Category: Portrait

Day 1043 – Chuck and Judy 3 or is it Brenda and Judy?!

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I don’t know about you but I can’t take enough classes with Charles and Judy Reid. I highly recommend them. 

Did I say I own all of his books but one and several videos?!!

Brenda and Christine Again! – Charles Reid class 

And evidently I can’t draw Brenda the Blonde- enough either.  

The third time in Charles class. 

Brenda and Rebecca – Peggy Habets class

. I have drawn her at least FIVE times because she stands and watches the teacher paint and she’s handy to draw. Some turnout better than others. 

Oops  way too dark. 

I usually draw her pretty well but sometimes thempainting goes astray like in this one. Too dark. 

But the sketch was great.  

One more Brenda in Ted Nuttalls class May 2016. 

Christine in Ted Nuttalls class May 2016. 

Margaret whose going to paint raisin and Harley if I can quit watching the Keepers   today on Netflix’s. Riveting show. Highly recommend. 

Xoxoxo

Day 1038 Drawing for days now. 

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Finally getting the big painting of this ready.  

As Charles Reid says “There are just some days I can’t draw.” And apparently this painting involved that for me. 


The new painting has involved a lot tweaking. Harley is one big horse and he’s not in this painting. He’s too small. 


I took a comparison pic of Raisin and Harley when I was in Bristol to see just how big he was. His head is about three times as long as Raisins plus his ears. In the first painting he was a little small. I think his head needed to be twice as big. 😳

I had already started drawing her on a whole sheet  of watercolor last summer but there was no way I could stuff Harley onto that sheet of paper. Oops! I had ripped five previous inches off. Double oops. 


So I traced her to transfer her to an elephant sheet(30×40″)  of arches cold press. And drew one eye to low. Eeekkk. I couldn’t even trace!

I drew him and 

Worked on him. Eyes too big. And her hands too small. 

And tweaked him. Too narrow in this one. And what’s with that eye. 

And I shaded it. And he’s too sleepy. 

I drew more and I searched my fifty or so photos of Harley 

and I cropped it

 and lightroomed it for better contrast. 

and printed out more of him. 

And drew some more. 

 

And this is Harley now. Time to transfer them to the elephant sheet I hope. Unless I walk by them on my circuit thru the house and think NO that’s not right. Sigh. 

But there’s plenty of room for a bigger Harley now!! 

Ttyl Margaret who needs a nap before she transfers this and paints. Xoxoxo😳🤗

Day 1036 – The Farrier

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I took a great photo of Raisins farrier when he was showing Harley and Beau a couple of weeks ago. 

He has luxurious mustaches. 
Here’s the photo I took in the barn when he took a quick break. 

Filing shaving who knew it was such a job. Not to speak of holding up the foot of such a large beast. Harley is 17.2 hands. A big fellow! 

As you can see it’s hard work shoeing horses. They have been known to sit on farriers while their shoes are being changed. 

I was surprised he was all done in about an hour. Busy guy!! 

The sketch. Drawn on 140# cold press fluid paper. 


Marking progress. 

At this point he’s pretty scary looking. The shadows on his cheek look too dark. 


Not fond of the no lost edges look of his head. Every thing was too hard edged. Not what I had envisioned. So I left him here to think about it overnite. 

Besides I had to watch the last show of Call the Midwives. LOVE that series. Now I can watch it all over again. Yes I have it on DVR! 


Here he is with the beard in progress and some background added. Starting to loose some edges. I decided to do him what I do when I don’t like the way a painting is going. Add some sloppy dots. 

Once you don’t like a painting it’s a good opportunity to just mess with it. 


I started reading this great watercolor book that Raisin gave me. Ran across his art at Cityart when I went on the Vista Gallery Walk last month and was thrilled to find he had a book. 


One of the things he suggested was spraying the hard edges with a spray bottle?! WHAT?? Yes SPRAY the edges to loose them. 

So I hit the background with the spray bottle. What a great effect. Juicy runny spotty color. LOVE The effect. 


Did the same thing on the left background. And swished it with a big brush. 

Love the speckles the runs and then the light areas. Try it. Such fun!!


It did leave a few horizontal drips on the left that I didn’t like but a few swipes with Mr Clean and zip they were gone. 

See?! All gone! Got to love fluid paper for its liftability. 

Yesterday I didn’t like the dark ick colored shadows on his cheek. Funny today they don’t bother me. I guess time fixes paintings as well as the heart. Lol!


So he’s done for now. Fixating on his mouth and that hard edge Sean on his shoulder. Oh well nothing’s ever perfect. Going redraw him on an offer sheet of 300# paper today. 

Margaret who has to get drawing now. Xoxox

Day 1027 Pistol Pete 

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Such fun to paint this. 

Pistol Pete (22×15″) aka Frank Eaton was a fascinating western character who became the Oklahoma State mascot where most of my dads extended  family went to school. 

Painted on Fabriano 300# cold press 

Frank was a Marshall, sheriff and gunslinger who was faster on the draw than Buffalo Bill Cody. He was also a story teller participating in the Oklahoma land rush where he arrested the outlaws who would hide in the Indian lands and dragged them back to Fort Smith Arkansas to face the judge and often hang when it was Indian territory and probably the original person the movie True Grit was based on. 

These are Charles Reid’s paintings of Frank Eaton.  

When there is no model available he paints from old copyright free photos. 

Margaret sneezy and worn out from driving all over NC TN and SC. so much unpacking to do but think I will sofa hug today. Xoxoxo

Day 1011 Some Grafitti aka Extreme Journaling

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Well let’s hope I don’t accidentally delete this post this time. ROUND TWO!! 

This is the assignment for week five of the Juliana Coles The Book of the Night class.  Based on the Persephone Demeter Greek Myth.  As usual first we journaled. Then I painted it out.  


