Day 442 Adam Harris Thompson Group Part 2

September 25, 2015Leave a comment

This is actually the first sketch of the group. I didn’t post because it was in the sketchbook which was in my car yesterday. And I was too tired to walk down stairs to the garage and get it.

I was really pleased with the two sketches of the group performing. They were drawn as they played and sang. And No they do not hold still.

At some point I changed to my noodles Konrad that had been loaded with a beautiful red ink. I had decided to change it to black but neglected to clean out the pen. The no waterproof red kept leaky as I painted these. Did NOT make me happy because I really liked these sketches. And did not like the red leaky ink.
I have since rinsed it out with water and reloaded it with fresh clean Carbon platinum black ink. AND tested it to see if it would run. Glad to over the runs are over.

I did find that adding yellow ochre to th Mix somewhat mitigated the red on the larger sketches but on the smaller ones in my Aquabee well sadly the red really bled.

Thanks for reading.

Margaret xxx

Day 442 Adam Harris Thompson Group Part 2

September 25, 2015September 24, 20152 Comments

This is actually the first sketch of the group. I didn’t post because it was in the sketchbook which was in my car yesterday. And I was too tired to walk down stairs to the garage and get it.

I was really pleased with the two sketches of the group performing. They were drawn as they played and sang. And No they do not hold still.

At some point I changed to my beloved red noodler Konrad that had been loaded with a beautiful red ink. I had decided to change it to black but neglected to clean out the pen. The no waterproof red kept leaky as I painted these. Did NOT make me happy because I really liked these sketches. And did not like the red leaky ink.

I have since rinsed it out with water and reloaded it with fresh clean Carbon platinum black ink. AND tested it to see if it would run. Glad to over the runs are over.

I did find that adding yellow ochre to th Mix somewhat mitigated the red on the larger sketches but on the smaller ones in my Aquabee well sadly the red really bled. Thanks for reading.

Margaret xxx

Day 440 – More Arts in the Hearts.

September 23, 2015Leave a comment

Zaneigayha Chelon group

Which you will be seeing for a while this week. I sketched ALOT at Arts in The Hearts a big annual juried arts and crafts festival in downtown Augusta.

These were drawn at the Eighth Street Stage. She was a great little singer with her family for backup.

Got to run to class. May amend the post later today.

Thanks for reading!!

Margaret xxx

Day 437 – Sacred Heart 2

September 20, 2015September 20, 2015Leave a comment

The altar of Sacred Heart. As a little girl I used to go with my best friend. Her family attended services here. The mystery and beauty of the old church always mesmerized me.

The stained glass in this Romanesque church is amazing. The nave soars high above the pews lined with banks of beautiful old stained glass clerestory windows.

The marble and gilt altar is unlike any church that I have been in. Ornate and loaded with statues of Jesus saints and angels. Topped off with soaring stained glass and a ribbed dome. So much to look at it makes you dizzy!!
I recently attended a meeting there and drew in a strathmore 500 mixed media sketchbook with a Carbon Platinum pen while I listened to the speakers.

More Sacred Heart tomorrow. Of course there are more sketches!!

Thanks for reading.

Margaret xxx

Day 437 – Sacred Heart

September 20, 2015September 20, 2015Leave a comment

A beautiful old deconsecrated Catholic Church in downtown Augusta. Supposedly it even has a ghost in one of the bell towers.

It’s hard to get a clear view of the entire front of the church. Trees have been planted that block the view so I only drew the top.

I knew the sketch had problems when it was drawn but painted it anyway. Painted with my Isabey mop #2. No control over it and should have changed to a sable to even up the towers. Oh well. I think it might be my Rouen cathedral to paint over and over.

From Wikipedia

It was built by Jesuit priests and its first service was on December 2, 1900. The church had been in Augusta for 70 years, until it closed in 1971 due to modern suburban advancements. While the building was vacant, it endured much vandalism and was near destruction.
It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1972.[1]
In 1987, the Knox Foundation renovated the building and opened as a vibrant center of the city for cultural events. The building now host events such as wine festivals, choral concerts, and Christmas events. It is one of the best examples of redeveloping downtown Augusta.

More Sacred Heart tomorrow. The inside!!

Thanks for reading.

Margaret xxx whose actually reading a book instead of drawing or painting.

Day 422?? Painting

September 4, 2015September 4, 2015Leave a comment

Update. Painted for a couple more hours.

So far

This painting had been fermenting in my brain all week. And really ever since I saw it. Love the grunge look of it.

