Day 1023 Raisin and her horses

May 10, 20173 Comments

Visiting my friend Raisin in Bristol TN where she lives on top of a mountain. She has two Freisians.

This is her daughter Kendal with her horse Bo and her tiny miniature Pomeranian when the ferrier was her yesterday.

Raisin and her horse Harley while he’s getting shod. Just the most beautiful horses.

Drawn on location with a Lamy Safari on arches cold press 280#

Colors used cerulean, yellow ochre, burnt sienna and umber, ultramarine blue, cad red light and Quin rose. Off to paint. Ttyl Margaret xoxo

Day 999 One more day.

April 16, 2017April 16, 2017Leave a comment

Happy Easter everyone. Raisin Carter. The chief instigator of all her friends showing up at Peggis class aka Leader of the Pack. I had fun stamping her name. I think she was a little tired from all the fun we had in Charlotte. We wore her out!!

Julie whose taking Charles Reid’s class in May at Cheap Joes with me. Wish I had taken a photo of her interesting basketball player that she was working on.

The ink sketches. Sometimes you should just leave them ink. I wasn’t using my normal skin tones of Quin coral and Quin gold. I used Quin rose and yellow ochre. So the paintings are a little dark.

They were painted with Quin rose, yellow ochre, ultramarine blue, mineral violet, and pyrrole red. Oh and sepia for a dark brown.

Ink pen Lamy Safari filled with Carbon Platinum Black ink in a strathmore mixed media 500 journal. Love their crispy paper. Just wish they would lie flat like the Stillman and Birns do.

Happy Easter. Margaret hanging out with the grandkids who are on sugar overload xoxox

Day 998 Oh My Two More Days Painting PCM

April 15, 20177 Comments

Spent yesterday hitting the art stores and taking photographs for possible future paintings at Ponce City Market.

It’s a HUGE rehabbed old Sears building on Ponce de Leon near the Whole Foods and Trader Joe’s. Whoever designed it kept much of the funkiness of the old building keeping the floors and the huge support columns and the ibeams in the floors.

The two panoramas give a 360 degree view of the space which is jammed packed with the smells of the 20 plus upscale chef run restaurants that allow you and your friends many delicious choices of food which you eat in the open areas.

Outside eating area is a huge interesting place called the Shed which is an enormous concrete beam structure surrounded by restaurants ok one side and stores on the other. I think it’s new construction but not sure. I really need to sit down and draw it becAuse it’s wonderful to look at.

The store side of the Shed.

Sunday there is an art market in the shed. Going to check that out tomorrow but since it’s Easter thinking it’s not open.

Keep taking photos of a few places that just appeal to my eye. This Caribbean food place El Super Pan is just delightfully funky with its purple lit metal overhang. Someplace I have an unpainted sketch of this place.

And my favorite golden dragon Chinese restaurant. I have painted this twice. Love that dragon.

This couple sat down inches from me at the same table Aron f one of the columns between me and the object of my attention. The golden dragon column. Yes there were other tables to sit at but no they had to block my view. Irritated with the self involved duo I snapped their photo and immortalized the French Fry couple.

Here’s the sketch I had been doing.

I love going upstairs and taking photos of the first floor over the railing.

That’s how I snapped the photo for this painting called Looking Down which was recently juried into the Anderson Center for the Arts Show which is considered a coup in South Carolina.

One of the appeals of Ponce city Market besides the delicious food are the masses of people and the odd interesting architectural elements like the large yellow and black arrow in the upper right.

I think you could find a life time of paintings on the environs of PCM aka Ponce City Market. Something about this one. The two guys one big one little trudging off across the light from the doors.
Sooner or later I will get a food pic of this bar. Maybe on my big camera not my phone. I have two hundred or so photos there.

A trip to PCM is not complete without drooling over the delicious candy shop

And my personal favorite the St Germain a PArisian themed patisserie loaded with all things Parisian – macaroons, breads, small crispy meringues, real marshmallows and cases of decadent gorgeous goodies.

Trying to resist the lure of PCM today a Sketchers paradise but there are eggs to dye and Easter prep to be done.

Ttyl

Margaret loving Atlanta even when it took me an hour and 15 min to drive 4 miles from Trader Joe’s to the house. Xoxoxo

Day 994 – Peggy Habet’s class

April 11, 2017April 12, 2017Leave a comment

I drew Peggy several times during class. This was the last time and looks the most like her. Fourth time the charm. She was hard to draw with a long thin nose and a tiny face.

The nose kept overpowering her tiny face when I drew her. This was the first try. And then I painted her too dark so I scrubbed her a little to lighten her up. I did have fun stamping her name and embellishing the page with a watercolor pencil.

Go round three. Nose still too big. Eeekkk. The hair is a combo of thalo and sepia.

Number four. TOO Dark!!!’ What the heck.

Better. But the face was too wide and not oval enough. I could make it narrower by adding hair.

I painted on my class sketches most of the day. Guess it’s time to do those color studies.

Margaret xoxoxo whose having a painting day.

Day 993 How many more days till 1000?!!!

April 10, 2017April 10, 2017Leave a comment

SeVeN. HURRAH!!

I might cut back to three four times a week. What do you think I should do?!

Worked on this page this morning.

This is what it looked like this am.

What the whole three page spread looks line now.

I colored the hand green with a Prismacolor art stick. The scar letter on the right was done in a page ripped from an old Bartletts quotations.

I flipped this huge thick book open randomly to Lewis Carrol which I thought quite odd since I had a couple of quotes from Alice on the middle page. Decided to save it , read it and maybe cut up the poems on it later.

