First I did Drawingisfree_org on IG. 13 Drawings in an hour. Two had TWO people in them😵😵😵. i got so lost in drawing i didn’t realize when time was up. As the last time they got better and better.
#1 Chloe our fearless leader not my fav alot to draw in 2 1/2 min.
#2 mother daughter duo but seriously TWO people in Five Minutes???!
#3 she had one eye closed. Alrighty then. And in and out of shade. #4 much better. An older lady who moved alot but…still like her. #5 Now we are rocking. #6 interesting woman w a huge head band. #7 like this one#8 another good one. words are from the music being played. #9 a dont mess with me lady! alot to draw in a couple of minutes. Actually think this one was 8 but a crazy pose. My peast fav eyes and mouth wide open. #11 Joe or was it Bill. One of my favs. #12 A South African bundled up because its winter there. And i thought he was an elf. Lol #13 An Irish lass w pink hair. Really wanted to color it but thought i would mess her up since this is done w water soluble graphite. Some of the pencils i have been using. Lots of water soluble graphite and lead. Day 57. Was not wild abt her but hated not to show up. Did not like her fake nails aka daggers of her glued on looking eyebrows. The red hair was fun. And she was done. Might Not be the actual one i posted because i for once deleted them ALL. Last but not least a commission I am working on. A Sweet little girl so cute. Yesterdays. Day 56 #jyportraitchallenge. Bacchus or Dionysus – God of Wine! Interpreted by @modbodadrian
All i can say about todays paint is never make the head smaller than four inches according to the wisdom of Charles Reid. Oh he also said don’t paint what you can’t see!! Could not see the right eye or the where the nose was no matter how hard I tried!
M Graham watercolor and a few Daniel Smith. 11×14” Stillman and Birn Alpha sketchbook
Painted w a Mary Whyte fav paint M Graham and her fav brush a cats paw, @davinci_northamerica #10 Charles Reid kolinsky sable (both brushes and paint at Cityart in Columbia, SC @cityartsc ) and 1/2” Robert Simons synthetic flat, arches 140 cp 9×12”.
Margaret ready for bed. I guess u know why now. Xoxoxox
LIVE from Paris! Drawing is Free at Noon EST on Zoom!! NO Nudity. Just drawing heads. GREAT practice
Day 54- My fav painting so far.
Keeping it fresh i hope and not overworked. I used Mary Whytes fav flesh combo M Graham raw sienna and quin pink for the flesh tones. Works well for all skin tones just varying the amounts of raw sienna and water to lighten or darken the mix. Its the only combo she uses for skin tones. Sweet face w her fun two tone hair. Fun painting her curly hair again today. While i remembered to do the hair wet on wet it ran too much. Thicker paint next time.Lots of great lost edges in this painting
Day 55 #jyportraitchallenge. Definitely a TOUGH paint. All that shadow and the pic is black and white so what to do with the background?! Lots of dark blue since its the compliment of peach/orange and makes her skin sing. The blue also let me loose her left side in the shadows.
My fav part is where her left hip meets the background.Day 54 #jyportraitchallenge. Another crazy busy day so i just did our lovely model in profile. Hmm got the ear too far foreward otherwise fun painting her hair and the lovely lights on her chest. I used a big cheap chinese brush and a Cheap Joes Scroogys Loose Goose for her quin gold and quin burnt sienna tendrils. The Cheap Joes Scroogys Loose Goose is a very long very skinny saver brush that is almost impossible to control. You have to trust it it will make perfect curls.Day 52 #jyportraitchallenge. Love her eyes. Fun painting her curly hair. Forgot to soften the hairs edges by painting into the background wet on wet. Hopefully next time. Works so well w fluffy curly hair. Drawing went well. Done quickly.Day 51 #jyportraitchallenge. Miranda. So many details to paint. Need i say more!? Drawing went well. Done quickly. Painting wasnt bad either just too many things to paint. Note to self. Do not tape the corners. Duh!DAY 50!!! of the #jyportraitchallenge. Did not ever think that i would get this far. David @gotsix2 flew off my pencil and brush. Glad he’s done. Beard could use some more grizzle in it but hey done is good.
M Graham and a few Daniel Smith quins – gold burnt sienna and scarlet.
