Day 912 a little conch republic

January 18, 2017January 19, 2017Leave a comment

And a little more FauvismWhat we jokingly call a jacaranda when we head to key West. The trail on the Sunshine Parkway to Key West and we try to entertain ourselves. One way is the first jacaranda sightings which we usually spot south of Orlando.

The Tale of the Jacaranda

Now why do we call Norfolk Pines Jacarandas? My first trip to Key West I sent a picture of a very tall thin tree to a friend who grew up in Florida. She told me it was a Jacaranda even though we thought it was a Norfolk Pine. I finally looked it up and yes it’s a Norfolk Pine. They grow fifty or more feet tall in southern Florida. Straight up like a cornstalk.

But that’s southern Florida for you. Every house plant we have grows to enormous size. Our house plants are their outside foundation plants. Pothos and philodendrons have leaves bigger than dinner plates and grow stories tall just like the Jacaranda Pine tree.

Stillman and Birn mixed media Zeta Ted Nuttals transparent colors. My small Isabey mop. Well mostly.

Yesterday after I bough the sunflowers I remembered that Earthfare sold some gorgeous red radishes with lots of green leaves. So I made an extra trip 8 miles up the street and got a bunch. $2.99 ouch. Cheaper than flowers though.

Once again we were to use as many cooors as we could to draw these after drawing the first one in the colors the object is. I was lazy and left them on the plastic bag.

Number 1. Fun but I like the other one better.

And all the colors I used.

Day 910 – Hours of Marks Making

January 16, 2017Leave a comment

Happy MLK Day dear readers!! A holiday is always a good day for lots of drawing and painting.

Spent three hours last nite drawing this old rice paddy down the street from my house which is built on an old antebellum rice plantation. No idea how many pens I used. Also scratched the wild rice tops with my xacto knife. At least I assume that’s what they are.

The assignment was to make a variety of marks. And I tried to add a variety of tones and not relie on lines. Have you ever tried drawing weeds and trees without line. Not easy.

Stillman and birn Zeta. I know I used my Noodler Konrad, both pentel brush pens, my carbon platinum pen and my Lamy Safari and a white pentel gel pen. They each make such different lines both in weight of line and style of line. Even the two pentel pens are very different from each other.

A detail for those who don’t like to click on the big pic.

And a few words from MLK himself. Words to live by in a daily basis too.
Ttyl off to draw.

Margaret xoxox

Day 909 A bit more of Key West

January 15, 2017Leave a comment

Been meaning to finish this for a while. Today I did it. A compilation of two of our tours the Historic Inn Tour and the Christmas Trolley Light Tour which was our fav. $15. A bargain.

Still have three more spreads to finish. Guess it’s time. Anyone know a publisher who needs a Key West book?!

The tools.

Hmm painted with my smaller #2 Richeson mop and my #10 Da Vinci Sable. And mostly I used the mop.

Tips on The Christmas tree. Leave a lot of white. First layer is quin gold. Then I added hematite green and a bit of hookers green and ultramarine blue. Did the palm the same way.

Last I used a white pentel gel pen to add white lines and lights to the trolley. And anywhere else I wanted a bit of white. It doesn’t show when u use it but it does show in photos. Strange but true.

Off to sketch the park in black and white. Wonder how many pens I will use?!

Ttyl

Enjoy your Sunday

Margaret xoxoxox

Day 908 Lazy Saturday

January 14, 2017Leave a comment

After all that sneezing and Benadryl decided to be lazy today and binge on Netflix’s.

Maybe I should do some urban sketching off of Midsommer Murders? It’s always set in the most charming Bristish villages as long as you overlook a serial murder or two in every village.

About the sketch one of the Key West sketches. A steel drum player at Buzzards Roost. Sketched on location of course.

Colors are Ted Nuttalls transparent colors. Pentel. Rush pen in a Stillman and Birn Zeta.

Tip: I do much better painting all trees when I use my squirrel mops. I have a 12 and a big fat Isabey mop. It keeps me from getting to detailed. Then I usually splatter them to give the small lead effect.

Love my mops. Top one is the Isabey 12 second one is an Isabey 8 I think. Bottom one is a Richeson 2. The 12 is from Blick Atlanta Peachtree store. The bottom two are from Cheap Joes. I use the two smaller ones the most.

It’s really hard to get detailed with these which is great for trees or painting Charles Reid style. The smallest brush he likes to use is an Isabey 16 Kolinski sable.

That’s is for today. Go forth and sketch.

Margaret xoxoxo thinking about a run to the nearest park to sketch the kids in the manufactured snow park. One day only event.

Day 907 Still sneezing but

January 14, 20172 Comments

I know it’s allergies. Drawing more fabric!

The pens I used in my Stillman and Birn Zeta. Notice my nice yellow pencil from Cheap Joes. I got it when I took a class there or was it in an order from there? Joe always includes a little giftie with your orders. The sweetest mentally challenged young man packs all the gifties. His only job and he loves doing it. If you take a class at Cheap Joes you get to tour the warehouse where Joe introduced us to this special young man.

The quilts I used for my patterns. My Jack Russell Zoe is my art assistant in charge of quilt testing.

Ttyl

Margaret xoxox

Day 905 – the Bean

January 11, 2017Leave a comment

Everybody’s favorite place to eat lunch in Augusta or for a coffee or even better some of their amazing cake. They give you a slab of home made cake for $4 or $4.50. Today I had their Tuscan Bean Soup which was delicious. A big bowl and some delicious ice tea $5. A good deal.

