pencils4tea today

August 17, 2023Leave a comment

Just 13 live Sketches in an hour! Positively relaxing. 😳 @pencils4tea Thanks Jane and Kirsty and all of our models. Live on instagram from the Uk!! Always fun and challenging.

My cheap general HB charcoal pencil drawing w watercolors over it instead of pencil. 9×6” Superaquabee sketchbook

Can’t decide if i like the quin gold roughly brushed on before painting or not.

Jane our leader today. Oops too heavy w the quin rose.

Marsha. Always like the way hers turn out too.

Susan. That hair. Should have been wispier.

Anna of the piercing blue eyes and a nimbus of white har which i never quite get right.

Beautiful Ilaria. wish i had do e a better job

Jude. It was good to know we made it to 2:45. 😂

Michaela another one i didnt do justice to her beauty.

Beautiful Daniella. Always has something of interest to paint.

Sweet Ursula. A challenge to draw in a few min. I did cheat and paint a bit after

Margaret ready for a nap xoxoxo

Before I get busy

July 17, 2023July 20, 2023Leave a comment

Who am i kidding. Already busy. Grandkids are here for the week. SOOOO BUSYYYYY

Today!!! LIVE from Paris! ***Drawing is Free*** at Noon EST on Zoom!! NO charge NO Nudity. Just drawing heads. GREAT practice!!

Missed it last week due to our osprey rescue effort that came to naught. He was dehydrated and had internal damage and bleeding. Died on Th or Friday sadly. We were hoping for a return to the river for him but it was not to be.

The last few I have not posted.

Day 79 Lots of fun painting her turban. Ultramarine and hookers.

Day 78 – #jyportraitchallenge as usual the fabric, the fabric, the fabric. Hookers green and ultramarine. Thalo blue would have been better BUT i make such a mess w thalo.

Quin burnt orange was the perfect hue for her lovely skin for her skin w a bit of quin rose for the bloom in her cheeks.

Day 79 funny pose from Ludmila Artola. Her hair and fuzzy knot hat turned out great. The face well it needs the jaw softened.

Leopold_artmodel Day 81 my current fav painting.

Had a rough time softening the purple shadow on his right arm.

Got to say w the superaquabee paper if u r not careful it will lift like the hahnemuhle will when u dont want it too. 😵

Otherwise i think my current fav paper in a sketchbook if only they made it in a heavier version or a bound one. Oh well. I no longer have the urge to rip paper out of the spiral. As Julianna Coles says u can always glue the pages together if u dont like them.

Skin is quin burnt orange and quin rose. Hair quin burn orange. The purple my beloved m graham mineral violet. Have a love hate w it.

Day 82 Camilla i didnt find the pose exciting til i focused just in her head w all that awesome curly hair. Was thinking preraphaelite.

Used my cheap 2 B Mechanical pencil on her. A papermate sharpwriter.

Brushes I am using right now. Mary Whytes cats paw brush from cityart. 1 1/2” cheap joes golden taklon flat for the background & #4 cheap joes golden taklon and a 3/8” dagger striper from masters touch.

DS quin burnt orange and quin rose, Cheap joes andrews Turquoise, cj yellow ochre, cj burnt umber, cj cerulean, cj cobalt , cj alizarin, and cj hookers green, cj Cad Yellow, m graham cobalt, mineral violet, and ultramarine watercolors, 9×12” superaquabee sketchbook.

Thanks! Judith @jyportraitchallenge @JudithYaws

Onward to day 84 or is it 85?! 🧐😱

Margaret w 15 left to go til she reaches her goal of 100 portraits. Then u am taking along nap. xoxoxoxo

Day 57. Well it was sooo Busy

June 13, 20233 Comments

First I did Drawingisfree_org on IG. 13 Drawings in an hour. Two had TWO people in them😵😵😵. i got so lost in drawing i didn’t realize when time was up. As the last time they got better and better.

#1 Chloe our fearless leader not my fav alot to draw in 2 1/2 min.

#2 mother daughter duo but seriously TWO people in Five Minutes???!

#3 she had one eye closed. Alrighty then. And in and out of shade.

#4 much better. An older lady who moved alot but…still like her.

#6 interesting woman w a huge head band.

#8 another good one. words are from the music being played.

#9 a dont mess with me lady! alot to draw in a couple of minutes.

Actually think this one was 8 but a crazy pose. My peast fav eyes and mouth wide open.

#12 A South African bundled up because its winter there. And i thought he was an elf. Lol

#13 An Irish lass w pink hair. Really wanted to color it but thought i would mess her up since this is done w water soluble graphite.

Lots of water soluble graphite and lead.

Day 57. Was not wild abt her but hated not to show up. Did not like her fake nails aka daggers of her glued on looking eyebrows. The red hair was fun.

And she was done. Might Not be the actual one i posted because i for once deleted them ALL.

Last but not least a commission I am working on. A Sweet little girl so cute.

