Day 932 – Al Beyer

February 6, 2017February 7, 2017Leave a comment

I drew this during art history lecture last Wednesday. Not meant to look like him exactly just the essence and to take notes on the lecture about how to compose a painting and be sure you get all the parts in perspective. When people are added the heads have to line up on your sight line or they will appear to float. Check out John Salimen, another great art teacher. He’s a master at composing from photos with many national and international art awards. His new coffee table book is just gorgeous.

His DVD on urban landscapes explains how to compose a picture from several photos.

Painted with my tiny whiskey painter palette loaded with Windsor newton travel Paullette colors. Refilled with Daniel Smith using the same colors plus DS quin coral.

A bientot Happy Mondayoff to class I go.

Margaret xoxox

Day 930 – Saturdays in Aiken

February 4, 2017February 4, 2017Leave a comment

Maggie’s Van Gogh aka Ilaina. 24×30″ acrylic

Sorry for no progress photos. I left my phone in the car lost under the seat!! Thank goodness Rachel found it for me. Cars do eat telephones.

She came together really fast. By first break Ilaina was mostly done. So I decided to paint the background to fill up it most especially the chair. I had a lot of green paint on my brush left over from the drape and decided to put it on the chair. LOVED The look. Added some thalo blue for shadows using a huge 14 bristle filbert. I decided to spread the thalo around with dabs on the figure.

And then I painted the rest of the background. Nothing too focused. Just colors.

Colors used cobalt and thalo blue, pyrrole red, nickel azo gold, titanium white, Winsor violet, primary yellow, Indian yellow

Love the peachy tones in Drew Murphys soft painting

Al Beyer’s oil. He was in an odd spot behind the chair which made her head quite tiny.

Lady who painted next to me.

Tom Needham’s small watercolor.

Dawns large oil. And that’s all I had time to take pics of

Progress on Looking Down -Ponce City Market.

My friend Drew Murphys awesome elephant painting.

Here it is earlier last week. Ruth and I told him to take the buckets out. Like it better without.

Ttyl off to run errands.

Margaret xoxox

Day 925 the rest of the pile

January 30, 2017Leave a comment

Notice how this painting started as a gesture sketch after I measured.

So did this one. In Two minutes gesture is about all you can do.

Day 924 Gesture sketches

January 29, 2017Leave a comment

A gesture sketch is done looking at a person usually but I got annoyed with the way mine are going and decided to draw the dogs with gestures.

I think I drew these Tuesday and they were great practice for Dr Sketchys. Here are the rest of them. I really want to draw dancers this way.

Esmeralda is the top left. Quasimodo, Frollo, and Esmeralda bottom right and left.

These were all drawn while I was watching Notre Dame de Paris on YouTube. A lot of dramatic gestures good for drawing.

So how do you draw a gesture sketch!? I used a brush pen on these. No drag! It lets you draw quickly. Gesture sketches are quick – a few lines to capture the gesture.

Why practice gesture sketches so you can mail sketches at Dr Sketchys or when you are out and about drawing people on the go. It really does help.
Here’s a pile of them.

The first one I did. Eekkk.

Dancers well NO. But they were suppose to be.

More dancers. Not the greatest but better.

And a few more dancers. I like these better today than when I drew them. The feet kept disappearing when I froze tyhe video to draw the dancers or they zipped off into artistic shadows. Visually great to look at but makes drawing HARD!!

Go try it. A lot of fun.

Margaret already in her flannel jammies for this cold winter weather. Well cold by Georgia standards. 52!! 😱

Day 922 You Knew It

January 27, 2017Leave a comment

Part 2 Dr Sketchys. I did more than a dozen sketches Wednesday nite. And met friends for a delicious dinner at Bees Knees before. Avocado chop chop. Who knew a baked avocado could be So delicious. Loaded with crab. I really must draw one. And the rainbow trout perfection. All the while we sat in a store display window eating all this deliciousness.

Going to have to go back and snap some pics when the bar is full. Love this shot it just needs people.

More jujitau sketches. This one was five minutes I think.

Hmm his head is too small I think. Hard to tell now with no reference pic.

We were suppose to add a monkey to this contest sketch but darn I forgot. Too busy drawing and painting.

Not bad but head is off. Ilaina really is a gorgeous woman inside and out. Doesn’t do her justice.

The best of three attempts. Body is good but face too cute.

Chin too long. Legs too short. As I told Rachel I peaked too early. Lol.

And oh my – legs ridiculously short. Actually head doesn’t look bad. The vagaries of fast sketching.

Another contest sketch. I will actually be selling this one at Wet Paint an auction for Greater Augusta Arts Council Feb 18. Funny while sketching it I realized that I had no idea what an ak 47 or a kolishnikof looks like. I don’t even know how to spell the later. lol.

