Category: Key west

Day 941 A few more als and that urban sketch 

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Sketched at the Aiken Brewing Company on Laurens St downtown Aiken 

Colors used Quin gold Quin red orange cerulean, burnt umber, ultramarine, hookers and a gel pen or two. 

Draw with a Lamy Safari and Lexington Grey ink in a Stillman and Birn Zeta. 

Als painting of a student circus 1990. Even then he was trying to paint like Vermeer. 

Als friend from the gym who loved to tell stories. He was a rower in the 52 and 56 Olympics for Hungary. 

Al after his heart attack. He used his computer camera to take this photo. 

The models make Al look like a great painter so he says but we know he’s a great painter. 

Ilaina gorgeous as ever. A Saturday painting. 3×4′

Als office. Always neat. Painted with acrylic. Much wilder than his oil paintings. LOVE This one. Think it got a certificate of merit at the State Fair. 

Als an awesome painter and teacher the reason. I drove 60 miles three times a week to Aiken to become a better painter I HOPE!! 

Xoxoxo

Margaret 

Day 912 a little conch republic 

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And a little more FauvismWhat we jokingly call a jacaranda when we head to key West. The trail on the Sunshine Parkway to Key West and we try to entertain ourselves. One way is the first jacaranda sightings which we usually spot south of Orlando. 

The Tale of the Jacaranda 

Now why do we call Norfolk Pines Jacarandas?  My first trip to Key West I sent a picture of a very tall thin tree to a friend who grew up in Florida. She told me it was a Jacaranda even though we thought it was a Norfolk Pine. I finally looked it up and yes it’s a Norfolk Pine. They grow fifty or more feet tall in southern Florida. Straight up like a cornstalk. 

But that’s southern Florida for you. Every house plant we have grows to enormous size. Our house plants are their outside foundation plants.  Pothos and philodendrons have leaves bigger than dinner plates and grow stories tall just like the Jacaranda Pine tree. 

Stillman and Birn mixed media Zeta Ted Nuttals transparent colors. My small Isabey mop. Well mostly. 

Yesterday after I bough the sunflowers I remembered that Earthfare sold some gorgeous red radishes with lots of green leaves. So I made an extra trip 8 miles up the street and got a bunch. $2.99 ouch. Cheaper than flowers though. 

Once again we were to use as many cooors as we could to draw these after drawing the first one in the colors the object is. I was lazy and left them on the plastic bag. 

Number 1.  Fun but I like the other one better. 

And all the colors I used. 

Day 621-Duval Street 

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  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

Day 619 -Iguana

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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 

Day 618 – Ibis

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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

Day 615 Key West Dreaming

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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. 

Day 611 – Stick fun!

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 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

Day 508 – A Few Ibis 

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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

Day 411 -A Pelican 

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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

Day 398 – The Pegasus Hotel

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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.