For Sale – 9×12″
And there’s one more to come. Thinking it’s easier to paint palms on larger paper. Maybe this will be the Eaton Street series.
Dark sky is cerulean cobalt and a bit of ultramarine splattered with dioxzine purple.
Paper is cold pressed fluid 140#. Dries flat as a flutter no matter how much water you put on it.
Margaret who has to get ready for book club. Xoxoxox
If you ever go to Key West you really should go to Coles Bakery on Eaton Street. Great food amazing deserts and breads. At least half the restaurants on Key West use Coles Bread. Delicious.
I drew the view out their windows at least three times and various houses in various arrangements. You can always suit yourself since you are in charge and draw one or two houses add people chickens cars and do it in the air conditioning while you enjoy those delicious lunch.
Stillman and birn Zeta uniball micro because I keep ruining clothes with my Lamy splatter is permanent ink. Sadddly. I do love my lamys but the uniballs are waterproof and a nice change. So annoyed I ruined a nice red and white striped linen shirt from LL Bean with my Lamy vista.
Funny story. A couple of guys were sitting at a high too between the scene and myself so I kept craning my neck to see around them. One guy actually thought I was drawing him. Came over to see how it was going. I did tell him I often did but today I was more interested outside the windows- a theme of mine in this miserable heat that keeps giving. Glad I am heading to the mountains later this week.
Margaret off to Goldfinch but glad she finally got painting. Only about thirty sketches to go. Eeekk. Xoxoxo
Visited the museum on my drive home yesterday after we buried Dad in Arlington Friday. 
This is his quote on the wall of the Marine Corps Museum. You can read more about it on my old blog. 
Dad was 96 and ready to fold up his tent and go home so the funeral was more of a wake than a sad time.
He was the first lieutenant in an amazing, terrible battle called the Battle of Fox Hill during the Choisin Reservoir campaign during November 1950.
Mom listened to the news back home saying he and all of the two regiments of the first Marine division -10000 men- were lost in frozen North Korea surrounded by 100000 Chinese. 
His Marine rifle company Fox Company – about 220 men – was holding the retreat at Toktong Pass all alone, surrounded by 10000 more Chinese. Everyman was wounded but half of them survived the vicious five day battle to fight their way out on the coldest longest retreat in US Military history and enter the legends of which Marines are made. 
To this day Marines and West Pointers study Dads battle plan on how to set up a defense using a small rifle company against overwhelming enemy numbers.
According to Dad one of his gunners Hector Cafferati killed 3000 Chinese but dad only wrote him up for 500 when Cafferati got his Medal of Honor because Dad thought no one would believe the real number.
You can read more about Choisin here or buy the book The Last Stand of Fox Hill on Amazon.
Rest In Peace Major Dad. Margaret xoxoxo
If I am not painting palms I seem to be painting chickens. And an ibis or two. I borrowed the name but the chickens really do patrol Key West. 
On the docks. In the streets at the crosswalks in the restaurants under your chair 
or even on the table.
TIP!!
Next time I am only bringing superaquabee paper unless I break down and make a sketchbook from strathmore mixed media paper. Both papers LOVE watercolor. They don’t Waffle while you are painting and they tend to dry flat. Always a plus. Plus the watercolor paint looks gorgeous on the paper.
Going to bring my long skinny one. 6×12 and either a 5×7 or and 8×10. Then I am going to sit on a corner and sell the sketches. Lol. Aka pay for our dinner and our
gas.
Try them you will love them.
Margaret off to Hogfish for some grilled hogfish salad. Sooo delish and no chickens. 
Just fish dockside. 
They stay in the water rofl.
Hogfish w Gorgonzola sauce spinach and artichokes and mixed veg a mango martini and Pinot noir. And my sis in laws cheese tortellini with sweet sausage and bolognese sauce. OH MY so delish.
Topped with Tiramisu and a view of the Atlantic with various joggers and skaters floating by. A sailboat or two.
Best food ever in Key west at La Tratorria. AmAzInG!! That tiramisu best I have ever eaten and I have eaten a lot of them. Expensive yes but who cares food was perfection the view perfect and all divinely lickable!!
Margaret who hurt herself xoxoxo
Going to repaint him with a tail poor thing. Why didn’t I think to paint his tail curving behind him?! Duhh. And he needs a shadow under his body. Duh.
