Zoe curled up next to me on the sofa watching Super Soul Sunday.
Pentel brush pen Superaquabee tablet and some smearing of ink. She was mostly in shadows.
A week of RUNNING!! Off I go. Hope I finish my Diebenkorn today. 😋
Thanks for reading.
Margaret xxx
Sometimes you need a do over. I actually drew this street cafe in Aiken twice. This is number two. I started drawing the horse first with my Lamy vista fine point but it would not draw. Which is why it looks so scratchy. The ink would not flow. I threw in the towel and used the Noodler Konrad loaded with Platinum Carbon black ink.
It was going well till I smeared the eyes of the lady on the right. Oops. I used a white gel pen to try to fix them. I also could have used gouache and painted the scene but have not had time. It might help if I stayed home.
Actually the first drawing. So why else did I redraw?! Terrible eyes. And things in the wrong places. I ran out of room for the horse. Ooops!!
Here is the photo the sketch is based on. That’s it for today from the river where the water is still muddy but behaving staying in its banks. Something to be thankful for in the state or South Carolina- a river that does not flood.
Thanks for reading.
Margaret xxx
Still watching the river!! Hoping everyone is staying high and dry during this monsoon.
Inktober 5 – Ladies at the Bean loved this group as they sat and chatted away a rainy morning. Hmm well I think the lady on the left is great but the lady on the right is not bad either. Lol
The left lady had the greatest expressions and was birdlike in the tilt of her head.
Drawn with my Noodler Konrad and Platinum Carbon Black ink.
Jan – love the wet and wet colors in the quilt which is cobalt cerulean Winsor yellow and Quin gold. Skin muddied Quin coral and yellow ochre. Hair burnt sienna and inathradone.
The Yakker or is it The Smoker?! Can u find her cigarette??? How she managed to keep that cigarette in her mouth while she talked like crazy I have NO idea. She was so entertaining to watch. She was larger than life in every way from her huge purse to her ample proportions.
Skin is burnt sienna or Quin sienna. Not sure which. Quin red shirt. Hair is inathradone and burnt umber. Cigarette is white gouache.
Henry – background Quin gold. Sofa Quin sienna and Quin burnt orange – skin Quin coral and French yellow ochre
Got the nasty virus still that half of the people in Augusta seem to have but forced myself to paint some in my coloring book aka my ink sketches.
About Henry sketch. Really like the way the darks make his legs pop and take shape. My favorite of the ones I painted yesterday.
Inktober day 4 – Forgot to take a pic of the black and white sketch. Oops.
Random customer at the inner bean sitting less than three Feet from me. So absorbed in her phone she didn’t notice I was drawing her.
Drawn with Noodler Konrad and carbon platinum black ink.
Hair – burnt sienna Quin burnt orange. Shirt cobalt and inathradone. Skin Quin coral and yellow ochre. Grey is cerulean and burnt sienna. 
A reindeer head that was over the cabin fireplace last weekend. Why a reindeer in the western North Carolina mountains?! NO idea! A friend told me he was a moose but we decided he was a reindeer probably from Norway or Sweden. Along way from home.
Quin gold and burnt sienna wall. Same with the splatters. Grey is cerulean and burnt sienna. Piemonite and cobalt used in the shadows.
Out my back door. Glad to report the Savannah is still units riverbanks!!
Thanks for looking!! Back to watching the BIG Flood in nearby Columbia and Charleston and glad Augusta dogged the bullet.
Stay safe and dry my chickadees!
Margaret glued to WIS Columbia. Nope no football here!!
Henry – background Quin gold. Sofa Quin sienna and Quin burnt orange – skin Quin coral and French yellow ochre
Got the nasty virus still that half of the people in Augusta seem to have but forced myself to paint some in my coloring book aka my ink sketches.
About Henry sketch. Really like the way the darks make his legs pop and take shape. My favorite of the ones I painted yesterday.
Inktober day 4 – random customer at the inner bean sitting less than three Feet from me. So absorbed in her phone she didn’t notice I was drawing her.
Drawn with Noodler Konrad and carbon platinum black ink.
Hair – burnt sienna Quin burnt orange. Shirt cobalt and inathradone. Skin Quin coral and yellow ochre. Grey is cerulean and burnt sienna.
A reindeer head that was over the cabin fireplace last weekend. Why a reindeer in the western North Carolina mountains?! NO idea! A friend told me he was a moose but we decided he was a reindeer probably from Norway or Sweden. Along way from home.
Quin gold and burnt sienna wall. Same with the splatters. Grey is cerulean and burnt sienna. Piemonite and cobalt used in the shadows.
Out my back door. Glad to report the Savannah is still units riverbanks!!
Thanks for looking!! Back to watching the BIG Flood in nearby Columbia and Charleston and glad Augusta dogged the bullet.
Stay safe and dry my chickadees!
Margaret glued to WIS Columbia. Nope no football here!!
All I can say is WOW!!!! 450 days of consecutive daily blogging. And I didn’t think I would make thirty.