I don’t think I have ever eaten anything that was not delicious at the bean as we call it. Their coffee is from that other fabulous cafe that I drew a couple of weeks ago The Dancing Goats in Decatur.

Painted in my new STillman and Birn Zeta. Drawn with a Lamy Ef loaded with Lexington Grey and painted with Ted Nuttalls transparent colors.

Sketchbookskool Homework.

Draw some textured objects. I might have gotten carried away but have had these on my art table for a while to draw. I can check them off my list now right?!

Pens used Staedler .01, carbon Platinum pen w carbon platinum black ink and a Pitt calligraphy pen which I soon abandoned because it was too dark to me.

Stillman and Birn mixed Zeta journal.

Ttyl

Margaret off to bed early after two hours at the gym and walking a couple of miles. Color me tahred. Xoxoxo

Day 904 Movie challenge

January 10, 2017Leave a comment

There’s something about a Miss Marple show. I love all of them in their various reincarnations.

I have sketched Miss Marple before – the previous actress before Julia McKenzie. Julia portrays a sharp tougher version of Miss Marple and GPTV our PBS channel has been replaying her series on Thursday nites and Sunday afternoon.

Sunday I like to just let PBS run as long as it’s not begathon time. Thank goodness they are done with that for a week or so.

I paused the tv and took a pic of her in an interesting pose.

I drew her with my pentel brush pen off my iPad. And it didn’t go well. I got too heavy handed with the dark shadows.

Gouache to the rescue. Almost like using acrylics. The background is watercolor. Peacock blue and hematite green. Then I scratched the wc off the palm tree.

Last spread in my Stillman and Birn Zeta. Hurrah.

Ttyl

Margaret xoxox

Day 903- I had to

January 10, 2017Leave a comment

Paint Calvin the guy who showed up for me to draw Friday. In the rain playing “Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head.”

47 degrees rain and I was out there with him drawing him. Which of us was crazier.

Stillman and Birn mixed Media zeta journal Ted Nuttalls transparent palette.

Here it is before I drew it.

Sketchbook School homework. Fill a page up with doodles using various pens and pencils.

Here are the six pens and pencils I used to make the marks with. I have to day I thought this was a dumb assignment but really enjoyed the 15-20 minutes it took to draw this.

Made me feel like Picasso or maybe Matisse.

Try it I bet you will like it too.

River Bend sunset out my back door tonite. So bright it lit the den up which was how I noticed it. I was too busy blogging to look. Oops.

Ttyl

Margaret xoxoxo

Day 902 Mahjong Ladies and a guy

January 8, 2017Leave a comment

Trying to fill up the last few pages of my Stillman and Birn zeta sketchbook. Drawn with my Lamy Safari filled with Lexington Grey ink.
Stopped by Higher Grounds cafe to look for a book and found multiple tables of Mahjong filling the cafe.

Irresistible. I sat down to draw them. I don’t think any of them ever noticed me sitting a few feet away sketching them. They were very involved in their games.

Oddly enough they had been there the day before when I played bridge there with my friends. I am now wondering if they are there everyday. Will have to drop by and see.

This old man was also irresistible. He was sitting there reading something and enjoying his coffee. Clemson orange shirt. A lot of that lately. Championship game tomorrow nite.

Painting. Ted Nuttalls transparent colors. Been adding slot of purple to the quin sienna in the backgrounds. And my painting with my Richeson #12 mop. Keeps me from getting too picky.

I resisted the urge to splatter. Think the guy could use some don’t you?!

Have a great Sunday. Stay warm.

Margaret xoxoxo who thinks it’s time to shed her flannel jammies don’t you?!

Day 899 – Some More Urban Sketching

January 6, 2017Leave a comment

I pass this cute diner every day twice a day on the way to class at USC Aiken or on Saturdays when I go to life modeling. I am always on a mission to get to Aiken on time or to get home and let the dogs out so I never have stopped to eat there. I hear the pies are great. They decorate it up for fall. Lots of pumpkins corn stalks and roosters. There’s even an old ford truck that gets strung with garlands of fall leaves. I didn’t draw it. I ran out of space.

Here are the brushes I use. The bottom is my fav a sable Da Vinci 10 but the tree and the sky were painted with a Richeson mop. A 12 that I bought at cheap joes two years ago. Very difficult to get any detail with it which is good in tree foliage. The tree branches and trunk were painted by a big goats hair dagger brush that I got at Sam Flaxs a couple of weeks ago. Very long and loopy designed for sign painters. So far I can only get it to paint lines – Straight and curved ones. Practice right?

And I love this sassy rooster sculpture out on the highway in front of the cafe. I need to draw him with a brush pen on a sunny day. School starts Monday so will passing the charming fellow again several times a week. Maybe one day on the way home again soon.

Stillman and birn Mixed media Zeta with a pilot Carbon pen. Really fine point.

Colors used. Quin gold. Cerulean, ultramarine, burnt umber, Quin burnt orange, pyrrole red, cad orange, hematite green, peacock for the sky. And a bit of American Journey Andrews blue a turquoise that I added to my pallet lately.

Homework done. Done. Had to make myself do this one and I love doing calligraphy just not fond of the word hate. Used my pentel brush pen -heavy lines- a Noodler Konrad – fine black lines – and a red tombow for hate. Oh a light Gray tombow for shading in love.
That’s all folks. Got to do my homework for sketchbookskool. Did I say I am behind because I went sketching Mahjong ladies at a local cafe after yoga today when I should have been doing my homework.

A bientot Margaret xoxox