Day 403 – Work in progress

August 16, 2015August 16, 2015Leave a comment

Mermaid House thank you card Finished

Thought u might like to see one in progress. I frequently take pics of my work as I go to check on values.

I also sometimes change the photo to black and white to check the values. I, like most people, usually need more darks to make the lights pop.

The first time I checked values and general do I like the way it’s going?!

Adding more darks to the palms. Love the palm on the right.

The sun was coming from the right in this early morning photo.

I lifted some color from the palms to make more lights.

This is what I used to lift some of the color. It’s an architect erasure shield and an old hog bristle paint brush of my dads. I did get a little carried away scrubbing the darks. Then I blotted them with Kleenex.

I decided the lifted spots looked to uniform and too stripey.

So I added a little green on some of the stripes as well as some cobalt blue for even more darks.

U can see that I taped down the paper.

This is some Stonehenge that I ripped the wrong size for a sketchbook. Stonehenge does well with watercolor. All my people strips are made from Stonehenge or Strathmore Mixed Media 500 paper.

Finished card

I added another wash of cerulean to darken the sky and make the very light house pop. Adding more darks under the porch roof and too all the rails and steps also made it pop more. Then I splattered it with Inathradone blue and burnt umber.

Contrast makes it pop. Not enough darks and it will be bland!!

Oh and I had to make an envelope. It’s a thank you note for the beach house owner for inviting my sis and I last weekend. I buy boxes of cards on sale for the envelopes especially after Christmas.

Thanks for reading.

Margaret ️xxx

Day 398 – The Pegasus Hotel

August 11, 2015August 11, 2015Leave a comment

Is a landmark that sits at Duval and Southard.

I drew this while standing on the sidewalk waiting for my sister Jan. We were off to eat breakfast at the Cuban Coffee Queen and then to prowl Duval.

Heres a photo of the sketch in progress.

And the actual building. I would call the style South Beach Art Deco built in the 30s. In Key West it is called Art Deco and moderne. Another building in this style is the Scottish Masonic temple now the Art Studio on Eaton.

You can read more about these buildings here. http://architecturestyles.org/art-deco/

I got the perspective off a little on the left side oops. Easy to do when it’s drawn in ink instead of pen. May have to do a redo because this is a really cool building and hated got it twisted looking.

Bytw the best Key West car and bicycle Peking is under the trees in this picture. Shade all day long. Important on hot afternoons.

What can I say?! Colors cobalt cerulean and Quin gold. Black is Inathradone and burnt umber. Tree trunk is Quin gold and cerulean I think! All the greens with some Quin gold for highlights and Inathradone for darks.

Thanks for reading.

Margaret xxx

Thanks for reading.

Day 392 – Wesley

August 4, 2015August 4, 2015Leave a comment

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 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 387 – too many chickens

July 31, 20152 Comments

I may be growing tired of painting Key West chickens. I painted quite a few today. All of them were painted wet on wet.

Thought we all needed a joke on Thursday. This is actually one of the court house chickens I drew while walking around one afternoon. There are more courthouse and post office chickens and wild life center chickens. Too many chickens lol.

Here’s another court house chicken who was near a homeless guy who was laying in the sidewalk on Whitehead enjoyingy the shade of a palm tree.

The Palm was first painted Winsor yellow then green apatite and finally cobalt with dabs of cad red.

The chickens are painted with Quin red orange Quin gold Quin red Inathridone blue and viridian green.

Thanks for reading.

Better paintings tomorrow nite.

Thanks for reading.

Day 387 – too many chickens

July 31, 20152 Comments

I may be growing tired of painting chickens. I painted quite a few today.

Here’s another court house chicken who was near a homeless guy who was laying in the sidewalk on Whitehead enjoyingy the shade of a palm tree.

The Palm was first painted Winsor yellow then green apatite and finally cobalt with dabs of cad red.

The chickens are painted with Quin red orange Quin gold Quin red Inathridone blue and viridian green.

Thanks for reading.

Better paintings tomorrow nite.

Thanks for reading.

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 366 a Retrospective

July 9, 2015July 10, 201511 Comments

Onward toward year two!!

Since I am going to be traveling the next few days I am going to be posting a few retrospective paintings. Some of my favorites over the last year.

Tea time. All southerners love to drink tea. I love the way the colors mingle and flow on her. Also her hair. She’s for sale $350! Mcmhunt@me.com

This is a detail of the skirt.

Lily Tomlin from Grace and Frankie series. Drawn off tv.

Some old board books that I am taking with me to draw in at key west. I bought them for .50 at goodwill and painted them with a credit card a few years ago. They have languished since I didn’t know what would write on them. All my pens bubbled off. Gel pens died on them. But today my friend Staci Swider said to try some acrylic markers. Stopped by Michaels. And yes indeedy they work.

Get ready Key West here I come!!!

Thanks for reading.

Margaret ️xxx

Day 356 – Love my Noodlers

June 29, 2015Leave a comment

I am embarrassed to tell you how many I have.

This was done with my latest acquisition a ReD Noodler Konrad loaded with Diamanté Wild Strawberry. Don’t knowwhich I like better. The red ink or the red pen.

I wrote it in my Super Deluxe Bee sketchbook. No fuzzy letters. The paper loves ink.

My new Konrad loaded with wild strawberry and my beloved Noodler Creaper Ahab loaded with carbon platinum black ink. I have four more Noodler pens. LOVE their flex nibs. Super for both sketching and lettering because they have an interesting line similar to a dip pen. I only occasionally make messes with the ink. I always do with dip pens. Try the Ahab. A bargain at $20 and holds a huge amount of ink.

My other Noodler pens all loaded with different color inks. A girl needs choices, right?! The top pen, a Noodler Konrad is loaded with Noodlers Lexington Grey, the brush pen is new. Not sure what color but probably will get Lexington Grey since I have Carbon Black in my Kuretake pen. The slim red Noodler is loaded with deartrementis document brown. The bright yellow one is loaded with deartrementis Petrol a turquoise greeny bluet color. The two small pens were dirt cheap at Goulet. $10 or so each. The Konrads are the priciest at $40. I have a couple of Lamys that I never use. Hmm I while gift them on at least the safari. May be great for writing but didn’t like it at all for drawing.