Category: Portrait

Day 439 Some arts in the hearts

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My friend Ruth and I went sketching at the eighth street stage during arts in the hearts. These ladies were sitting in a nearby row like peas in a pod and I could not resist sketching them. Less than five feet from me. 

   They were too cute. Since I was doing undercover drawing the features are off. Their noses were no were near that big!  I was really trying not to get caught. 

This was painted with my large Isabey squirrel Mop #8 on a vertical easel. 

  Will Post some of the bands tomorrow. Yes I did draw two Of the bands as they sang and played their hearts out.  They were really quite good. 

Hanging a show at the inner bean Thursday. Come by and check it out. 
Thanks for reading. 

Margaret xxx 

Day 431 – Two point perspective Trick(TIP)

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  is tough to say the least. And mine was confused on this painting. The bricks were off especially above his head. Oops!! 

   

 Al Beyer showed me a technique that is easy to do when you have two point perspective, i.e. perspective with two vanishing points. 

  The vanishing points are to the right and left of the painting on the horizon line which runs across the top of the OPEN letters. 

ALL parallel lines should converge at the vanishing point. The runs of bricks make up these parallel lines as do the top and bottom of the window and the bottom of the OPEN letters. 

So how to get them done correctly.  

 Get a piece of paper. Lay the straight  edge along the horizon line. Then fold the bottom edge up to follow  parallel line. I chose the window sill. 

  This is the order you fold the paper in.  

 Match 1 to the horizon line to get fold 2. Of course you can’t see 1 now!!  

Here it is on the painting. 

  Make fold 3 by matching up fold 2 with the horizon line. 

  Then make fold 4  by folding the paper in half between the bottom fold and the #2 fold. 

Ideally before you paint match the horizon line on your folded paper with the horizon line on the painting draw along the folds with a watercolor pencil to transfer the lines to your painting.

Flip the paper with the horizon line on the bottom edge  to get the top lines. 

Some thinking is required. And the whole thing reverses on the right side to complicate your life. 😳  

  
  

What you end up with looks like this. The lines were drawn with a brown watercolor pencil. The horizon line comes off of his shoulder.

 

Let me know if you have more questions. I will try to answer them. Thanks for reading. 

Margaret xxx

Day 425 -a Tutorial – That bacKgRouD

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Ilenia Kilimanjaro #140 cold pressed 22×30 -for sale email me at m c m h u n t @ me.c o m  of you need her. 

Or how many ways can you spell disaster?! Disasters are hard to fix when you paint with watercolor but sometimes you can if you are patient. 

 Yesterday I said I would post how I did the backgrounds on these two paintings of Ilenia. It involves ALOT of water and dripping paint.  
Ilenia Fabriano #140 cold pressed 12x 18-for sale email me at  m c m h u n t @ me.c o m of you need her. 

   

This was the background originally on last weeks painting.  What was I thinking?!  

Try lifting color next time you have a disaster. If it’s cold pressed paper you can lift the color. Some paper does it better than others. Fabriano does it best. The cheapest source of fabriano I have found is Cheap Joes. Cheap Joes Kilimanjaro also does a good job of lifting though not as good a job as Fabriano. 

Don’t forget Hot Press papers will not lift at all. Worst ever including my beloved Fabriano. I once mixed up some hot press fabriano with my cold press and used it accidently.  How many ways can you spell disaster?! 

This is basically how I did the backgrounds in the pictures. You may have to repeat the steps. hookers green size 12 sable legend I had the same reaction to that hookers green in this weeks paintings background. What was I thinking. Even worse the green is staining so I had to use other colors to get rid of it. 

  Blotting off that Ick green. 

So how to do that? First how I arrived at the background.  

  
Adding more water to lift the paint. 

  
More blotting with Kleenex. No puffs allowed. They have lanolin on them. 

  Adding yellow ochre to kill the green.   

 And a little burnt umber. 
  
Splattering soupy burnt sienna with my Legend 12 sable. 

 

The spatters melt out because the paint is wet.  
  
Then I repeat the above steps blotting off color and adding more til I like it. 

  Now what did I do to get rid of this too dark color. I hit it with the spray bottle, let it sit a few minutes and started blotting it off with Kleenex or paper towel. It gets to be a drippy mess and it usually ends up on the floor. 
  
And it ended like this. I did splatter the background again.  I think the colts I used were alizarin, mineral Violet, burnt sienna, Inathradone blue and cobalt. 

