Category: Still life

Day 998 Oh My Two More Days Painting PCM

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Spent yesterday hitting the art stores and taking photographs for possible future paintings at Ponce City Market.  

It’s a HUGE rehabbed old Sears building on Ponce de Leon near the Whole Foods and Trader Joe’s. Whoever designed it kept much of the funkiness of the old building keeping the floors and the huge support columns and the ibeams in the floors. 


The two panoramas give a 360 degree view of the space which is jammed packed with the smells of the 20 plus upscale chef run restaurants that allow you and your friends many delicious choices of food which you eat in the open areas. 

Outside eating area is a huge interesting place called the Shed which is an enormous concrete beam structure surrounded by restaurants ok one side and stores on the other. I think it’s new construction but not sure. I really need to sit down and draw it becAuse it’s wonderful to look at.  

The store side of the Shed.  

Sunday there is an art market in the shed. Going to check that out tomorrow but since it’s Easter thinking it’s not open. 

Keep taking photos of a few places that just appeal to my eye. This Caribbean food place El Super Pan  is just delightfully funky with its purple lit metal overhang. Someplace I have an unpainted sketch of this place. 

And my favorite golden dragon Chinese restaurant.  I have painted this twice. Love that dragon. 

This couple sat down inches from me at the same table Aron f one of the columns between me and the object of my attention. The golden dragon column. Yes there were other tables to sit at but no they had to block my view.  Irritated with the self involved duo I snapped their photo and immortalized the French Fry couple. 

Here’s the sketch I had been doing.

I love going upstairs and taking photos of the first floor over the railing. 


That’s how I snapped the photo for this painting called Looking Down which was recently juried into the Anderson Center for the Arts Show which is considered a coup in South Carolina. 


One of the appeals of Ponce city Market besides the delicious food are the masses of people and the odd interesting architectural elements like the large yellow and black arrow in the upper right. 

I think you could find a life time of paintings on the environs of PCM aka Ponce City Market. Something about this one. The two guys one big one little trudging off across the light from the doors. 
Sooner or later I will get a food pic of this bar. Maybe on my big camera not my phone. I have two hundred or so photos there. 

A trip to PCM is not complete without drooling over the delicious candy shop 

And my personal favorite the St Germain a PArisian themed patisserie loaded with all things Parisian – macaroons, breads, small crispy meringues, real marshmallows and cases of decadent gorgeous goodies. 

Trying to resist the lure of PCM today a Sketchers paradise but there are eggs to dye and Easter prep to be done. 

Ttyl 

Margaret loving Atlanta even when it took me an hour and 15 min to drive 4 miles  from Trader Joe’s to the house. Xoxoxo

Day 994 – Peggy Habet’s class 

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I drew Peggy several times during class. This was the last time and looks the most like her. Fourth time the charm. She was hard to draw with a long thin nose and a tiny face. 


The nose kept overpowering her tiny face when I drew her. This was the first try. And then I painted her too dark so I scrubbed her a little to lighten her up. I did have fun stamping her name and embellishing the page with a watercolor pencil. 


Go round three. Nose still too big. Eeekkk.  The hair is a combo of thalo and sepia. 


Number four. TOO Dark!!!’ What the heck. 


Better. But the face was too wide and not oval enough.  I could make it narrower by adding hair. 

I painted on my class sketches most of the day. Guess it’s time to do those color studies. 

Margaret xoxoxo whose having a painting day. 

Day 991 Livie done and a Class Review

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Trying to decide if she’s done. Not sure I like the dark blue side. Maybe too strong?! 

Peggy Habets an awesome painter and loaded with knowledge that she shares. Such a willing and gracious teacher. 

Would I take her class again?! Yes. I have yet to meet a more diligent thoughtful teacher who wants everyone to be their own painter in their own style and NOT just paint like her. And she helps you figure out what that is. She also gives the best bound handout I have ever gotten in a class. Hmm the only hand out I have ever gotten 

Peggi only uses M Graham paints which stay moist forever. A good thing when you are laying in a LOT of colors. 

Raisin and I went to Cheap Joes to get several more tubes of it to augment our palette and a new palette just for the M Graham paint. M Graham is made with blackberry honey as the binder and doesn’t dry on your palette whilst you are using it. 

One of the girls at Cheap Joes said not a good thing when you do Plein Air. The bees love it and swarm to your palette. Eeekk 

The rest of the classes work. 
More soon. There were some absolutely gorgeous watercolors in this class. 
Margaret exhausted. Xoxoxo

Day 985 Some Rachel time

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A good way to start a Monday!


This ones a little busy but it was a busy day on Thursday. For that matter so was Friday. 

Oddly I noticed Rachel looks a little tired in this sketch. If I hadn’t deleted it I would go back and look at it to see if she was. Those kinds of things turn up in sketches even if you don’t notice them while you are watching. 


I actually think I might like this better unpainted. Oh well. As you can tell the news continues to astound me. The spy novel keeps building and building. 

