Day 1113 – Urban sketching at Starbucks

August 16, 2017Leave a comment

Really pleased with the way this one turns out. Don’t know why I didn’t post it sooner. I had a lot of trouble with pens. Four in my purse and NO ink in any of them. How is that possible. Met some friends at the new Starbucks on Bobby Jones. Really nice BIG Starbucks. I drew the people in front of me. Some walked off some walked in.

The cars were a lot of fun to draw. Next time I am drawing my Prius in the painting lol. Artist car 🚗 self portrait.

Even like the way the crepe Myrtle turned out. I painted the whole thing wet in wet letting the colors melt into each other.
Strathmore 400 sketchbook Lamy Safari Ted Nuttalls transparent palette.

Ttyl !Margaret xoxoxox

Day 1110 Henry

August 13, 2017Leave a comment

Snacking on goldfish when we went to Oakhurst park. This was a very quick sketch. Have you ever treed drawing a five year old who never stops?! But Henry loved the idea of me drawing him. He tried to hold still. That lasted about a second.
Stillman and Birn Alpha w Lamy Safari and Ted Nuttalls transparent palette

Tty Margaret xoxoxo

Day 1102 Urban Sketching Atlanta and the burbs

August 1, 2017August 1, 20174 Comments

Sort of house hunting in Atlanta. 800 sq feet for $209k. Think extremely dilapidated in the outside. But so adorable.

Not easy to do since where I would like to live my house would cost $1.3 million like this one down the street from my sons house in Oakhurst. Maybe I should become a realtor?!

Love Petite Marche in Kirkwood. These will get painted soon.

Hard to get the paint out with a 3&5 yr old grandchild around. They want to paint too. Oops.

Cute little fixer upper in Pine Lake. Has tons of very dark knotty pine that needs to be painted white. And a disaster of a side porch with jalousy windows that will no longer open or shut. Eeekkk. Keep looking?!

Off to walk the dog and have a taste of living urban style in a walkable neighborhood. Then more house looking.

Drawn with my Lamys in a Stillman and Birn Zeta.

Ttyl Margaret xoxoxox

Day 1088 A recap

July 17, 2017July 18, 2017Leave a comment

Thought you might like to see the order of the sketchbook so far. Still at least one more sketch to paint which will go here in the order. Painted on Kilimanjaro with Ted Nuttalls Transparent colors or Charles Reid Palette. Pen Lamy Safari loaded with Noodler Black.

Seemed like and especially good idea to me

Since the upstairs AC was dripping water thru the ceiling and it’s turned off.

So I “slept” on the den sofa

But mostly tossed and turned

Getting just a few hours of sleep.

AC fixed. Nap time now. Enjoy. Margaret xoxoxox worn out.

Day 183 Sweetwater Fly Fishing Camp page

July 12, 2017Leave a comment

The title page is done. Not to sure about that rainbow trout but that seems par for every page I am doing lately. Lol.

Earlier this week. How many more pages to paint?! Two or three.

I don’t know if I said but this is a copy of a sketch I did for their guest book. Only that one is just in black and white.

Bytw the water was painted with my #2 Isabey mop. Drawing with my Lamy Safari on Kilimanjaro cold press #140 paper.

Back to sneezing.

Margaret xoxoxo

Day 1081- Still feeling like I

July 10, 2017July 9, 2017Leave a comment

Can’t paint. And am thinking I don’t like the pencil. Turns into a grey mess that has to be erased. My son and his family at our Fourth of July picnic in Cashiers in the Green.

We were thrilled to find our favorite popsicle for sale on the Green. It’s an Atlanta based company started by a friend of my sons and his wife that went to law school with them and the popsicle are delicious. My favorite is raspberry lime and only 45 calories.

Ttyl Margaret xoxoxo home from Sapphire and worn out. But the laundrys done and I bought some groceries.

Day 1069 Mary Alice Munroe

June 27, 2017Leave a comment

Went to a great book talk at AB Browns today by Mary Alice Monroe for her newest book in her Beach House series the quintessential summer beach book based on Isle of Palms near Charleston.

Though I have read some of the books with the turtles in them has no idea they are really to educate us about her latest passion. I tend to read the story for the story not to find hidden meanings.

