Day 984 Alex and Willie

April 2, 2017April 2, 2017Leave a comment

Every Sunday I watch CBS SUnday Morning. My fav bits on it are the partsabout artists or singers people stuff. And this show is crammed with them. Alex was on this am talking about his 45 impersonations. Hard to resist sketching him. He morphed into 45. The mans definitely making me political!!

The background was Quin gold but not enough contrast w the head. Like the orange one better. After all he is the Orange One”

Have always loved Willie and meant to just draw him. He just popped onto the page. What’s not to love about an 84 year old who says “we woke up and we are still not dead!”??

Think they are done. Maybe. Trying to resist the urge to scribble on them in the background with a soft dark pencils. So many quotable quotes from them both.

Painted on 280# Arches Cold Press with Ted Nuttalls transparent palette plus cerulean, hematite and cheap Joes Andrews Turquoise. Pen pentel brush pen.

Ttyl Going to try my hand at horses today.

Margaret taking a walk in the park today too.

Day 982 Last Nite!

March 30, 20172 Comments

After several disastrous sketches I knew I could handle our beautiful Asian model when I did this watercolor in ten minutes or so.

All sketches are 11×14 in a Super Aquabee tablet. Love that paper. Painted with my whisky painter box loaded with WN and Daniel Smith Quin coral and an old Cotman palette loaded with every quinacridone I own plus thalo blue and green black and white gouache. Painted with a pentel waterbrush.

These are all two minute sketches. Some of these will probably be altered. And most are pretty awful. As in EEEKKK I Don’t feel good and I can’t draw a thing tonite. This one was the worst.

Better. I decided to give up my go to Dr Sketchys pen the Pentel Brush pen and use a Noodler Konrad. Life improved. I always think it’s interesting how a change of pen can improve your drawing skills when they aren’t going well.

Next We had a challenge to turn her into a fox. Evidently her stage name is Foxy. As some of you know I like to draw chickens. Follow them around at Key West to draw them or sit and watch them and sketch them. Never thought chickens could be so much fun but they are.

Really like the sketchiness of her body and legs in this one.

Ttyl another busy day. Haircut picking up paintings and back to aiken for a reception for a friends show.

Margaret xoxoxo

Day 978 A little more Politics

March 26, 2017Leave a comment

Those heads keep talking and I keep drawing and taking notes. More piemonite for the darks. Red grease pencil.

As U can tell I LOVE that grease pencil.

Ttyl color me exhausted.

Margaret xoxoxo heading home.

Day 964 100 people in seven days Day SIX

March 11, 2017March 11, 2017Leave a comment

Time to finish up those 100 people. In the meantime there’s always the tv to draw from.

I am completely absorbed by the unfolding spy whodunnit on Eachel Maddow every nite on MSNBC. I even take notes and draw some of the talking heads or players in this dramatic story. Last nite it was General Flynn who was working for the Turkish government to the tune of $500000 while he was head of our National Security.

I don’t think Robert Ludlum or John Le Carre could make this stuff up. Just crazy stuff going on.

And yesterday ALL the holdover Obama attorneys were fired and told to clear out by close of business. Usually they stay to finish up their cases and then leave. Not this time. And Hannity a tv talking head seems to have precipitated it. Hmmm.

The double page spread. Still have to find one more head to draw.

Colors used. Quin coral and gold and burnt orange. Burnt umber and ultramarine and cerulean. A dab of orange.

Ttyl off to the flat track horse races in Aiken. No nekkid painting today. Going to miss my painting peeps.

Margaret xoxoxo who hopes it’s not freezing cold out today.

Day 963 Rachel Maddow!

March 10, 20173 Comments

These sketches brought the total of people drawn for the week to 82 or so. Has been riveting lately. It’s like watching a spy novel written by one of my favorite authors John Le Carre or Robert Ludlum unfolding in real life.

So why did I write all the notes?! My mind tends to drift when I don’t take notes. It’s rather like a doodle for me. It keeps my attention focused and it helps me remember what’s been said. Truly I think I would be paying attention with or without the note taking BUT I kind of like the way it looks too.

It’s my writing on my art work taken to the extreme. And you know I do love to write on my artwork. It gives a sort of Susan Shie flavor to it.

I almost left her without her black jacket and top painted. I took a pic like this in case but decided to paint it and I like it better painted.

Here’s the sketch.

And a sketch of her only guest that night US Congressman Eric Swalwell who is also fascinating. Not to sure how his right cheek got so much darker. Oh well. I guess I could go back and paint the other one but just been too busy. Getting close to the 100 people mark for the week.

The sketch. These are done in my Stillman and Birn Alpha with a Lamy Safari loaded with Lexington Gray ink.

Colors used. Quin gold Quin coral Quin burnt orange cerulean burnt umber ultramarine blue.

Ttyl

Margaret xoxoxo off to do her last ten people.