As Chuck Lorre posted after Big Bang “our best hope to save the day is an eighty year old slab of beef jerky from Arizona(McCain) and his trusty sidekick Scarlett O’Hara(Lindsey Graham)!!


Off to bed. Ttyl. 

Margaret xoxoxo

Day 984 Alex and Willie

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Every Sunday I watch CBS SUnday Morning. My fav bits on it are the partsabout  artists or singers people stuff. And this show is crammed with them. Alex was on this am talking about his 45 impersonations. Hard to resist sketching him. He morphed into 45. The mans definitely making me political!! 

The background was Quin gold but not enough contrast w the head. Like the orange one better. After all he is the Orange One”

Have always loved Willie and meant to just draw him. He just popped onto the page. What’s not to love about an 84 year old who says “we woke up and we are still not dead!”??

Think they are done. Maybe. Trying to resist the urge to scribble on them in the background with a soft dark pencils. So many quotable quotes from them both.  

Painted on 280# Arches Cold Press with Ted Nuttalls transparent palette plus cerulean, hematite and cheap Joes Andrews Turquoise. Pen pentel brush pen. 

Ttyl Going to try my hand at horses today. 

Margaret taking a walk in the park today too. 

Day 982 Dr Sketchys 2

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Love the Chinese dresses Foxy wore at Dr Sketchys Wednesday. Gorgeous fabrics and they fit her like a glove.  Classic Chinese dresses probably from her home in Taiwan. 

This is my favorite sketch I think though the next one is nice too. 

Both 11×14″ Super Aquabee tablet. Noodler Konrad WN colors in a whiskey painter box with a Cotman travel box full of Daniel Smith quinacridones. I used a gold Wink of Stella marker to sparkle these.  

This was a challenge to add origami elements. I have folded thousands of those cranes and a few of the frogs. As a kid I loved doing origami since the first kit I received for Christmas. I think she’s slightly out of proportion. Head to big. Legs a tad too short but I like her anyway. A lot to draw and paint in 20 minutes!!

Day 982 Last Nite!

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After several disastrous sketches I knew I could handle our beautiful Asian model when I did this watercolor in ten minutes or so. 

All sketches are 11×14 in a Super Aquabee tablet. Love that paper. Painted with my whisky painter box loaded with WN and Daniel  Smith Quin coral and an old Cotman palette loaded with every quinacridone I own plus thalo blue and green black and white gouache. Painted with a pentel waterbrush. 


These are all two minute sketches. Some of these will probably be altered. And most are pretty awful. As in EEEKKK I Don’t feel good and I can’t draw a thing tonite. This one was the worst. 


Better.  I decided to give up my go to Dr Sketchys pen the Pentel Brush pen and use a Noodler Konrad. Life improved.  I always think it’s interesting how a change of pen can improve your drawing skills when they aren’t going well. 

Next We had a challenge to turn her into a fox. Evidently her stage name is Foxy. As some of you know I like to draw chickens. Follow them around at Key West to draw them or sit and watch them and sketch them. Never thought chickens could be so much fun but they are. 

Really like the sketchiness of her body and legs in this one. 

Ttyl another busy day. Haircut picking up paintings and back to aiken for a reception for a friends show.  

Margaret xoxoxo

Day 977 So what’s up?!

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If I were home I would be heading to the Steeple Chases the second leg of the Triple Crown today with my friend Kathe.  Oh well. Instead I am babysitting my grandkids which will be a lot of fun too. They are so sweet. 

The Two Year Old Harness Races Aiken SC 

I really think this is two pictures. I drew it leaving against the fence on the far left. The people on the right were a few feet from me. The guy on the left down the rails. I filled in with people who wandered by. That caused the problem with this drawing. The ladies in the middle are far too short. 

It looks great cropped like this. 


And not bad like this. I mean those ladies could be kids right?! Or the guys on the left really tall?! Hmmmm. 

Going to blame it on Kathe I had to hide to fill in the middle. She started bragging about my drawing. Eeekk. Not what you want when you are drawing people and they want to look. NOT if you have political sketches in your book too. Double eek. 

Andy way drawn in a Stillman and Birn Alpha with a Lamy Safari. 

Ted Nuttalls transparent Palette. 

Ttyl time to babysit. Pray for me! 

Margaret xoxoxo

Day 975 One more St Paddys Day

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Could not resist drawing this great pirate ship passed by loaded with people tossing beads to the crowds. So much to draw and so little time. I really like parts of this but the foreground people watching are all assorted sizes. The middle group too tall for the other two groups. 

And I completely forgot to draw the buildings in the background. OOPS!!! 

Oh well that’s the thing about live sketching. Some you win some you mess up. Lol. 

One more to go. The Whiskey Bar Lamy Safari. Lexington Grey ink in a Stillman and Birn Alpha. 

Colors used. Every green I own. Pants are all some combo of ultramarine blue and burnt umber. Sky peacock blue I think.  

Ttyl off to delve into Atlanta after talking to two groups is middle school art kids. One was awesome second one ready for lunch. Fun classes though the kids are so cute. Just hungry. 

Margaret xoxox