Day 1095 The Flowers

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Flowers 20×30 Strathmore Bristol paper

Flowers Riechison 300 lb cold press After my friends loathed my sweet little Chinese doll I decided to have another go at this bouquet on some Strathmore Bristol paper. Since it acts like hot press it lets the colors slide around on it and mingle like no other paper I have tried.

That paper meant aLOT of fast painting. Smallest brush I used was a 10 Da Vinci Kolinsky Sable.

Despite that you will get runny drips which I love. It also meant using a lot of paint.

I had to leave it at this point. I will say it was easier to continue the background without hard edges like would have happened with hot press.

I got this far by about 8 pm and decided to quit because I couldn't find my masking fluid.

There was no way I was going to paint this saki pot without it. I finally remembered that I had put it up when I cleaned out my paint box before going to Charles Reid's class. He NEVER uses masking fluid.

Here it is ready paint. I used the tip of a paint brush handle to do this. Made great dots.

Just as I was finishing I got a smear of Quin gold which is staining even if you are using cold press paper let alone this type of paper. Eeekkk! Ruined?! I thought.

My friend Mike said NOPE looked awesome. Leave it alone.

So it's done.

Want to buy it?!

Colors used : Ted Nuttalls transparent palette plus cerulean and cobalt.

Margaret xoxoxo who went sketching at Starbucks today and had to resort to a pencil. FOUR pens all out of ink.

Day 1094 A Rewind

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As I am prone to do with a painting I hang them or prop them on the fireplace so I can study them while I watch tv at nite in the den.

Ilaina had problems. For some reason I had made her chin too long her forehead too high. And that awful purple blob on her chin.

I gotut my winsor newton synthetic badger flat and started lifting that purple blotting it with dollar store Kleenex. I lifted some Highlights with it too on her chin and reflected light under her chin.
Lifting and blotting. Always finding the brush with clean water.

Lowered that hairline. Lifted 1/2" of the brown background along her neck. After letting it dry I added a quick brush of the brown cerulean mix lightly where I had lifted it.

I hung her back up and Realized that I needed to lower her right shoulder. I lifted a bit of the flesh color to see if it worked. Blotted it with tissue. Let it dry. Added about a 1/2" of background to lower it.

I also trimmed down her hip and right leg a bit brushing it with some of the burnt umber cerulean mix with a two inch flat.
I think she's done but you know how we women are we want to look our best. She might be a little too square still. But that's for another day.

Time to finish this one up.

Margaret tying up looses ends today. Hugs xoxoxo

Day 1093 Its Saturday

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Ilaina, painted on Strathmore Bristol, drawn wa 6B pencil.  I must be rusty not having gone for a couple of weeks. Actually was nervous today. Too much caffeine?! I am never nervous at lifemodeling but I was today.  

I actually like it but it doesn’t look quite like our lovely Ilaina who is such a great model. She does a lot of yoga is very muscular and toned and poses steadily as a rock. 

I lifted color here and there and added to the background. She’d had a purple blob on her chin. And the shadow under her eye on the one on her nose has hard edges. 

Eek what’s with the purple blob?!!  

I love the background done w a 2″ flat cheap Joes Golden Fleece and a spray bottle and a little dabbing.  

First break forty minutes.  Colors used vermilion yellow ochre cobalt ultra violet mineral violet.  Background and hair burnt sienna and cerulean and burnt umber. 

Drew Murphys acrylic 


AC oil


Terry oil

Rachel Miller watercolor. 

Coach charcoal 

Coach pastel 


Al large oil. 

May torture mine some more. Haven’t decided. 

Ttyl

Margaret 

Day 1092 WIP

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Thought this would be done by now. What was I thinking painting a 20×30?! I should have switched to a larger brush-maybe my 16 kolinsky especially for the background.  

 

I put in too much background again. Even though I used cobalt instead of cerulean it’s the same tone as the old mason jug which is why the mason jar gets lost. 

So will have to darken either the background or the jar. 

 I will say I like it much better this am than I did last nite. Sometimes things look better the next day. Last nite I thought it was pretty bad. But I think it’s fixable 

This little saki pot made me quit. Looked high and lo for my masking fluid. Only found a dried out bottle. Noway was I paintingnit without masking those dots. 

Like the painting looked better this am I realized I had unloaded my paint box when I took Charles Reid’s class (he never uses masking) and left it in my big box that was Dads. Sure enough it was there. 

So how did I do all those dots?! The end of a cheap model paint brush dipped in. If the dots were smaller I would have used a BBQ skewer or a toothpick. I also tried to make those farther away smaller and keep them lined up and in concentric circles. 😱

Loving the start on the flowers. 

Laid in background in a hurry. Should have been thinking less is more. 

The Strathmore Bristol makes those flowers run together and look positively delicious. It’s swirls on the surface similar to yupo. Hmm maybe I should try yupo next?!  


