Day 899 – Some More Urban Sketching

January 6, 2017Leave a comment

I pass this cute diner every day twice a day on the way to class at USC Aiken or on Saturdays when I go to life modeling. I am always on a mission to get to Aiken on time or to get home and let the dogs out so I never have stopped to eat there. I hear the pies are great. They decorate it up for fall. Lots of pumpkins corn stalks and roosters. There’s even an old ford truck that gets strung with garlands of fall leaves. I didn’t draw it. I ran out of space.

Here are the brushes I use. The bottom is my fav a sable Da Vinci 10 but the tree and the sky were painted with a Richeson mop. A 12 that I bought at cheap joes two years ago. Very difficult to get any detail with it which is good in tree foliage. The tree branches and trunk were painted by a big goats hair dagger brush that I got at Sam Flaxs a couple of weeks ago. Very long and loopy designed for sign painters. So far I can only get it to paint lines – Straight and curved ones. Practice right?

And I love this sassy rooster sculpture out on the highway in front of the cafe. I need to draw him with a brush pen on a sunny day. School starts Monday so will passing the charming fellow again several times a week. Maybe one day on the way home again soon.

Stillman and birn Mixed media Zeta with a pilot Carbon pen. Really fine point.

Colors used. Quin gold. Cerulean, ultramarine, burnt umber, Quin burnt orange, pyrrole red, cad orange, hematite green, peacock for the sky. And a bit of American Journey Andrews blue a turquoise that I added to my pallet lately.

Homework done. Done. Had to make myself do this one and I love doing calligraphy just not fond of the word hate. Used my pentel brush pen -heavy lines- a Noodler Konrad – fine black lines – and a red tombow for hate. Oh a light Gray tombow for shading in love.
That’s all folks. Got to do my homework for sketchbookskool. Did I say I am behind because I went sketching Mahjong ladies at a local cafe after yoga today when I should have been doing my homework.

A bientot Margaret xoxox

Day 898 The Best Burgers

January 4, 2017Leave a comment

Are at Farmburgers in Decatur. Locally grown food to table restaurant on Ponce de Leon. I drew this with my Lamy Safari during g the end of rush hour.

The guy in the foreground who was maybe a foot from me was so involved in his conversation that he never noticed me drawing him.

The waitress did though. She loved it.

Of course all the people were not where they are at the same time. I dropped in the foreground people adding the background and the people in line with menus after the foreground.

Sometimes I mess up and do it the other way. That NEVER works out well. Oops.

Remember FOREGROUND first then background. Ok?!

Colors used same as yesterday.

Today’s sketchbookskool installment. Draw an electric cord with a brush pen. I used my pentel brush pen.

Not as easy as you would think. Really didn’t like it til I added the grey tombow shadows.

Used a light grey tombow for the cord shadows.

And splattered it with a bit of black watercolor paint.

Both sketches are in Stillman and Birn zetas.

Ttyl playing bridge today. NOT played inmore years than I care to think. Twenty maybe?

Pray for me.

Margaret who better get dressed. xoxox

Day 897 More Urban Sketching or the Best Coffee in Georgia

January 4, 2017January 5, 2017Leave a comment

I drew this the other day when I met Nellie Brannan for coffee at the Dancing Goats in Decatur. It’s Decatur’s favorite coffee shop. Their coffee is sold in Augusta at Augusta’s favorite coffee shop the Inner Bean.

I drew the brave people sitting out on the sidewalk in front of the dancing Goats as they walked thru the scene. There was alot of coming and going.

Colors used cerulean quin gold cad orange cad red hookers green ultramarine blue quin coral and marine blue. Stillman and Birn zeta Lamy Safari Lexington Grey

Sketchbookskool homework. Draw a still life with thick and thin lines. I used a tombow instead of a fine and a thick sharpie.

I really didn’t like the line drawing so I got out a watercolor brush and some water and let the tombow bleed. Then I added some water to the shadows and picked up the grey to splatter it. Like it a lot better now.

Thanks for checking by.

Margaret xoxox

Day 896- Happy New Years Again?!

January 2, 2017Leave a comment

Since it’s a Federal holiday and they even shifted the Rose Bowl Parade to today why not two Happy New Years wishes. I still have more Key West sketches but I finished this Atlanta sketch yesterday so thought I would “change it up” as some of my kids used to say.

I dew this a Friday after I made a quick visit to Sam Flaxs on Peachtree and I really like the way it turned out.

I painted it with my water brushes and my two small travel palettes. One is full of Winsor and Newton colors plus Inathrodone and Quin coral. The other is full of a few leftovers from my old Windsor and Newton travel palette that broke like Thalo blue and green and black plus white gouache and eight various quinacridones from Daniel Smith including the Quin gold.

Stillman and birn zeta with Lamy EF. Lexington Grey Ink.

Not having enough to do I decided to join the sketchbookskool class a drawing a day lead by Veronica Lawlor who teaches I think at Pratt or Columbia in NYC.

The directions were to draw a still life in a continuous line with a fine point sharpie. I couldn’t resist adding shadows oops. And lettering is always irresistible to me.

Since I still have Christmas up I decided to draw my collection of “misfit” snowmen and ladies. When Christmas is over I go to Tuesday Morning or TJ Max and get a deal on these who are usually missing an eye or a nose and I fix them.

