Day 390 – the days Pile UP!!

August 2, 2015August 3, 2015Leave a comment

A year and 25 days now of consecutive blogging.

Buzzards Roost on Key Largo. The restaurant has an amazing view of Garden Cove out to the Atlantic or is it the Florida Straits?! Eating out on the covered deck is hard to beat surrounded by beautiful, water boats and amazing flowers.

We actually ate there twice. The first time was coconut shrimp. Fried a little too long to suit my taste. I like my shrimp fried in three and a half minutes period. The second meal was much better. Otherwise they start to get tough. It was still good not great. The staggering view more than made up for the lack of superior food and so so wait staff.

Stay tuned tomorrow for more Buzzards Roost sketching and food

About the watercolor : all the water was painted wet on wet. Palm Trees were painted light yellow and allowed to dry. Touches of Quin gold were added. They were then painted w a variety of greens and Inathradone blue for the darks.

Thanks for reading.

Margaret ️xxx

Day 389 Drawing Duval Street

August 1, 20152 Comments

Duval Street – $150 app 8×40″ Heavy Stonehenge paper

I actually drew this one after I drew the chickens. I was so hot I sat in the Starbucks on Duval drawing passersby.

I tried to give them a tropical feel. Crowds on Duval do not look like an Atlanta crowd or the denizens of my favorite cafe Inner Bean or customers running into Earthfare.

Tank tops tshirts short shorts sunglasses and flip flops are the order of the day. Chickens use the crosswalks and palms line the road.

I tried to use bright tropical colors to give a tropical feel to this long strip.

It was not the best vantage point to see people to sketch quickly. They went by TOO quickly. Mere seconds.
TIP: This was drawn with a Pentel brush pen. I actually have two brush pens because drawing these strips use up the ink. Hate to run out while drawing a strip.

I generally start with the shoulders and next the head.

Thanks for reading.

Margaret ️xxx

Day 385 – A few loose ends

July 28, 2015Leave a comment

Some of my favorite things about key west is the wildlife.

The double page in my Moleskine watercolor book. I decided they were the last double spread because they are so iconic in Key West. Literally they are everywhere behind and under almost any bush, in the parking lots, under the tables in your favorite restaurant. You can not help but fall I love with them.

A few chicken stories!

Chickens actually use the crosswalks to cross the busy streets. I saw them do it with my own two eyes. Truly they do. And I love following them around to draw them.

Roosters. Indispensable to their families. If you feed the chickens the roosters let the hens and chicks eat first while they are on the look out for enemies. Keeps the species going. I never thought a rooster could be so thoughtful and protective of his brood though I have seen a male Cardinal take care of his babies.
Ibis at the Wildlife Center. What a hoot. They follow you around i hopes of a snack. And seem to pose like this one.

One of my favorite Watercolors I did at Key west. The wildlife center ibis.

A few of the eight or so ibis sketches I did at the wildlife center last Saturday. Or was it Friday?! In Key West the days run into each other.

I spent a lot of time taking pics of iguanas. They are so fascinating. Living dinosaurs.

My favorite finished iguana sketch.
This guy a big grey one was begging with the ibis til he got scared and leapt into a tree. They are SO fast. And he was big. More than four feet long. He blended right into the palm tree.

We fondly nicknamed this one Mango. A big fellow at the condos. I stalked him talking to him nicely. He would begrudgingly pose. Later we saw him repeatedly whip a kid who was throwing stuff at him. OUCH!! I don’t blame Mango one bit. Someone should have been watching the kid. Evidently iguanas also have razor sharp teeth. They hang out in the trees in Key West and would rather run climb or swim away than get in a fight.

A large green one. I think this is my favorite color but they are all so gorgeous like a watercolor and blend right into their surroundings.

Sunrise in the Keys. Going to miss these too. Enough for today. Can’t wait to get home and get my paintbrush busy!

Thanks for reading!

Margaret xxx

Day 383 – on the road again!!

July 27, 2015Leave a comment

The long road home. Two days of driving from Key West to Atlanta.

Amazing sunsets

Thought I would share some of the highlights of our trip.

The ghost
hunt
tour with Michael
Creepy but fascinating. You do hunt for ghosts. 😳

the Lloyds tropical bike tour and

Analise and her

food tour YUMMMMM
The Papas

And sitting at Mallory square during the eight mile hike. THINK SWEAT!!

Eating at a few of our fans. Caroline’s on Duval super wait staff salad was the best we ate. Bamboozled salad.

Blue Heaven Thomas and Petronia Chickens and wonderful breakfast of eggs Benedict with pink shrimp. And a band in a funky spot including a chicken cemetery.

Louies Backyard. The best food on the island. Expensive but deliciousness. Lunch is a cheaper option.

Hogfosh Grill on Stock Island. Hogfosh Tacos of course.

Buzzards Roost in Key Largo. Recommend their Mahi Mahi wrap. Gorgeous view of Garden Cove.

Another sunset.

Stay tuned for more Key West. I only have 1500 photos!!!

Thanks for reading!!!

