A lazy Saturday

April 16, 2023Leave a comment

Drawing at the Farmers Market this am. Thought I would get it colored BUT couldn’t find my caran dache neocolor ii.

It was a gorgeous morning blue sky temps hit 80. Perfection for a spring day in the south.

I was hoping to sketch when we got to Aiken and I schlepped the big sketchbook and the neocolor now found in my purse along with an assortment of pens and pencils. Well I am now ready for the next happening l, right?

I did manage to get some nice riders and horse when we rode thru the horse district. Maybe a future painting?!

Then it was outside watching the river float by hoping for an osprey pic which was not to be. A perfect day all in all. Hope yours was as lovely. Margaret xoxoxox

Painting number 32! Key West bikes 2

April 2, 2023April 2, 2023Leave a comment

MIA working on this half sheet. kilimanjaro 300#
Top right still needs work but was too tired last nite to finish it. Worked til abt 11:15 pm. 😵😵😵

***Ready to rock and roll.***
Am enamored w pouring. BUT i forgot that Baker said NOT to use colors that were not marked transparent. 5 am i woke up thinking abt that. Slapped myself for Forgetting that. She said she always checks the tubes to see if it says its a transparent watercolor or not but i forgot.

***First pour***. Cobalt Indigo and Raw Sienna
The colors I used cad yellow and cad red. Never transparent. What was i thinking. Yellow ochre and raw sienna same thing. Duh. Only my blues were-indigo and cobalt. Not sure abt Antwerp.

***Then i added the cad red.*** 😵 Duh. Thank goodness my paint was tea consistency aka very thin.

***Pour 2 dry***. This took along time and i got some blooms along the edges. The paper had so much water on it it was limp.

***POUR 3***. Remember i have to add more masking every pour. Hard to decide where to put it. Used all my paint cups now.

***My cups of watery paint***. A tip from Irena Roman. Wrote the names on the cups!! Muffin pans work great to keep it stable. Messy business pouring. Cant imagine spilling these esp on the dining room table where i paint. 😵‍💫😵‍💫😵‍💫

***Pour 3 dry***. Removing masking. What an onerous task that is. Peeled masking everywhere on the table.

***Now I have to paint.*** Really like that cheap joes golden taklon brush. Makes great straight lines. Paint and mist the edges to soften.

Pic i took of a red bellied sap sucker today. such pretty birds!!

Margaret abt ready to go back to hed and its only 6:30. Madly doing spring cleaning too. as if i am jot doing enough!😵‍💫. Xoxoxox

Painting number?! Key West bikes 2

April 2, 20234 Comments

Margaret abt ready to go back to hed and its only 6:30. Madly doing spring cleaning too. as if i am jot doing enough!😵‍💫. Xoxoxox

31?! Key West Cycles

March 30, 2023March 30, 20232 Comments

Pouring after watching a Linda Baker segment on Watercolor live 2023 which has been worth every penny. You really should consider this. Finally finishing it up. We got a 60 day extension which cost $200 more. Cheaper to sign up now than wait. Price increases. So glad Mike talked me into it. U can hit the pause button and do it at your leisure. If u do tell them i sent you. I don’t get a thing i just want them to know i am doing it. Truly a bargain at $297 right now.

I think i love pouring. May make a bigger one of these tomorrow. This is a quarter sheet of fabriano cp artistico. 300#.

The photo i took in Key West. Sucker for bike pics. I have abt 255 of them.

First pour. Cobalt Yellow ochre raw sienna

Pouring indigo. I may have gotten carried away. You add masking before each pour.

I also added a grinder of salt all over it. The small bottle is soap to wash out the masking in the brush. It survived.

Oops getting a little too dark aka too much indigo

The masking off was not a pretty site. I guess i should have take A pic anyway. Adding paint w a brush to get rid of the hard edges left by the masking.

Quitting for now. This is the color it is now. No idea why my iPad pro takes accurate color like this and my iPad phone 13 does not. The phone is so much newer than the ipad. Maybe two years newer?!

Now to do a bigger one. But first the grocery store

Also made a jar Martha Stewarts sweet red onion pickles today. They are pretty even if they don’t taste good aren’t they? will have to try them shortly.

Margaret worn out exhausted w an unmade bed. Sigh. Xoxoxo

Remember this one?

March 25, 2023March 26, 2023Leave a comment

Hong Kong! Decided i liked it. My husband thinks its so much more interesting than the plein air tree. As he said what can you say its a tree?!

The beginning. To say i hit the pause button alot with this one would be an understatement. starting off soaking the paper w water which caused problems as in running and bleeding. 😵‍💫 Oddest looking first wash i have ever done. Mostly using flats and a fan brush. Mike dont behave like Jansen Chows did. Hmmm .

Adding some darks well i think we did. 🤔

Lots more color added. What are those things anyway??

When i stopped for the night. Well i couldn’t. Messed some more.

And now my husband likes it. Go figure. I did use alot of gouache in every color i had. The whole large light blue block on the middle is gouache.

A little bird flew by

February 19, 2023Leave a comment

A tufted Titmouse that was out back this am eating before the cats showed up for breakfast. The cats don’t know it but I let them go hungry while the birds are. He’s not quite what I meant to do but at least it’s done.

This was how it started out and I didn’t like it. So I decided to darken the background. Still don’t like it. Then I got the razor knife out and started scratching it. Well it was as good as it was going to get. Titmice don’t hold still long enough to let you draw them. One seed and they are off.

Should have been finishing the flamingo but was having an unmotivated Saturday. 🙃🙃🙃

My baked mushrooms were delicious and so easy to make. Clean the big mushrooms. Bake them at 375 for 20-25 min. Slap a square or two of cheese on top and let it melt. Yummy. You can microwave them too but I like them baked better.

