I love this beautiful old episcopal church on Duval. St Pauls is supposedly haunted by the sea captain that donated the land to the church. He haunts the tower.
Here’s another view of St Pauls tower against the bright blue Caribbean sky.
More about Haunted Key West. Great ghost tour.
Thanks for reading.
Margaret xxx
In Key West watch out for iguana racing for cover at your approach. We named him Mango because we love mangoes and he has an orangish tint to his skin. A big 4-5 foot long guy he lives in the yard of the condos we stay in at Key West.
They eat anything from shrubbery to fish. They do accept food gifts fruit being a particular favorite.
When scared they can whip you with thier tails or BITE you with thier teeth. Usually they just run away or swim across Cow Channel.
Thanks for reading.
Margaret xxx
I met the Ibis at the Key West Wildlife Center and fell in love with the little beggars. They LOVE dog food.
A hopeful herd followed us around as we toured the center. No such luck with the chickens or the iguanas who ran away with surprising bursts of speed.
But even the ibis will only get so close.
Thanks for reading.
Margaret xxx
The Papa Hemingway Look A Like contest is a big deal in Key West. Four days of celebrations and a nightly culling of the papa wannabes herd at Sloppy Joes a local bar on Duval made famous by its favorite denizen Papa Hemingway.
A former winner. There are at least 100 entries in the contest. Most bear little resemblance to Ernest other than white hair and beards.
Papas can participate in a Marlin fishing tournament. Winner takes home $25000!! My favorite was coffee and doughnuts with the contestants.
The Papas walk!! An imitation of Running with the Bulls in Pamplona Spain. Starting at Sloppy Joes the papas walk around the block with a huge fake bull on wheels. The day culminates in the coronation of the NEW Papa look alike winner.
I have been playing with my stick bamboo stick all week. Done a sketch everyday. The Carbon Black ink from Gouletpens works best with my stick. Not the India ink. It seems to load on the stick better.
Anyway after I tried to shade the ibis in the back grey since he’s in the shadow I decided to do negative painting in the background letting the ink puddles bleed into the brush water to make various shades of grey.
It seems impossible to get control of that ink flow. It leaves a lot of hard edges which are great for Key West underbrush but not on a bird.
After the grey puddles dried a little I went back in and drew ink lines in for sticks on the ground.
If I could change this I would get rid of the grey on the farthest back ibis.
This is yesterday’s ibis. I actually like them except for all the black. These are young ibis and have a lot of mottled grey on their necks.
Maybe I will redraw them and add some background? I think they are funny. The Ibis at the Key West Wildlife Center are beggars and wait for snacks aka dog food that was fed to them.
My favorite still are the chickens. I don’t know why but I LOVE chickens.
Did I say writing with a stick does not produce the most graceful writing?
Here’s another chicken sketch done earlier. I can’t imagine dong this on location. I would have an inky mess everywhere. Not good when it’s permanent and very black!!
I also had a paper problem. I used my beloved 93 # Aquabee first but the ink is so thick from the stick that I got out my #98 Canson mixed media sketchbook and used it. No more ink soaking they the paper. At least not yet.
And here’s Livia again. One of the first sketches withy the stick from last Sunday. I don’t know why I didn’t notice one of her legs is smaller than the other. But that’s an easy fix. Sketching frequently had a lot of surprises like a too skinny leg.
Enjoy your day. Happy stick sketching.
Thanks for reading.
Margaret xxx
I counted at least eight sketches of ibis that I drew at the Key West Wildlife Center.
The ibis were painted with cerulean and piemonite. Makes a lovely purply color. The beaks are cad red and Winsor yellow. The legs the same with more Quin red added to it.
The leaves are viridian Inathradone blue and Quin cold. And the ground. Any color I could use to give it texture.
Go find an ibis. Great fun to draw.
Back to my cold. Thanks for reading
Margaret xxx
I drew this brown pelican when I was at the Key West Wildlife Center with my brush pen. Finally got around to painting him. If you wonder why he was at the center I noticed while sketching he was missing the upper bill. For lack of a way to exlain it better the part under where your nose would be. I noticed because I saw his tongue while I was drawing him. He was above my eye level.
Here is another pic oh him if you want to draw him. See the slit in his bill? The reason he lives at the center.
Since I drew this I have thought a lot about these poor birds doomed to live in cages forever because we polluted their world. Fishing line or a fish hook likely got his bill. Saddens me to thin that he will never get to soar on the currents or dive bomb for fish like he was supposed to do. Now he lives in a cage with another pelican.
