Day 425 -a Tutorial – That bacKgRouD

September 7, 2015September 7, 2015Leave a comment

Ilenia Kilimanjaro #140 cold pressed 22×30 -for sale email me at m c m h u n t @ me.c o m of you need her.

Or how many ways can you spell disaster?! Disasters are hard to fix when you paint with watercolor but sometimes you can if you are patient.

Yesterday I said I would post how I did the backgrounds on these two paintings of Ilenia. It involves ALOT of water and dripping paint.
Ilenia Fabriano #140 cold pressed 12x 18-for sale email me at m c m h u n t @ me.c o m of you need her.

This was the background originally on last weeks painting. What was I thinking?!

Try lifting color next time you have a disaster. If it’s cold pressed paper you can lift the color. Some paper does it better than others. Fabriano does it best. The cheapest source of fabriano I have found is Cheap Joes. Cheap Joes Kilimanjaro also does a good job of lifting though not as good a job as Fabriano.

Don’t forget Hot Press papers will not lift at all. Worst ever including my beloved Fabriano. I once mixed up some hot press fabriano with my cold press and used it accidently. How many ways can you spell disaster?!

This is basically how I did the backgrounds in the pictures. You may have to repeat the steps. hookers green size 12 sable legend I had the same reaction to that hookers green in this weeks paintings background. What was I thinking. Even worse the green is staining so I had to use other colors to get rid of it.

Blotting off that Ick green.

So how to do that? First how I arrived at the background.

Adding more water to lift the paint.

More blotting with Kleenex. No puffs allowed. They have lanolin on them.

Adding yellow ochre to kill the green.

And a little burnt umber.

Splattering soupy burnt sienna with my Legend 12 sable.

The spatters melt out because the paint is wet.

Then I repeat the above steps blotting off color and adding more til I like it.

Now what did I do to get rid of this too dark color. I hit it with the spray bottle, let it sit a few minutes and started blotting it off with Kleenex or paper towel. It gets to be a drippy mess and it usually ends up on the floor.

And it ended like this. I did splatter the background again. I think the colts I used were alizarin, mineral Violet, burnt sienna, Inathradone blue and cobalt.

Ps don’t forget to wipe the drips off the floor before you track them everywhere.

Thanks for reading.

Margaret xxx

Day 399 -Garden City

August 13, 2015August 13, 20159 Comments

The swarms of people at Garden City were calling to my pen saying draw draw draw. If I hadn’t been drawing this is what I would have been doing consuming books like peanuts.

I really like this painting a lot. The water is more of a Caribbean blue than an Atlantic blue but I like it. It’s done in cheap joes Andrea turquoise, cobalt, purple, and a bright yellow green. The sky is cerulean and cobalt.

The sand is really grey when it’s wet. It’s done with burnt umber Inathradone and yellow ochre.

Bytw the horizon line is really straight but the books would not lie flat. The only fault I can find with a Strathmore 500 mixed media sketchbook.

Thanks for reading.

Margaret ️xxx heading out on another trip. Thank goodness for house sitters!!

Day 369 – the Long Road

July 12, 20152 Comments

216 more miles to Key West. Posting from the Florida Turnpike S.

Boone 300# cold press Half Sheet 15x 22″ Another one done earlier this year. Always fun painting mustaches.

A great summer time recipe!! Love tomato pie.

Only 115 days till we leave!! Meant to do one of these in the car today for Key West BUT everything is buried in the heap in the back end so maybe when I get to Key West?!

Thanks for reading

Margaret ️xxx

Day 364 – Another girl

July 7, 2015July 7, 20153 Comments

Since I already did this post once on the WordPress ap I am hoping it does not post twice or disappear like the last one which disappeared when I tried to schedule it. I guess because I am getting a little crazy…tomorrow will make 365 days of continuous daily blogging AKA ONE YEAR ANNIVERSARY!!! My grandsons third birthday is Saturday – I am in charge of making the cake AND we are leaving for Key West right after the party…HELP HELP!! And making arrangements for pet sitting….oh MY!

After wiping out the girl yesterday I decided to just start a new one. I think I have about 25 sheets of 300# cold press paper so WHY not use them…thats not counting at least two blocks of it..one arches and one Richeson block or is it Stephen Quiller?? Time to use the paper up!!

