Mom’s Fav – The cello

May 2, 2023May 2, 2023Leave a comment

Day 15/30 portrait challenge #jyportraitchallenge Spent too long drawing the portrait around a bit. Mostly quin gold@and quin pink with cobalt turquoise and burnt sienna for the face. Hair is raw sienna, raw umber, and burnt sienna.
Mgraham watercolor may easily rewets but think its time to reload my palette. Thanks @judithyaws and @jaksics_judit_reka

The lovely photo. Mom played second chair violin in high school. She kept a cello for years but never learned to play it. I love cello music esp YoYo Ma buy have never aspired to play one.

The sketch took longer than the paintjng. Took a while for her to show up for a visit as i call it when i finally get the drawing right.

The face and hair. Really meant to do the background before i got this far. Oh well. The background of cobalt and Maroon Perlene which i cut in with my big cats paw brush. I also brushed it over and into the hair which i think lost the edges. The light streaks of hair where done with my fingernail. Something i am not fond of doinf because it makes your nails a mess but does make great hair.

Margaret who kinda wishes she has done this on watercolor paper. Oh well. Hmm i may go back and make the background a dark chocolate brown ultramarine. It would make her pop and the cello blend in.

Loosing edges

May 1, 2023Leave a comment

Day 14/30 portrait challenge #jyportraitchallenge Clueless as to why I posted this painting on ig earlier taken w my iPhone instead of my ipad pro. Duh is all i can say. She is so much brighter than the pic my phone took. Spent about a half an hour twitching the portrait around a bit. Lifting the green shadows on the right arm. Adding a few more dark blue greens and finding her chin again. Wonder where it went?! 8×10” Stillmanandbirn alpha. Mgraham watercolor easily rewets. Thanks @judithyaws and Amanda @queenamanda25

This is the iphone photo. Always looks greyish to me. So i decided to take an iPad pro photo to post on ig. Sat on the sofa and looked at all kinds of small problems. I wanted to loose the edges of her hair and paint the background first. i used my cats paw brush which is very big esp for this small picture. But as Mary Whyte says use the biggest brish you can. Got me into trouble when i brushed over her arm with it. Then some of the green ran down the same arm and across the shoulder shadow. Lost any edge which isnt bad in the shadows but too much here.

The twitching began. Cleaning up those green shadows. Took another photo.

Still not happy. Worked on that green shadow some more but finally gave up. It would not lift. Sap green. Not suppose to stain. Oh well. . And added some blue and green in the background aka negative painting.

Anyway. Color me tahred but still wondering what Judith will post for us to do tomorrow. Margaret xoxoxox

Busy busy

April 30, 2023Leave a comment

Lovely sweet photo for Day 13. Thanks #jyportraitchallenge and @ latestqq Stillman and birn 8×10” Alpha always a nice size to draw on. Not too big and not too small. Really got loose with her clothing and finally her hair with my Cheap Joes scroobys loose goose saber brush.

Pencil sketch spent too long fiddling with it. Abt an hour

What can i say love the shot of turquoise. Used alot of indian Lake on her. Or is it Indian yellow mixed w quin pink for her skin. Never can remember.

Then i decided to give her another try just painting. No drawing. i quit shortly as too annoying to deal with.

I couldn’t resist painting this awesome photo of Jessie @rextion_arts instead. Somehow i missed there were two options yesterday.

Not perfect. The face is a little fatter but alot looser which i think is due to the lack of a drawing. Anyway like this one alot despite its imperfections.

Margaret ready for bed. G’Nite xoxoxox

Tahred. Busy busy day

April 29, 2023April 29, 2023Leave a comment

And tomorrow is the same. 12 Days done. Woke up and checked my phone to see Judiths post at 1:45am. And there he was. Day 12 #jyportaitchallenge. And still going strong.

Jesse! Thanks @judithyaws and Jesse @rejextion_arts Love the hat, the scarf and the tude. A fun look. So hard to draw. He looks like i got carried away with the beard on the left! And I think he’s slightly crosseyed the way i painted him. Oh well.

Working on getting looser which isn’t easy and loosing edges. Stillman and Birn alpha which usually loves watercolor but think my hands were greasy so it repelled it somewhat. Note to self NO hand lotion when you use watercolor. Mgraham watercolor which always rewets was not happy with the bits of grease. Or was it hand lotion?!😵🧐

The sketch. Was a pain. Took ant half an hour. The angle on his head was difficult to do. Then i painted for abt an hour and a half more.

Something to remember from my dear friend Ruth Pearl on fb and britpeach on Instagram.