Jan DAY 1
Noodler Konrad pen w carbon platinum black ink Super Aquabee tablet
Decided to really drove myself nuts and participate in Inktober. Aka posting an inksketch daily for the month of October. I tend to do art everyday anyway so it’s not a big stretch just to do ink sketches all month. Takes the pressure off doing watercolors too lol though I bet I end up painting some of them.
Old Man at Panera Day 2
Carbon platinum pen w carbon platinum black ink Super Aquabee tablet
Not happy with this sketch. This guy was in his eighties. Lots of wrinkles. Eyes set deeply in his head. He was busy giving someone his power of attorney. The things you learn when you sit and quietly draw while people yammer on about their lives on their phones.
If I had taken a photo of him I would have redrawn him. Although the carbon platinum pen has a very fine point I don’t think it gives you the range of lines that the noodlers do. And it was hard to do any fine shading on his small face.
The Smoker Day 3
Noodler Konrad pen w carbon platinum black ink Super Aquabee tablet
What a character! A lot off wild waving of her hands with a cigarette hanging out of her mouth, bright pink shirt orange overdyed black hair. I had to draw her.
Notes about drawing
All my sketches are drawn from live people not pictures unlike my finished big watercolors which are usually drawn from photos. I think it gives the drawings more life. And people that know art can actually tell they are from real life as we say.
Drawings are more successful if I lay down one line and don’t fiddle with it. Original line is usually the best.
Been practicing life drawing almost daily for a year.
Faces often easier to leave them out because that’s usually where I screw up a sketch like the old man. The heads need to be fairly large to draw a good face.
Start drawing from the shoulders and add the head- the attention getters. Then the rest of the body.
Favorite pens :
My star pens are any Noodler pen. I have several and love their flex nib. These were done with my Konrad because my big ahab is leaking. I am going to redo the rings in the ahab. It’s hard to beat because it holds loads of ink and is cheap at $23 at http://www.gouletpens.com
I am also fond of my Lamy Vista fine point and the Carbon Platinum pen.
Brush Pens Pentel and Kuretake. The Kuretake is an elegant Japanese pen. And very reasonable at $20ish.
INK hands down favorite is the ultra waterproof Carbon Platinum Black from Goulet pens. DO NOT BUY IT FROM AMAZON. The ink there looks like goulets but runs like crazy. I use CPB in my Kuretake too. It’s the reason I bought the Kuretake. The Pentel is a great brush but sometimes the ink just is not waterproof.
Other inks I like a lot are the super waterproof De artementis DOCUMENT brown and Noodlers Lexington Grey. Also from Goulet.
I have a Bottle of Noodlers Eelskin which is supposed to be waterproof it isn’t for me.
Smooth paper is a must for ink sketches. Favorites are superaquabee, Stonehenge or other Bristol and strathmore Mixed media 500 and Stillman and Birn Alpha. All but the S&B Alpha do well with watercolor too.
Ok my chickadees that’s enough for today. Hope you haven’t caught this virus half the world seems to have in Augusta Ga.
Thanks for reading.
Margaret xxx
Undoubtably the best time to sketch my grandson is when he’s watching Disney. He becomes almost immobile occasionally moving his body but mostly staring at the screen.
These were drawn in my Aquabee sketchbook with my Lamy fine point loaded with Carbon Platinum Black ink. I have been meaning to paint them as soon as my cold clears up. Hiking in the rain in the WNC Blue Ridge is not conducive to good health. Kerchoo!!
Thanks for reading.
Margaret xxx
Undoubtably the best time to sketch by grandson is when he’s watching Disney. He becomes almost immobile occasionally moving his body but mostly staring at the screen.
These were drawn in my Aquabee sketchbook with my Lamy fine point loaded with Carbon Platinum Black ink. I have been meaning to paint them as soon as my cold clears up. Hiking in the rain in the WNC Blue Ridge is not conducive to good health. Kerchoo!!
Thanks for reading.
Margaret xxx
Love these two guys. The first guy was actually a walk off and I drew the rest of him after he did. He was just a cool looking guy in his African mud cloth vest and his rakish hat.
I also loved the look of this guy – an audience member. He sat not far from where we were drawing. About broke my neck while drawing him. He was such a dignified guy. Thanks goodness he didn’t catch me craning my next at him.
Skin tones burnt sienna and Quinn gold with some cerulean and cobalt.
The backgrounds. I heard you wondering how they were done. Just lots of layers of thin color. Some of the colors used were cad red light, alizarin, cobalt blue, Daniel smith piemonite(which is lovely combined with cobalt), Quin gold and probably yellow ochre.
Thanks for reading.
Margaret xxx
These two guys were leaning on a nearby wall chillin and watchin the show. You know i drew them.
I also loved these ladies chatting away against the same wall. The old downtown Woolworths building. Are there any woolworths still?! I don’t think so.
The lady with the balloons actually caught me and asked very sweetly to show me what I had been doing. She loved that I had been drawing them even though it had problems.
Thanks for reading.
Margaret xxx
Margaret McCarthy Hunt Art 