Ps don’t forget to wipe the drips off the floor before you track them everywhere. 

Thanks for reading. 

Margaret xxx

Day 411 -A Pelican 

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I drew this brown pelican when I was at the Key West Wildlife Center with my brush pen. Finally got around to painting him. If you wonder why he was at the center I noticed while sketching he was missing the upper bill. For lack of a way to exlain it better the part under where your nose would be. I noticed because I saw his tongue while I was drawing him. He was above my eye level. 

  Here is another pic oh him if you want to draw him. See the slit in his bill? The reason he lives at the center. 
Since I drew this I have thought a lot about these poor birds doomed to live in cages forever because we polluted their world. Fishing line or a fish hook likely got his bill. Saddens me to thin that he will never get to soar on the currents or dive bomb for fish like he was supposed to do. Now he lives in a cage with another pelican. 

All I am going to say is DONT throw ur trash in the water. 

Colors used: Quin gold, cerulean, burnt sienna, and every blue I own for the water plus a little spring green and purple. 
Thanks for reading. 

Margaret xxx

Day 407 – Playtime

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Loved the way the dads play with their kids now. And help out with them. Today we welcomed a new McCarthy Olivia June into the world. My nephew her dad Vince McCarthy is one of those great dads. This sketch is another great dad playing with his daughter on the beach at Garden City. Olivia will be playing here with her dad in a few years. The circle of a life. 

As one of my first graders once told me that’s all I got for today. Large sinus headaches here. Back to sofa lounging. I even packed my gym bag and almost got there today Til the headache struck about two.  

More tomorrow.  But you knew that. 

Thanks for reading!! 

Margaret ️xxx

Day 392 – Wesley

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my sons English fox hound mix rescue is spending some time with his grandma.  

All the drawings are app. 6×12. If you are interested in having me draw your dog email me at  m c m h u nt @ me. Com 

 Wesley Noodler Creaper Ahab Platinum carbon Black ink. 

All the drawings are app. 6×12. If you are interested in having me draw your dog email me at m c m h u nt @ me. Com 

 Every Monday I try to win the Goulet Pen giveaway. Every Tuesday I DONT!! Reminds me of when I buy a lottery ticket.  Lol. 

I suppose I did actually win because I like these sketches a lot.  And I like to draw dogs a lot. Wesley was a very cooperative subject as he snoozed on the sofa chaise on top of a quilt. 

  
One relaxed dog.  Noodler Konrad with Lexington Grey Ink. 

I usually start by drawing the spine and the top of the head a modified contour drawing. I also bear down on the pen like I did on his legs to make a variety of lines. 

You have to love a Noodler Flex Nib pens ability to do that. All the lines on the first three pics were done with a Noodler Flex Nib. It works simalarly to a dip pen and usually not quite the mess. 

The first two drawings were colored with the Noodler pens. I smudged the ink with my finger  as I went. 

  
Did I say he likes to sleep!?  Noodler Konrad with Lexington Grey Ink. This one is just cross hatched. I left light areas to give an effect of the shine on his black fur. 

  
Dogs can sleep for hours and just rearrange giving you new drawing opportunities.  This one was the first one I drew. Done with a Pentel brush pen. His jaw was a little too wide  so I started over again this time with a Noodler pen which allows me more control. Sometimes it takes a few sketches of a new dog to get him down pat just like it does when you draw a new model. 

The sketches are posted in the reverse order that I drew them. Wesley’s head is the last one I drew of him. 

Back to key West sketches tomorrow. I think I drew enough while I was there to post for the rest of the month. Lol. Hmm maybe I should save some of them for while I am in Paris?! 

Thanks for reading.  

Margaret ️xxx 

Day 382 Key West Food Tour – A Commission

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I drew this in my sketch book after we went on the Key West Food Tour. The tour director Analise had to have one for herself so I spent a couple of days tweaking the small one and painting it. 
 

  
She was tickled pink with it. I am sure it will be framed shortly and gracing her office walls soon!  
Let me know if you need me to do one for your business! Or your town!! 
     
What you do with all those maps and ephemera you pick up on your trip. Draw on them!! 
 

    Yesterday was our last full day in Key West. We are packing to leave now. It was also the culmination of the Hemingway Days – the Pamplona bull race key west style and the winner of the Heningway Look alike contest is announced. 

   
  The guy on the left , Pat, won the contest lady eat. All the guys with the red ribbon and medal are previous winners. There were 175 entrants this year. Mostly old guys with big white beards. As my friend Siobhan quipped Key West is where Santa goes in the summer!! Lol   A rowdy crowd follows the papas around the block. 
     