All I am going to say is DONT throw ur trash in the water.
Colors used: Quin gold, cerulean, burnt sienna, and every blue I own for the water plus a little spring green and purple.
Thanks for reading.
Margaret xxx
Courthouse Chickens Key West
Where else but in Key West would you find chickens at the courthouse?!
I drew these toward the end of our stay in Key West when I went on a sketchathon starting at the Key West Wildlife Center and ending at Higgs Beach sketching the people as they walked by in front of the car.
Fast sketching requires a good flowing pen – chickens birds and people don’t hold still for long!! I use my Noodler Craper Ahab or one of my two brush pens – the Kuretake or the Pentel. The first two are always loaded with Carbon Platinum Black ink which dries so rapidly. I frequently paint them later especially if the weather is extreme like in the tropical heat of key west.
I thought you might like to see the chickens before I painted them.
While in Key west I saw a lot of Chinese style brush work paintings of animals in one gallery on Duval. And decided to try it out on the long chicken strip. I liked it so much I did it on these pages too. 
There are really only a few pure colors used on the chickens. Quin gold, Quin Sienna, Quin burnt orange, Inathradone, Quin red and alizarin period. All the colors were allowed to combine on the page. Painting was done with my large cheap joes legend #12 sable even the large splatters.
Tip: To make the splatters. Choose a color or two and make a soupy mix. Fillup a large brush and gently tap over the painting. Yes I have a toothbrush but I always get little splatters not big juicy ones with it.
Probably due to heat stroke I was imagining what the chickens might be thinking as I drew. What would I think if I were a courthouse chicken?! Look there goes another felon?! Wonder what they did?! Hope I win my case?!
Before I started drawing chickens I thought roosters were mean ready to attack you at any second like the ones we had as kids. When get are with the chicks and be a they are very different beasts. They are not aggressive. Feed them and they defer to the babies and hens to eat. They also stand vigil while the hen takes care of the babies. Who knew??!
Thanks for reading.
Margaret xxx
Is a landmark that sits at Duval and Southard.
I drew this while standing on the sidewalk waiting for my sister Jan. We were off to eat breakfast at the Cuban Coffee Queen and then to prowl Duval.
Heres a photo of the sketch in progress.
And the actual building. I would call the style South Beach Art Deco built in the 30s. In Key West it is called Art Deco and moderne. Another building in this style is the Scottish Masonic temple now the Art Studio on Eaton.
You can read more about these buildings here. http://architecturestyles.org/art-deco/
I got the perspective off a little on the left side oops. Easy to do when it’s drawn in ink instead of pen. May have to do a redo because this is a really cool building and hated got it twisted looking.
Bytw the best Key West car and bicycle Peking is under the trees in this picture. Shade all day long. Important on hot afternoons.
What can I say?! Colors cobalt cerulean and Quin gold. Black is Inathradone and burnt umber. Tree trunk is Quin gold and cerulean I think! All the greens with some Quin gold for highlights and Inathradone for darks.
Thanks for reading.
Margaret xxx
Thanks for reading.
Louies Back Yard Key West
Whenever I go on a trip there always seems to be some leftover sketches that don’t quite get painted. I call these making my own coloring book because sooner or later I go back and paint them.
Right now I have six from Key West and 8 or ten from Garden City to paint. Hopefully I will knuckle down on the next few days and get some knocked out. Several of them I really like including more of the court house chickens. Of course you said she has more chickens to paint lol.
This is one I got around to painting. Louies should have about ten stars on its sketch.
Mahi Mahi with Mango sauce.
The food is superb the servers outstanding and the views are amazing. Hands down our favorite for divine food. Go at lunch to save a little on the bill!!
A not to be beaten combo of great food and gorgeous view.
After we ate inside we sat on the back deck enjoying the breeze and the view of the Florida straits.
The view from out table.
My divine sautéed yellowfin tuna a la Julia Childs flounder in Julie and Julia. I have the recipe. I guess I need to turn it into a recipe sketch. Easy and oh so delicious. We used to make it with striped and hybrid. To think I almost didn’t get it because I am tired of tuna a la Charlie in a can. Not the same at all!!
My sisters Beef. Also fab.
My creme brûlée with a brownie buried in it. Melt in your mouth deliciousness.
A coconut orange cream pie like nothing you have ever eaten. The creme brûlée wins the desert contest BUT if you go twice like we did you can try both!!
Margaret McCarthy Hunt Art 