11×14” Stillman and Birn Alpha sketchbook OR Meeden cp 140. Or Fluid cp 140.
Painted w a Mary Whyte fav paint M Graham and her fav brush a cats paw, #10 Charles Reid kolinsky sable (both brushes and paint at Cityart in Columbia, SC @cityartsc ) and 1/2” Robert Simons synthetic flat, arches 140 cp 9×12”
Maggie who wanted to be sure to post today. Xoxoxox
Giaio an Italian Artist @florentinogiaio on arches 140# cp 9×12”The photo
Her name Giaio means Joy. Finally a watercolor I like. I managed to jeep it really loose.
The sketch- yes i did one. First washes. Love her sweater.
Used a moltow masking pen to leave the white hair wisps. Painted w a silver brush cats paw, #10 Charles Reid kolinsky sable and 1/2” Robert Simons synthetic flat.
Shadows added w ultramarine aka the big scary (an ultramarine wash in the shadows) and the flesh tone injected into the ultramarine. I Just about done. Have to remove the masking fluid. love the Moltow masking pen but next time will buy a pebeo one. The Moltow masking is tougher to remove but it was so nice being able to make the lines fast w no messing w a dead paint brush full of masking.
Mary Whyte palette colors.
Thanks! Judith and @fiorentinogiaio
Gorgeous morning. Pansies still flourishing which is unusual for this time of the year. Usually long dead and gone but its been 66 here. More pansies and nasturtiums which are coming on like gangbusters.
Trinidad Day 441/4 sheet cp fluid. Mixed media #jyportraitchallenge on ig
My friend Ruth and I keep each other going. You can see her posts @britpeach on ig. When one flags the other says where’s your post today?!Our #jyportraitchallenge photo from IG. Judith Yaws is an Asheville NC area based artist who holds lifemodeling zoom sessions several times a month. Her models are world class and have kindly donated their photos to Judith for the challenge. Almost forgot to take pics. The beginning. Something is off. Omg and i can not lift on this piece of fluid. That’s a pickle to say the least. Her mouth is far too low which means everything from there down is too low!! 😵😵😵Trying to lift/move that mouth and getting into big trouble because quin pink is staining. And whats with the cross eyes?! For better or worse i moved it. The paper really was terrible. There were dots all over below her nose on her chin like there was no sizing on it. Did i say this was the back of the cp fluid 140?! Luckily she had a heavy shadow under her lip which helped disguise that I loved her mouth. Well i hope it did.
I added a lot of white gouache to her top w a 1/2” flat to give it texture. Lots of fun. Think i may need to do some acrylics again.
Anyway here she is done as she will get. Off the back deck this am. Gorgeous day on River Bend. Margaret xoxoxoxo
Thanks Chloe @drawingisfree_org We were live from Paris sketching!! The Zoom link is at the top of this page. What a great FREE opportunity!!
A marvelous face on this old man sitting almost in the dark en Paris. My Fav sketch! All of these were done in my superaquabee 10×14” sketchbook with two Derwent sketching pencils a lightwash and a 4B I got at Blick Atlanta. Lovely dark soft pencils with a thick lead. Love them.
These are all two and a half -3:14 minute poses. The length of the great music she played. Different song for each pose mostly Francais, mais oui!
In case u r wondering where I have been now on day 43 of the #jyportraitchallenge on IG. Check them out at @maggieinsc.
This is a totally FREE drawing session. His first time attending and she asked him to pose😵😵😵. His glasses really were crooked. Every Monday @drawingisfree_org has two sessions at 4 am EST and noon EST. Short 2-3 minute poses w different attendees being called on for a quick pose. So fun. Great music for each pose.Her 80th coming up but shes still drawing! Hopes to spend it in Paris sketching. I Lots of hands to practice on. A challenge when the pose is two and a half minutes. Great spikey hair and yellow glasses which i didn’t get to. Loved her hair!
Despite a Zoom collapse which was a total reboot and a power outage right before the end best fun i have had sketching since BC Before covid.
Used two Derwent sketch pencils a 4B and a lightwash which had been languishing in my pencil box. Yes I have a PINK pencil box. Lol. Actually i have several to store my watercolors in my color. Not my best but only two and a half minutes. 🙃Grwar curly red hair. Chloe our fearless leader. Started is off posing to some great French music. When in France do as the Francai do, n’est-ce pas??
