Category: Arts in the Heart

Day 720 – a Watercolor Finally 

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I drew this almost a month ago but have been busy painting other things so finally got around to it last nite. 

This is an old theater on Broad Street in Augusta GA which still has shows and YES an Elvis show was and is coming up the end of June at Imperial. 

Painted with Ted Nuttalls transparent colors with the addition of cerulean. I always have a hard time painting white without my beloved cerulean. 

I also used Daniel Smiths primatek colors Serpentine Genuine and Sodalite after seeing samples of them at Jerrys Artarama. You can buy Daniel Smith at most art supply stores as well as online at Cheap Joes and Amazon.  

While I am on the subject of Cheap Joes I know the owner and founder Joe Miller a lovely man who recently received a humanitarian award from AWS. He’s the first to step up and voluntarily help artists in need as well as his longtime home Boone NC. 

During the devastation of Katrina Joe voluntarily went into the Cheap Joes database to find any artist in the seven states affected by Katrina. Each of them received a studio startup gift certificate from Cheap Joes.  He has done this time and again. So BUY from Cheap Joes if you can!! 

Oh before I forget the tree was done with a sea sponge.  I also used Caran d’ache watercolor crayons to add color to the drawing – white yellow and orange. 

I also used a few Winsor Newton watercolor markers – indigo, lamp black, and turquoise. 

Thanks For Checking by. 

Margaret xxx 

Day 609 -The Party’s Over

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This is the last sketch done during Wet Paint party. I drew Sallie doing check out as we waited to pick up painting. Thank goodness Sallie bought mine. 

  

This sketch started the quotes.  I started to write “Even James has a cell phone” but I thought it would be more fun to write a JB quote. Did you know there’s a website with endless James Bond movie quotes?! 

 

 Hope I didn’t post this one but evidently the modern James Bond likes his cell phone!  I only drew a bakers dozen James Bond sketches si it gets confusing. 

Thanks for reading!! 

Margaret xxx

Day 608 How many More?

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Hard to resist drawing James with one of his many ladies.  Turns out the girl in the foreground is actually newly wed to James Bond who you can see in the background. 

 
I still haven’t painted this. It’s not very big 6×9″maybe. Lots of tiny details but who knows it might actually be fun for a big painting?

  
I have a few pages of these….the models changed their poses before au had a chance to finish them but I still think they are interesting especially the girl on the right. She managed to twist her hands in front of her body planting her hands on her hip bones and HOLDING the pose. Wow!

Thanks for reading.  I still have quite a few French sketches I have yet to post too. Hoping to get to them soon. 

Margaret xxx

Day 607 – 22 Sketches

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When you do that many you can post sketches for a week or more never repeating yourself. The girls costumes begged to be painted and the  many columns lining Sacred Heart. Great fun to paint wet on wet. 

 
The second or third sketch I did that night.  I had not quite warmed up.  Gouache is great for covering the background fast. When you have 22 sketches to paint you better have something that gets done quickly besides the sketching.  

  

One day when I grow up I want to paint urban sketches like this one by Al Beyer done in India a couple of years ago. Can you see the moped flying by? This is a big oil painting 3×4′ not a tiny sketch but definitely falls in the urban “sketching” genre. You can see more of his work here but sadly non of his urban sketching he does on his Maymester trips abroad – India – China – and this year Cambodia. Watch out Angkor Wat. 

Thanks for reading!

Margaret xxx

Day 604 – Another Bond or two

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    I did say I have twenty two of these right?!! This is one of my favorites.  I like Sacred Heart as the background. As a deconsecrated CatholicChurch it’s a great background. 


One of my favorites of the Bond girls.  She had a flowing black negligee on with sheer sleeves.  That was a challenge to paint.  I first painted the arm. Let it dry and then over painted it with a watery black as I painted the whole negligee. 

 I really wanted to put a bubble for two quote but couldn’t figure out how to do that. Like the red hair against the cobalt background and of course the splatters. 

Thanks for reading. 

Margaret xxx

Day 601 – a few more sketches 

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  What else?!There are only 22 of them. 

  I actually finished this one yesterday. I started it when he was flipping thru poses and abandoned it for a clean page. I finally gave up and begged him to hold the pose till I finished.  And he did a super job doing just that!! Thanks James!! 

Love the energy in the orange gouache do lines in the background.  

  

Loved his 70s leisure suit look with his mint green shoes. The lady in black could hold a rock solid interesting pose. Neither of them moved which made for great sketching. 

 

The golden girl could hold the most interesting poses. She’s actually painted  with my beloved gold wink of Stella glitter pen and yellow ochre but sadly it does not show without bright lights.  

And u know what that ledger paper means. The ink smeared. 😁

Thanks for reading. 

Margaret xxx

Day 600 – Wet Paint 

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 Will be posting the winner and the prize in a couple of smears. Thanks for sticking with me thru 600 days of consecutive posting. I wonder how long I will go on?!

 
Did I forget to say that this little mixed media angel I did flew away to a new home aka she sold at Wet Paint. Hurrah!! She’s stitches scribbled glued bubble wrap printed and three d. Genuine Lutheran hymnal pages in the background. A lot of fun!  

But not as much fun as drawing the models at wet paint.   
  

Another James Bond model sketch. I really need to fix his hand and his foot. Maybe. I had a lot of fun looking up James Bond quotes to write on the JB sketches. 

  

Beautiful model that could hold a rock solid pose. She’s wearing turquoise culottes with huge buttons. The half you can’t see is white. Harlequin style. She has lost had spectator pumps on. I had forgotten about them til I saw hers. I had a pair I loved. All tan leather so I painted those instead of the two tone ones she had on 

Thanks for reading. Will post the winner in a couple of days. Class today. 

Thanks for reading.  

Margaret xxx

Day 599 The Name is Bond

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  James Bond -6×10″ Arches Carnet de Voyage HOT Press 

Lots of fun last night sketching at Wet Paint party at Sacred Heart Cultural Center. 

  

The Vintage Olie models were styling James Bond movie fashion style. Lucky Ruth Pearl and I had a table right next to one of their six pedestals as they rotated around the audience. 

  
I really liked this just as it is EXCEPT all my gooey only fingerprints all over it. Sigh. The light we were drawing in was terrible and my beloved Noodler was leaking as usual. Not conducive to clean drawings. 

Misplaced my non leaky Noodler

 Konrad.  😱

 
Background is gouache. Covers those ink prints!! 

Wc Used Quin coral , French ochre, cerulean, burnt sienna, burnt umber, ultramarine blue. 

More urban sketching coming!! 

Thanks for reading. 

Margaret xxx 

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 448 – A Few More Arts in the Hearts 

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  How could I resist sketching this stylish lady who was really enjoying the Adam Harris Thompson groups music?! Such a great hat and her stance was super.  

 I am pretty sure it’s the same hat that Frankie aka Lillie Tomlin wore in the netflixs series Frankie and Grace. If not it’s a twin sister of Frankie’s hat. 
 
This guy has the most interesting face almost skeletal. He was so thin. Also irresistible to my pen. I later found him in photos posted of the eighth street stage.  

    
These are the original sketches. 

 
You can see the red ink that had been on my Noodler Konrad bleeding thru in this sketch. Have all the sketches a weird red cast after they were painted. Oh well. Hey we’re such great sketches. 

Thanks for reading. 

Margaret xxx