Texas Hill Country

March 24, 2023March 24, 20232 Comments

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

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

Springtime in Paris 15×20” Fabriano cp 300

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

The drawing. Needs some tweaking.

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.

First wash w pebeo masking. Wet the whole page w a big hake brush then quickly brush in quin rode and quin magenta.

Starting to add some purple which was made by adding thalo blue to the first two quins. Also adding some green in the middle. Thalo blue and aureolin yellow of course.

Zipping along adding more dark pink and the purple. Keeping the washes smooth by mixing alot at one time.

Adding yellow to the middle. Toned down w the quin.

Moh green. Stop now before u go too far.

Oops there it is. TOO MUCH THALO GREEN. And you can NOT lift thalo green. 🥲🥲🥲🥲🥲 Negative painting going on in the stamens. Background is indogo quin gold and aureolin for a diff green. Wish i had varied a little. Oh well. Not messing with it.

A detail

And its done now. I guess i should sign it. Shading the pistol and stamens. Margaret who is tahred. Xoxoxox

Take two on court reporter

February 25, 2023Leave a comment

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

February 20, 2023February 20, 2023Leave a comment

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

February 18, 2023February 18, 20234 Comments

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

February 16, 2023Leave a comment

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

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

Painting w Stan Miller

February 11, 2023February 11, 20232 Comments

Griffith 140 cold press arches. Not my favorite painting. Stan Millers grandson. Stan does phenomenal portraits and has some great YouTube videos.

I will say that by taking his demo at Watercolor Live I have saved myself the trouble of taking a class from him in person which Mike had wanted to do before covid. Stan doesn’t want you to interpret the person but to paint an identical likeness. He’s very 123 so easy to follow but as my long time teacher Al Beyer said don’t worry abt the likeness unless they are paying you for it.

That said Stan has some absolutely gorgeous watercolors and rightly so he has made his living for forty years selling and teaching it.

I should add that I could soften a lot of edges with the Mr Clean eraser if I wanted to. I did the one on his right cheek with it and the arches paper was just fine with it. I pulled it down his cheek a couple of times and they did the trick. I will say one of the things I don’t like abt this portrait is all the hard edges which of course I could soften.

TIP: I cut the Mr Clean Eraser up into smaller wedges so I don’t have to deal with the whole big eraser which is sponge sized.

Sometimes I seem better at drawing paintings than actually getting them painted. Hopefully tomorrow.

Margaret in rainy SC xoxoxo