Category: Augusta Georgia

Day 2108 Rachel remembered

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Saucing it up at Dr Sketchys a few years ago. I carried these around in the hold of my car to give to her and kept forgetting them. I finally gave them to her family today at a memorial at Le Chat.

She was quite the Burlesque dancer. At today’s memorial at Le Chat we got to see old burlesque with Dirty South YouTube’s of some of her performances and outtakes from the movie Old Man of the Rocks she and her daughter made a couple of years ago.

Marian the Librarian from her favorite musical the Music Man. Her fans were many and her talents were legion. Her grandpa called her Marian the librarian.

Vamping for the Dr Sketchys crowd. Not my greatest sketches but they are now owned by her family. I hope they enjoy them.

Pentel brush pen superaquabee sketchbook caran d’ache neocolor ii. Tomboy markers.

Margaret tucked in for the night Xoxoxox

Day 2106 In Memoriam

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Of our dear friend and fabulous artist Rachel Miller who left this earth Sunday far too early. A sketch of her as our model at Dr Sketchys. Her she is as Marian the librarian. One of the founding members and first director of the Augusta Burlesque group Dirty South.

Rachel was a talented linguist with NSA fluently speaking multiple languages including French Libyan Somali and three others. Do you know to be an NSA linguist you have to be able to be fluent in a new language within six weeks! She was brilliant. She was retired Air Force, a gourmet cook and caterer, terrific watercolor artist, a twin, and above all beloved mother and wife. Those are just a few of her many talents.

She was a bright star in our lives and will be greatly missed by her legions of friends too. 

My fast take on Rachel as Marian the Librarian. Probably a five minute sketch.

And here we are jamming it up at one of the Doctor Sketchys. The lovely Ilaina short me and outrageously fun Rachel.

Her memorial is tomorrow at 6.

from her husband Frank.

A memorial stop-on-by, share-your-Rachel-moment service for my wife Rachel M Miller will be held Wednesday, 3 July, starting at 6PM. Because some friends are still flying in, it will probably go beyond 8PM. It will be held at River Place Condominiums in the clubhouse. This is where her sister Jessica Yu lives and where we’ve had some memorable parties. There is no dress code so come as you are. Some are bringing food, some their own liquor to toast her, others want to share some of her paintings, but I’m sure all have a story.

There are two guest-access parking levels at River Place Condos. There’s also some parking lots nearby open to the public after hours.

Her candle burned at both ends it will not last the night but ah my friends she cast a lovely light. – My rewrite of The Edna St Vincent Millay poem.

Margaret Xoxoxoxo

Day 2104 A trend

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Of ink sketches. No ideas why the pic is not brighter since I took it in bright sunlight. Marilyn Hartley watching the professor paint. The one on the right looks just like her. Forget the left one.

Lamy EF. Noodlers Eelskin Ink hahnemuhle journal.

Margaret Xoxoxox

Day 2103 Another Day Another window

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You would be surprised to see what you can get drawn in line at a chic fil a. The line during lunch moves so slowly though they try their best to make it move quickly. Sooner or later I bet there will be a wreck between impatient customers waiting in those lines.

I was stopped in line when I drew the cars in roughly. And the stop sign the trees girl in the stand. That line took quite a while. As I was heading to home aka getting my food I was done.

Noodler brown Ink Lamy Ef hahnemuhle journal which is almost full.

Margaret Xoxoxoxo

Day 2101 -Something about a dog

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When the family dogs visit my house they love to stare out the front windows lusting after squirrels, other dogs, maybe a quick chomp on a passing neighbors leg as they stroll down the street?! Who knows what they are thinking. But the dogs hold still and just stare making them perfect subjects for a sketch.

This is my nieces dog Scooch a lab chow mix whose recently went over the rainbow bridge. It’s nice to have sketches of him to remember this great dog that traveled the world with their family and watched over the kids as they grew up.

Superaquabee sketchbook Noodlers pen with Deartrementis document brown ink. Tomboy pens.

Margaret off to Atlanta to see the new grandbaby. Xoxoxoxo

Day 2099 Key West Parking Lot Rooster

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Key west parking lot rooster

He posed for me in front of the Lowes or was it Home Depot where he seemed to live in the parking lot. One gorgeous bird.

Fun to draw lines with it. Think next I will try a bird with my Escoda perlas to paint the bird and finish it with the sword brush.

