that these crazy wonky leaning buildings don’t fall down upon our heads. Once again. Je ne sais pas! C’est un miracle. 
   

 
Surrounding the market place. 

  
  Marching toward St. Mclou. 

  
And of course cheek to jowl with St Maclou. 
Rouen has street after street lined with these teetering ancient beauties like old women in spikes towering and tilting down the narrow cobbled lanes waiting to tumble down momentarily. 
Thanks for reading. 
Margaret xxx hot planning maps to make to fill in blanks in my French travel Journals. 

Day 582 – A little reworking

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  Don’t forget to leave a comment for the 600 days drawing. Hmm is that a pun?!
I decided that all that green blue  I had painted on her was awful looking so I started painting.  

 That raccoon look was NOT good. Edges needed softening ALOT. 

I added a lot of burnt sienna for shadows and some nickel azo gold with pyrrole red and white for flesh tone. I also added a dark grey with sand in it to the background and then washed it with a thinned white. 

And softened edges. In case you don’t know. What that means it means that the edges are blurred aka softened like around her mouth and her eye. 

At the last minute I realized her tight shoulder was too high so I took about half an inch of the top and a bit off the side to round it some more. 

For the moment she’s done but you never know. Sometimes when you look at them you realize more work is required. 

Thanks for reading. 

Margaret xxx who needs a nap. 

Day 590 -Almost 600 Days 

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Since I started posting everyday. 600 days is ALOT!! I think it’s time for a giveaway. Leave a comment and I will put you in a drawing for a watercolor. Just remember I have to be able to find you after the drawing!!  

I remember my mother telling me you can skip it when I was on vacation with my parents. I told her no I would have to start over. That was about 350 days ago. But here I am still plugging away. Some days better than others. 

The sketch. Watercolor on Strathmore 500 mixed media paper with a Noodler Konrad loaded with Platinum carbon black ink. 

  I don’t know what is with the two guys on the left. I think they were slouching in their chairs so odd angles or maybe I got off to a slow start?? Think I need to go back and paint the guy in the blue jackets right arm. Evidently I forgot to draw it. How’s that work!? I also had forgotten to draw his foot but I fixed that. Lol. Nothing like surreptitious drawing in the middle of a room crowded with artists and art lovers to get intimidated. 

  I warmed up by the time I got to the four ladies on the right. I just love them. They are just fun. The building in the background is a beautiful old 1800s building with wrought iron balconies. 

Colors used : Quin gold and sienna burnt umber Inathrodone dioxzine purple alizarin Quin red cerulean cobalt Quin burnt orange green apatite spring green. 
Thanks for reading. Don’t forget to leave a comment!! 

Margaret xxx 

 

Day 589 – Art and Inspirations Meeting

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And a little urban sketching/journaling  in downtown Augusta. I think this sketch got better as I worked my way from left to right.  

 Really love the front row ladies.👍🏻😃 Drawn with my Noodler Konrad loaded with Platinum Carbon Black ink in my Strathmore 500 mixed media journal.  Can’t wait to get it painted.  
The speakers were great. Cheryl Goldslegger, the Morris Eminent Scholar at Augusta University and the new art department chair Scott Thorpe – the Dynamic Duo outlining bright plans for the future of artists in Augusta and art students at Augusta University. 

  

Thier next event is LASER next Tuesday at 6 pm on campus. There will be a Q&A period. 

  

Ruth and I are going and getting our questions ready!! See you there!! 

Thanks for reading. 

Margaret xxx

Day 587 – The Bény Sur Mer Cemetery

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Is a beautiful four acre cemetery where the Canadians buried their dead after the D Day invasions. Americans have 170 acres of cemetery. 

Something about spot is poignant. This is the favorite sketch of many on our cruise. They eventually started looking over my shoulder to see what I was drawing. This one got alot of that’s my favorite sketch. 

It was quite an easy one to do so I find the comments interesting. Not complicated like the Centee Juno Beach sketch or the Pegasus Bridge sketch. 

Simple colors too. A bright cobalt blue sky. Cerulean and Quin sienna for greys. Hookers with Quin yellow in the grass. Quin burnt orange for trees. Cerulean jeans.   And  that’s about it. 

As I said a simple sketch and painting. 

Thanks for reading. 

Margaret xxx

Day 586 – Ilenia

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Ilenia 24″ x 30″ Acrylic I have been paying attention to what Al said and trying to block everything in exactly before I start painting even though it’s more fun to just paint paint paint but the results are always disappointing when it comes to the human figure. They are almost always just off a bit here and there. 

  
Here she is blocked inat about 40 minutes of work. I didn’t notice till much later that her head was too big and as Dave said her haunch was too small. 😋

If u look u can see my hash marks from measuring her head. They are dark blue above her hip and to the left of her arm. 

I actually had started measuring her from the orange hash mark on the far right when I realized she would be painted on the right side of the board. So I drew another hash mark and started measuring her from the dark blue one. 

  
Here Ilenia is mostly sorted right before Daves she needs a bigger haunch remark. Funny thing is I had just told Charlie that he need to draw hers rear bigger on his drawing. That it was bigger than we think lol. An easy fix. Just add a curved swath of flesh color to fix her rear problems. Lol.  

 
Here she is now.  I think she could use a bit more work on her left eye and on her hand but hey I have a sweater to finish knitting. 

Colors used cerulean cobalt Winsor purple. The green is one of the blues and nickel Azo gold. Combines for an interesting color. Flesh is cad yellow, pyrrole red and white. Sometimes I used the nickel Azo gold for the yellow. Can’t live without that color. Love it!! 

Ultramarine blue and orange for her dark brown hair and brown shadows. 

Thanks for reading.  

Day 585 – Juno Beach

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The Canadians built this beautiful museum to remember the D Day Invasion and the valiant men who fought there on June 6 1944. From above its shaped like a maple leaf. 

The museum sits on the shore at Les Courselles in Normandie above La Manche, the Sleeve, as the French call the English Channel. Below are the beaches where the brave British, Canadian and Australian forces staged their D Day invasion. 

  Eventfully more than 4500 of them died during the invasion of Normandie. 

Colors used. First a wash of Winsor yellow on the buildings. Next a wash of Cerulean and Quin burnt orange and Quin sienna. Shadows cobalt and dioxzine purple and more sienna and Quin burnt orange. Windows and sky cerulean.  Grass yellow green and olive green with Quin burnt orange. 

Thanks for reading. 

Margaret xxx  

 

Day 584 Inside St Sauveurs

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A quick sketch drawn while sitting in the lovely early morning quiet of the church. Not that Les Andelys is a hub bub of noise and activity!!  It was lovely to sit in the still in the old rush seated chairs and admire the 16th century stained glass windows.

I think I really enjoyed drawing this one because we could not even stick our noses into the Rouen Cathedral or even see the whole facade due to the Christmas market construction at the base. 

All that way and no good looks at Monets famed cathedral. Sigh! I guess I will just have to go back!!! 

I coated the sketch with an initial coat of Winsor yellow and let it dry. I also used a lot of Quin burnt orange on the walls of the apex. 

Shadows are burnt orange and Inathrodone. Not quite as dark as burnt umber and Inathrodone. A nice light alternative. 

Windows – marine blue, ultramarine blue, purple and bits of Winsor yellow. Each color was allowed to dry before the next was added. 

Thanks for reading. 

Margaret xxx