Now resisting the urge to paint it.
Ttyl French class soon!!

Margaret enjoying her new year.

Day 894 A Long Winters Nap

January 1, 2017Leave a comment

And a Happy New Year to all if you dear readers. Sherlock starts tonite in PBS. Hurrah. Ok so maybe it’s just my sense of humor but my JRT Zoe has slept this busy day away. I probably should have but instead decided to clean house, unpack, paint, unpack, and knit.

I also started to put the kombucha in the fridge instead of the pantry when one of the bottles decided to explode in the pantry. Sigh. Imagine champagne exploding in the pantry and you have the mess I was dealing with. Dropping off the shelves. Puddles on the floor. I added mopping to the list.

Back to the sketch which is why you came by right?! She was curled up on the back of a Christmas quilt I left thrown on the living room sofa backside up.

Colors used quin burnt orange, quin coral, yellow ochre, burnt sienna, cerulean, cad red and ultramarine blue.

Dinner time. Hungry so ttyl

Margaret

Day 887 Christmas Craziness

January 1, 2017Leave a comment

Has started. Sorry for the short post! Brunch at Blue Heaven is always a treat. Amazing shrimp eggs Benedict with key lime hollandaise. I know sounds terrible but oh so good.

And the atmosphere is just fun and whacky. Breakfast with the chickens lunch in the shade is their motto. Actually I fed the chickens some of mine. They LOVE blueberries.

This is the view from our table. Even during high summer it’s so wonderfully cool under their trees.

Bytw Hemingway used to box on this property. Famous people are never far away in Key West.

Back to my Christmas stocking knitting crisis. Oh wait I have to bake cookies and pack the car and finish wrapping and. Sigh. Helllppp.

Third attempt at stocking is the charm.

This one which I stayed up til one knitting would turn out to be THREE feet long. So this morning I decided to use the old pattern that my mom first used for our stockings in the late 50s. So far so good. Santas about half done. The first attempt was not even a third done and already 11 inches long. Eekk.

Ttyl

Margaret who is oh so busy. Xoxoxo

Winter Watercolor : Five Tips for Sub Zero Painting

January 1, 2017Leave a comment

Citizen Sketcher

Over on USK.org they’re doing an article on winter sketching, and they’ve tapped a few northern correspondents for our top tips on winter sketching. Click on over for the full article.

Inspired by the request from our editor Suhita, I check the weather – and it’s zero centigrade today (Dec 13). which is pretty nice considering the forecast has us in for -16’C this weekend. Therefore – today it is! I grab my go-bag and head out for a quick sketch in the snow.

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Day 893 Buzzards Roost Again

December 31, 2016December 30, 2016Leave a comment

The view from where we ate at Buzzards Roost.
Well usually. Generally we sit waterside with this great view of the marina but it was Sunday brunch time and so busy we couldn’t see it from our table.

HOWEVER I did get up and take a this photo of it. It’s so lovely a picture does not do it justice.

The tropical breezes when fleeing south are always a treat.

I did draw the pelicans which I had not seen in all my previous trips to Buzzards Roost. The pelicans were actually lined up when I drew them but I turned one around. Thought three in a line would be boring.

Hard to see but the pelicans are lined up on the boat rails.

Colors used marine blue, ultramarine blue, indigo, cerulean, Winsor yellow, purple. I seem to use a lot of purple as a dark lately.

Some white gouache because I forgot to leave their reflection in the water. A lot of splattering with soupy ultramarine blue and indigo.

Ttyl

Margaret babysitting the grandkids.

Day 892 – The Rest of the Story Buzzards Roost

December 29, 2016December 30, 2016Leave a comment

As I have said before we start and end our trip thru the Keys at Buzzards Roost. After a 14 hour drive from Atlanta it was dark when we got there this trip. The restaurant sits in the middle of a marina on a canal in Key Largo. This was the view from our table complete with Christmas lights.

Only had 125 miles left to go of Overseas Highway including the seven mile bridge left. Hate doing it at night because the views of the blue green water are spectacular in the day time.

Colors used : quin gold. Seems to be my fav color lately. Under the palms and the lights and on the boats.

Purple and indigo for darks. Cerulean blue and quin burnt orange for greys on the boats. And a bit of burnt umber and ultramarine blue. And white gouache for the Christmas lights.

Anyway Henry and Livia time.

Try Margaret xoxoxo

Day 892 Christmas Memories

December 28, 2016Leave a comment

I am working on a hand bound memory journal book for my grandkids. This is page three. They are painted on sheets of 8×10″ 280# arches. Sooner or later I hope to bind them into a book.
The tree is their tree and the toys their two favorites Santa brought. Of course those are their stockings that I knitted for each of them the year they were born.
Colors -Ted Nuttalls transparent colors plus cerulean. The two colors I can paint without are Daniel Smith Quin gold and cerulean. Well there are a few others but use those a lot.
I did a base coat on the tree of quin gold before painting it with greens. It alway shows as a nice glow.

Lettering is done with a small 6 Isabey sable brush which has a wonderful point.

Busy day. Off to binders to buy more quin gold And cerulean.
Ttyl
Margaret not looking forward to Atlanta traffic but hearing the call of her Binders gift card aka spend spend spend.