Busy busy

April 30, 2023Leave a comment

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

April 29, 2023April 29, 2023Leave a comment

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…

April 27, 20232 Comments

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

A few more portraits

April 26, 2023April 26, 2023Leave a comment

Day 8. #jyportraitchallenge on ig. Loved her w her respirator “hat” but oh my was Sandra a pain to draw.

The sketch. I actually drew her twice. Was going to do this as a watercolor but got a really bad headache and didn’t. Shes still in the ether. Maybe tomorrow.

My iphone took this one. Colors are so off.

So I took one with my ipad pro. Colors are better. I tried hard to keep the pencil lines so they didnt show but somehow the phone always does even when they dont. 😵😵😵

Coming along. I almost wish i had stopped here. Love the loose lines of her clothing. Colored pencil and prismacolor artstixs in a Stillman and Birn Alpha.

Margaret ready to put her feet up xoxoxo

An odd choice

April 23, 20232 Comments

Trying to loosen up some. Posting the process of this drawing. Day 5 done. #jyportraitchallenge! @mychorrhizal_arts #stillmanandbirnalpha #prismacolorartstix #portrait #portraitchallenge #portrait #dailydrawingprompts #peoplesketching #sketchingideas #challenge

When u arent invested in the subject its a good chance to loosen up.

Hmm. As i said not invested and hanging loose.

Almost done. Really should fix the ribbing on this sweater but why?! Rather play with the beard and udon’t want to spend too much time on this sketch.

Calling him done at least for the moment. prismacolor art stixs faber Castell watercolor pencils and 1 white prismacolor pencil. Where oh were are they ?! Stillmanandbirn alpha 8×10”

Worked on her some more trying to get rid of the yellow. Used a prismacolor pastel stick on her teeth. How dod i not notice i didn’t center her teeth on her nose. Duh?! The neck is not that dark. Chalking it ip to the stupid iphone.

And doesn’t this photo of my grandmother remind you of the sketch of Emily metalksin Will repost it below!

Grandmother always did think she was a vamp.

Margaret done for the night. xoxoxoxo

When you draw in the dark

April 22, 2023Leave a comment

Day 3 #jyportraitchallenge @juttama_rie She might get a little to yellow even for a cancer survivor. But isnt she joyful?! Also a gusty woman going public with her baldness. LOVE Her!! Makes interesting art too. Her page is mostly in German so good luck with that. She has a few en francais which i could read most of.

And oh my goodness does not Emily metalskin do a great vamp. Reminds me of my grandmother who was young in the 1920s. Have long admired Emilys modeling sessions on judith yaws page. Judith who lives in the Asheville are holds lifemodeling sessions via zoom for $15. She does them via zoom I think. Never quite got around to them. Maybe i will soon because her models are outstanding.

Stillman and birn alpha journal Prismacolor art sticks w some Faber Castel watercolor pencils.

Margaret xoxoxox

30 day portrait challenge

April 21, 20232 Comments

Judith Yaws @judithyaws is doing a 30 day portrait challenge on ig @jyportraitchallenge Shes posting awesome photo references for the challenge. Thought i would join my friend Ruth @britpeach in this challenge.

Day 1 done. 10-15 min drawing. 8×10” stillman and birn alpha w prismacolor artsticks #jyportraitchallenge #portraitchallenge #prismacolorartsticks #stillmanandbirnalpha Thanks @prettywackbeats

Day 2 Done. Did i say i started out three behind?! Hope to be caught up by Saturday. Took too long on this one but she is interesting so fun to do. Hard to maneuver the artsticks which are conte crayon shaped prismacolor pencils no wooden case. No sharp edges on them. Hmmm gotta be a way around that. Thanks!@artzkt83

Cant wait to do this one tomorrow. Love her look.

Using these prismacolor artstixs. Hard to tell where the flat edge is so that causes problems. Wondering of breaking them into pieces would help?! Might just get out my colored pencils and use them when i need a straight exact line like for the eyes or the edge of the face. Now where did i put my colored pencils. Hmmm.

These are done by drawing the large shapes first then the details. I am bad abt starting with the outline and details then filling it in like a color book so trying to change. If Mary Whyte can draw the big shapes first so can i?!

Peaches visiting at our house with our sister in law. Sweet puppy but big feet. You know what that means?!

Margaret xoxoxo

Woodpeckers

April 20, 2023Leave a comment

However I did get some great osprey pics on out boat ride this evening. They are nesting on the railroad trestle at the end of our neighborhood.

The osprey did not like the boat bear their nest. You could hear them shrieking til we drove off.

There were three nests on the trestle but only seems to be one active now.

All in all a nice river ride. More tomorrow. Margaret xoxoxox

Palm tree time

April 18, 2023April 18, 2023Leave a comment

Busy day today. Lost the tall trunk of the palmetto tree darn it. Does that mean a do over?! Always interesting to draw or paint a palm. And a challenge.

The culprits and my antique strathmore 500 mixed media journal. Such lovely paper. only four spreads left in it now.

First go round. Sprinkling water on the neocolor ii Always loose the detail when u wet them. 🧐🧐😵 and I lost more details when I smeared it with a kleenex.

Redrawing details. So u add more color. Always fun to use the Neocolor in spots of water. you never know how it will turn out.

Getting there. Turned the trunk silver. They are NOT brown. 😵‍💫 Added some black and ultramarine to shadow areas to give the greens more definition.

And done. Well til I decide to mess with it some more.

Or these. If they were good enough for Picasso for whom they were invented good enough for me.

Don’t want to stop the tips on these up. Maybe another palm using these?! Winsor Newton watercolor markers.

Inktense blocks. Aways fun but not archival.

Prismacolor art sticks. A BIG fav of mine. Good for scribbling.

And then there is this pile. Not opened yet. The british unison landscape colors are just lovely and soft. Prismacolor pastels a little harder more like conte crayons. And opps another smaller pack of prismacolor artsticks.

The cats know how to end this day. Margaret. Xoxoxox

A history with birds

April 14, 2023April 14, 2023Leave a comment

Worked on the goose some more. Funny thought about my bird drawing. I remember in third or fourth grade making bird books. Probably traced the birds and copied the descriptions. All in pencil because god forbid the kid had an ink pen. She might be lethal then. Evidently the bird affair is a long standing one with me.

Funny the things you forget til something jogs your memory. The jog was an old paper my brother wrote about the brown thrasher the Ga state bird. It was in a bag of papers my mom saved for him that I need to mail to him along with his less than stellar report cards. His daughters will enjoy those. I for one would have loved to see my dads.

The goose before i worked on jt some more. You know i think the neck is too short. Odd. I watch geese alot. I should know better. This was not deliberate like the neck of the heron. Hmm the things u dont notice when u r in the heat of drawing.

Drawings are all done w watercolor, Caran dache neocolor ii,some prismacolor art sticks in an 8×10” stillman and birn alpha. NO PENCIL drawings aka direct painting. All done with a watercolor base first.