A chicken a day

September 5, 20192 Comments

Will keep the doctor away. Painting by the pool today. Just playing with my Vlad Yesilev sword brush. Makes great wonky chickens. Burnt sienna cerulean cad yellow cad red light dioxzine violet. Alizarin and opera rose.

And the daily palm. I know I have painted this same palm at least three times. I may be getting addicted to palm tree painting. I ran out of cad yellow so this one may not be quite finished.

Same colors as above. Superaquabee tablet.

Margaret back reading her book. Xoxoxo two more days in the Conch Republic. 😒

Selfie time

August 22, 2019August 22, 2019Leave a comment

Eeekkk. Tyvek selfie 18×24″ Dr Ph Martin Hydrous Watercolor.

Taking a class with Myrna Wackov. Check the link her fascinating website and blog. Quite interesting all self portraits on strange surfaces. Today was tyvek a plastic material that houses are wrapped with – that white outer layer before the siding goes on. Yes you can use watercolor on it.

She had us sketch a selfie three Times using contour drawings.

Photos were taken by reversing iPhoto and using a timer delay. Then looking down at the phone. Always a scary proposition. Try it for some whacky selfies.

Then we drew it with a needle nosed bottle on the tyvek w well Karen and I used diluted burnt sienna Dr PH Martin watercolor. It disappears leaving no lines.

Then we added watery Dr PH Martin watercolor. I actually drew with the end of my perla paint brush dipped into the watery dark hair paint to get the thin lines. I also used my Isabey squirrel mops. Did my Charles Reid splatters. Turning it into a soppy mess.

Myrna uses all kinds of things to paint and draw with – sharpened chop sticks coffee stirrers mop strings even tampex. Yes you read that right!!

One last thing about this wonderful product. You can wipe it off while wet. You can even use the Kleenex used to wipe out to stamp color elsewhere. Strange stuff tyvek. Also what post office mailers are made of.

Margaret exhausted Xoxoxox

Day 2073 Those Kings

May 27, 20191 Comment

Are painted now.

I just LOVE these silly guys.

I also painted this drawing of Elizabeth Catlettes marble Torso.

Torso is just van dyke brown and indigo yellow ochre background

The lokapala washed w yellow ochre added burnt sienna cad red light, van dyke brown, Vlads neutral tint, quin gold. Background cerulean

Hahnemuhle wc journal Twisbee Pen with Deartrementis document brown.

Margaret ready for the Memorial Day concert.

Day 2072 The Four Heavenly Kings

May 26, 2019May 26, 20192 Comments

Fell in love with these when I went to the Columbia Museum of Art last time. Today I returned to draw some of the statues and have one last look at the Pollock. It was 8×20’😳. Sadly it was gone but these cuties were still there part of the permanent collection right next to a gorgeous Botticelli. Do you think they would notice if I borrowed one for a while??! Too bad an art museum doesn’t lend art to their visitors like a library lends books.

While I am not a big fan of Renaissance art it’s hard not to appreciate this gorgeous painting which is about 4×5′ or so right next to the Lokapala.

I don’t know why but I just find these two guys charming. I am sure they were not meant to be charming but scary.

Bytw I drew two more figures before these. It was the fourth figure on the right before I started drawing well. I have a sketchbook full of Buddhas and saints now and a couple of Soda City street drawings. Now to get them painted.

I have to say the Columbia Art Museum was a lovely cool respite from the muggy 100 degree day outside at Soda City. You could have told me the queen of England was outside and I would not have left the cool museum.

Bytw the museum is only $5 on Saturday while Soda City is open (9-1pm).

Margaret ready for her cool comfy bed. Xoxoxoxo

Day 1061 -how many more?! And a beach party!!

June 17, 2017June 17, 2017Leave a comment

Still quite a few!!! 🤗We have no shortage of talking heads in this country. They offer great drawing practice. If you can pause your tv it even takes the pressure off of trying to draw them quickly.

And all they do is talk. And talk and talk.

And pass a lot of laws that half the country don’t like no matter which side you are on making the other half is unhappy!

The Decatur Businesses Beach Party in downtown Decatur on the square. Ponce de Leon became a giant beach!! Free beach buckets, beach balls and balloons oh and washable tattoos for all!!

An amazing stilt walker. The kids had no idea how he could be that tall! Several people on top of each other was their best guess.

And there he goes legging it down the block or should I say stilting down the block?!

And a rare shot of the old Decatur Courthouse with sun on its face. It usually sits in the shade. Bytw this is now an art gallery.

Off to play with my grandkids. Hugs!!

Day 1059 – How many did I draw?

June 15, 2017Leave a comment

12 I think. As my friend Ruth pointed out I probably spent at most five minutes drawing each person since they only spent ten minutes taking.

I will say they took longer to color than five minutes. I spent the last two days coloring them in the evening.

My friend Dee asked me why in a gen cent Target notebook. I didn’t want to look back in a sketchbook and see some if these faces.

Bytw I did get out a sketchbook for the next time I get the urge to document this madness.

And people love to look thru my sketchbooks.

This sketch of Susan is the worst one I think. She’s much more attractive than the drawing. Chalking it to I had to warm up!

I do think they look better colored which I find odd because I love ink sketches.

Colored with my Prismacolor art sticks. Thick juicy color like their colored pencils but cover a lot of area quickly. The scribbles are grease pencils. And or a 6B pencil.