So far. It needs something to the left of the hot sauce. Maybe the trim on the bridge cloth its sitting on!? Maybe more fruit?! 

It will tell me sometimes soon. In the meantime stay tuned. Ted Nuttalls transparent colors plus cerulean and Andrews Turquoise. 

Ttyl Margaret xoxoxo

Day 1091 A definite HMM 

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Half sheet on Richeson 300# cold press 15×20. Everybody hates my antique Kowloon doll in the painting so I tried to knock him back by loosing my whites on him and making him darker with ultramarine. I also washed his head with Quin burnt sienna and cerulean.  I did the same to the background to make the light flowers pop more. 

I also added a bunch of blobby bits a la Fealin Lin to it to define the flowers more. Like it better now but still don’t know if it’s done. 

One friend thought my little guy was creepy. Lol. He’s actually a mandarin dressed in a black Silk jacket and beautiful blue silk pants w touches of bright saffron yellow which have faded over the years. 

Last nite it looked like this. I actually liked the bottom half. I just didn’t like the way the flowers were lost in the background. 

I think it’s because the values were too close. When I converted it to gray scale in iPhoto not much difference in tone. Which is why I darkened the background. 

The sketch. Bytw this was painted upright on an easel. 

Having another go without the doll on Strathmore Bristol board which is like hot press watercolor  paper but even slicker making  the colors slide around on it. This one is 20×30. Why not make my screw ups bigger?! 🤗

Ttyl Margaret xoxoxo

Day 1090 Zoe with a Z

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She’s been glued to me since I got home. Haven’t drawn her in a while. I fixed that. 

She’s painted w only four colors. Quin burnt sienna cerulean Andrews turquoise and thalo blue. 

I guess this is my take on Alex Powers. Maybe I should write more in the background. Maybe not. 

The background was quickly brushed on with a 1″ flat handled Cheap Joes Golden Fleece. The whole
Painting was probably done in ten minutes. Very immediate quick painting. 

Zoe with a Z #jrt #jrtsofinstagram #jackrussell #jackrussellterrier #watercolor #ink #strathmore #aquarelle #dogsofinstgram #dailydrawing #sketch 

Ttyl. Time to play bridge. Rather stay home and paint. 

Margaret

 Oxoxox

Day 1089 Henry’s Artaganza Birthday

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I was in charge of the Sculpey clay table. Of course I ended up making lots of sculpey animals. Henry and I had been reading a dragon book so I made him a couple of dragons. Here’s the big one with his tail propped up for baking. 

I taught them to make dogs and bunnies and elephants and snakes. 

The snakes made out of leftovers were highly popular because they were easy to do. 

Sculpey scraps are too expensive to toss out so we picked up all the scraps and made logs, coiled them up and cut a mouth with a plastic knife. Add a tongue. Voila a snake.  

On the right are a few stray bracelets made the same way. Wish I had thought of them sooner. 

Ok here’s Henry the birthday boy in the piñata line. I have never seen so many kids line up obediently to break a piñata!  

Art stations on go. Line strung on fence for paintings. Lots of markers and chalk. 

And the required bouncy house.  The kids had too much fun. A lot of hard work. It was definitely a hit!! Try it. You might like it.  

Margaret xoxoxo 

Day 1088 A recap

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Thought you might like to see the order of the sketchbook so far. Still at least one more sketch to paint which will go here in the order. Painted on Kilimanjaro with Ted Nuttalls Transparent colors or Charles Reid Palette. Pen Lamy Safari loaded with Noodler Black. 

Seemed like and especially good idea to me 

Since the upstairs AC was dripping water thru the ceiling  and it’s turned off. 

So I “slept” on the den sofa 

But mostly tossed and turned 

Getting just a few hours of sleep. 

AC fixed. Nap time now. Enjoy. Margaret xoxoxox worn out. 

Day 1087 Sweetwater Fly Fishing Camp

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The Cabin sits on the Thompson River one of the best wild  trout rivers in North Carolina and it’s one of the few places there is access to it.  The property is surrounded by Nantahala National Forrest so the only access to the Thompson at the fish camp. 

The rhidodendrons were in full bloom last week as was the wild flower meadow. Gorgeous setting.  The shed is a picnic shed with adirondack chairs and a fire pit over looking the river. 

Ttyl Margaret heading home today xoxoxo I mean we have to watch GOT tonite right?! 

Day 1086 Cornucopia in Cashiers

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Our favorite place to eat  Cornucopia in Cashiers. A great big open air barn of a restaurant. Even when you eat inside it’s like eating outside. They do have a large section of umbrellas to eat under too. 

It’s open year round. They roll large clear plastic sheeting down to keep the cold air out. It used to be BYOB so check before you go. Good food. Great service. Kid friendly. 

Painted with Ted Nuttalls transparent palette. 

Henry’s big birthday party today. Art with 20 something five year olds. 

Margaret already exhausted in Decatur. Xoxoxo