Yesterdays. Day 56 #jyportraitchallenge. Bacchus or Dionysus – God of Wine! Interpreted by @modbodadrian

All i can say about todays paint is never make the head smaller than four inches according to the wisdom of Charles Reid. Oh he also said don’t paint what you can’t see!! Could not see the right eye or the where the nose was no matter how hard I tried!

M Graham watercolor and a few Daniel Smith. 11×14” Stillman and Birn Alpha sketchbook

Painted w a Mary Whyte fav paint M Graham and her fav brush a cats paw, @davinci_northamerica #10 Charles Reid kolinsky sable (both brushes and paint at Cityart in Columbia, SC @cityartsc ) and 1/2” Robert Simons synthetic flat, arches 140 cp 9×12”.

Margaret ready for bed. I guess u know why now. Xoxoxox

Tomorrow! Be there!! Day 56!

June 11, 2023Leave a comment

LIVE from Paris! Drawing is Free at Noon EST on Zoom!! NO Nudity. Just drawing heads. GREAT practice

**Day 54-** My fav painting so far.

Keeping it fresh i hope and not overworked. I used Mary Whytes fav flesh combo M Graham raw sienna and quin pink for the flesh tones. Works well for all skin tones just varying the amounts of raw sienna and water to lighten or darken the mix. Its the only combo she uses for skin tones. Sweet face w her fun two tone hair. Fun painting her curly hair again today. While i remembered to do the hair wet on wet it ran too much. Thicker paint next time.

Lots of great lost edges in this painting

**Day 55** #jyportraitchallenge. Definitely a TOUGH paint. All that shadow and the pic is black and white so what to do with the background?! Lots of dark blue since its the compliment of peach/orange and makes her skin sing. The blue also let me loose her left side in the shadows.

My fav part is where her left hip meets the background.

**Day 54** #jyportraitchallenge. Another crazy busy day so i just did our lovely model in profile. Hmm got the ear too far foreward otherwise fun painting her hair and the lovely lights on her chest.
I used a big cheap chinese brush and a Cheap Joes Scroogys Loose Goose for her quin gold and quin burnt sienna tendrils. The Cheap Joes Scroogys Loose Goose is a very long very skinny saver brush that is almost impossible to control. You have to trust it it will make perfect curls.

**Day 52** #jyportraitchallenge. Love her eyes. Fun painting her curly hair. Forgot to soften the hairs edges by painting into the background wet on wet. Hopefully next time. Works so well w fluffy curly hair. Drawing went well. Done quickly.

**Day 51** #jyportraitchallenge.
Miranda. So many details to paint. Need i say more!? Drawing went well. Done quickly. Painting wasnt bad either just too many things to paint. Note to self. Do not tape the corners. Duh!

**DAY 50!!!** of the #jyportraitchallenge. Did not ever think that i would get this far. David @gotsix2 flew off my pencil and brush. Glad he’s done. Beard could use some more grizzle in it but hey done is good.

M Graham and a few Daniel Smith quins – gold burnt sienna and scarlet.

11×14” Stillman and Birn Alpha sketchbook OR Meeden cp 140. Or Fluid cp 140.

Painted w a Mary Whyte fav paint M Graham and her fav brush a cats paw, #10 Charles Reid kolinsky sable (both brushes and paint at Cityart in Columbia, SC @cityartsc ) and 1/2” Robert Simons synthetic flat, arches 140 cp 9×12”

Maggie who wanted to be sure to post today. Xoxoxox

@drawingisfree_org

May 30, 2023May 30, 20234 Comments

Thanks Chloe @drawingisfree_org We were live from Paris sketching!! The Zoom link is at the top of this page. What a great FREE opportunity!!

A marvelous face on this old man sitting almost in the dark en Paris. My Fav sketch! All of these were done in my superaquabee 10×14” sketchbook with two Derwent sketching pencils a lightwash and a 4B I got at Blick Atlanta. Lovely dark soft pencils with a thick lead. Love them.

These are all two and a half -3:14 minute poses. The length of the great music she played. Different song for each pose mostly Francais, mais oui!

In case u r wondering where I have been now on day 43 of the #jyportraitchallenge on IG. Check them out at @maggieinsc.

This is a totally FREE drawing session. His first time attending and she asked him to pose😵😵😵. His glasses really were crooked.

Every Monday @drawingisfree_org has two sessions at 4 am EST and noon EST. Short 2-3 minute poses w different attendees being called on for a quick pose. So fun. Great music for each pose.

Her 80th coming up but shes still drawing! Hopes to spend it in Paris sketching. I

Lots of hands to practice on. A challenge when the pose is two and a half minutes. Great spikey hair and yellow glasses which i didn’t get to.

Despite a Zoom collapse which was a total reboot and a power outage right before the end best fun i have had sketching since BC Before covid.

Used two Derwent sketch pencils a 4B and a lightwash which had been languishing in my pencil box. Yes I have a PINK pencil box. Lol. Actually i have several to store my watercolors in my color.