Busy day. Ttyl

Margaret who needs to shed Her cat and dog blanket and get dressed. Xoxoxo

Day 921 Dr Sketchys part 1

January 26, 2017Leave a comment

Our model last nite was just phenomenal. She struck pose after pose with NEVER a down minute. These are all two minute poses drawn with my pentel brush pen in a large super aquabee sketchbook.

My favorite of the nude poses I think. If you have ever done a gesture drawing that’s how I do these. Well at least I think that’s what I am doing.

Or maybe this is my favorite

Not quite done. Ran out of time. Two minutes goes fast. Maybe I spent it breathing after the first three poses.

Yes two minutes. Funny how fast you can sketch with the pentel brush pens.

Ilaina is also into yoga and ju jitsu. Two minutes. ALOT of drawing for two minutes.

Ditto the above. Sometimes I surprise myself.

A Bientôt. Yoga time soon.

Margaret xoxox

Day 917 Urban Sketching the Woman’s March

January 22, 2017Leave a comment

Despite the deluges yesterday a large crowd turned out. It was a rainbow kind of crowd – old and young, men and women, LGBT and even a few dogs.

I drew these yesterday on a very wet day in downtown Augusta. The March and the speeches were at historic Springfield Park where Morehouse College started at Springfield Baptist across the street.

The flame like sculpture on the rampart is all a part of the park. I did paint these at home. I didn’t think watercolor would work too well in deluge weather. Besides there was nowhere to put anything down because it POURED all morning too.

A second even faster sketch of the happy crowd of raincoats and galoshes. I think the correct number of marches was actually 671 but the speakers said 370 and 20 countries.

The sketches were done in my Stillman and Birn Zeta mixed Media with my very patriotic Red Noodler Konrad. I added the flags and the signs to give more interest to the sketches.

Notice the big raindrop blotches on the ink?! Oops. Bravely I kept on sketching standing on top of a bench for a better view.

Here’s the first sketch and a picture of the crowd and park. The local news reported 600 people were there. I think there were closer to 1000. Guess it’s impossible to count.

Somebody asked me how I drew these. The only thing I can say is start at the front and fill in the crowd moving back or you won’t have room for the people in the foreground.

You can not draw a counter in a restaurant and then add people. You have to do it people first then the counter or pencil in the counter which I rarely do. Sometimes it gets me into trouble when I forget the order :

People first background last!

Happy sketching.

Margaret madly painting black edges on canvases for her show at 4p in February. Xoxoxo and yes it’s still raining.

Day 909 A bit more of Key West

January 15, 2017Leave a comment

Been meaning to finish this for a while. Today I did it. A compilation of two of our tours the Historic Inn Tour and the Christmas Trolley Light Tour which was our fav. $15. A bargain.

Still have three more spreads to finish. Guess it’s time. Anyone know a publisher who needs a Key West book?!

The tools.

Hmm painted with my smaller #2 Richeson mop and my #10 Da Vinci Sable. And mostly I used the mop.

Tips on The Christmas tree. Leave a lot of white. First layer is quin gold. Then I added hematite green and a bit of hookers green and ultramarine blue. Did the palm the same way.

Last I used a white pentel gel pen to add white lines and lights to the trolley. And anywhere else I wanted a bit of white. It doesn’t show when u use it but it does show in photos. Strange but true.

Off to sketch the park in black and white. Wonder how many pens I will use?!

Ttyl

Enjoy your Sunday

Margaret xoxoxox

Day 904 Movie challenge

January 10, 2017Leave a comment

There’s something about a Miss Marple show. I love all of them in their various reincarnations.

I have sketched Miss Marple before – the previous actress before Julia McKenzie. Julia portrays a sharp tougher version of Miss Marple and GPTV our PBS channel has been replaying her series on Thursday nites and Sunday afternoon.

Sunday I like to just let PBS run as long as it’s not begathon time. Thank goodness they are done with that for a week or so.

I paused the tv and took a pic of her in an interesting pose.

I drew her with my pentel brush pen off my iPad. And it didn’t go well. I got too heavy handed with the dark shadows.

Gouache to the rescue. Almost like using acrylics. The background is watercolor. Peacock blue and hematite green. Then I scratched the wc off the palm tree.

Last spread in my Stillman and Birn Zeta. Hurrah.

Ttyl

Margaret xoxox

Day 903- I had to

January 10, 2017Leave a comment

Paint Calvin the guy who showed up for me to draw Friday. In the rain playing “Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head.”

47 degrees rain and I was out there with him drawing him. Which of us was crazier.

Stillman and Birn mixed Media zeta journal Ted Nuttalls transparent palette.

Here it is before I drew it.

Sketchbook School homework. Fill a page up with doodles using various pens and pencils.

Here are the six pens and pencils I used to make the marks with. I have to day I thought this was a dumb assignment but really enjoyed the 15-20 minutes it took to draw this.

Made me feel like Picasso or maybe Matisse.

Try it I bet you will like it too.

River Bend sunset out my back door tonite. So bright it lit the den up which was how I noticed it. I was too busy blogging to look. Oops.