Margaret whose sleepy now. Xoxoxo

Drawing the lovely Crystall.

January 18, 2023January 20, 20236 Comments

Chrystall as a fairy. You have to love her as a model. You never know what she will wear or if she will wear anything. She designs and makes all of her awesome costumes and also does fire batons as well as other performing. You can follow her adventures at crystallinecreative on instagram

These are both gesture sketches with a pentel ink pen drawn quickly. Then painted. This one was probably ten minutes The first one was a longer pose. Chrystal posed for us in a Zoom session. Lots of fairy poses. Best $10 I have spent recently.

My favorite type of sketchbook when I am doing live model drawing. Lotsa sheets. Loves watercolor and ink plus it flattens out mostly when it dries. I have it in every shape and size they make. I usually use the two biggest sizes for life modeling thru zoom or Dr Sketchys. Great for all those gesture poses.

This is one I use for everyday things when I don’t have my other fav Stillman and Birn handy.

Margaret xoxoxox

Been drawing

May 25, 2022May 25, 2022Leave a comment

In my small Stillman and Birn alpha w a Office Depot mechanical pencil.

The best of the lot. My sweetie Hunt. 4×6”

I measured his head when I drew this one by holding up my 2B mechanical pencil. His head is very long and narrow. Kind of like the rest of him. He’s 6’3”. Lots of whiskers. Mustache and goatee. Going grey but still has a lot of pepper in his once black hair.

Next up a watercolor or two of him sooner or later.

This is the First go round and his face was not long enough. Made him look squat. Vaguely looks like him but the mouth is his mouth. Oops. Easier to redraw than erase all that pencil. 4×6”

And Sam I Am a Siamese stray on the back porch. Sweetest of all the back porch cats. once he’s fixed he’s looking good for a house kitty. He wants in every time I feed him or pet him. Another man of good taste.

Pepes

May 24, 2022Leave a comment

Oldest eating establishment in Key West is their Moniker.

Margaret xoxoxox who needs to do a whole series of Key West quirky places.

Across from the Key West Bight.

This place serves the most awesome coconut pie you will ever eat. I ran across this sketch when I was looking for photos of Chrystalline creative in my superaquabee sketchbook and really like it a lot so thought I should publish it.

Pepe’s Coconut Cream Pie

Crust:

1 1/2 C Graham Crumbs

1/4 C Sugar

6 T Butter melted

Stir all together and press in 9-10″ pie pan

Filling

3 Egg Yolks

2 t Coconut Extract

1/2 C Sugar

3 Heaping T cornstarch

3 C Half and Half

1 C Flaked and Sweetened Coconut

1/2 C Heavy Cream

mix yolks and extract, set aside.

Combine sugar, cornstarch , half and half in heavy sauce pan over medium high. Bring to boil stirring constantly.

The recipe for Pepes Coconut Pie.

Pepe’s Coconut Cream Pie

Crust:

1 1/2 C Graham Crumbs

1/4 C Sugar

6 T Butter melted

Stir all together and press in 9-10″ pie pan

Filling

3 Egg Yolks

2 t Coconut Extract

1/2 C Sugar

3 Heaping T cornstarch

3 C Half and Half

1 C Flaked and Sweetened Coconut

1/2 C Heavy Cream

mix yolks and extract, set aside.

Combine sugar, cornstarch , half and half in heavy sauce pan over medium high. Bring to boil stirring constantly.

When it starts to bubble and 1/2 C of mixture to eggs very slowly to temper them. Return all to the saucepan whisking constantly over medium low. When the sauce is thick and coats the back of a spoon remove from heat and stir in coconut. Cool to room temperature and turn into the crust. Chill for 2 hours. Whip cream (1/2 T powdered sugar) and spoon over pie.

If you love coconut pie this is the one to eat. We passed up pumpkin pie at Thanksgiving for this one when I made it. And I make a great pumpkin pie too.

Online Live modeling session

May 23, 2022May 26, 2022Leave a comment

Crystal was awesome. She’s a rock steady model holding the pose for long periods of time without moving and her poses are always fascinating. Her costumes which she makes are always phenomenal.

We started off with five minute poses then two minute and up to forty for the long fairy pose.
You can follow her at @crystallinecreative on Instagram.

*10 min pose with pentel ink brush pen, watercolor in my favorite super aquabee sketchbook.*

Crystal is a super model. Been drawing her off and on for a while since going to the Atlanta Artist Center where she also models. Now She’s doing online modeling sessions via Townsend Atelier about once a month on Monday at 5 EST. You can contact them at mailto:peggy@townsendatelier.com. They have a phenomenal range of classes.

Well chop her head off. Another two minute. Love the body but that neck is toooooo long. Lol.

10 min u really should fix her left eye. Will eye. Probably not. Lol.

Another ten minute but I went back in later and touched it up. Looked lame because it was done in pencil and needed more paint.

The Fairy is painted on a half sheet of Fabriano hot press. 15×22. It was nearby when I decided the long pose was too interesting for my smaller aquabee. Drawn in pencil painted with my Mary Whyte colors palette.

*Screenshot from the online zoom session.*

One advantage to doing a zoom session is that you can capture her pose with a screen shot.

Handy if you want to tweak your sketches. Doesn’t matter if there’s not enough detail because you really don’t want to get bogged down with the details.

The camera was down near her feet so there was a lot of odd foreshortening. She really doesn’t have big feet except from that angle. Lol.

Margaret who needs to get busy xoxoxo