Category: Life drawing

I see a bird

2 Comments

A purple finch to be exact. I think they are the cutest birds. This time of the year they fluff up their feathers looking even cuter.

I watched one fat happy and fluffy in a pile of bird seed on the back porch. It was in bird heaven. It settled down for a long winters snack. I noticed my cat creeping up. Had to chase me fat and happy off his like of seed.

Spent most of the day cleaning out the last of Christmas and looking for a painting of my nephew which I need to get framed and enter in splash.

Of course it was the last place I looked. Why is that?? To make it worse it was under another wc painting I had hung from a binders clip. She was hiding him. Got to get them both to the framers soon. Before Kristin shoots me for saying I needed it yesterday. Oh and better bake her that long owed batch of choc chip cookies. Ops.

Socks are done. House is cleaner so not a total loss. Next up a pair of magenta socks with polka dots. Seriously I need to get some painting done.

Margaret ready for her four o’clock nap. Xoxoxox

It’s Saturday

Leave a comment

Emily 15×22″ cold press Fluid paper

Sketch

At forty minutes in

Second break

And when I quit today.

Used my Charles Reid palette colors.

Dr Bill who was too my right.

Dr Fred who was sitting in front of Dr Bill

Coach Larry who was behind me.

Drew who was to my left

Al Beyer who does a great back!

That’s a wrap. Off to another movie

Xoxoxox Margaret

Christmas in the WNC

Leave a comment

Not a sketch of the cabin but a random house on the road into Brevard from Sapphire. Scene Looks pretty in the morning sun so I pulled into a loggers driveway across the road and drew it.

Drawn on some random loose paper in the car with a black ultra fine uniball pen.

Almost a week with no wifi no cable. We twitch our noses at it will start up fro a second or two two bars of u are lucky. Then without even moving the signal is gone. 😵🤔 So didn’t even bother with blog posts.

Time to get back in the swing of things. Hmm why didn’t I draw my croissant. Sooo good at Bracken Mountain Bakery in Brevard.

Headed into Brevard to meet a freeing from USC Aiken to do an art gallery walk in Brevard. Hard to do when you have young grandkids along. We tend to hit the toy store and the ice cream shop which are also a lot of fun.

The wild flower field in front of the cabin. Now brown but it’s so gorgeous when it’s full of purple Dutch iris and lupine. Later Joe Pye weed fills the field.

And the mighty Thompson Rover from the front porch of the cabin. Best wild fly fishing river publicly accessible in the WNC aka western North Carolina. My son is lucky enough to own that stretch. The rest is in the Nantahala National Forest.

A good sketch

2 Comments

To start was helpful. The painting is about 16×20 coldpress fluid 140# paper.

The sketch at the first break with just a little color added. My biggest problem was as Charles Reid said “NEVER draw a head smaller than four inches.” It makes it too hard to paint the features. Oh well being annoyed with our painting short comings keeps us coming back to try again.

Bill Daniels small oil

Al Beyer sorry about the bad light

Drew Murphy – old Holland acrylic. Looks a lot like an oil.

And Dr Freds large acrylic. His are always just fun and whimsical. Everyone else fled before I thought to take photos. Oops.

Margaret who really needs to get her presents wrapped but first a long nap. Three hours sleep is NOT enough. 😴😴😴😴

It’s Saturday

Leave a comment

15×22″ coldpress fluid paper

Was having a terrible time drawing Ilaina this am so I turned the paper over and painted her without a drawing. This painting took about an hour.

Here she is after about 40 minutes sooo wet. The paper just rippled. Thank goodness I found a hair dryer under the bathroom sink so I could dry her.

She may get some tweaking or maybe not. Right now thinking her ear needs to be cleaned up with a Mr Clean. It should be similar in color to the rest of her face. and those silly little pieces of hair. I had to play with my Cheap Joes Scroogys loose goose just once.

Colors used alizarin cad orange cad red for skin tones. Alizarin shadows with cobalt mineral violet and Cheap Joes Andrew turquoise. Hair burnt sienna and ultramarine.

