30 day portrait challenge

April 21, 20232 Comments

Judith Yaws @judithyaws is doing a 30 day portrait challenge on ig @jyportraitchallenge Shes posting awesome photo references for the challenge. Thought i would join my friend Ruth @britpeach in this challenge.

Day 1 done. 10-15 min drawing. 8×10” stillman and birn alpha w prismacolor artsticks #jyportraitchallenge #portraitchallenge #prismacolorartsticks #stillmanandbirnalpha Thanks @prettywackbeats

Day 2 Done. Did i say i started out three behind?! Hope to be caught up by Saturday. Took too long on this one but she is interesting so fun to do. Hard to maneuver the artsticks which are conte crayon shaped prismacolor pencils no wooden case. No sharp edges on them. Hmmm gotta be a way around that. Thanks!@artzkt83

Cant wait to do this one tomorrow. Love her look.

Using these prismacolor artstixs. Hard to tell where the flat edge is so that causes problems. Wondering of breaking them into pieces would help?! Might just get out my colored pencils and use them when i need a straight exact line like for the eyes or the edge of the face. Now where did i put my colored pencils. Hmmm.

These are done by drawing the large shapes first then the details. I am bad abt starting with the outline and details then filling it in like a color book so trying to change. If Mary Whyte can draw the big shapes first so can i?!

Peaches visiting at our house with our sister in law. Sweet puppy but big feet. You know what that means?!

Margaret xoxoxo

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

Palm tree time

April 18, 2023April 18, 2023Leave a comment

Busy day today. Lost the tall trunk of the palmetto tree darn it. Does that mean a do over?! Always interesting to draw or paint a palm. And a challenge.

The culprits and my antique strathmore 500 mixed media journal. Such lovely paper. only four spreads left in it now.

First go round. Sprinkling water on the neocolor ii Always loose the detail when u wet them. 🧐🧐😵 and I lost more details when I smeared it with a kleenex.

Redrawing details. So u add more color. Always fun to use the Neocolor in spots of water. you never know how it will turn out.

Getting there. Turned the trunk silver. They are NOT brown. 😵‍💫 Added some black and ultramarine to shadow areas to give the greens more definition.

And done. Well til I decide to mess with it some more.

Or these. If they were good enough for Picasso for whom they were invented good enough for me.

Don’t want to stop the tips on these up. Maybe another palm using these?! Winsor Newton watercolor markers.

Inktense blocks. Aways fun but not archival.

Prismacolor art sticks. A BIG fav of mine. Good for scribbling.

And then there is this pile. Not opened yet. The british unison landscape colors are just lovely and soft. Prismacolor pastels a little harder more like conte crayons. And opps another smaller pack of prismacolor artsticks.

The cats know how to end this day. Margaret. Xoxoxox

More inky goodness

April 16, 2023April 16, 2023Leave a comment

The sunflowers continues to go crazy growing like the weed it is. It grew from bird seed. You can surely almost see it grow every day. Wait til i fertilize it.

Catching fish at the dam. A big one today.

What’s for dinner and will be even better tomorrow. oh and healthy.

Coming soon and no its not esp heathy but SOOOO good.

Rain is over but still wet. So pretty out now.

Margaret tahred from doing taxes all afternoon. Done and on their way. Thank goodness. Xoxoxo

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

Some ink

April 15, 2023Leave a comment

Another out my window drawing with my red noodler. I discovered if u drag the black part of the nib on the paper it makes thick lines of ink. OF COURSE I had to try it out all over the tree.

Out the other back window tonite. The whole back of my house is glass.

Margaret ready for bed. Xoxoxo

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?!!🧐🧐🧐