And I painted collaged and stamped it.  


I added some red paint wiping it off and some purple on the spring side. 


Added the white lettering with caran dache neocolor ii and scribbled on it some of the neocolors. 

I also used my new favorite toy a 6B lead that I bought at Cityart last Thursday for $1.29. They have a storefront and gallery in the Vista. 


The lettering on the leaves was done with the lead.  I also enhanced the skulls in Hades on the bottom right with the caran dache neocolor iis. They didn’t show enough 


Then I added some more red to the wrap on the girl on the left. I was hoping it would add to the flames of hades.  Not sure it did But it’s done for now.  

Ttyl. packing one more day til I leave for Charles Reid class. Margaret xoxoxox 

Day 1007 All About the Raisin or is it Horses!?

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If this painting of Raisin looks familiar it is. I started her last summer. I had also started a large watercolor earlier of the same photo when Al coopted it for an acrylic for school.  He didn’t like the other photo I suggested. 

Then she hung around the Aiken art studio waiting to have a few problems resolved like the upper corner and th iPhone. 

Before you think I am obsessing over my friend Raisin the third photo is a study for the large full sheet watercolor and I really want to finish it after spending all day sketching it. 

I decided to add the horse her Freisian Harley when I was taking Peggi Habits class in Charlotte and make the painting the Raisin story. She loves to ride and she loves her Freisian Harley.  

I am meeting Harley soon but used a photo of a Freisian I took at the flat track races last month. Friesians are all big black and just gorgeous. Fairy tale horses with big curly manes and tails. 


Here’s what it looked like before the gesso!! 

I gessoed out the whole upper left -the picture frame and the iPhone that was in her hand in the original photo. 

Then Al dissed the horse idea. WHAT?!! Too late. The gesso had done its work. 

The photo from our Knoxville painting trip. 


Here’s the watercolor study. The Freisian is too small. Bigger next time. It’s about 10×15″ Why do big? 

I swore I would never do another tiny horse after doing this one last month. He may look great but he took HOURS ago do. Way too long for an 8×10″ painting. 

What u say next time?! Still have that big watercolor to do. I only spent most of a day drawing it. And I AM going to paint it. Third times the charm right?! 

Margaret whose hungry and going to eat. 

Ttyl xoxoxo

Day 1001 One day at a time. 

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Another day another post. If I quit now I am back to day one. Onward.  One day at a time. 

Trying to catch up my Book of the Night journal the online class I am doing with Juliana Coles as teacher. 


The assignment from the week I was in Charlotte is very long and involved. Though I took notes in it I did this page wrong. Oops.  

It now looks like this.  


But I keep trying to figure out how to use the other figures. This option orrrr


This one.  The added paper collage is old citrasolv National Geographics I did several years ago.  I have quite a stack. 

The bottom layer of this page is purple tape painted black. Then journaled on with white gel pen. Never have the news on while journaling. And then a haunted forest added. I had to turn off the news and the first song on was The Night With a Thousand Eyes.  Perfect.  Then I added the eyes.  


Here it is when I started this morning.  

Prisma art sticks Caran dache Neocolor ii white paint pen. 

Two more pages to finish.  Eek. Will post the correctly done page tomorrow. Stay tuned.  

Margaret xoxoxo 

Day 999 One more day. 

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Happy Easter everyone. Raisin Carter.  The chief instigator of all her friends showing up at Peggis class aka Leader of the Pack. I had fun stamping her name.  I think she was a little tired from all the fun we had in Charlotte. We wore her out!! 

Julie whose taking Charles Reid’s class in May at Cheap Joes with me. Wish I had taken a photo of her interesting basketball player that she was working on.  

The ink sketches. Sometimes you should just leave them ink. I wasn’t using my normal skin tones of Quin coral and Quin gold. I used Quin rose and yellow ochre.  So the paintings are a little dark. 

They were painted with Quin rose, yellow ochre, ultramarine blue, mineral violet, and pyrrole red. Oh and sepia for a dark brown. 

Ink pen Lamy Safari filled with Carbon Platinum Black ink in a strathmore mixed media 500 journal. Love their crispy paper. Just wish they would lie flat like the Stillman and Birns do. 

Happy Easter. Margaret hanging out with the grandkids who are on sugar overload  xoxox

Day 994 – Peggy Habet’s class 

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I drew Peggy several times during class. This was the last time and looks the most like her. Fourth time the charm. She was hard to draw with a long thin nose and a tiny face. 


The nose kept overpowering her tiny face when I drew her. This was the first try. And then I painted her too dark so I scrubbed her a little to lighten her up. I did have fun stamping her name and embellishing the page with a watercolor pencil. 


Go round three. Nose still too big. Eeekkk.  The hair is a combo of thalo and sepia. 


Number four. TOO Dark!!!’ What the heck. 


Better. But the face was too wide and not oval enough.  I could make it narrower by adding hair. 

I painted on my class sketches most of the day. Guess it’s time to do those color studies. 

Margaret xoxoxo whose having a painting day. 

Day 985 Some Rachel time

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A good way to start a Monday!


This ones a little busy but it was a busy day on Thursday. For that matter so was Friday. 

Oddly I noticed Rachel looks a little tired in this sketch. If I hadn’t deleted it I would go back and look at it to see if she was. Those kinds of things turn up in sketches even if you don’t notice them while you are watching. 


I actually think I might like this better unpainted. Oh well. As you can tell the news continues to astound me. The spy novel keeps building and building. 

As Chuck Lorre posted after Big Bang “our best hope to save the day is an eighty year old slab of beef jerky from Arizona(McCain) and his trusty sidekick Scarlett O’Hara(Lindsey Graham)!!


Off to bed. Ttyl. 

Margaret xoxoxo