Pencils4tea live from Milan Italy

September 2, 2023September 2, 20231 Comment

Miss Marcia 3 min.
Always a lovely look to a watercolor of her.

14 live Sketches in an hour! 😳 @pencils4tea Thanks Ilairia and Kirsty and all of our models. Live on instagram from Italia aka Italy!! Always fun and challenging.

@Drawingisfree on instagram starts up again. More face drawing fun live from Paris for 1 hr at noon EST. Zoom Link in her bio on instagram. Pencils 4 tea will not meet next week. 😭😭😭 I really think these events have improved my sketching and loosened up my watercolors.

Highly recommend trying it. U dont have to share them and they will get better the more times you do it.

Our hostess Ilairia in Milan Italy 6 min.

Used 1 paint brush a 3/8” Princeton dagger brush. My cheap general HB charcoal pencil drawing w watercolors over it instead of pencil.

Ruth in Chattanooga 2 min
my frequent partner in art adventures for the last 12 years.

Wc Colors used DS quin burnt orange and quin rose, Cheap joes(cj) andrews Turquoise, cj yellow ochre, cj burnt umber, cj cerulean, cj cobalt , cj alizarin, and cj hookers green, Lukas Cad Yellow, m graham cobalt and ultramarine watercolors, 5×8” superaquabee sketchbook

Meg McCurtain 2:36 min.
Such a lovely long neck. In my next life I am asking for one!

Rone Prinz 3:45 min
Lovely puffy curly white hair and daisies my fav flower

Raphael 4:39 min
Really should have turned the book sideways to get his hand in. Oh well.

Molly 3:14 min
I finished her up afterwards because i knew three min was not enough to paint her lovely scarf.

Sarah Brunell 1 plus min.
Not enough tine of course. I took a deep breath and drew her. Then painted when we were done.

The weather here is beautiful after Idalia blew by. Sky is as clear as a bell. Cooled off from the brutal 100 degree days to 64 lows and highs of 85. Fabulous weather.

Margaret xoxoxoxo as usual ready to put her feet up!

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

31?! Key West Cycles

March 30, 2023March 30, 20232 Comments

Pouring after watching a Linda Baker segment on Watercolor live 2023 which has been worth every penny. You really should consider this. Finally finishing it up. We got a 60 day extension which cost $200 more. Cheaper to sign up now than wait. Price increases. So glad Mike talked me into it. U can hit the pause button and do it at your leisure. If u do tell them i sent you. I don’t get a thing i just want them to know i am doing it. Truly a bargain at $297 right now.

I think i love pouring. May make a bigger one of these tomorrow. This is a quarter sheet of fabriano cp artistico. 300#.

The photo i took in Key West. Sucker for bike pics. I have abt 255 of them.

First pour. Cobalt Yellow ochre raw sienna

Pouring indigo. I may have gotten carried away. You add masking before each pour.

I also added a grinder of salt all over it. The small bottle is soap to wash out the masking in the brush. It survived.

Oops getting a little too dark aka too much indigo

The masking off was not a pretty site. I guess i should have take A pic anyway. Adding paint w a brush to get rid of the hard edges left by the masking.

Quitting for now. This is the color it is now. No idea why my iPad pro takes accurate color like this and my iPad phone 13 does not. The phone is so much newer than the ipad. Maybe two years newer?!

Now to do a bigger one. But first the grocery store

Also made a jar Martha Stewarts sweet red onion pickles today. They are pretty even if they don’t taste good aren’t they? will have to try them shortly.

Margaret worn out exhausted w an unmade bed. Sigh. Xoxoxo

Texas Hill Country

March 24, 2023March 30, 20232 Comments

Updated the photo using my ipad pro. Now snows better than it did. Course now i see other things to fix. ***Enough.***

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?

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

Hong Kong

March 23, 20232 Comments

Trying to decide if I like this or not. More about it later when i decide. Watercolor and gouache on Fabriano Rough 300#

Springtime in Paris

March 22, 2023Leave a comment

Just realized i have painted TWENTY FIVE paintings in the last two months. I think i needs a nap. And an art show. Lol.

First wash. Soaked the oage the. Added a cobalt sky, ultramarine and burnt sienna grey with a touch of alizarin for spring warmth according to Alex Hillkurtz leading the paint along. Raw Sienna and Burnt Sienna on the buildings

Thalo blue awning and windows. Funny how that bright blue disappears as the painting develops.

Adding darker greys same combo Building details that grey adding orange for reflections.

Lots of details added. Loved doing the balcony. And i always love drawing the lines on the buildings. really like these people. And could not resist the urge to add flowers on pots. Always in for a bit of splattering. Something liberating abt splattering.

Have to say that Alex Hillkurtz is a thoughtful teacher who loves Paris so much he moved there eight years ago. Have to agree its a magical spot. if u want to take a class from him he teaches on Domestika. Reasonable prices $10-15. Also does. Painting tours in other spots. He does great explanations leaving out nothing.

Have to say he tickled me. Didn’t know the names for the architectural details like cornices. Said he was not an architect. Most of the guys who teach classes like this are. However he is an urbandsketcher and loves drawing buildings, urbans spaces, and the people who inhabit them.

Margaret who is tired. No wonder 25 paintings should do it. xoxoxox

Mexican Cactus Flower

March 21, 2023Leave a comment

Knocking my socks off still. This is huge. 15×20” it went so well maybe i should try it on a full sheet-20×30” or wait for it on an elephant sheet – 30”x40”😳😵‍💫😍

Would i change anything?? Yes that thalo green in the center. Too green. Havent used thalo green in years for that readon. Why did i use it this time?? Thalo blue and aureolin yellow makes Thalo green. Duh.