Where I have been

January 30, 2023Leave a comment

In the dining room madly painting. I signed up for watercolorlive 2023. It’s all my friend Mikes fault. She talked me into it. What a mad three days of wild fun painting. Classes and seminars lasted from 10 am til 9 pm. Will be posting them the next few days.

My Swan from the hour Paint along with Shelley Prior one of 18 teachers we had . She was awesome. She held our hands and walked us thru it step by step. I am in love w my swan and will be checking out her extensive YouTube feed. Her instructions were clear step by step with no need to rush to keep up. This swan just glows. My favorite out of my stack of paintings.

Most of the paintings I did. There are TEN still left to do that I didn’t get around to for various reasons.

We started off with Julie who does Cheap Joes two minute art on you tube.

This took abt five minutes and was Julie’s tip. A fun way to start the day and to loosen up. We were all tense. I mean 18 teachers and all those hours. Eeek.

Out agenda. We were VERY busy. No potty breaks no lunch breaks. A good way to diet. Lol.

Next up the great Thomas Schaller. Now almost all the teachers supplied a sketch for us to draw before class started. This was NOT a drawing workshop but a painting workshop. For some reason. Thomas didn’t think we needed a drawing. Hmm. Off to a rocky start. I madly drew it and started flinging paint around.

On a half sheet. My perspective was off. Supposedly his odd idea of firefly houses. Who knew they don’t have fireflies in S California where he’s from. They got his attention in his new home in NYC. My husband loves it Me not so much.

Fireflies half sheet 140lb.
So I had to cram in time to tinker with it. It was really bothering me. The perspective was wonky. Hate that and all that glaring white paper on the top left screamed at me. Better. Still won’t be my fav. He can hang it in his mancave. Lol. Still may need more tinkering. Time will tell.

Next up a portrait with Patricia Guzman a lovely painter from Mexico who specializes in indigenous people. She’s a realistic portrait painter not my bag but she was a great teacher. At some point I got tired of painting every wrinkle and quit. LOVE the way this painting turned out. 1/4 sheet arches 149
Cold press I think.

Every artist had a different kind of paper or color of paint so I just used what I had and matched it up as closely as I could from my stash. Did I say I have way too much paper?!

My friend Mike my cohort in art crimes I mean classes. We met at a Charles Reid class in Boone at Cheap Joes 8 9 years ago and been friends and Charles Reid worshippers ever since. we are going to have a weekly zoom meetup til we finish out pile of not done drawings. There are quite a few. Eek

Another day another sunset. More tomorrow. My fingers are tired. Xoxoxox Margaret

#ericrhodes @

And I thought I had zero to do today

January 24, 2023Leave a comment

But NO I promised I would bake a chocolate pound cake for book club which is today not next Tuesday. Did I say I used up all the eggs yesterday duh. So off to the store. I always end up with a few cupcakes because my pan is only ten cups and the recipe is for a 12 cup pan. A delicious side benefit right?!

We are going birds around here. Counted 30 cormorants flying south before it got dark last night. Add in a bald eagle or two and all the normal birds we enjoy the birds. Crows love to chase the bald eagles. Not sure why but they do.

Here’s a few more. I do enjoy doing a scribbly great w with my black ink pen.

One line crow on a page full of birds and cats. Drawn with a uniball micropen.

Almost forgot these funky fabulous birds. Drawn during Inktober. Maybe next year I will draw a bird every day. So much easier than using the Inktober prompts.

A pair of Hanukkah socks I knitted for a friend for her birthday. She’s all set for next year.

Margaret who will post the cake tomorrow after it’s out of the oven. The hubby pronounced those cupcakes perfect. Almost like a cheesecake.

Xoxoxoxo

Been drawing

May 25, 2022May 25, 2022Leave a comment

In my small Stillman and Birn alpha w a Office Depot mechanical pencil.

The best of the lot. My sweetie Hunt. 4×6”

I measured his head when I drew this one by holding up my 2B mechanical pencil. His head is very long and narrow. Kind of like the rest of him. He’s 6’3”. Lots of whiskers. Mustache and goatee. Going grey but still has a lot of pepper in his once black hair.

Next up a watercolor or two of him sooner or later.