First pass with the brush. No feet. They faded away somehow. And oh my he needs an eye. I left the eye and the beak off because they would have run into the red.

OH POO running out of room again. Guess I will have to delete some more pics sigh. What a pain.

Second stab at him. Get it it’s a sword brush. Wish I had not added yellow along the top of his head below the comb. I might go back and put some red over the yellow.

Loving the lines but those feet refuse to appear.

Added some more ground and. Ever can resist splatters. Also added beak and eye.

Here he is done. Except maybe add red under his comb?! Soon he will be flying off to a new home after I fix that yellow under his comb.

Charles Reid palette w Vlads Neutral tint. Strathmore watercolor paper 140#. Nice paper. Didn’t buckle at all.

Margaret back to watching Good Omens. Great show on amazon with David Tennant and Francis Dormand as God.

Xoxoxox

Day 2098 More sword play

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The male cardinal has made his appearance. Fun stuff slopping paint on with the sword brush. same colors as yesterday.

Loving the abstract quality of these.

Margaret whose off to bed as soon as Zoe comes in. Xoxoxox

Day 2097 Sword brush fun

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The picture doesn’t do this bird justice. She just glowed on her white paper in the sunlight on the dash of my car as she rode off to the mailbox.

That’s the sword brush from Rosemary’s Brushes at the top of the photo.

There is no way you can make a tight painting with a sword brush but it does some great line work that is slightly out of control. The feet show some of the line work it can do.

The lines in her hair and her straps were done with the sword brush too. It’s fun to draw with because you can’t control it well.

Cheap Joes Kilimanjaro watercolor paper in a 4×6″ pad. Colors used chrome green opera pink cerulean burnt sienna ultramarine. Think that’s it. And mud from my palette for splatters.

Margaret xoxoxo

Day 2089 Chelsea

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15×22″ Spent two and a half hours chasing Chelsea as she would turn from full frontal to the right. As soon as she relaxed a little she would loose the pose because she was twisted in her seat.

First break. NO pencil. 😵😵😵Rough block in on Co fluid watercolor paper. 140#. The paper is really a bargain for great paper. Six full sheets for $24 on amazon. Always dries just about flat no matter how soppy wet I get it. Second break not making a lot of progress. Adding more darks and the blouse. Lack of progress I think that was due to the continually rotating head. No excuse for that left eye. But an easy fix on this hp. Most hot press would not let you move it at all. One shot and you are done. Last break. That left eye shoot me. But I brought it around. Add more darks to the hair which was ultramarine and burnt umber or van dyke brown. Also I didn’t want to get the shadows dark since that would age her. She has quite a very young face. Deep shadows age people in portraits especially babies. For now. I have a to do to her list. May or may not do them. BYTW her blouse was painted in two shots with my size 16 Cheap Joes sable. First was a glaze of very watery cerulean and burnt sienna. Then after it was dry lines of the black hair mix.

Colors used Quin gold French yellow ochre burnt sienna burnt umber ultramarine cerulean vandyke brown. A hint ifocad red light

Margaret ready for a nap. Xoxoxox

Day 2084 – the kid

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At this point. The Kid 15×22″‘hp Fluid. Forgot to ask his name yesterday when he modeled for us.

Started without a drawing. Drawing large shapes Like oil painters do.

Both light and dark. WHERE are his glasses?!! Took til almost second break before I notice oh wait I can’t see his eye because he has on glasses. Duh.

Started adding

And adding. How did I not notice his mouth was too small too forward?! 🤪

More shadows but that mouth. I am an idiot? The things you don’t notice when you have a live model. And YES I got up and walked off and looked at it.

Finally his mouth is where it belongs. Sigh.

When I went to bed last night.

And the way he looks right now. I moved his right eye up and widened it.
Burnt sienna cerulean cobalt burnt umber hematite burnt scarlet or other. Vlads neutral tint. White Gouache mixed w cad yw light. Ultramarine
Andrews blue Alizarin dioxzine violet vandyke brown indigo

Hmm is that all of them.

Paper is 140# hot press fluid which has stayed oh so flat despite my repeated drenchings of the paper. Love this stuff. Need to order MOH from amazon. AND you can even lift on it which never happens on hot press. Once it’s there it’s there on most hot press.

Margaret who just got a new grand baby today David Christoper 8.8 lb. A BIG boy just like his dad whose birthday was today. Super birthday present for my son Ben.

Xoxoxoxo