So I started another girl. She is done on Fabriano 300# cold press and painted with Isabey mops, #2,#8 and brushes, #4-#8…and one #12 Cheap Joes Legends…LOVE all those brushes..start collecting yours NOW!!

Here’s the sketch. Next time I am changing to a darker pencil EVEN if it smears. I didnt notice the chin was a touch too long because the pencil is too light. That is UNTIL I painted it…had to do a little plastic surgery….oops..

The first wash…its one of my best I think …Skin done with Quin Coral and Winsor Yellow which are both transparent.Burnt Sienna and Cerulean for most of the shadows. Hair is any reddish paint I had and a few golds and yellows like Quin gold, quin sienna, burnt Sienna and a little purple a little burnt umber and even orange.

I did surgery on her chin…it was just too long…I used a straight edge brush and clean water and a kleenex to wipe it and lift it…its easy to do on Fabriano which is amazingly forgiving….

Well if it won’t upload on my laptop u can always add it after it’s posted on the ap. Thank goodness it’s done. Between the slow computer the crashing so and my neighbor jack hammering his swimming pool deck I have gotten quite the headache. Sigh.

Then I decided I hated her hair and used a mr clean wedge to just wipe it out….all gone. I actually like it better now….who knew but you cant see it because WPress will NOT upload the image…sigh…only one day to go only one day to go ONLY ONE DAY TO GO…Imagine theres a picture here!!

Next to soften some of the hair around her face…wet and blot!! Sigh….

Helmet hair is NOTTT a good look is it!?

And now her chin looks a little dirty…opps…an easy fix…what i love about watercolor…it will drive you nuts!! :>

I seem to go straight to the dark side with watercolor…I need to stop. I am trying to stop…i wonder if there’s a meeting for that.

Thanks for reading!!!

Margaretxxx

Day 310 – Rhododendrons

May 15, 2015May 15, 20152 Comments

Rhododendrons

Half sheet 15×22

cold press 300#Fabriano

Based on some photos I took on Valle Crucis a week ago. I am not wild about painting flowers. All the negative painting is just HARD!! I usually do something terrible to screw then up and have to get out the gouache. No gouache so far. Maybe I should quit?!

This was painted almost entirely with my Isabey squirrel mops. The stamens were done with my #6 Isabey Kolinsky sable. Love all those brushes. Their kolinskys point like no other brushes I own. Better than a rigger.

I started with a good drawing of the flowers. I still got lost painting them. All pink rhododendrons look the same.

The background is done with diluted washes of four or five colors that is eventually painted over. I tried to leave a lot of white and used light pink in the initial flower washes. Mineral Violet was used to do the negative painting on the flowers.

Beginning detail.

Masked the stamens with a throw away kids model paint brush. I used Quin red for the pink hookers green on the leaves with Quin gold and ultramarine blue and mineral violet.

Progressing

The background blue is Inathridone blue or as we call it Pb60. It’s the blue in indigo blue. Drips are made by standing the board up when wet and slamming it in the table.

The splots are deliberate and done by placing the whole mop down on the painting with a light wash of color in it, ie more water than color. Fun stuff. Try it!! I also splattered some. If I knew where my toothbrush was I would use it to splatter too.

So Far

Here it is for now. I added a lot of small dots of color with my #6 Isabey Kolinsky sable. It might need more jewelry I mean dots but it’s too late and I am tired so that’s when it’s a good idea to quit for the nite I think.

Thanks for reading.

Margaret XXX

Day 305 – a Review of the Weeks Paintings

May 9, 2015May 9, 2015Leave a comment

As no doubt you have noticed we all loved out week with Fealing Lin at Cheap Joes in Boone NC last week. If it weren’t for Mother’s Day I think we would still be there painting. A great teacher and the set up at Cheap Joes is just awesome. Everybody has their own table. A huge flat screen tv to watch teacher demos. Awesome lunches. What more can I say. Take a class at Cheap Joes(www.CheapJoes.com) and or a class from Fealing (www.fealinglin.com).

Most still need a few more touches but will set them out and stare at them first. Then they are FOR SALE!!

Man from Shanghai or Opium smoker. 15×22 cold press 300# Stephen Quiller

The debate still rages over what exactly is in his pipe.

Ben

15×22 cold press 140# Fabriano

He recieved several proposals from mothers of single daughters!!