A Bientot! Margaret xoxoxo whose gotta go paint. #jyportraitchallenge
Day 3 #jyportraitchallenge @juttama_rie She might get a little to yellow even for a cancer survivor. But isnt she joyful?! Also a gusty woman going public with her baldness. LOVE Her!! Makes interesting art too. Her page is mostly in German so good luck with that. She has a few en francais which i could read most of. And oh my goodness does not Emily metalskin do a great vamp. Reminds me of my grandmother who was young in the 1920s. Have long admired Emilys modeling sessions on judith yaws page. Judith who lives in the Asheville are holds lifemodeling sessions via zoom for $15. She does them via zoom I think. Never quite got around to them. Maybe i will soon because her models are outstanding.
Stillman and birn alpha journal Prismacolor art sticks w some Faber Castel watercolor pencils.
Judith Yaws @judithyaws is doing a 30 day portrait challenge on ig @jyportraitchallenge Shes posting awesome photo references for the challenge. Thought i would join my friend Ruth @britpeach in this challenge.
Day 1 done. 10-15 min drawing. 8×10” stillman and birn alpha w prismacolor artsticks #jyportraitchallenge #portraitchallenge #prismacolorartsticks #stillmanandbirnalpha Thanks @prettywackbeatsDay 2 Done. Did i say i started out three behind?! Hope to be caught up by Saturday. Took too long on this one but she is interesting so fun to do. Hard to maneuver the artsticks which are conte crayon shaped prismacolor pencils no wooden case. No sharp edges on them. Hmmm gotta be a way around that. Thanks!@artzkt83Cant wait to do this one tomorrow. Love her look. Using these prismacolor artstixs. Hard to tell where the flat edge is so that causes problems. Wondering of breaking them into pieces would help?! Might just get out my colored pencils and use them when i need a straight exact line like for the eyes or the edge of the face. Now where did i put my colored pencils. Hmmm.
These are done by drawing the large shapes first then the details. I am bad abt starting with the outline and details then filling it in like a color book so trying to change. If Mary Whyte can draw the big shapes first so can i?!
Peaches visiting at our house with our sister in law. Sweet puppy but big feet. You know what that means?!
You can hear the pilleated woodpeckers hammering away when u go out in our yard. And we do have all of these woodpeckers in our yard too. I almost got a pic of a pilleated today but he was too fast for me. Watercolor ink neocolor ii oil pastels. In other words i used all my toys! However I did get some great osprey pics on out boat ride this evening. They are nesting on the railroad trestle at the end of our neighborhood.The osprey did not like the boat bear their nest. You could hear them shrieking til we drove off.There were three nests on the trestle but only seems to be one active now. All in all a nice river ride. More tomorrow. Margaret xoxoxox
Worked on the goose some more. Funny thought about my bird drawing. I remember in third or fourth grade making bird books. Probably traced the birds and copied the descriptions. All in pencil because god forbid the kid had an ink pen. She might be lethal then. Evidently the bird affair is a long standing one with me.
Funny the things you forget til something jogs your memory. The jog was an old paper my brother wrote about the brown thrasher the Ga state bird. It was in a bag of papers my mom saved for him that I need to mail to him along with his less than stellar report cards. His daughters will enjoy those. I for one would have loved to see my dads.
The goose before i worked on jt some more. You know i think the neck is too short. Odd. I watch geese alot. I should know better. This was not deliberate like the neck of the heron. Hmm the things u dont notice when u r in the heat of drawing.
Drawings are all done w watercolor, Caran dache neocolor ii,some prismacolor art sticks in an 8×10” stillman and birn alpha. NO PENCIL drawings aka direct painting. All done with a watercolor base first.
I have alot of trouble telling the difference in these two birds when they come to the feeder. So do others. Alot of people identify them both as flickers. Like my mom a bird nut if there ever was one. These two birds sure did get cute. Except for the ink smear. No idea where that came from. In my dreams they would all be as good as this crow. Something to strive for right?!!
Anyway enough birdie thoughts. Nite note Margaret xoxoxo
Margaret McCarthy Hunt Art 