That said I always enjoy them.

The latest book is about pelican rescue her latest passion. The raptor center even named a pelican that she rescued after her Mary Ann so I decided to draw Mary Ann to fill up the page.

The notes are just things that she said about her passions pelicans shorebirds.

She’s also an excellent palmetto bug stomper. One was running around the room the talk was held in. It’s a skill u acquire when you got to SC Low country beaches. I won’t tell you how I know.

The lunch was excellent. HEirloom tomato soup.

Shrimp and grits and a peach cheese cake for desert.

Ttyl. Off to Atlanta! Thanks for stopping by!! Margaret xoxoxoxo

Day 1064 Comissions

June 21, 2017Leave a comment

A problem when you are suppose to paint the same thing twice. Eeekkk this is the second one. Thinking it could use a few more greys in the center!?

This is the first one. I drew my friend Monica who giving her talk at the DuPont Planetarium at Ruth Patrick Science Center, USC Aiken. She really does a terrific job.

Kids come from all South Carolina to visit the Science Center and see the Planetarium.

It took me a while just to figure out how to transfer this identically to a piece of 300# lb watercolor.

I traced the original.

Transferred it with Saral.

Traced over it with a pencil.

Traced over it with my Lamy Safari.

And the. I tried to remember how I painted it. The whirlpool vortex was not easy to ain’t the first time let alone another time. Eeekk.

Finally it was time to splatter the night sky with white gouache stars. Be sure to use a stiff toothbrush. I got a soft one first. Oops. Worked much better with a nice stiff toothbrush.

Touched up the Whirlpool Vortex again. And calling it done. I hope!

Painted with lamp black, burnt umber , Ultramarine Blue, alizarin, aureolin yellow, and some Joe’s turquoise.

Margaret who has another commission to get done. Xoxoxox

Day 1061 -how many more?! And a beach party!!

June 17, 2017June 17, 2017Leave a comment

Still quite a few!!! 🤗We have no shortage of talking heads in this country. They offer great drawing practice. If you can pause your tv it even takes the pressure off of trying to draw them quickly.

And all they do is talk. And talk and talk.

And pass a lot of laws that half the country don’t like no matter which side you are on making the other half is unhappy!

The Decatur Businesses Beach Party in downtown Decatur on the square. Ponce de Leon became a giant beach!! Free beach buckets, beach balls and balloons oh and washable tattoos for all!!

An amazing stilt walker. The kids had no idea how he could be that tall! Several people on top of each other was their best guess.

And there he goes legging it down the block or should I say stilting down the block?!

And a rare shot of the old Decatur Courthouse with sun on its face. It usually sits in the shade. Bytw this is now an art gallery.

Off to play with my grandkids. Hugs!!

Day 1053 – Politics

June 8, 2017Leave a comment

Hard to avoid it today. It’s all over the tv the radio Facebook twitter. I don’t know about you but the last few days have been riveting. THIS IS WATERGATE!! 14×20 Mixed Media

Enough to get Rachel Maddow back from her sick bed where she had been for almost two weeks.

I got the brilliant idea to do this one on arches #140 cold press. BIG a mistake. Hard to write on with any ink pen or marker I had.

I finally picked up a Japanese brush pen I thought had permanent ink. I tested it on a scrap of paper. It didn’t run.

Fast forward to all the heavy lines in this sketch are done with that brush pen especially on Dan Coats.

When I started painting him he turned into a gray runny mess. This was supposed to be a watercolor. EEEKKKK.

I dug into my mixed media art supply grove. Caran d’ache Neocolor ii to the rescue. I started coloring. I lightened him up. The only person that didn’t have some runs was Comey. 😳

A lot of the letters ran. The names!! Eeeekkk. On this rough paper there was no clean edge. Tried a grease pencil which works great in my sketchbooks. NOPE TOO rough.

Got out a white gel pen on the letters. Better!! Got out a paint pen. Even better. More outlining with the Lamy Safari.

Done. Whew. Not what I had in mind BUT finally pleased with it.

Margaret planning another but it will be on hot press paper. Xoxoxo the news is calling.