Category: Cheap Joes

Texas Hill Country

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Think it needs more work but like most of it. Eric Rhoads back yard near Austin. He held the first Global Online Paint Out. You can watch the replay here. It really was alot of fun. More than 2000 artists attended. Leave it to Eric to make it a really BIG event.

Should add. Parts of this painting i really like alot. Love the big cottonwood. Love most of the long grass but not the big thing on the bottom left. And i really dont like the small tree on the left. Just looks weird and way toooo black. Competes w the big tree. More work required. Right?

The photo he gave us. His backyard
My sketch fabriano cp 300#
Sky wash cobalt and yellow ochre lots of water.
Eric painting and of course talking. Lol
Mine. Think i may lift some things tomorrow. And the colors off. Why is that. Silly iphone. used the Mary Whyte palette plus indian lake and charles Reids chrome green.
Tonights sunset margaret who is now tired. Been a day Xoxoxo

The correct color

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I actually took this out on our wet back deck to photograph when the rain let up. You get more accurate color photos on an over cast day or so they say. The great debate was on as to whether it was done. I decided it was.

Heres the photo i took inside last night. A BIG change in the color, isn’t it?! Anyway the new owner of this large painting pronounced it “wonderful” so i take it that he thinks its done. Painting the edges, varnishing, and adding the wire tomorrow. This will eventually end up in the owner’s cabin in the Western North Carolina mountains.

Nature does not hurry and yet everything is accomplished. (Lao Tzu) is the theme of this painting.

The vultures have been gathering on our sycamore alot recently.
One was on the pool fence today feet from the back door. Fascinating creepy things. According to my husband they only eat meat once its rancid. No feathers on their head lets them get right into that rotten meat. 🤪
I had to take these pics thru the bars on the back deck rail. I was afraid to go outside for fear of scaring him off.
Pretty cool catching him with his wings wide open. Well at least part of them. There were several more in the yard. Our attack cats ran them off.

Margaret xoxoxox who had enough excitemnt for today. Lol.

My Husband’s Cat

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Pumpkin 300# cp Fabriano Artistico may be done. Shes aging right now.
The paper masked and first pour of a variety of purples and blues.
Second pour.
I also added some burnt sienna on the left.
Third pour
Painting before i removed the masking.
Biggest decision. How to paint all that fur and keep it soft?! 😵‍💫Found a Liz Steele @lizsteelart post on instagram where she used four colors today all of which i happened to have -Daniel Smith French Ultramarine Blue, DS Buff Titanium, DS Monte Amiata and DS Red Iron Oxide which i thought would be perfect for Miss Pumpkin. This is my test page in my Stillman and Birn Alpha. Lots of wet on wet for the fur test.
Before i stripped off the masking. Not a big fan of masking. You have to soften alot of edges after you remove it.
Lots of sharp edges now on her face. I had to lift out some of them by rubbing them w a nylon flat and remove the rest of the masking.
And here she is now. The watermark lettering does not show like that when you look at the painting. I also had tto wet the back of the paper toto wet the back to try to flatten the paper which was

Margaret xoxoxoxo

And like that it was over

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Loved Judge Newman. What a great even keel kind of guy. My fav sketch today too. Funny story. I didnt notice he had a beard and mustache til i was almost done because i was so intent on drawing him. His hair. Well he had alot less til they read the verdict and i said wait he has alot more hair. Then i added it.
The prosecutor Waters did an awesome summation. His side kick today was even better. Well done to all the prosecution team. We didn’t think it would go their way but it did. Guilty!!!
And this guy what can i say but he was B O R I N G today. No wonder they lost.
Guilty
Guilty. Hope he enjoys the rest of his life in the SC jails. More than his wife and son got.

Watercolor and inktense pencils superaquabee book. Each drawing is about 6×9”.

Margaret xoxoxo

Another day

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You got it. Another drawing. This time of my sweetie.

