A Birdie kind of Day

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Still not finished but clueless what to do to finish him. It will come sooner or later. He kept me awake last night thinking about him. Still no answers but thoughts if a bigger one on wc paper instead of in my journal. Delft Blue Derwent watercolor w Black Inktense and indanthrine, red, yellow and orange faber Castell watercolor pencils.
So while i was thinking about number 1 number two came to visit. Pitt pen , Black Inktense pencil and red, yellow and orange faber Castell watercolor pencils. Guess I need to finish the fence hes standing on.
When i left the neighborhood this am two random geese were crossing the road in front of me. Since i drive a prius they couldn’t hear me and they were oh so pokey i finally beeped at them.
I could head one say to the other RUN BABY RUN! Did u know geese are mated for life pairs?!

Margaret xoxoxo

Finally Done

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Ballerina Aches 140 cp Shes finally done. Had to lift her fingers on her right hand. They were so bad. Still not quite perfect but close enough. Quite and interesting technique since most of the painting is done by lifting paint not painting it.
The fingers were way too short especially her thumb. Really rather amazing you can lift a figure out when u use arches. Not sure how this technique would work on any other paper but arches.

I did run across an interesting website that has a great list on which watercolors can be substituted for other watercolors like quin pink -alizarin or rose madder. I saved a copy. You probably should to.

Gorgeous day today . Spent a while outside looking for the bald eagles which according to the guys were hunting out back. Camera in hand. NO bald eagles.

Margaret xoxoxox

Getting done?

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The Messy Table i have been letting pile up in the den. Lamy EF, watercolor and inktense pencils and tombow markers and Strathmore mixed media sketchbook which used to be my go to sketchbook til i found Stillman and Birn. The paper is much heavier than the S and B alpha i normally use. 140 # cp
Colored
I painted the wc pencil with my winsor newton momarch psuedo mongoose 1/2” flat love the way it painted.

But it still needed something.
Thr tombow greys did the trick i think. And then i cleared the table off.

Margaret xoxox

Marathon continues- Finishing edges

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Yeah its a thing. Spent most of the afternoon painting the gallery wrapped edge of the mountain painting w a 1/2 Winsor Newton imitation mongoose flat.

Thats a 12 FOOT strip about two inches wide trying not to get black paint on the front of the painting. Formerly stark white it’s now black. I tried ultramarine blue but didn’t like it.

I used blue tape to tape the edge off but was worried it would peel off the fresh paint.
Another problem w blue tape is that it always leaks when i use to to tape off walls. 🤪 I was NOT interested in painting it again ever. Then i realized using a damp paper towel i could wipe any leakage off the dry paint from yesterday. Zip and it was gone.
Edges looking good.

The blue tape DID help. Painting those edges is always an onerous task when you do an acrylic because they never stay clean.

One edge done.

One more day varnishing it w Miniwqx polyeurethane. Drying time makes the process take longer.

And i missed sitting out on the back deck today enjoying the gorgeous early spring . Tonite there are frost warnings. Brrrr

Margaret xoxoxo

The correct color

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I actually took this out on our wet back deck to photograph when the rain let up. You get more accurate color photos on an over cast day or so they say. The great debate was on as to whether it was done. I decided it was.

Heres the photo i took inside last night. A BIG change in the color, isn’t it?! Anyway the new owner of this large painting pronounced it “wonderful” so i take it that he thinks its done. Painting the edges, varnishing, and adding the wire tomorrow. This will eventually end up in the owner’s cabin in the Western North Carolina mountains.

Nature does not hurry and yet everything is accomplished. (Lao Tzu) is the theme of this painting.

The vultures have been gathering on our sycamore alot recently.
One was on the pool fence today feet from the back door. Fascinating creepy things. According to my husband they only eat meat once its rancid. No feathers on their head lets them get right into that rotten meat. 🤪
I had to take these pics thru the bars on the back deck rail. I was afraid to go outside for fear of scaring him off.
Pretty cool catching him with his wings wide open. Well at least part of them. There were several more in the yard. Our attack cats ran them off.

Margaret xoxoxox who had enough excitemnt for today. Lol.

Coming along

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Blue Ridge 2’x4’ Acrylic
Like it much belter now. Spent quite a while getting rid of all the green and decided to use artistic license and make it a fall scene. Sky needs work but thats for tomorrow.
Here it is from yesterday. Same sky. Wonder why i liked it better then?! That yellow green had to go.
Used fall color photos from the cabin in Sapphire to color the trees in the painting. My imagination on the mountains and some of my photos. Only have abt 35000 i have taken on my phone. I do delete alot but evidently i need to delete more.
Haley posing this am.

Margaret xoxoxo

Way too yellow!

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An acrylic i am doing for my son. Its 2×4’ so its a big one but as i said too yellow. That said might be an easy fix w a variety of blue transparent washes of acrylic gelInt. U can thin the paint w acrylic medium and wash it with blues. So thats for tomorrow.
Heres the original picture which i think has way too much green in it anyway to make a good painting aka its a boring photo so it will make a boring painting. We shall see.
Tonights sunset. It got really pretty.

Margaret now tired from speed painting. Xoxoxo

My Husband’s Cat

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Pumpkin 300# cp Fabriano Artistico may be done. Shes aging right now.
The cat masked. I drew the whiskers and the furry hairs on the left w a fine indian ink pen. It can be a bear removing so much masking. Lots of rubbing required.
Second pour.
I also added some burnt sienna on the left.
Biggest decision. How to paint all that fur and keep it soft?! 😵‍💫Found a Liz Steele @lizsteelart post on instagram where she used four colors today all of which i happened to have -Daniel Smith French Ultramarine Blue, DS Buff Titanium, DS Monte Amiata and DS Red Iron Oxide which i thought would be perfect for Miss Pumpkin. This is my test page in my Stillman and Birn Alpha. Lots of wet on wet for the fur test.
And here she is now. The watermark lettering does not show like that when you look at the painting. I also had to wet the back of the paper to wet the back to try to flatten the paper which was anything but flat when i was done.

Margaret xoxoxoxo