Day 1695 Summer Snow WIP?!!

August 10, 2018August 10, 20183 Comments

Summer Snow – Fluid 140# cp paper 15×22″

Sorry for the late post. Been working on this when I wasn’t busy walking 🚶‍♀️ 🚶 🤗!! My feet are tired.

What I started off drawing.

I drew it with a 2 B Derwent sketching pencil. Very soft. Before I started painting I erased it to lighten the pencil marks.

Here we go. Decided the background was too light.

Kind of wish I had left it.

But I thought the background was too close in tone to the flowers. No idea why I thought that but I did. So I darkened it. Hmmm. Well those flowers really show now. And they look cut out. Not a good thing in a paintjng. Oopsey.

Lots left to paint on this half sheet.

Heading toward THE END! I was getting tired and probably should have stopped.

But I kept on. Now you might notice the flowers don’t look so cut out now. That’s because my friend Mike suggested I use a Mr Clean eraser on the flower edges to soften them. THANKS Ms. Mike!! That helped.

Now the question of the hour is more splatter or not on the flowers especially the ones on the right side. I think I will sleep on it. Have to work fast because those crepe myrtles don’t last long.

Charles Reid Holbein colors plus quin gold.

Margaret putting her feet up with the tv clicker in her hand. Xoxoxo

Summer Snow WIP!! #stillmanandbirn #savannah #georgia #watercolor #art #painting #artist #painter #aquarelle #atlanta #painter #aquarelle #lifestyleblogger #lifestylechange #drawing #sketching #travel #charlesreid

Day 1091 A definite HMM

July 20, 2017July 20, 20172 Comments

Half sheet on Richeson 300# cold press 15×20. Everybody hates my antique Kowloon doll in the painting so I tried to knock him back by loosing my whites on him and making him darker with ultramarine. I also washed his head with Quin burnt sienna and cerulean. I did the same to the background to make the light flowers pop more.

I also added a bunch of blobby bits a la Fealin Lin to it to define the flowers more. Like it better now but still don’t know if it’s done.

One friend thought my little guy was creepy. Lol. He’s actually a mandarin dressed in a black Silk jacket and beautiful blue silk pants w touches of bright saffron yellow which have faded over the years.

Last nite it looked like this. I actually liked the bottom half. I just didn’t like the way the flowers were lost in the background.

I think it’s because the values were too close. When I converted it to gray scale in iPhoto not much difference in tone. Which is why I darkened the background.

The sketch. Bytw this was painted upright on an easel.

Having another go without the doll on Strathmore Bristol board which is like hot press watercolor paper but even slicker making the colors slide around on it. This one is 20×30. Why not make my screw ups bigger?! 🤗

Ttyl Margaret xoxoxo

Day 1021 Fealing Lin

May 9, 2017Leave a comment

Fealing Lin is the next teacher at Cheap Joes. She’s so adorable and such a terrific teacher. We would have been in her class except she was booked back to back with Charles Reid first.

Watching the demo on the big tv at Cheap Joes during class.

This morning there was a little knock on our door about 7:20 am. It was Fealing. She asked us to come by and see her so we did!! What a treat!!

She started her painting while we were there. This is the initial washes. She had already drawn the painting before class.

Her palette. Her two favorite colors are Cheap Joes American Journey Hot Mama and Andrews Turquoise.

Her paint brushes. I have the same paintbrush folder and have been trying to keep it clean. Scratching that off my list.

A few of her portraits.

Always liked this old guy.

A lot of great ladies.

This is from an old photo.

Love her great old men.

What a smile. Beautiful portrait.

Margaret off to dinner with Fealing Lin and Cheap Joes. Xoxoxo

Day 365 ONE YEAR

July 10, 2015Leave a comment

of daily blogging and creating art. I have grown a lot as an artist in that year which included a class with Charles Reid and one with Fealin Lin four online Sketchbookskool classes. Highly recommend them all.

Currently seemed to be obsessed with painting girls. Making progress on the latest one. She’s big. A half sheet of 300# fabriano which is about 15×22. That’s a big watercolor.

ALOT of negative painting. And a lot of wet in wet.

I added a lot of why Fealin calls jewelry which are light blobs of paint. Most of mine are small but may add more larger ones to the girl before I am done.

Painting the background has been a lot of fun. Colors used green apatite marine blue cobalt ultramarine cerulean mineral violet alizarin a bright yellow green.

More to do.

Thanks for reading.

Margaret xxx

Day 365 ONE YEAR

July 8, 201510 Comments

of daily blogging.and creating art. I have grown a lot as an artist in that year which included a class with Charles Reid and one with Fealin Lin four online Sketchbookskool classes. Highly recommend them all.

Currently seemed to be obsessed with painting girls. Making progress on the latest one. She’s big. A half sheet of 300# fabriano which is about 15×22. That’s a big watercolor.

ALOT of negative painting. And a lot of wet in wet.

I added a lot of why Fealin calls jewelry which are light blobs of paint. Most of mine are small but may add more larger ones to the girl before I am done.

