Day 475 – Dr Sketchys

October 29, 20153 Comments

The faun 14x 11″ 20 min Kuretake brush pen, platinum carbon black ink, Winsor Newton watercolor markers, wink of Stella metallic pens.
5 minute sketch her feet were like hoofs!!

Was great last nite. Lots of fun. Great costumes!! Contests, a drink or two and wild music to suit the fast sketching.

After ten 11×14 watercolor sketches I was totally exhausted when I got home last nite. 😳
WIP – Let’s play a game! Trivia anyone?! Noodler Konrad, Lexington grey ink. Winsor newton red watercolor Marker.

Even our hostess Princess Augusta was dressed up. I drew her when I finished some of the other sketches but she’s not done.

Her stockings get black stripes. And her clothes are black.

A teaser. There’s more to this mermaid!! Noodler Konrad, Lexington grey ink. Winsor newton watercolor Markers, wink of Stella glitter pens.
Stay tuned for more faun and the piece de resistance the MERMAIDS!!!

Thanks for reading!!

Margaret xxx

Day 464 the last Best of Augusta #4

October 18, 2015Leave a comment

Another favorite of Bill Karp. Bytw he’s playing at the Cotton Patch in downtown Augusta this Saturday nite.

I really like Bill’s stance in these. Especially the first one.

Hand is a little rough but otherwise I like it. My excuse??

It was 9 pm and I was tired and on a sugar high from all the sweets at Best of Augusta.
Oh what was my favorite food?? T’s out on Mike Padgett Hwy. They kept the hot hush puppies and fried catfish and tartar sauce flowing. And it was perfectly cooked. Everyone else had chicken chicken and more chicken.

The last sketch I did of Bill. Not a perfect hand but I like it.

We left loaded up with cake, cookies and Krispy Kreme donuts. All those sweet treats still sitting on the kitchen counter.

Thanks for reading.

Margaret xxx

Day 463 more Best of Augusta #3

October 17, 2015October 15, 2015Leave a comment

Once i switched to the Pentel brush pen life improved. Or maybe it was Bill Karp singing Frank Sinatra?! His 100th birthday. Frank’s not Bills!!!
This is my favorite sketch of Bill. A good stance. Shoes look good and a good hand. Score!!

I kept trying to draw Bills hand. He waved them around a lot. I. Perpetual motion.

Finally a good hand though I made him a little fat. Oops sorry Bill!!

Thanks for reading.

Margaret xxx

Day 462 more Best of Augusta

October 15, 2015Leave a comment

I forgot to mention that I was sketching with my friend Ruth Pearl again like at arts in the hearts. Always a lot of fun drawing with her.

PHillip Lee and a friend. I can’t remember his name but when they aren’t singing at clubs you will find them singing at Wesley United Methodist Church on Sundays.

This is actually the last sketch I did of Phillip. Done with a Noodler Konrad with carbon Pltinum black ink. Better but not great. Usually I love my Noodler pens but NOT last nite.
Another sketch of Phillip with the Konrad.
This was the one that made me put up the a Noodler Creaper. Oops what was I thinking? A warm up right?!

Thanks for reading.

Margaret xxx

Day 456 -Inktober continues

October 9, 2015October 10, 2015Leave a comment

Sometimes you need a do over. I actually drew this street cafe in Aiken twice. This is number two. I started drawing the horse first with my Lamy vista fine point but it would not draw. Which is why it looks so scratchy. The ink would not flow. I threw in the towel and used the Noodler Konrad loaded with Platinum Carbon black ink.

It was going well till I smeared the eyes of the lady on the right. Oops. I used a white gel pen to try to fix them. I also could have used gouache and painted the scene but have not had time. It might help if I stayed home.

Actually the first drawing. So why else did I redraw?! Terrible eyes. And things in the wrong places. I ran out of room for the horse. Ooops!!

Here is the photo the sketch is based on. That’s it for today from the river where the water is still muddy but behaving staying in its banks. Something to be thankful for in the state or South Carolina- a river that does not flood.