Calling this “A Good Book”
Watercolor pencils in my superaquabee. 6×9”

Margaret exhausted from her allergies. Yes the yellow pollen is flying early in Georgialina. Sigh. xoxoxoxoxo

Court reporter 3

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So yes i drew him three times. I hear u saying how weird is that?! Seems appropriate to post the last drawing today when both sides have rested finally. Superaquabee tablet w Faber Castell watercolor and Inktense pencils.
This is the first drawing in case u missed the post.
This is the second one i posted. Then i didn’t draw another one though i did follow the trial to the bitter end. I would vote him guilty though i think the jury will be hung. i think Dad shot his son in a drunken pill fueled rage when Paul hounded him yet again about the pills. Mom was there when it happened so he pulled the other gun and shot her too. They always carried guns with them to shot hogs when they were out and about on Moselle so they were always handy.
The ospreys are back cavorting over the house shreiking which is how i saw this one flying just above my head. I heard the shreik couldnt find it til i looked straight up and there it was. Gorgeous birds. Six foot wing span.

Margaret who is tired and ready for bed after book club. Nite nite. Xoxoxoxo

Take two on court reporter

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Alex Murdaugh take 2. Now I am tired. Watercolor pencil superaquabee sketchbook
The pencils. The loose colors are the ones i used alot. I mostly use Faber Castell and or Inktense. Better get them sharpened for Monday.

Maggie henceforth known as Mags ready for bed. hmm never heard that as a knickname for Margaret. Xoxoxo

Done I hope

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After much lifting this is how she looks now. She’s a big girl on a piece of cold press Cheap Joes Kilimanjaro 15×20”. An imperial half sheet as Vlad would call it. Trying to make Shelley Priors technique taught at Watercolor Live 2023 my own.

if your like watercolor painting you really should sign up. Exposures to about twenty artists for a reasonable price. Well worth the cost and it just goes up the closer it gets to the start of the next years class.
I literally had rivers of paint swirling around.
I darkened the wash because I hate the too even spikey feathers I had drawn on its back and it was the only way I could get rid of them. @ericrhoads @shelleyprior

Taping to do the stripping. I had to strip off the dreaded thalo green run with a lot of tape and lifting with a Mr Clean sponge. Also used a stiff brush to clean off the little lumps and bumps where the green background thought abt overflowing.
After I cleaned it with a Mr Clean. Better but still a slight mess. I also lifted bits of green that has overflowed into the flamingo here and there. They were everywhere.
With the tape off. I am signing her and saying she’s done and available.
I added some quin rose and quin gold plus some cerulean to her head to fix it. Tried to keep it soft. I also softened a lot of edges. It was feeling a little cut out to me which happens when the edges are too hard.

Colors used quin rose, quin gold, cobalt, cerulean, DS pimonite genuine, burnt sienna, aureolin, thalo green

Margaret xoxoxox

Bird of the day well actually

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Been working on this bird for a few days. Maybe a week off and on.

This is 9×12 and done. I like a lot. So I decided to paint a bigger one. BYTW this one is available if you need her at your house.
The background wash went well but darn what was with the bird drawing. the back looks like spikes and regular ones at that. Regularity is an anathema in a painting. So how do I fix it without starting over?! So of course I kept on painting.
Starting the head. And then of course I forgot to take pics. Sigh. Really like the quin gold and the quin rose with cerulean on the neck and around the beak. But then no more pics. Sigh.
So here she is almost done but those spikes are still annoying me. So yesterday after madly painting with Vlad I thought slap some paint on the background and get rid of those spikes.
So I did. And it went well. I painted the horrible spikey look out. HURRAH!! But then I got the dreadful green run across the bottom of the beak. The 140 kilimanjaro was waffling like crazy with huge ripples making the washes run like crazy. To make it worse the green run was THALO notoriously staining of any paper. NIGHTMARE time.
Slapping cobalt on to give her some curves.
So her she is today. The paper dried amazingly flat for all the ripples it had yesterday. Maybe I can grey out the green streak. Tomorrows job! I do like the way she looks now.
Maybe a crop to take a couple of inches off on the right?? She’s a big girl at 16×20”. Did I say I have already drawn another one?! 😵‍💫
Tonite sunset was rather spectacular. I saw it out of the corner of my eye as I was heating up our dinner leftovers. We do love a good bowl of leftover soup.

Margaret ready for bed xoxoxox

The daily bird

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Available. Today it was a house sparrow. I do think they are so cute. My husbands favorite because if you feed them they will sit on your foot. Well his foot. Watercolor pencil on fabriano postcard. This little birdie would love to fly to your house.
Yesterdays Daily Bird A Chickadee. Also available! They are too cute.
Daffodils in full bloom around here. Spring is springing the pollen is flying. 😵‍💫
Out my back door tonite. What can I say but WOW!

Margaret xoxoxox