Already have the new sketch drawn. Since it’s suppose to pour all day tomorrow and most of Wednesday hope I will have time to paint.
In the meantime more ibis. Such funny birds. I need to go down to the Key West Wildlife rescue and draw some more. I did find some living in the Publixs parking lot under a palm tree there. They seem to like shade. So do I.
Spent the afternoon down on Key West Bight at Schooner Wharf Bar having a drink with my feet propped up enjoying the view and the breezes. 
Chickens abound at most of the restaurants and Schooner Wharf was no different. Down here the chicks are brown not yellow. Can I please take one or two home. But no protected by the federal government. 
Only in Key West will you see a hen on the table finishing somebody’s lunch. Bytw she liked the lettuce a lot. Another hen tried to steal it from her and so began a wild chase between the chickens fighting over the lettuce.
Funny!!!
Margaret Xoxoxox waiting for the rain.
Didn’t mean to make the ocean so rough. Maybe it’s an inadvertent portent of Dorian out in the Atlantic. Poor Bahamas. So relieved it’s not us.
Same colors as yesterday. The straits of Florida are painted with peacock Cheap Joes Andrews Turquoise and Dioxzine purple. I also splattered with some of those colors. Soupy brush and tap the brush NOT the Ferrell.
I took advantage of the opaqueness of cad red and yellow light to tap some flowers over the foreground greenery.
Sky. Cerulean and fab off some of to make clouds add dabs of Dioxzine purple and dab them odd again with a dry wadded Kleenex.
Painted with my saber brush a size 8 isabey sable and my 10 Charles Reid Sable.
Superaquabee paper. Really love that paper. It dries flat when you close the sketchbook. You can also lift mistakes a bit.
Out the window at the condo. Kinda like this. Think I MIGHT not paint it or add a bit of color just a little. Will think about it.
Lamy Ef noodler eelskin Black Ink stillman and birn Zeta.
Margaret whose watching Mindhunter on Netflix 😳😳😳xoxoxo
Since Dorian is not blowing in it seems to have cooled off with lots of great breezes. Spent the day drawing painting chasing chickens for pictures. This guy is a mean character but oh so gorgeous with his yellow gold ruff.
Superaquabee paper is great to draw and paint on. Smooth as butter and LOVES watercolor. Easier to blend on.
Eaton Street View from Cole Peace bakery window. Rough press Arches
Palm trees coming along. Used the Vlad Yesilev saber brush. Might help that I had a couple of daiquiris. 🤗
Mile high Key Lime pie from lunch the other day and our view of Higgs Beach from Saluté on the Beach.
Painted the palm tree the same way same colors as first one. Do not like this one nearly as well. Almost like the paint would stick to the paper in my Stillman and Birn Zeta.
Palm tree colors leaves cad yellow light chrome green hookers green ultramarine blue.
Water is Cheap Joes Andrews Blue and peacock blue. Dab of mineral violet.
Margaret ready to read her new Carl Hiassen book. Xoxoxo
Sat out at the pool house today painting palm trees that I can see. 
It was 106 with the heat index or I might have painted more. 
Number 2. Not a bit better Maybe worse. I was using my perla brush held sideways to do the leaves.
Number 3 and my favorite. I used a dagger brush in the palm fronds. And my 10 Charles Reid sable on the trunk.
Number 4 I think.
Like the last two the best. And I like the ground in both. However I could use more palm practice. Lots more.
Trunk cerulean and burnt sienna. Palm – quin gold, cad yellow, cad red, cerulean, ultramarine, burnt sienna and umber.
Paper superaquabee
Same colors in the grass.
Margaret Xoxoxox
Sat out at the pool house today painting palm trees that I can see.
It was 106 with the heat index or I might have painted more.
Number 2. Not a bit better Maybe worse. I was using my perla brush held sideways to do the leaves.Number 3 and my favorite. I used a dagger brush in the palm fronds. And my 10 Charles Reid sable on the trunk.
Number 4 I think.
Like the last two the best. And I like the ground in both. However I could use more palm practice. Lots more.
Trunk cerulean and burnt sienna. Palm – quin gold, cad yellow, cad red, cerulean, ultramarine, burnt sienna and umber.
Paper superaquabee 6×12″
Same colors in the grass.
Margaret Xoxoxox
Margaret McCarthy Hunt Art 