Thanks for reading.
Margaret xxx

Day 454 – inky month

October 7, 2015Leave a comment

Really like this sketch with one blot in my copy book. The guys head. Oooopsss.

I actually rearranged the people at the inner bean to fill up my sketch. I started with the girl on the left and then the guy. The other two ladies were actually sitting behind him. Decided to move them. My guy needed company.

This was drawn Monday in class while I waited for the teacher. I like her though I think both of these will look better when I paint them.

Spent the day hiking all over Aiken looking for pictures to paint. I cajoled Adrian into modeling on the bench downtown. She’s a pretty girl.

And what’s not to love about a pile of hats?!!

And fr the postman NOT to look at the camera and act like he was working.

The parish hall at St Thaddeus where I stood in an ant hill taking photos.

I mean you look UP not down dont u?!

Itch itch itch.

Something about the guy and his truck. Maybe the shadows?! Or all that red yellow and orange?!

Thanks for reading.

Margaret who is ready for a nap xxxx

Day 452 More Coloring Book Painting

October 5, 2015Leave a comment

Still watching the river!! Hoping everyone is staying high and dry during this monsoon.

Inktober 5 – Ladies at the Bean loved this group as they sat and chatted away a rainy morning. Hmm well I think the lady on the left is great but the lady on the right is not bad either. Lol

The left lady had the greatest expressions and was birdlike in the tilt of her head.

Drawn with my Noodler Konrad and Platinum Carbon Black ink.

Jan – love the wet and wet colors in the quilt which is cobalt cerulean Winsor yellow and Quin gold. Skin muddied Quin coral and yellow ochre. Hair burnt sienna and inathradone.

The Yakker or is it The Smoker?! Can u find her cigarette??? How she managed to keep that cigarette in her mouth while she talked like crazy I have NO idea. She was so entertaining to watch. She was larger than life in every way from her huge purse to her ample proportions.

Skin is burnt sienna or Quin sienna. Not sure which. Quin red shirt. Hair is inathradone and burnt umber. Cigarette is white gouache.

Day 451 – A few Paintings

October 4, 2015Leave a comment

Henry – background Quin gold. Sofa Quin sienna and Quin burnt orange – skin Quin coral and French yellow ochre

Got the nasty virus still that half of the people in Augusta seem to have but forced myself to paint some in my coloring book aka my ink sketches.

About Henry sketch. Really like the way the darks make his legs pop and take shape. My favorite of the ones I painted yesterday.

Inktober day 4 – Forgot to take a pic of the black and white sketch. Oops.

Random customer at the inner bean sitting less than three Feet from me. So absorbed in her phone she didn’t notice I was drawing her.

Drawn with Noodler Konrad and carbon platinum black ink.

Hair – burnt sienna Quin burnt orange. Shirt cobalt and inathradone. Skin Quin coral and yellow ochre. Grey is cerulean and burnt sienna.

A reindeer head that was over the cabin fireplace last weekend. Why a reindeer in the western North Carolina mountains?! NO idea! A friend told me he was a moose but we decided he was a reindeer probably from Norway or Sweden. Along way from home.

Quin gold and burnt sienna wall. Same with the splatters. Grey is cerulean and burnt sienna. Piemonite and cobalt used in the shadows.

Out my back door. Glad to report the Savannah is still units riverbanks!!

Thanks for looking!! Back to watching the BIG Flood in nearby Columbia and Charleston and glad Augusta dogged the bullet.

Stay safe and dry my chickadees!

Margaret glued to WIS Columbia. Nope no football here!!

Day 451 – A few Paintings

October 4, 2015Leave a comment

Henry – background Quin gold. Sofa Quin sienna and Quin burnt orange – skin Quin coral and French yellow ochre

Got the nasty virus still that half of the people in Augusta seem to have but forced myself to paint some in my coloring book aka my ink sketches.

About Henry sketch. Really like the way the darks make his legs pop and take shape. My favorite of the ones I painted yesterday.