Fred’s mondigliani. Told him he should finish it.

Drews acrylic. I made her look younger. I think he made her look older. He’s using a new brand of acrylic paint. Old Williamsburg. Their oil is suppose to be THE best oil.

Only two more people came. Did get photos of theirs.

Sometimes

2 Comments

I like to illustrate my class notes with sketches of people in the class so that I remember them later.

This sweet couple from Indiana Mary and Jerry were so much fun. Jerry loved to tell jokes and Mary well she was terrific. They had only been married five years so we called them our newly weds.

Lamy Ef Noodlers eelskin Black Ink handprint Art journal

I finished that hat despite the bum finger. Usually more done shaped but this time just glad I got it done.

Margaret busy with her Christmas shopping. Xoxoxo

Ends and Beginnings

Leave a comment

Quitting on her for now. Taken in direct sunlight today. I did fix her arm. Too much purple on her left arm but oh well. And still a bit to lift on top of her thigh or maybe some of my friend gouache.

Sunlight thru the window. She’s darker. Hmm.

and last nite while she was still wet under some pink lights. Hard to take photos when the paper is waving like that because she’s so wet.

Beginnings. Time to get a painting done for GWS. I don’t know why I procrastinate but this one needs a bit of study because the right hand is def off. So must be fixed before I paint it. And no clue what’s wrong with the hand. M

Margaret off to bake some banana bread muffins for a drop in tomorrow am. Xoxoxo

It’s Saturday

Leave a comment

Again.

Emily

15×22″ cold press fluid paper. When I left drawing today. I took this out in the bright sun in the parking lot.

This is what it looked like using my iPhone 8 and interior fluorescent lights. Color in the first one is closer to the painting so even though it’s probably finished now I will wait til tomorrow to take a pic in the sunlight. Well I hope there’s sun. 🤔😳Better check the weather.

The sketch. Thirty minutes or so.

Second break. Sorry for the terrible photo but the lightening is terrible in the room.

Maggie thinking about taking her sore cut up finger to the doctor which i probably should have done Thursday when I did it. Xoxoxo

A Few heroes

Leave a comment

Finally upgraded for more storage. Been driving me crazy since July so for my birthday I but the bullet. One reluctant hero and one who was much more interested in truth telling.

These are about 6×8″ in a Stillman and Birn Alpha because it lies flat when it’s open. . Thinking about prints or a book. So far I have drawn 29 of these and only six left to do. Why you ask. Because I don’t ever want to forget.

Watercolor and inktense pencils.

In the process I have found more artists like me that draw the hearings. This is my fifth hearing- drew the Comey, Sessions, Cohen and Kavanaugh hearings. Making a record for the future. What makes them good models is their tendency to look in the same seats and look in the same direction for a good bit of time helping facilitate the drawing. Try it. You might enjoy it.

Ok the other sketch artists on twitter :

R my friend and compatriot Ruth with whom I have drawn many times – Britpeach on Instagram

Xander Berkeley on Twitter and actor and an artist. He was actually in the Walking Dead and Longmire. Going to have to check him out on Netflix’s.

And Dave Choate also on Twitter.

I even was messaged by a woman whose mother drew the Watergate Hearings.

Margaret off to another birthday dinner with family. Hugs xoxoxox

It’s Saturday

Leave a comment

Well Kinda sorta.

45 min sketch of Macy 15×22″ cold press fluid paper looking like an outtake from an Egon Schiele nude exhibit. His nudes were always stick thin with long bodies.

Is she finished??! No!!! She was 45 min late and I had to get back to Augusta for a hair cut. One MUST not miss your hair appointments ever!!

Hopefully I will get around to finishing her tomorrow in between drawing the eight talking heads testifying this week. 😳😳😳

Margaret trying to resist the urge to binge the crown and then there’s also Night manager by John LeCarre that I finally found on amazon. Ps. I did see the Good Liar with Helen Mirren and Ian McKellan. Hard to go wrong with that combo. Interesting and a twist. Love a twist. Xoxoxox