Painting the background has been a lot of fun. Colors used green apatite marine blue cobalt ultramarine cerulean mineral violet alizarin a bright yellow green.

More to do.

Thanks for reading.

Margaret xxx

DY 341 Snuggling and Drawing

June 14, 20154 Comments

Zoe loves to snuggle. Drew this while we were watching CBS Sunday morning. Painted it while listening to Super Soul Sunday my two favorite shows. Noodler Creaper Ahab in my Stillman and Birn Alpha. Wish I had bought a zeta. The paper buckles a lot with washes but will flatten out somewhat when the book is closed. Also the paper does not let you live color without some pilling. No book is perfect but S&B tries hard.

Noodler creaper Ahab Carbon Black ink. Greys – Cerulean and Quin Sienna on the blue side darker grey Quin Sienna and Inathridone blue. Red fur Quin Sienna and Burnt umber w touches of Inathradone blue. Letters and border Quin red and cad orange. Background cerulean and Aureolin yellow. Scarf. Hmm all the above colors and mineral purple. Splattered with cerulean.

TIP!! Paint brushes. Thought you might like to see my favorite brushes, my kolinsky Isabeys. I have six now. – 2 4 6 8 and two big mops a 2 and an 8. They are Charles Reids favorite brushes.

If you think your paintings are too tight get a big mop or the biggest paint brush u can afford. Though I want a huge 12 or 14 Isabey they are very pricey but I am happy with my cheap Joes kolinsky Legend which is a 12 for $65.

Fealin Lin loves her Isabey mops. Lucky lady got hers off the reject table at Cheap Joes for $9 instead of the normal $65 ish.

Ink sketch stage.

Used negative space to keep the legs and nose in proportion. That’s looking at the shapes that surround the object like the hole in the coffee cup handle aka the inside shape that Zoe’s legs form almost a square.

Zoe posing.

And doing her favorite thing. Snuggling!! Couldn’t wait to paint this but hated dislodging her. Now she’s annoyed with me and staying in her bed. Sigh.
Fur soresto flea collar regular collar. She is such a princess. She loves to dress up. Newest scarf a triangle of amy butler fabric.

TIP: I love the bit of fur above the scarf. It’s done by painting lightly with grey. Letting it dry and adding more greys and Blues on top letting each layer dry.

The dark grey under the scarf is the Inathridone and Quin Sienna with dabs of mineral Violet added.

Details of furwith cerulean toothbrush splatter.
More fur and scarf details.
Thanks for reading!!

Margaret and Zoe xxx

Day 317 – Grace and Frankie

May 23, 2015May 23, 2015Leave a comment

Summertime or Tea Time or Julia. What do you think I should call her?!

11×15″

300# Fabriano

The wonderful costumes on the show Frankie and Grace which I have been binge watching on Netflixs made me want to do a girl in a hat.
I don’t know if you remember but I did a lot of girls in hats back at Easter. I love hats. I just done like the way I look in them. Anybody else line that!?

Now that summer’s approaching its hat time again! And of course a glass of iced tea with mint is required.

Here she is penciled in with a 2HB mechanical pencil and the initial background wash done. Very light washes of several colors all painted while the others were still wet so there are no blooms.

This is after. Added the first cerulean shadows to the dress and Quin coral and aureolin for the skin tones.

Here she is later. Colors added. Alizarin cobalt Burnt Sienna Inathridone and burnt umber Quin burnt sienna Quin gold. You really don’t need a lot of colors to paint a picture.

My favorite part of the painting though the hair is giving the skirt stuff competition. A lot of the colors were applied wet on wet. Others were added as blobs or dry brushed. A lot of fun to paint.

Still lots to do!

Thanks for reading! Go draw a girl in a hat!

Margaret XXX

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 308 – a Few more of Maestro Z

May 13, 2015Leave a comment

There are actually ten pages of these but this set messed up the other eight already finished pages. I was bored after painting the first eight and decided to try something different.

Fealing gave us an example with this wash on it so I decided to try it. The background is a wash of 16 washes of color. I applied the first eight backwards so I did 8 more in the right order and the washes leaked. It’s a great color BUT not so great I wanted to mess up ten or twelve other pages.

See below for color combos for the background.

Here are the pages that were messed up. Even worse I had finished painting them ALL. There are grey blobs on all of them. One set of pages even got stuck together.
I did use some white gouache on a few to try to fix them with varying degrees of success. White gouache my BFF.

Just a small leak on this one.

Big lean on this but it didn’t show so much.

Thank goodness nothing to mess up on these pages.
The 16 layers of washes are

Cerulean

Orange

Cerulean

Orange

Cerulean

Burnt Sienna

Hookers green

Cerulean

Then I did them in the right order

Cerulean

Burnt sienna

Hookers green

Cerulean

Cad orange

Cerulean

Cad Orange

Cerulean.

Now I think I will try another one with just the last eight washes. The correct way lol. It does make a beautiful blue grey.

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