Inktober day 4 – random customer at the inner bean sitting less than three Feet from me. So absorbed in her phone she didn’t notice I was drawing her.

Drawn with Noodler Konrad and carbon platinum black ink.

Hair – burnt sienna Quin burnt orange. Shirt cobalt and inathradone. Skin Quin coral and yellow ochre. Grey is cerulean and burnt sienna.

Quin gold and burnt sienna wall. Same with the splatters. Grey is cerulean and burnt sienna. Piemonite and cobalt used in the shadows.

Out my back door. Glad to report the Savannah is still units riverbanks!!

Thanks for looking!! Back to watching the BIG Flood in nearby Columbia and Charleston and glad Augusta dogged the bullet.

Stay safe and dry my chickadees!

Margaret glued to WIS Columbia. Nope no football here!!

Day 450 – Inktober

October 3, 2015October 2, 20152 Comments

All I can say is WOW!!!! 450 days of consecutive daily blogging. And I didn’t think I would make thirty.

Jan DAY 1

Noodler Konrad pen w carbon platinum black ink Super Aquabee tablet

Decided to really drove myself nuts and participate in Inktober. Aka posting an inksketch daily for the month of October. I tend to do art everyday anyway so it’s not a big stretch just to do ink sketches all month. Takes the pressure off doing watercolors too lol though I bet I end up painting some of them.

Old Man at Panera Day 2

Carbon platinum pen w carbon platinum black ink Super Aquabee tablet

Not happy with this sketch. This guy was in his eighties. Lots of wrinkles. Eyes set deeply in his head. He was busy giving someone his power of attorney. The things you learn when you sit and quietly draw while people yammer on about their lives on their phones.

If I had taken a photo of him I would have redrawn him. Although the carbon platinum pen has a very fine point I don’t think it gives you the range of lines that the noodlers do. And it was hard to do any fine shading on his small face.

The Smoker Day 3

Noodler Konrad pen w carbon platinum black ink Super Aquabee tablet

What a character! A lot off wild waving of her hands with a cigarette hanging out of her mouth, bright pink shirt orange overdyed black hair. I had to draw her.

Notes about drawing

All my sketches are drawn from live people not pictures unlike my finished big watercolors which are usually drawn from photos. I think it gives the drawings more life. And people that know art can actually tell they are from real life as we say.

Drawings are more successful if I lay down one line and don’t fiddle with it. Original line is usually the best.

Been practicing life drawing almost daily for a year.

Faces often easier to leave them out because that’s usually where I screw up a sketch like the old man. The heads need to be fairly large to draw a good face.

Start drawing from the shoulders and add the head- the attention getters. Then the rest of the body.

Favorite pens :

My star pens are any Noodler pen. I have several and love their flex nib. These were done with my Konrad because my big ahab is leaking. I am going to redo the rings in the ahab. It’s hard to beat because it holds loads of ink and is cheap at $23 at http://www.gouletpens.com

I am also fond of my Lamy Vista fine point and the Carbon Platinum pen.

Brush Pens Pentel and Kuretake. The Kuretake is an elegant Japanese pen. And very reasonable at $20ish.

INK hands down favorite is the ultra waterproof Carbon Platinum Black from Goulet pens. DO NOT BUY IT FROM AMAZON. The ink there looks like goulets but runs like crazy. I use CPB in my Kuretake too. It’s the reason I bought the Kuretake. The Pentel is a great brush but sometimes the ink just is not waterproof.
Other inks I like a lot are the super waterproof De artementis DOCUMENT brown and Noodlers Lexington Grey. Also from Goulet.

I have a Bottle of Noodlers Eelskin which is supposed to be waterproof it isn’t for me.

Smooth paper is a must for ink sketches. Favorites are superaquabee, Stonehenge or other Bristol and strathmore Mixed media 500 and Stillman and Birn Alpha. All but the S&B Alpha do well with watercolor too.

Ok my chickadees that’s enough for today. Hope you haven’t caught this virus half the world seems to have in Augusta Ga.

Thanks for reading.

Margaret xxx