  We also went to the Audubon House. His paintings there are gorgeous as are the gardens.  

Out the Audubon house window to the Customs house. We included a tour of it on our SEVEN Mile GUT it out tour. Next year we are doing the hemingway five K. lol. Going into training NOW!!

  
   Incredible philodendrons and pothos we grow as house plants tower fifty feet high in the yard. 

  My favorite plant in the garden. 

A lobster plant. I think. 

    
 The ginger plant beautiful and smell heavenly. 
    
 

Orchids hang off the trees. 
   

 
  and banana plants abound. 

Stay tuned for more Key West tomorrow. 
Thanks for reading
Margaret xxx

Day 374 Key West Food Tour

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led by our fearless knowledgeable Annlise.  

 
A very quick Pentel brush sketch done while we were enjoying our conch fritters with lime aioli sauce at Camilles. The fritters had just he right amount of hot. And a tall glass of ice water to keep us hydrated on our journey. Annlise is a font of info about all things Key West from the local food scene to the history and stories and even real estate pricing. You can not go wrong with her southernmost food tour. 

Colors : cad red light, yellow ochre flesh, mineral Violet, cerulean,  cobalt, Inathradone blue, alizarin, Burnt sienna, Andrews turquoise. Hair is Inathradone blue and burnt umber.  Drawing done with Pentel brush pen. 

More about the food tour tomorrow. 

Thanks for reading.  

Margaret ️xxx 

Day 371

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a year and 6 days of consecutive daily blogging. Not easy when u r on vacation!!  

  My sis in law while we waited for the concierge so we could book some tours. Right now we are going on the ghost your Tonite and the food tour Thursday.   

Lettering done with my Noodler Creaper Ahab and Carbon Black Ink in my moleskine Wc sketchbook. 

Colors either Holbein or Daniel Smith. Ultramarine blue and burnt umber in the chair with yellow for the couchins. Cerulean and burnt sienna for the magazine, shorts, light, the table and  the background all done wet on wet. The light is burnt umber, Quin gold, burnt sienna and ultramarine blue. 

The blouse is cerulean and Winsor yellow which is a transparent yellow. 

Skin Quin coral and yellow ochre. This usually makes a really pretty skin tone but NOT on this darned paper. 

Ok next up. Rant about that moleskine I am trying to finish. So skip it if you don’t want to hear me froth. 

Wishing I had brought another sketchbook.  Really LOATHING the moleskine Wc sketchbook. It acts like Hotpress paper. Very annoying. Colors act oddly on it. Thinking of ordering an S&b zeta or a strathmore ASAP from amazon. 

There is a Ben Franklins here BUT no hard bound sketchbooks. Great clerk there. We chatted for a while about art  quilts and sketching. 

 Don’t ask me how many new clean sketchbooks I have at home. At least four! Groan. Oh well. They keep.

    I don’t know what it is about this paper but I DO NOT LIKE IT. NO more moleskines for me.  At least til they start making them here again and improve the paper. I used to love them. Makes me sad when a product changes so radically. Greed will get you!! 

   
Last nites sunset. First one is in the moleskine. The colors just don’t look so bright and clear as in  the next one which 

  Is on a lovely piece of Strathmore 500 watercolor paper. GREAT stuff. Love it!!! All the usual colors with the addition of cheap joes Andrews blue, Holbein mineral Violet, and DS Orange which is transparent. Oh and any red I thought would work. Can u see how this one flies compared to the one done in the moleskine?!  

Thanks for reading!!

Margaret xxx who needs a nap before the ghost tour. 

Day 365 ONE YEAR

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of daily blogging and creating art.  I have grown a lot as an artist in that year which included a class with Charles Reid and one with Fealin Lin four online Sketchbookskool classes. Highly recommend them all. 

  Currently seemed to be obsessed with painting girls. Making progress on the latest one. She’s big. A half sheet of 300# fabriano which is about 15×22. That’s a big watercolor.  

  ALOT of negative painting. And a lot of wet in wet. 

  
I added a lot of why Fealin calls jewelry which are light blobs of paint. Most of mine are small but may add more larger ones to the girl before I am done. 

Painting the background has been a lot of fun. Colors used green apatite marine blue cobalt ultramarine cerulean mineral violet alizarin a bright yellow green. 

More to do. 

Thanks for reading. 

Margaret xxx