Margaret xxx

Day 382 Key West Food Tour – A Commission

July 26, 2015Leave a comment

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 382 – Higgs Beach

July 25, 2015July 26, 20152 Comments

Higgs Beach original watercolor

$150 plus shipping

app 8x 40 inches long. Stonehenge paper

I like to sketch people as they walk by and draw fast impressions ok long accordion folded paper. I found the perfect place to do it yesterday-Higgs Beach. You can sit in your car in the cool as people stroll by or stand around at the beach.

I generally start with the shoulders and head. I try to vary the people. As in not all guys. There were alot of men on this beach so when an occasional child strolled by I drew them or short people. Or add bikers and dogs. Chickens too wild work. But it was too hot for chickens or dogs.

A lot of the people are painted with straight burnt sienna or Quin gold. Others are heavy on the red with yellow ochre for a sun burnt look.

Finally decent palms. Started with a yellow green and dabs of red. The leaves were painted mostly yellow green with streaks of red. Then dabs of green apatite. After they dried I added Inathradone blue in slashes.

Generally I keep the background to a minimum but I thought I would try to give it a beachy Key West feel by adding the palms the blue blue water and the volleyball net.

The water is cheap Joes Andrews blue aka turquoise and marine blue.

Pen is my Noodler Creaper loaded with Carbon Black. Generally I like to use a brush pen on these but when I was drawing chickens earlier the Pentel brush pen and I weren’t getting along so I switched to my Noodler.

The paper is Stonehenge ripped into long strips with my bone folder and then accordion folded.

Thanks for reading.

Margaret xxx

Day 381 – sketching like a madwoman

July 24, 2015Leave a comment

today. Only one more day before we head home. It may be hot here but it’s even hotter at home. And not nearly as beautiful. However we are going into training for our Paris trip in three months. Even more walking and NO carbs. I hope. Lol.

Hotel Pegasus on Duval and Southard.

A photo of Pegasus.

The sketch. Oopps. My perspective got a little off.

Dog Beach. Evidently I took this thru instagram so I stole it back with a screen shot.

Here’s my sketch. The people came along right when I was packin up to go so I just plopped them into the sketch.

Here’s a pic of Dog Beach. Isn’t it gorgeous? Lucky dogs!! Right next to our one fav restaurant Louies Backyard.

Louies Backyard.

If you want to draw the photos enjoy!!

Thanks for reading. Hope to germane if these painted soon. I only have about 20 pages of unpainted sketches. 😳

Margaret ️xxx

Day 381 – sketching like a madwoman

July 24, 2015Leave a comment

Hotel Pegasus on Duval and Southard.

A photo of Pegasus.

The sketch. Oopps. My perspective got a little off.

Dog Beach. Evidently I took this thru instagram so I stole it back with a screen shot.

Here’s my sketch. The people came along right when I was packin up to go so I just plopped them into the sketch.

Here’s a pic of Dog Beach. Isn’t t gorgeous. Lucky dogs!!

Thanks for reading. Hope to germane if these painted soon. I only have about 20’pages of unpainted sketches. 😳

Margaret ️xxx

Day 380 – Busy Day

July 24, 2015July 24, 2015Leave a comment

working on a commission. Got up so early to get a start I actually was worn out and took a nap in the bed. I always nap on the sofa IF I take a nap.

I was out at 6:45 taking photos of the dawn.

Then I actually cooked breakfast.

After that we were off to the Hemingway look alike contest at 9 at the Cypress House.

Very odd being surrounded by a bunch of white bearded guys.

They usually have about 75 entries.

You can look like a young Hemingway but most of the guys were older look alikes with white beards.

Lots of pics for painting bearded guys in hats now. Been wanting some since Fealin Lins class.

Last years winner. A funny guy. Not sure of his name. He got a medal which is the red ribbon hanging backwards around his neck.
Then I came home to get to working on the commission. Could not find my full sketchbook of Key West anywhere. I needed it to make a bigger painting of one of the sketches. Thank goodness I had good photos and got busy.

Took a break and went to eat at the Hogfosh grill. We were gonng to a shrimp place on stock island but atrip advisor review from two days ago said dogs were all over and eating at the table. We decided to got to HogFish were we knew what to expect.

Before we left we searched the trunk in the daylight and there was my sketchbook. Thanks goodness.

Here’s what I am working on.

Lots of details left to do. Hope Analise likes it. Thanks for reading.

Back to painting.

Ps if you want to paint the Hemingway look alikes feel free. They love posing!!

Margaret ️xxx

Day 376 Ibis!

July 19, 2015July 20, 2015Leave a comment

Yesterday we went on Lloyds Tropical Bike Tour. It was great fun but that’s for another day. He took us to the Key West Wildlife Center. They shelter a lot of injured birds a quite a few iguanas that run like crazy when you get near them.

Today I went back to sketch. The birds cooperated. Once again the iguanas didn’t.

I did this one entirely on site sta picnic table there. Watch out for the bird poo lol. The ibises were great. They loved to pose. Some of the younger ones would let you get quite close. The younger ones have brown heads or totally brown bodies. The ibises are painted with cerulean and raw sienna for shadows. Beaks are painted with cad red light and Winsor yellow. Legs same with a little cobalt blue added.

Background is green apatite, Inathradone blue, Winsor yellow, and a bit of cobalt.

Here’s the set up I used to paint this.