Day 958 A relaxing Sunday

March 5, 20172 Comments

Well kind of sort of. Been busy posting about our show and getting it a write up in the local paper. In the meantime here’s a watercolor for you. I have to do it on paper for my friend Monica who is in it.

Monica works at the DuPont Planetarium at USC Aiken also known as the Ruth Patrick Science Center. She leads tours of school kids and gives them talks about the stars.

Follow the Drinking Gourd is the black history month lecture about how slaves used the Drinking Gourd the Big Dipper to find their way north to freedom.

I paint across the parking lot from her at USCAiken Etheridge Center. She invited me over to hear her Drinking Gourd talk. Monica did a dynamite job and I had to draw her. It was almost pitch black by the time I finished.

The sketch sat around while I decided how to draw the star field and the whirlpool galaxy. Never done that before.

I realized I could paint the night sky black and then splatter it with white gouache which worked out great.

I also wanted to make the galaxy bright in the center and fade at the edges. As I painted the sky with a mix of indigo alizarin crimson and hookers green I bled the edges around the galaxy with clear water. I coated it with very watered down Quin gold just to give a glow. Let it dry.

Coated the sky with the indigo mix again and bled the edges again. Then I added dabs of watery alizarin crimson and marine blue in a circular swirl. Let it dry. Added more of those colors and grey and purples to define the galaxy spin. Trying for that glow.

Finally I splattered the galaxy with white gouache and a very small brush. I should have used a tooth brush. Next time I will.

Highly recommend the Ruth Patrick tour!!

Happy Sunday.

Still in my Jammies relaxing on a chilly Sunday

Margaret xoxoxo

Day 955 Urban Landscape Knoxville

March 2, 20172 Comments

Yesterday we had at lunch Kathe Drew and I had a big discussion on gridding our paintings or not. Drews currently working on a huge painting of downtown Augusta. The view is five floors up and he’s frustrated trying to get all the buildings in to the scene.

I told him about drawing this view of downtown Knoxville last May. I was five stories up too at 7 am drawing away. It took about half an hour to draw this.

Most people looking at it would think that yes that’s exactly what Knoxville looks like but it’s not quite.

No matter how hard I try to plot the drawing of a cityscape like this I usually run out of room by the time I work right or left to the edges.

I end up leaving out buildings. I told Drew that as long as you get the important buildings in the skyline is recognizable. What would the Knoxville skyline look like without the Workds Fair golden globe or the the big basketball from the basketball hall of fame.

Some buildings are musts in the skyline. Other nobody will ever notice they are missing. Nobody has yet to say where’s xyz.

These are actually what I was looking like.

I didn’t even paint it so it looked like this.

I added nice dawn colors. Layering buildings with a base coating of Quin gold letting it dry and then painting it the colors of the buildings. It gives a nice early morning glow to the sketch.

Anyway that’s it for today. Ttyl

Margaret xoxoxox

Day 952 Odds and Ends

February 27, 2017March 1, 2017Leave a comment

A little urbansketching at an ACA rally Saturday in Aiken. These rallies are great opportunities for drawing people.

Drawn on 300# arches cold press with a Noodler Konrad loaded with carbon Platinum Black Ink. Ted Nuttalls transparent colors.

Yeah she’s done. Well at least I think so. Kinda yellow but at least her body’s no longer distorted.

Here she was before I worked on her today.

I shortened her shoulder, added some her butt on the left,thinned down her right thigh and moved the right arm.

And I finished the hand on this one today so Sarah is done. Yeah. I ran out of time before I finished her left hand.

And that’s all folks. Time to head to French class. Ttyl

Margaret xoxoxo

Day 951 Lazy Sunday

February 26, 2017February 26, 2017Leave a comment

Ah NO. have a pile of 7-8 sketches to paint. Oh my!!

In the meantime. MY fav heathy out and about breakfast the bowl at the Inner Bean. Scrambled eggs black beans avocado tomatoes bacon and hmm oh cheese. Yum.

These guys sat next to me at the Bean as I ate my bowl. Deep in conversation over Masters preparations at local golf courses. Never noticed me sitting there sketching them.

Both done with a Lamy EF with Lexington Grey ink in a Stillman and Birn Alpha. Ted Nuttalls transparent colors plus cerulean.

A few of the pics of sketches I need to get painted.

Thanks for stopping by.

Margaret xoxoxo

Day 950!! It’s Saturday

February 25, 2017February 25, 2017Leave a comment

Busy day! Hard to believe in 50 more days I have been blogging daily.

I didn’t quite finish her. Had to leave at second break but I do think she’s interesting. Her thigh is too big and her right elbow is too high. Both easy fixes. And I think the shadow on her jaw is a bit dark. Ear. Oops never got around to adding details. But I can. Of course will I is the question? Maybe?!

She was up high above me on a box and I sat in a low chair with the board just a foot off the floor. Loving the Winsor purple with the Indian yellow. Flesh rigt out of the liquitex tube.

Here she is at first break. She’s 24×36″ and the figure is big. Almost life size.