Todays #jyportraitchallenge The longer you spend the more details and alterations you need to make but at some point you have to call it a day. Thank you Jesse @rejextion_arts – and yes, his neck really is that long!

What??! Two. Probably would have picked this one darn it.

Mary Whyte palette colors Stillman and Birn Alpha.

Margaret xoxoxo

Triple threat I mean Treat hmmm…

April 27, 20232 Comments

Three people instead of just one. 😵😵😵😳 This watercolor painting was done without a pencil drawing.

First i eyeballed the placement of the faces on the page and painted approximateshapes with cad yellow and quin rose.

Then i started painting the left guy. Probably went to far but never done the no pencil technique this small or on three people in one painting. Usually do it on a half sheet. Cobalt, UB and browns

So i got too detailed and moved onto the other two. Should have listened to Charles Reid who said never paint a face smaller than 4”

Doesn’t look bad but does not look lie the guy in the photo. Trying to loose some edges. Should have left the teeth like this one. Ez fix.

Hmm i know this is different but clueless how.

Still not happy. Left face is off. The woman is a bit too fat. Oh well.

Really don’t like his teeth. Think i need to lighten the lines a bit. I also fattened his face a bit. Anyway took way too long. But good to be doing a wc portrait again. Stillman and birn alpha w the Mary Whyte palette colors.

Margaret who painted too long on this 8×10 xoxoxoxo

Woodpeckers

April 20, 2023Leave a comment

However I did get some great osprey pics on out boat ride this evening. They are nesting on the railroad trestle at the end of our neighborhood.

The osprey did not like the boat bear their nest. You could hear them shrieking til we drove off.

There were three nests on the trestle but only seems to be one active now.

All in all a nice river ride. More tomorrow. Margaret xoxoxox

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

A history with birds

April 14, 2023April 14, 2023Leave a comment

Worked on the goose some more. Funny thought about my bird drawing. I remember in third or fourth grade making bird books. Probably traced the birds and copied the descriptions. All in pencil because god forbid the kid had an ink pen. She might be lethal then. Evidently the bird affair is a long standing one with me.

Funny the things you forget til something jogs your memory. The jog was an old paper my brother wrote about the brown thrasher the Ga state bird. It was in a bag of papers my mom saved for him that I need to mail to him along with his less than stellar report cards. His daughters will enjoy those. I for one would have loved to see my dads.

The goose before i worked on jt some more. You know i think the neck is too short. Odd. I watch geese alot. I should know better. This was not deliberate like the neck of the heron. Hmm the things u dont notice when u r in the heat of drawing.

Drawings are all done w watercolor, Caran dache neocolor ii,some prismacolor art sticks in an 8×10” stillman and birn alpha. NO PENCIL drawings aka direct painting. All done with a watercolor base first.

I have alot of trouble telling the difference in these two birds when they come to the feeder. So do others. Alot of people identify them both as flickers. Like my mom a bird nut if there ever was one. These two birds sure did get cute. Except for the ink smear. No idea where that came from.

In my dreams they would all be as good as this crow. Something to strive for right?!!

Anyway enough birdie thoughts. Nite note Margaret xoxoxo

Sandi Hester and some birds

April 13, 2023April 13, 20234 Comments

I ran across Sandi, a terribly charming Nashville TN artist, when I subscribed to her substack An Artists life a few weeks ago. I am kind of hooked on her entertaining youtube feed. She talks about everything from art supplies to art books and how to lake the most art possible. I could spend entirely too much money with her helpful tips. Oops. Been trying to swear off art supply buying.

Having fun playing in my big 8×10” Stillman and Birn alpha. Watched a youtube by Sandi Hester who said leave everything set up so all you have to do is sit down and draw something. So I did. Something i had been meaning to do anyway. She suggested drawing birds from a book but i have so many pics on my phone I don’t need to. Somehow I discovered that they are NOT Canadian Geese but actually Canada Geese. Too late. I had already written the name. Sigh.

Anyway this is done with all that leftover watercolor from pouring and Caran dache neocolor II. Oh and Moltow paint markers. A true mixed media bird.

Was just thinking of the diff in these two birds and WHY did i like the heron best? I drew the goose with caran dache and sprayed it to wet the color. I used the watercolor in the background with a big Chinese brush wet on wet with cobalt and indigo. Smack smack and it was done.

The egret was painted first with the cad yellow light indigo and raw sienna. The water is cobalt. I let the bird dry and then drew on it with the neocolor ii. Too much fun. The grass is neocolor ii and prismacolor art sticks. The water. I got the tipples by folding a kleenex w a knife edge dragging it croswise in the paint. It lifts it and leaves a wave. Hmm or is it a reflection?!!🧐🧐🧐