Day 262 – Some Art Before Breakfast

March 24, 2015Leave a comment

Sorry not to post this sooner but I have been drawing too much. And have too many pages to post. I did draw my breakfast this morning too but yet to paint it. Tomorrow or after I go for a walk tonite. I seem to like to paint at nite.

This was inspired by Danny Gregory’s blog post recently of his breakfast. I am not likey to make a habit of drawing before breakfast. I don’t like cold eggs. Grits however and tea take a while to cool down!

This was done with my Pentel brush pen. Then I journaled on it a bit. And finally I painted it with Schminke gouache. The background color is watered down gouache. The grey on the cup was made with indigo and white. The mushrooms were painted with a brown made from yellow, red and indigo lightened with white.

Thanks for looking. At least one more breakfast coming!!

Day 261 – Tom Cat

March 23, 2015March 23, 2015Leave a comment

If you would like me to paint your. Animal on commission let me know at mc m hu nt@me. Com

Tom copyright Margaret McCarthy Hunt 81/2 x 11″ $195. Gouache or acrylic

My son found Tom as a tiny stray in the wheel well of a neighbors boat trailer. When he brought him home you could hold him on your palm of one hand. Now he’s a sleek kitty with fur that glows like fire when he sits in the sun light.

He also yowls at me to go in or out. In this painting he wanted out. He was getting irritated because I made him wait while I drew him.

I drew him with one of my Noodler flex nibs loaded with Drartremis brown document ink. Painted him with gouache in my stillman and Birn zeta with mostly white, Indian yellow, and English red with bits of indigo in the shadows.

Detail Tom copyright Margaret McCarthy Hunt 81/2 x 11″ $195. Gouache or acrylic

Because he such a red cat I watered down some Quin Sienna watercolor and brushes it over his fur to make it redder. I also added some watery burnt umber and burnt sienna Wc for shade.

Background is watery titmouse with some Azo yellow to make the green spots.

267 – Dog of the Day

March 19, 2015March 19, 2015Leave a comment

The Dog of the Day – my nieces lab Reagan with his birthday hat on. Happy Birthday Reagan!! Did I say a yellow lab is much harder to paint than a black one. Especially with a limited gouache palette.

All you need for a black lab is a dark indigo blue for the black with a touch of the English red and a lighter blue and a bit of red for the collar and you gue.

The yellow lab? 😳 So many shades of cream, buff, peach, Browns, purples, greys and white. Red for the tongue and a bit of dark purple.

And ps Azo yellow is NOT a good color for a yellow lab. It’s too lemony and turns him green when mixed with white and painted over the colors I was using. Any blue remotely near it turned it green. 😜 Not so with the Indian yellow which is very strange.

I did use a lot of light purples for the greys.

Background is watered down turquoise.

Thanks for looking!

Day 266 A Few Seagulls or Thoughts on Fifty More Shades of Grey

March 19, 2015Leave a comment

Sometimes it’s just fun to go sit in the middle of a parking lot and draw the seagulls. No idea why they congregate in the parking lots but they do. If you decide you want to draw seagulls take some crackers or old bread with you. They will follow you like you are the pied piper.

I actually drew a lot of seagulls last week but didn’t get around to painting them till a few days ago. I like this one best. Drawn with Noodler Konrad flex nib and Noodler lexington grey ink in my Stillman and Birn Zeta it’s painted with watery gouache. Much faster than using it opaque. Or at least that’s my story so far.

I have a bunch of premixed greys made from indigo and schminke English red. Sometimes I add more white. Sometimes more indigo. Thee indigo can make a great grey mixed only with the white. Try it. U will love it.

Lettering is done with indigo and a brush. The background is turquoise with bits of green made by mixing Indian yellow in with the turq. That makes a muddy green.

Anyway. Gotta run. My paints are waiting and drying out.

Thanks for looking.

Day 256 – Another Dog

March 17, 2015March 17, 20152 Comments

Dogs are big in my family. All of us have at least one and some of us have several. I have two. A Jack Russell who I posted a couple of days ago and a huge lab. Honey is a chow hound. Loves biscuits and I mean the southern kind not cookies but she will eat those too. She is always thinking about food.

When I got her from the Aiken pound she weighed about 75 lb. We have fixed that. She now weighs about 110 pounds. The dog seriously loves food. She also steaks food off the kitchen counter especially any bread product.

Anyway this is drawn with a black Pentel brush pen. The highlights are gouache as is the background. The lettering is done with the Kuratake brush pen.