Coming along

March 11, 20235 Comments

Blue Ridge 2’x4’ Acrylic
Like it much belter now. Spent quite a while getting rid of all the green and decided to use artistic license and make it a fall scene. Sky needs work but thats for tomorrow.

Here it is from yesterday. Same sky. Wonder why i liked it better then?! That yellow green had to go.

Used fall color photos from the cabin in Sapphire to color the trees in the painting. My imagination on the mountains and some of my photos. Only have abt 35000 i have taken on my phone. I do delete alot but evidently i need to delete more.

Margaret xoxoxo

Way too yellow!

March 11, 2023March 12, 20232 Comments

An acrylic i am doing for my son. Its 2×4’ so its a big one but as i said too yellow. That said might be an easy fix w a variety of blue transparent washes of acrylic gelInt. U can thin the paint w acrylic medium and wash it with blues. So thats for tomorrow.

Heres the original picture which i think has way too much green in it anyway to make a good painting aka its a boring photo so it will make a boring painting. We shall see.

Margaret now tired from speed painting. Xoxoxo

The New Tictocer

March 9, 2023March 9, 2023Leave a comment

My husband has discovered Tic Toc. Not sure how he did that but there it is. He loves to watch our daughter in laws tic tocs under Lee Lee Lawyer but he watches all kinds of things w amazement. I tend to NOT want to do anymore social media. IG and FB are enough w WordPress. Since i am also his tech support (i used to do Tech Support before i quit working) he gets a little miffed when i have no clue how to do anything on tic toc and tell him google it. Thats what i would do. Bad wife right?!

And a page of scrubbling what was on the table in the den. Really needs a clear up. Both are Uniball pen in a stillman and birn alpha.

Been busy baking vats of chocolate chip cookies today. A double recipe with plenty to give away. I make the toll house recipe on Nestles choc chip bag but use butter. The more expensive the better with Kerry Gold being the tastiest.

Margaret xoxoxox

Animal sketching

February 28, 2023Leave a comment

One of my fav things to do. Stillamn and Birn Alpha w a black uniball micro pen These were done while we streamed Red Squirrel channel on Youtube. Great shots of mostly birds and some Eurasian red squirrels which are just adorable. its considered cat tv. Two of our cats Weenie and Haley love to watch it when its on which is funny. Well at least to us. You know they are trying to decode how to get a BIG bird off our huge tv.

Tonites sunset brought to u by the Savannah River.

Margaret xoxoxox

Court reporter

February 22, 2023February 23, 2023Leave a comment

In my next life i want to be a court reporter. Since we have alot of connections w the low country esp Edisto and Beaufort we have been following the Murdaugh trial. Today he testified which never happens. I could not resist drawing him.

Calling this Better than Alex did with the Sketch Artist

SLED asked him to work with a sketch artist for a portrait of the man who shot him on the Salkahatchee Road. Needless to say his idea of his attacker a man he knew well his Cousin Eddie was grossly inaccurate.

And that finishes off my Stillman and Birn Alpha book. Watercolor pencil. This was done with no pencil sketch like you do w watercolor but just coloring til i got it right.

I have Pumpkin ready to pour. I did her whiskers and wispy hits with a crowquill india ink pen just dipping it in and drawing with it quickly.

And then theres this ballerina Mike and I are virtually meeting up to work on tomorrow.

Supposedly she will look like this if we paint fast enough!! The Jury is out in this one. As in we shall see.

Pumpkin

February 22, 2023Leave a comment

Heres her picture. Shes a torby although some people consider them light tortoise shells. She has orange spots here and there. Sometimes she looks like a pale grey cat. A chameleon cat.

The Escort Cat! Her sister Weenie went for a walk with us today. Little kitty walked over a mile.

And darned if I didn’t miss a fantastic sunset. This is the CSX train bridge crossing the river at the end of the street.

Margaret putting her feet up xoxoxo

Tufted Titmouse Time Again 🙃

February 21, 20232 Comments

This is the one I was trying to do when I did the next one. And he would love to fly to your house!