Day 955 Urban Landscape Knoxville

March 2, 20172 Comments

Yesterday we had at lunch Kathe Drew and I had a big discussion on gridding our paintings or not. Drews currently working on a huge painting of downtown Augusta. The view is five floors up and he’s frustrated trying to get all the buildings in to the scene.

I told him about drawing this view of downtown Knoxville last May. I was five stories up too at 7 am drawing away. It took about half an hour to draw this.

Most people looking at it would think that yes that’s exactly what Knoxville looks like but it’s not quite.

No matter how hard I try to plot the drawing of a cityscape like this I usually run out of room by the time I work right or left to the edges.

I end up leaving out buildings. I told Drew that as long as you get the important buildings in the skyline is recognizable. What would the Knoxville skyline look like without the Workds Fair golden globe or the the big basketball from the basketball hall of fame.

Some buildings are musts in the skyline. Other nobody will ever notice they are missing. Nobody has yet to say where’s xyz.

These are actually what I was looking like.

I didn’t even paint it so it looked like this.

I added nice dawn colors. Layering buildings with a base coating of Quin gold letting it dry and then painting it the colors of the buildings. It gives a nice early morning glow to the sketch.

Anyway that’s it for today. Ttyl

Margaret xoxoxox

Day 952 Odds and Ends

February 27, 2017March 1, 2017Leave a comment

A little urbansketching at an ACA rally Saturday in Aiken. These rallies are great opportunities for drawing people.

Drawn on 300# arches cold press with a Noodler Konrad loaded with carbon Platinum Black Ink. Ted Nuttalls transparent colors.

Yeah she’s done. Well at least I think so. Kinda yellow but at least her body’s no longer distorted.

Here she was before I worked on her today.

I shortened her shoulder, added some her butt on the left,thinned down her right thigh and moved the right arm.

And I finished the hand on this one today so Sarah is done. Yeah. I ran out of time before I finished her left hand.

And that’s all folks. Time to head to French class. Ttyl

Margaret xoxoxo

Day 951 Lazy Sunday

February 26, 2017February 26, 2017Leave a comment

Ah NO. have a pile of 7-8 sketches to paint. Oh my!!

In the meantime. MY fav heathy out and about breakfast the bowl at the Inner Bean. Scrambled eggs black beans avocado tomatoes bacon and hmm oh cheese. Yum.

These guys sat next to me at the Bean as I ate my bowl. Deep in conversation over Masters preparations at local golf courses. Never noticed me sitting there sketching them.

Both done with a Lamy EF with Lexington Grey ink in a Stillman and Birn Alpha. Ted Nuttalls transparent colors plus cerulean.

A few of the pics of sketches I need to get painted.

Thanks for stopping by.

Margaret xoxoxo

Day 943 The Two Dowagers

February 17, 2017Leave a comment

Upper Broad Street used to be lined with these late Victorian houses. Now there are only three left. They look tired but not quite derelict. These two stand by themselves like two old ladies.

The light was great yesterday – and the houses were bathed in the bright winter sun which lit them like a spot light.
I added the guy walking by. He’s really just an oval, a rounded triangle for the body, and a couple of strokes for legs and feet. Ditto for the arm.

I coated the houses w a very light Quin gold. Makes them look sunny I think.

Colors used-Sky. Hmm peacock blue?! Hookers green and hematite, Quin gold, cerulean, burnt umber and ultramarine, Quin burnt orange, vermilion.

The trees are done w a watery soup of cerulean and Quin burnt orange to give the effect of bare winter limbs.

The biggest thing that gives this look is using my small squirrel mop. You cannot get to picky with it. An #8 I think.

In a Stillman and Birn Alpha w 92 pages which means they are thin. And they are wavy causing puddling. Not sure I like that but will continue on since it cost a pretty penny $27 from Amazon. Hoping they will flatten out as they dry.

Drawn w a Lamy EF loaded with permanent Lexington gray ink.

Ttyl

Margaret xoxoxo

Day 940 – LateNight Entertainment Al Beyer!

February 14, 2017Leave a comment

Our beloved prof Al Beyer was the program at the Aiken Art Guild last night and he was his usual humorous self peppering his talk with quip after quip such as “If you get a bad painting it’s your failt but if you get a good one (at lifemodeling) it’s all the model!! And that is true well sometimes.

This huge seemingly abstract is the way Al works. It will be a photorealistic water landscape painting when he’s done or as he calls it the most boring painting ever since it will be almost all water with his. A bit of tree bank across the top.

We told him we liked it as it is. An abstract.

He blocks off the painting into multiple blocks the size of a standard piece of paper. Every nite with a printed paper from his tiled photograph he paints one section in oil with a small brush which takes him about 2-3 hours per square.

Here he is with his helper Vanna aka Ilaina – one of our Saturday models.

Here’s a better picture of this huge painting. It’s made by layering multiple photos of Beijing in Photoshop. Interesting effect.

Hmm my sketchbook seems to be among the missing. I drew theses ladies yesterday while my excellent steak salad got cold at Aiken Brewing Company on Laurens Street in Aiken.