Not my best but only two and a half minutes. 🙃Grwar curly red hair.

Chloe our fearless leader. Started is off posing to some great French music. When in France do as the Francai do, n’est-ce pas??

A Bientot! Margaret xoxoxo whose gotta go paint. #jyportraitchallenge

Practice practice.

February 13, 2023Leave a comment

Flamingo from Zoo Atlanta. 9×12” cp fluid. Mostly quin gold and quin rose w cobalt cerulean and pimonite. Oh inanthrodone and Payne’s grey on beak.

Practice for a larger half sheet Flamingo. Also practice to make Shelley Pryors technique my own.

Margaret watching the super bowl. Xoxoxo

Drawing the lovely Crystall.

January 18, 2023January 20, 20236 Comments

Chrystall as a fairy. You have to love her as a model. You never know what she will wear or if she will wear anything. She designs and makes all of her awesome costumes and also does fire batons as well as other performing. You can follow her adventures at crystallinecreative on instagram

These are both gesture sketches with a pentel ink pen drawn quickly. Then painted. This one was probably ten minutes The first one was a longer pose. Chrystal posed for us in a Zoom session. Lots of fairy poses. Best $10 I have spent recently.

My favorite type of sketchbook when I am doing live model drawing. Lotsa sheets. Loves watercolor and ink plus it flattens out mostly when it dries. I have it in every shape and size they make. I usually use the two biggest sizes for life modeling thru zoom or Dr Sketchys. Great for all those gesture poses.

This is one I use for everyday things when I don’t have my other fav Stillman and Birn handy.

Margaret xoxoxox

Another Monday with Crystal

May 26, 2022May 26, 2022Leave a comment

The long pose – 40 minutes – pentel brush pen and watercolor in my superaquabee tablet. Crystal of @crystallinecreative did a terrific job as usual during this live zoom session thru Townsend Atelier. She’s doing online modeling sessions via Townsend Atelier about once a month on Monday at 5 EST. You can contact them at mailto:peggy@townsendatelier.com.

Ten minute pose

Fishing again today. That’s my husband up at the top of the dam – the blue dot. You run up and down that hill to land fish. Not me. I sit at the bottom and paint. Of course I didn’t finish anything today. Maybe I will get them down tomorrow. Some dummy left most of her brushes at home. Duh.

Maggie xoxoxo

Sacre Couer

March 29, 20212 Comments

Sketching Paris – Sacre Couer which sits on the highest point in the city and can be seen from all over the city. There are a few tweaks coming sooner or later.

The photo.

Step 1. Lay out pens on your paper at the angles you will draw the buildings.

Step 2. Drawn with a very light Tombow on 140# hot press Fabriano 15×20″. Delicious paper. Sometimes I think it would be easier to start these off with a pencil. Then you can erase the inevitable oopseys.

Step 3. Ink it with a .03 permanent fine liner adding a few more details.

Step 4. Watercolor layer. Only four colors used. Ultramarine, cad red dark, burnt sienna or quin sienna and cobalt teal light.

Step 5. Adding more Tombow and darker tombows including black.

Step 6. Adding more details! Using the permanent fine liners. .03 .02 .01 And a bit more Tombows.

Step 7. And last add a bit more watercolor. And a few more splatters. I do love splattering.

That’s a wrap. The last Sunday Funday with Ian Fennelly. Ian’s been a very busy boy during the pandemic offering a ton of classes in Studio56Boutique.com.

Margaret tucked up in bed. Xoxoxo

Day 188 I just had to.

September 22, 202017 Comments

And I should have left it alone but NOOOO I couldnt do that.

So I have quit now. Impossible to knock out that yellow and make a nice tin roof on the house like a Low Country Cottage would have.

Bytw in case u were wondering the Low Country is the coastal area of South Carolina starting around Orangeburg about 90 miles from the coast. A slower way of life.

My moms fav cookie. I love the orange cranberry walnut version

Our family has been making these cookies for as long as I can remember. Originally on the back of the Quaker Oatmeal box.

My son Bens fav. Also quite a few of my friends. Some like them with nuts some without. I usually make both types.
My friend slim trim Alexis will break her diet for a few of these and my friend Elizabeth- well better than anything to her. Tell her I am baking and she WILL show up. Voted best cookie by all the Saturday artists. Well at least a big fav.

Grits is …. well these can’t be beat. Best made with nasty mineral laden Edisto water. Anything with all that milk and cheese is bound to be good right??!

I didn’t wet this watercolor pencil because I was afraid it would smear the ink. What is with that ink?! Should be permanent.

Pot kitties. My pots used to be gorgeous til the pot kitties took them over. A veritable kitty play ground.

Tootsie short for Tootsie roll actually came in the house today. Oh my.

A few more kittie pics because who doesn’t love kitty pics?!!

Margaret whose made two loaves of bread and hand made artisan pizza today as well as a jillion other things now calling it quits. Oh wait ones still in the oven. Xoxoxox