And always liked this photo of my middle son. I started over for two reasons. The first one was on 140# and he had no feet. This is on a full sheet Crescent watercolor board. Heavy stuff.

The feet thing did it for me. Lol. Do over. He needed feet. And I had trouble with his head. Still too big. As I said on my fb wall watercolor is a roll of the die. Sometimes you win sometimes not. Like the new one better anyway.

Here’s the sketch of it. All those grey lines worried me. Hard to have transparent color and those lines not show. I think they are going away. I HOPE.

The face was a hash of lines.

Professor wants you to paint the drawing with a brush. 😳 I don’t know any WC people who do that but I was game to try.

I did draw a little with a grey watercolor pencil because toooo many grey WC lines. I erased all the grey lines I could with my moo erasure from cheap joes. We love our moo erasures.

Love the pants and the drip down the neck of the tshirt. The right arm is too wide but I think I can correct that with the background.

Pray for me !👍😃

Last page.

Thanks for reading. Back to painting.

Margaret xxx

Day 418 – Inner Bean

August 31, 2015August 30, 20151 Comment

I really want to write on the background wall of this but haven’t yet because I like it as is. However journaling on it seems like a good idea. What do you think?!

This was sketched at the Inner Beab in Augusta Friday. Remember I told you you can get in trouble if you don’t plan those lines. Can you find my faux pas?! Hmm I could turn it into to a backpack on the girl couldn’t I?!

Colors used. Almost every color I have !!

Thanks for reading.

Margaret xxx

Day 411 -A Pelican

August 24, 201513 Comments

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 410 – More of those chickens!!

August 23, 2015August 23, 20159 Comments

Courthouse Chickens Key West

Where else but in Key West would you find chickens at the courthouse?!

I drew these toward the end of our stay in Key West when I went on a sketchathon starting at the Key West Wildlife Center and ending at Higgs Beach sketching the people as they walked by in front of the car.

Fast sketching requires a good flowing pen – chickens birds and people don’t hold still for long!! I use my Noodler Craper Ahab or one of my two brush pens – the Kuretake or the Pentel. The first two are always loaded with Carbon Platinum Black ink which dries so rapidly. I frequently paint them later especially if the weather is extreme like in the tropical heat of key west.

I thought you might like to see the chickens before I painted them.

While in Key west I saw a lot of Chinese style brush work paintings of animals in one gallery on Duval. And decided to try it out on the long chicken strip. I liked it so much I did it on these pages too.

There are really only a few pure colors used on the chickens. Quin gold, Quin Sienna, Quin burnt orange, Inathradone, Quin red and alizarin period. All the colors were allowed to combine on the page. Painting was done with my large cheap joes legend #12 sable even the large splatters.

Tip: To make the splatters. Choose a color or two and make a soupy mix. Fillup a large brush and gently tap over the painting. Yes I have a toothbrush but I always get little splatters not big juicy ones with it.

Probably due to heat stroke I was imagining what the chickens might be thinking as I drew. What would I think if I were a courthouse chicken?! Look there goes another felon?! Wonder what they did?! Hope I win my case?!

Before I started drawing chickens I thought roosters were mean ready to attack you at any second like the ones we had as kids. When get are with the chicks and be a they are very different beasts. They are not aggressive. Feed them and they defer to the babies and hens to eat. They also stand vigil while the hen takes care of the babies. Who knew??!

Thanks for reading.

Margaret xxx

Day 409 – Life modeling

August 22, 2015August 22, 2015Leave a comment

Having fun at dripping paint today because when things are not going well that’s when you get to have fun with the watercolor paint. You can’t ruin it if it’s already messed up.

A list of today’s problems:

Could not get myself together today to draw Erica.

My mechanical pencil had no lead. OPPS.

Borrowed a pencil from Tom. Sharpened off center so it ran out quickly.

Couldn’t find my glasses.

Maybe I needed to go back to bed and start again?! But I loved her pose today and the wicker chair so I kept slogging along at it.
Between all of that I got her roughed in without loosing a foot. The legs stayed where they belonged but what about those arms. They were both too short. Great thing about Fabriano. You can life color off with an old paint brush.

Notice how short HER right arm is in this pic? What was I thinking. Got my old oil paint brush out lifted the background and now her arm is better.

Had trouble getting her head right too. Charles Reid has a rule. Never make the head smaller than four inches. It’s just too difficult to paint if it is. But smart me drew a head that might be an inch and a half at most. It hd to be small to get the whole body in. Oh well. I won’t do that again.
She is done for today. That does not mean that tomorrow I might not get up and scrub her off the paper. Or change her in some way. But for now. DONE.