Will I like this one I was trying to make an energetic drawing and this was NOT it. I saw the first little guy light on the feeder for a second grab a seed and fly away quickly. I grabbed a piece of paper and drew him. Then I spent the next two hours tinkering with him trying not to loose that energy.

I think I got him this time. What do y think?!!

Oh Faber Castell watercolor pencils on Fabriano 140 cp paper.

Margaret xoxoxox

Oops dropped that ball

February 10, 2023February 10, 2023Leave a comment

Forgot to post because my friend Mike and I wore ourselves out Wednesday virtually painting with each other. We did two of the sessions then collapsed for the rest of the week. Lol. We bees delicate.

The Thompson River – gouache, fluid 140# cold press paper

Mike Hernandez did a great job. So succinct. His day job is as Art Director for Dreamworks. How cool a job is that? His style is reminiscent of what I call the golden age of cartoons back in the forties when Disney and others had fabulous artwork in their animations.

Next up. One of these. 🤞🏻🤞🏻🤞🏻 Irena Roman said to try it out in my sketchbook first. So I did. Leaning toward the first one maybe reversed like the bottom one? What do you think. It will be big. At least a half sheet.

Doing it a la swan style. Hmm I forgot it was this way. Well maybe the first one then.

Margaret still tired xoxoxo

Done

February 8, 2023February 8, 2023Leave a comment

Daisies so I tweaked it a bit more today. I have to say Irena Roman gave the best directions. I wrote them down during her session at Watercolorlive 2023 then offline I religiously followed them. The only thing I would do differently is make a bigger one. All that work and it’s only 1/4 sheet of fabriano 300# cold press. Next one at least a half sheet.

Usually pouring you mix the colors on this page. Can’t wait to try Linda Bakers approach but this one you mixed them in a cup, masked the figure and sprayed the sheet with a spray bottle then flooded it with three layers of color.

The masking was endless ruined a brush in the process and took a half an hour of hard running to get off but it’s definitely interesting to play with. Didn’t make a huge mess.

Colors used. Well only five or six. Inanthrodone blue dioxizine purple viridian ultramarine violet and quin gold for the flooding.

Cad yellow aureolin cobalt teal and a few oddball greens for the leaves and details. Thalo blue added to the mix of blues for the jar.

I actually used a 2 and a 4 Isabey kolinski painting these. I don’t know when I last used those brushes. An 8 is small for me!

Margaret xoxoxo who forgot to upload this yesterday. Oops.

@IrenaRoman and @ericrhodes #300fabriano #watercolor #transparentwatercolor #watercolorlive2023 #watercolorartist #watercolorpainting #watercolorsketch #watercolorist #watercolorillustration #watercolordaily #watercolorpaintingartist

Full report

January 26, 2023Leave a comment

On watercolor live 2023 unless I am comatose from the very long day 10 am -9 pm. starting the day off with the great Thomas Schaller who I have long admired.

In the meantime from when I was hanging out with Mario Robinson in Raleigh a couple of years ago. He has a great book and dvd out and has been compared to Andrew Wyeth. Big buddies Wyeth granddaughter Victoria. Recently his art has been sold at Sothebys. Crossing my fingers it goes big. I own the painting that’s on the cover of his dvd.

On the way to and from Raleigh I had to stop at South of the Border. What a great kitschy place to do some urban sketching. Hand print cloth journal I bought at Jerry’s Artarama or was it Cheap Joes. Lovely paper that Mike and I discovered is fluid paper which Charles Reid always recommended. Great sturdy paper that holds up well and is relatively inexpensive. Lamy pen and Faber Castell watercolor pencils on all these drawings.

Mario keeping an eye on his students. The class was at Ali El Bernamis studio. What a great place to work. So much room and foam cushions for our tired feet on the concrete. The hostess w the mostest!

Margaret who I am sure is plumb tahred as they say in the south. Xoxoxox

BYTW did u know that Georgia and South Carolina are two of the five slowest speaking states in the union. since I was born in California I can pick it up if I need to be but those low country people? What is it they are saying is it English?! That said LOVE the low.Country and YES I have been to Hampton where the Murdaugh trial is and we used to have a beach house on Edisto where they did.