Kenyatta 15×11 cold press 300# Stephen Quiller

Hair needs more curls and that brown spot on the left has got to go.

Fisherman from Falmouth

15×11 cold press 300# Stephen Quiller
From an old photo from around 1900 aka out of copyright

TIP: Did you know that all government photos are copyright free. The Library of Congress has a wealth of old black and white photos COPYRIGHT free at http://www.loc.gov 

Boone

15×22 cold press 300# Stephen Quiller

I am I love with painting old wrinkly weathered guys with beards and mustaches.

Thanks for reading!!

Margaret XXX

Day 304 Homeward bound

May 8, 2015Leave a comment

such a great class we were all loathe to leave.

Our parting shot – a sign to remember us by. I lettered it.

Fealing painted it.

Quick peek in the candy store aka Cheap Joes warehouse.

Thanks for reading.

Margaret XXX

Day 303 – Feeling Fealing Part 3

May 8, 20152 Comments

Another great day with Fealing Lin. I highly recommend her. Just the best most giving teacher.

We worked and worked and a lot of work is getting done. Tomorrow critiques!!

The egg. Did you know if you draw on a BOILED egg or a plastic one like this it mimics the perspective of your head as it moves around up and down. Great way to teach it.

Black and white value study she did of two men in Chinatown. She doesn’t use pencil because it takes too long but instead uses Cheap Joes American Journey Warm Black and a big brush to whip it out.

Kenyatta

I added some bubbles and some pebbles aka some curls. I think I will do more. I also need to bring her shirt into a little better focus. Less busy color. Aka knock the color back! But I am pleased with her.

Boone

After

I worked on my Man from Shanghai some more as well as my fisherman, Kenyatta and Boone. I knocked the background back with Inathridone blue.

Before. The background is pretty but easter eggy. I also added the “jewelry” and some bubbles. I think his mouth is still off a twitch and I need to fix that. I am

Pretty happy with him. More work probably but we were off to show Fealing Mast General store in Valle Crucis a lovely secluded valley near Boone and buy some shoes for our achy feet.

The store has an old potbelly stove complete with rocking chairs.

Lots of old barns and lovely mountains. Not the greatest photos but the sun was not cooperating today.

Rhododendrons were starting to bloom. Lovely things. Of course we didn’t need to drive twenty miles to see them. When we got back we noticed a bushful next to our hotel!! We did have a great time laughing and googling and taking pictures!!

Thanks for reading!!

Margaret XXX

Day 302 – Feeling Fealing #2

May 6, 20154 Comments

Sketching Fealing when I should be paying attention.

Another one when I should have been paying.

Ben maybe finished.

Kenyatta mostly done.

My old fisherman

Beginning Boone Walton.

Thanks for reading.

Margaret XX

Day 301 – Feeling Fealing!

May 6, 2015May 6, 2015Leave a comment

I actually drew a sketch of her today but it’s back on my table in Cheap Joes studio. Wonderful teacher. So thorough so accessible and so thoughtful.

We started off the day with breakfast at our hotel with 6 or 7 classmates and our lovely teacher Fealing. The day was off to an auspicious start.

Then back to Cheap Joes to work. Mike and I worked till 6. And this is what I did.

The paintings are done in layers of washes.

Ben

Layer 1 should have started at the top and been colors. Blended softly together. Got in a hurry because the teacher called us to class. Pesky bubbles from painting wet into partially drying wet…groan!

Ben

Layer 2 Linking shadows softening edges.

Ben

Layer 2/3 adding more darks softening edges

Ben

Layer 3 Adding more darks and color and trying to keep it soft but focused!! Still more to do but that’s all I have done as of now. Think I am find to lift some of the dark blue on his eye. The beard was done with a wash of cerulean. It was magic the way a beard just popped off the page!! Ultramarine blue and burnt umber In the hair. Keeping the edges soft.

Boy does his mouth need work…hopefully sooner or later it will work!!

The Chinese Man

15×22 300# Stephen Quiller cold press

I call him Inscrutable. Dads photo album called him “Not Many Left.” This is how he looked this morning.

The Chinese Man

More Layer 3 – I added a lot of darks. Can you find them!? And some reds. Darkened the hands, the eyes. Added some reds. Killed some of the whites. Added darks to the frog closures on the jacket and under the right collar. Added blue to the hat.