Flipped the book again without looking. Louisa May Alcott was on that page. I have read every book she wrote at least once and read Little Women multiple times. It’s also the only book I own multiple copies of.

I scribbled the letter with a Kuretake brush pen loaded with carbon platinum black. I ripped the letter by laying my hand on it to give it a hand shape but leave the X-ray part and glued it down.

The milagro heart was also a piece of the same Louisa May Alcott page. The shreds of the ripped up letter cut out like a heart and glued and colored. After all sometimes our hearts need a miracle.

Why a heart?! The reason for the X-ray. Some scars are hidden!! And you know your heart is one such place.

Then I colored it with Prismacolor paint sticks and tombow markers. The Tombows did really well on the black masking tape. Who knew?!

Margaret xoxoxo

Day 982 Dr Sketchys 2

March 31, 2017March 31, 2017Leave a comment

Love the Chinese dresses Foxy wore at Dr Sketchys Wednesday. Gorgeous fabrics and they fit her like a glove. Classic Chinese dresses probably from her home in Taiwan.

This is my favorite sketch I think though the next one is nice too.

Both 11×14″ Super Aquabee tablet. Noodler Konrad WN colors in a whiskey painter box with a Cotman travel box full of Daniel Smith quinacridones. I used a gold Wink of Stella marker to sparkle these.

This was a challenge to add origami elements. I have folded thousands of those cranes and a few of the frogs. As a kid I loved doing origami since the first kit I received for Christmas. I think she’s slightly out of proportion. Head to big. Legs a tad too short but I like her anyway. A lot to draw and paint in 20 minutes!!

Day 979 -21 Days left

March 27, 2017March 27, 2017Leave a comment

Till 1000. The goal is nigh!

Taking an online class in extreme journaling with Julianna Coles. All my questing for a book at goodwill, salvation army, thrift stores and in the garage where I found a forgotten stack of books I found the perfect book in my son’s recycle bin in Atlanta. It’s a heavy thick very slick Saks sales ad. Since it was trash I didn’t feel bad about altering it. It also had some nice photos of women in it.

Despite babysitting the grandchildren single handedly, lecturing to middle schoolers about art quilts aka show n tell and driving about four hundred miles I bounced out of bed to start the monster mash process this morning.

I worked on the cover since I did not like the big script Saks on the cover.

Oddest thing happened when I opened a huge old Bartletts to cut out poetry. I don’t think I even turned a page. It opened to a page that held a poem about “locking all your heart aches inside” and “hide it in your trunk” “will hide all your failures””will rise to meet you yet” and of course I cut them out and glued them on.

I don’t think it’s quite done the more I look at them. Bout maybe they are never done? They will tell me. Lots of fun. Go sign up.

The first double page spread. Thinking it’s still too busy.

I painted stamped collages scribbled and painted and lettered and I could go on but it’s time for French. Acrylic paint caran dache neocolonial ii prismacolor paintstiks paint marker.

The books about the size of a piece of printer paper. Can’t wait for the next chapter.

Margaret xoxoxo #julianacoles

Day 974 More St Paddys Day Parade

March 22, 2017March 22, 2017Leave a comment

St Paddys Day Parade ladies from St. John’s tower. They were actually riding another truck but I liked this one better. Augusta Ga
A dab of gel pen on the antennae. I loved those. And they were riding in chairs.

#stjohnstower #augustaga #stpatricksday #watercolorpainting #sketchbookskool #urbansketcher #undercoverspy #urbansketching #usk #georgia #ink #lamysafari #lamy #stillmanandbirn

Gotta run. Heading to Atlanta. Hope to sketch there. I am Ready!!

Margaret xoxox

Day 965 141 People in one Week

March 12, 2017March 12, 2017Leave a comment

Well I made it. Added another another 14 people yesterday when we were at the Standardbred Harness Races yesterday at McGhees Mile Track in Aiken. Starting from the last one draw to the first one drawn at the end of the post. I am going to paint some of these today I think since this is day 7.

Flipagram of the sketches.

All of them are drawn with my Lamy safari in Lexington Grey ink in my Stillman and Birn Alpha. Most were drawn from real life except the 20 or so talking heads.

In the window at the Mexican cafe on Laurens street in Aiken.

At the races. I was afraid to shop out my sketchbook after I did this because a certain bird was busy telling people what a great sketched I was.

Off MSNBC Friday nite. ditto that

Hanging the new Augusta State University logo sign at the Dental School Friday. These guys were working hard. Two guys only but they hardly stood still pushing and shoving the big scaffold that would take them to the top of the four story building.

More of the two guys. One worked continually nonstop the whole hour or so I was drawing. Pulling and pushin. And backing the truck up.

Contour drawings because they were moving fast. The angles they got on their bodies were as good as any dancer or yoga as they pushed and shoved the heavy scaffold.

In line waiting at chic fil a and the dental school check in.

Too right luck at chic Fil a and a guy waiting to see the dentist at the college.

A three generation family at chic Fil a

More tv talking heads.

My heroine Rachel Maddow. So brilliant.

Talking heads MSNBC especially like the Bernie Head.

Lawrence O’Donnell taking heads. Love him too.

Rachel Maddow and her talking heads

Panera sketches Tuesday

Panera Tuesday

Panera Tuesday the rest are at Panera Monday and a few more talking. Heads from MSNBC.

Heads on Morning Joe.

As I said will paint some of these. I love having my own coloring book. Total people. Depends on how you count them. 141 if I count all the contour drawings at the Dental College and in the crowd at the races.

Ttyl

Margaret who has to paint. Xoxoxo

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.