Off to Atlanta. Stand by for more.

Margaret documenting this madness one hearing at a time. Xoxoxo

Day 1056 – the View at Breakfast

June 12, 2017June 13, 2017Leave a comment

We always stay at the Country Inn and suites when we take a class at Cheap Joes. The people are lovely even if the breakfast is not so great. The view from the breakfast area and the staff make up for the lack of the great food. After class Mike and I frequently go prop our feet up and rock the afternoon away drinking a glass of wine and looking at this view of Howard’s Knob the mountain in the painting.

Of course on a good morning we got to share our breakfast with Charles and the ever adorable Judy Reid. Always a morning treat. They are so lovely! Judy will regale is with stories of the adventures of Chuck and Judy.

There are quite a few after 60 plus years of marriage. Like the time they almost were lost at sea helping a friend sails 50 foot Chesapeake bug eye catch when a storm hit them off of Charleston. Judy and Charles were the only ones who knew anything about sailing. So glad they survived!!

Painted with Charles Reid’s palette.

Off to hem those long overdue curtains. Wonder if my sewing machine still works?! Margaret xoxoxox

Day 1046 – Let’s Make A French Omelette!

June 1, 2017Leave a comment

Ever since I read Julia Childs Mastering the Art of French Cooking as a child I have been in love with the notion of all things French and especially the quintessiantal French food – the omelette.

But I never could figure out how they made that neat rolled omelette.

Watching Jacques Pepins American Master show on PBS I thought YOUTUBE!!

Sure enough. There he was teaching how to cook an omelette.

Omelette Number 1 of course I had to draw it to commemorate the occasion.

First mistake I had been making was not using the right pan so I got it a big 10-12″ round edged skillet that was coated w the green coating that releases easily.

And I hadn’t been using the spatula to scrape around the edges as I cooked. Who knew?

And I stuffed mine. Trying to eat those greens and I had to have some Cheddar cheese.

The most delicious thing I have ever eaten. I swear. Not so pretty but amazing.

Omelette 2 Today.

Prettier shape but too brown.

Anyway colors used to paint it. Cad yellow light, cerulean, yellow ochre, green apatite and sap green for the plate, Ultramarine Blue and burnt umber for the shadow.

TIP: Splattered with palette mess left from painting. Has to be really soupy to splatter. Use more water than you think. And I just use a large paint brush in this case my 10 Da Vinci. I also painted this with the same paint brush.

Margaret xoxoxo

Day 1044 – That Dirty Dried out Palette

May 31, 2017Leave a comment

Now that I am home for a day or two I wanted to use my Ted Nuttall palette. This is actually Teds Palette.

All those lovely transparent colors.

And it helped with my procrastination mode getting started painting the Raisin and Harley painting

which is finally transferred to paper and ready to paint.

Of course my Palette has dried out and filthy. They always dry out!! It needed revival and cleaning. Another way to procrastinate!!! The spray bottle was not getting the job done. The colors were lumpy and nasty.

So how did I get it clean and get the paint smooth and ready to use!?

First I sprayed it and tried stirring each color with its own tooth pick. That did not do much for the lumps. I wanted to paint!!!

I got out my trusty old palette knife. It has a tiny blade on it compared to most so it fit perfectly in the wells of my porcelain palette.

I used a jillion Kleenex wiping wells out where there was just a dribble of old hard paint. NO LOTION On those Kleenex.

I started bending my antique palette knife in some of the paint. Oh NO!! I kept going. What palette knife is supposed to last forever!?

I decided to rearrange the colors. Here and there I had added colors I MUST have to the basic Nuttall Palette like Cerulean, Andrews Blue, Daniel Smith Piemonite and Green Apaptite.

The Kleenex and the palette knife left crusts of color in the corners.

Then I realized I could fill the wells with water and used an old brush to swirl out the bits left in corners. Hallelujah clean wells at last.

I used a sharpie to rewrite the colors on the edges of the wells and I even have a few leftover slots.

So it’s new clean and lovely at this point.

What I learned while cleaning my palette.

Wear rubber gloves while cleaning your palette unless you want to have colored fingernails. 😱
Those dollar store Kleenex with lotion have something wierd in them. They gave me a rash when I used them on my nose. 😱😱 Now gone. 🤗🤗🤗
Now I know why some people have stacks of these palettes. It might be easier to just buy a new palette than clean the old one out.

Margaret who has some painting to do. Xoxox and no more reasons to procrastinate because I even cleaned up the studio and moved to the summer one aka the kitchen table and island.

Oh wait I need to use the glass cleaner on the winter studio table. It’s looking hazy. Procrastinate procrastinate. I need some flowers to paint!!

🌼🌻🥀🌷🌷🌸🌺🌼🌻🥀🌹🌷🌸🌺

Day 1037 AlexPowers

May 24, 2017May 23, 2017Leave a comment

I don’t usually review books BUT this is a great book for anyone wanting to do figure drawing and painting.

Comprehensive as only older art books are. He covers every aspect. I think newer books are shorter to cut down on costs. You can own this book for about $5.

So what do I like about this book besides its comprehensiveness?!

Well I love his art. It’s sketchy but visually exciting with slurpy runs and drips and smears of gorgeous color. Some Of my favorite things about watercolor and art.

I discovered him when I was at Cityart during the Vista gallery open house last month.