This is the First go round and his face was not long enough. Made him look squat. Vaguely looks like him but the mouth is his mouth. Oops. Easier to redraw than erase all that pencil. 4×6”

And Sam I Am a Siamese stray on the back porch. Sweetest of all the back porch cats. once he’s fixed he’s looking good for a house kitty. He wants in every time I feed him or pet him. Another man of good taste.

Pepes

May 24, 2022Leave a comment

Oldest eating establishment in Key West is their Moniker.

Margaret xoxoxox who needs to do a whole series of Key West quirky places.

Across from the Key West Bight.

This place serves the most awesome coconut pie you will ever eat. I ran across this sketch when I was looking for photos of Chrystalline creative in my superaquabee sketchbook and really like it a lot so thought I should publish it.

Pepe’s Coconut Cream Pie

Crust:

1 1/2 C Graham Crumbs

1/4 C Sugar

6 T Butter melted

Stir all together and press in 9-10″ pie pan

Filling

3 Egg Yolks

2 t Coconut Extract

1/2 C Sugar

3 Heaping T cornstarch

3 C Half and Half

1 C Flaked and Sweetened Coconut

1/2 C Heavy Cream

mix yolks and extract, set aside.

Combine sugar, cornstarch , half and half in heavy sauce pan over medium high. Bring to boil stirring constantly.

The recipe for Pepes Coconut Pie.

Pepe’s Coconut Cream Pie

Crust:

1 1/2 C Graham Crumbs

1/4 C Sugar

6 T Butter melted

Stir all together and press in 9-10″ pie pan

Filling

3 Egg Yolks

2 t Coconut Extract

1/2 C Sugar

3 Heaping T cornstarch

3 C Half and Half

1 C Flaked and Sweetened Coconut

1/2 C Heavy Cream

mix yolks and extract, set aside.

Combine sugar, cornstarch , half and half in heavy sauce pan over medium high. Bring to boil stirring constantly.

When it starts to bubble and 1/2 C of mixture to eggs very slowly to temper them. Return all to the saucepan whisking constantly over medium low. When the sauce is thick and coats the back of a spoon remove from heat and stir in coconut. Cool to room temperature and turn into the crust. Chill for 2 hours. Whip cream (1/2 T powdered sugar) and spoon over pie.

If you love coconut pie this is the one to eat. We passed up pumpkin pie at Thanksgiving for this one when I made it. And I make a great pumpkin pie too.

Gone fishing

May 17, 2022Leave a comment

Me fishing. Incredible but it happened today. Actually I was painting in my Hahnemuhle journal while my dh fished. Of course the fish started hitting less than five minutes after he threw out his live bait. 😵‍💫😵‍💫😵‍💫

I can see this one needs work after looking at it just now.

The weather was perfect behind Clarke’s Hill Dam or floating lazily on the river under a turquoise umbrella fishing.

He caught four like this. Two were big enough to keep. The other two were slightly smaller. This one is over 28 inches long a big boy!!

Maggie having a relaxing Sunday after WordPress tried to eat this post. Xoxoxox

Another Friday Another Life Modeling Session

April 22, 2022April 22, 20222 Comments

Maybe I am on a roll?!

Terry Cold press fluid 15×22 M Graham wc paint. If M Graham is good enough for Mary White it’s good enough for moi. Also nice that she gives you a tube of it when you take her class.

First up 2 min gesture sketches done w Caran d’ache neocolor ii on a big sheet of newsprint. 8×24”

Then three five min gesture sketches. The time flew by ZAP!!

I did work on the shape of the last one a bit but hard to take a pic with all the light flooding in from the slider and no over head lights like the big studio at USC Aiken.

FIRST SESSION
Then it was off to the real race. Painting a king pose. NOT a fond of reclining poses. So much foreshortening which is always tough. Also not fond of all the empty white paper around them.

And all of a sudden we were done. Had fun painting the background in up side down during the break. Perylene Marron and ultramarine blue and slinging paint at it when I finished with my long saber brush called a Scroobys Loose Goose from Cheap Joes. LOVE that brush. Yes I got splatters on her but blotted them off as soon as they landed. Fluid is very forgiving paper like that.