A fun bit of cartoon homework. Imagining what goes on in a hen house b

The last old house on upper Broad Street downtown in Augusta sitting in the middle of a car lot. Somebody said there were three blocks of these houses that ran from 1300-1500 block of Broad Street. Sad to me they are all gone. The last three are just shabby or derelict like this one. The first floor windows are really boarded up but I didn’t want to do that to it. Upstairs lots of windows are knocked out.

Here’s the sketch. Stillman and Birn alpha drawn with a Lamy EF and Lexington grey ink. Ted Nuttalls transparent palette.

The other two houses a few doors down still lived in though shabby.

Ttyl Margaret xoxoxo

Day 949 OOPPPs

February 25, 2017February 25, 2017Leave a comment

Slated to appear on the local dr Sketchys page as the logo I think it’s the logo. Well will let you know!!

Went to Dirty South Burlesque at Le Chat Noir and almost forgot to blog tonite. OOPPS. On the up side is I have NOT laughed so hard since….well I don’t know when. It was so FUNNY!!
This is the cast at the finale.

And then everyone dances. But I had to take pics.

More of the dancing and

Yes more. Lol

Did I say I have one at least free tickets to this at least three times and never gone. Well as I told Princess Augusta NO MORE!! I will be using them!!!

While we are on the subject of Chat Noir here are the rest of the dr Sketchys sketches.

All but the last one are done with a Pentel brush pen, whisky painters box with Winsor newton watercolors plus Daniel Smith Quin coral in a super aquabee 11×14″ tablet.
She was leaning on an exercise ball which I turned into the Chat Noir cat. Lettering in this one is done with a noodler Konrad.

This was a challenge to turn the exercise ball she sat on into a cat.

Turn her into a margaritas ad. I really wanted to put her on a glass but I didn’t have enough room.

Add a tropical animal. I turned her into Jane because I was tired of drawing her bikini.

We had to draw her three times. Which is all I did. I never did the challenge. Oops.

The End Fini Caput Finished drawn with caran Dache neocolor ii which were sprayed with a mister and allowed to drip.

Gooodnite. Tomorrow’s saturday. You know what that means!!

Ttyl Margaret xoxoxox whose off to bed. Well as soon as the dog comes in.

Day 948 Dr Sketchys part 1

February 23, 2017Leave a comment

Last nite was Dr Sketchys at Chat Noir one of my favorite times of the month. This is one of my favs of the ten or so sketches I did last nite. I did not feel like dealing with her legs which were very heavy so I swathed her in a gossamer white gown and called her Cleopatra complete with a deadly snake.

All sketches done with my Whiskey painter watercolor pallette loaded with Windsor newton WC and one lone Daniel Smith Quin coral and painted in a super aquabee tablet with a Pentel brush pen.

A warm up doodle with my Noodler brush pen and a Noodler Konrad with sepia ink.

2 minute sketch. Pentel brush pen.

2 minute sketch. Pentel brush pen

Five minute sketch. Pentel brush pen. Tombow marker.

Stay tuned for part two tomorrow.

Margaret off to Aiken for an art show opening. Xoxoxo

Day 947 Is it done?!!Ponce City

February 23, 2017February 23, 2017Leave a comment

Glad to update this with YES ITS DONE! Signed sealed ya wanna buy it?

After over a month of painting on this large canvas Looking Down-Ponce City Market. I can only hope!! It’s acrylic 3’x4′ BIG!!

And here’s the progress on it.

Not much else to say but IS IT DONE?!

Ttyl

Margaret at the vets with Zoe whose saying is it done is it done too. Xoxoxo

Day 945 Fat Mans!

February 20, 2017February 23, 2017Leave a comment

A long time Augusta institution. At Christmas everybody went to Fat Mans Forest to oh and ah over the animated Christmas decorations or to find the perfect tree or ornament or ride the Christmas train. Or do all of the above everybody on town went. But the owner Mr Usry died. The kids wanted to sell the land and move it which never happened. Thus Fatmans Forest passed into history. Fat Mans was also the go to place for Halloween decorations and a house of horrors.

However the younger Usrys Fat Mans Cafe is still going strong turning out “soul good” food at their Enterprise Mill location. Excellent squash casserole. Vintage Oolie on Broad bought out the costume part of the business.

I could not resist drawing their catering trucks as the gleamed in the noon day sun after our luncheon Thursday.

Painted in an S&B alpha with Ted Nuttalls transparent colors. Drawn w a Lamy EF pen with Lexington gray ink.
Ttyl! Time to Parker vous Francais!

Margaret xoxoxo

#fatmans #EnterpriseMill

Day 944 Enterprise Mill

February 19, 2017February 23, 20173 Comments

This sketch took the longest of all the sketches I did Thursday. Large double spread in my Stillman and birn alpha. Drawn with my Lamy ef.

The building is vermilion or scarlet lake mixed with a bit of burnt umber or Piemonte. I also used Piemonte w ultramarine for shadows and windows. Makes a nice purpley blue dark.

I drew the last old house on Upper Broad Street yesterday. It’s a sad mess. Probably a tear down because nobody wants to live in the middle of a used weedy car lot.

Windows open rotted away and boarded up. But you can buy a Prius from the front porch! It must have been quite a house in its younger days 100 years ago. I wonder who lived there.