Everybody was going what are u doing. Never underestimate a little paint flinging for a fun release. Also a little brush rolling on the pillows for texture. May have to do more of that next week.

Look what I found blooming it’s little heart out on my side porch. My amaryllis I bought four years ago for Easter.

It will have a dozen flowers before it’s done on multiple stalks.

Margaret xoxoxox

Somewhere in Italy

May 5, 2021May 19, 20211 Comment

On the whole I like it but feel it’s a little light. I will sleep on it and decide. Paint along with Vladislav Yesileyev

Even before painting I managed to smear the worst color of all to remove- Alizarin- on my lovely pristine white paper.
Eeek.
I did blot it off a little. By the end it seemingly became much less noticeable. Thank goodness.

First wash. Boy that took forever. While it looks dark right now it really dried to become very light. cobalt alizarin yellow ochre and cad orange

Sky wash done. I managed to keep my fingers out of for once. Cerulean neutral tint dioxzine violet

Adding shadows. Cobalt yellow ochre dioxzine and neutral tint

Suddenly those darks make the first washed look so light. How strange is that?! The blooms aka rocks on the foreground are made by splattering water on the greys once it dries a bit.

And done for now. You can only see a bit of the alizarin smears. Handy the lady has an alizarin top isn’t it!?

Margaret all in for tonite. Michael’s tomorrow for some fixative I hope. Otherwise waiting til I go to Blick this weekend.

Xoxoxo

Mark Making!!

May 2, 2021Leave a comment

**Bluebells 2**
20×22” Arches cold press 300#

May be a wip aka a work in progress.

First layer watercolor. Lots of yellow and green ultramarine. Slinging paint with the sword brush. What fun.

Adding some darks. More paint slinging.

Waiting for some purple and blue pastels to show up from Amazon because I really didn’t have the any good purples or blues.

And I made quite a mess. Paint all over the floor and the tv screen. Oh and me. But still loved doing it.

Done for now. What do u think?! Margaret xoxoxox who should be slinging more paint.

Blue Bell time

April 23, 2021Leave a comment

About 15×15″ rough Fabriano 300# mixed media. Goauche Watercolor and pastel.

Who would have thought that would ever be a combo you would use together but LOVED the technique the speed and the splashy fun.

Spring bluebells at Castle Howard

Got a little carried away making lines with my sword brush but who knew it made those long splatter marks. Load a sword brush with a lot of paint and water and sling it and you get stripey lines like on the bottom right.

I had my splatter all over the floor feeling my inner Jackson Pollack and the tv and the table and goodness knows where I will find it.

Cobalt and alizarin I think. Oh and cerulean. This was just using a regular brush making lines rolling it. Who knew you could roll a paint brush to make marks?!

Adding greens by making them. Viridian and yellows for the green more splattering and slinging paint

Adding pastel to the trees abs blue and green pastel to make shadows and marks. Then white gouache mixed with yellow. Last thing I added was some cheap Joe’s American Journey sky blue mixes with white gouache. I may go back and add some Andrew’s turquoise mixed with white gouache too and some blue & purple pastel. Maybe

If you ever get a chance to take a class from Robert Dutton do. The man is a wild man with ideas popping out of him like a pot boiling over. Taking a three hour class from him next week. Can’t wait. Had to order some new soft pastels for it from Amazon because we don’t have an art supply store anymore. 😩😩

Margaret xoxoxo

WIP

April 14, 2021April 14, 2021Leave a comment

Tractor time. Found this one smack in the middle of Oakhurst in Decatur.

Slowly rusting away in a back yard near my youngest sons old house just off Oakview. As one of my friends said it already had a chicken. I think it might need one on top of the tractor too.

The sketch on 10X15″ sheet of 140# of hotpress Fabriano. Drawn with a .03 Derwent permanent marker.

Watercolor added. Cad red light ultramarine Prussian blue quin gold burnt sienna.

Done for the moment but I do think it needs something. I added some greytone Tombow markers.

Addendum: found out this is a McCormick Farmall Tractor probably from the 40s or 50s. Thanks have found a pic on line of the same one but doesn’t tell the model number.

Margaret ready for bed. Xoxoxox