You Can’t Have Enough Blue!!

April 27, 2021April 28, 20212 Comments

Ultramarine Cobalt and Thalo Blue!!

Guinea fowl Acrylic 12×12” gallery wrapped canvas

The photo. I do love these funny quirky birds. So like a mini dinosaur

The beginnings. This is all done with paint not adding water to the paint.

Colors used Ultramarine cobalt Thalo lemon yellow cad red alizarin titanium white.

I noticed that my liquified seemed to have dried out much more than the more expensive golden paints.

The brushes. Used a lot of those dirt cheap house painting brushes. Make great grass like marks.

Everyone needs one of these. It opens any jar or better yet tubes of paint. Opens the small to the large size. My youngest son said he wanted to inherit mine. I found them at Publixs in the kitchen section during the pandemic. He was thrilled when I gave him his.

Go buy one. You will be glad you did.

Quitting for now because it’s annoying me greatly!!

Zoe who the kitties love but she does not love them back.

Margaret xoxoxo

Blue Bell time

April 23, 2021Leave a comment

About 15×15″ rough Fabriano 300# mixed media. Goauche Watercolor and pastel.

Who would have thought that would ever be a combo you would use together but LOVED the technique the speed and the splashy fun.

Spring bluebells at Castle Howard

Got a little carried away making lines with my sword brush but who knew it made those long splatter marks. Load a sword brush with a lot of paint and water and sling it and you get stripey lines like on the bottom right.

I had my splatter all over the floor feeling my inner Jackson Pollack and the tv and the table and goodness knows where I will find it.

Cobalt and alizarin I think. Oh and cerulean. This was just using a regular brush making lines rolling it. Who knew you could roll a paint brush to make marks?!

Adding greens by making them. Viridian and yellows for the green more splattering and slinging paint

Adding pastel to the trees abs blue and green pastel to make shadows and marks. Then white gouache mixed with yellow. Last thing I added was some cheap Joe’s American Journey sky blue mixes with white gouache. I may go back and add some Andrew’s turquoise mixed with white gouache too and some blue & purple pastel. Maybe

If you ever get a chance to take a class from Robert Dutton do. The man is a wild man with ideas popping out of him like a pot boiling over. Taking a three hour class from him next week. Can’t wait. Had to order some new soft pastels for it from Amazon because we don’t have an art supply store anymore. 😩😩

Margaret xoxoxo

Julio Reyes

October 23, 2019Leave a comment

A undercover spy drawing if the teacher Sunday – Julio Reyes. Really a great class. They taught us everything they know about how to mix paint and prepare surfaces for egg tempera. He and Candace his wife poured their generous hearts into this class.

They gave us the biggest most detailed handout I have ever gotten in a class outside of college, provided all the materials but the painting panel continually going beyond what is normally done in any class I have taken. I highly recommend them. Too bad we don’t have a picture of the amazing paintings turned out in this class. Can’t wait to polish mine. Yes they taught us how to do that too with a piece of old silk scarf.

These are powdered pigments that I bought today at CityArt over in Columbia also known as Art Express on the internet. The owner Randy is great so I do like to buy from him when I can.

You mix these pigments with water and egg to make egg tempera. I couldn’t resist. Not quite the colors we used in class but they were there. Gamblins a great reliable company soooo I scooped them up. More about that tomorrow when I post Candace.

Margaret who has driven all over NC and SC in the past two days and is Tahred now. Xoxoxox

Day 2099 Key West Parking Lot Rooster

June 21, 2019July 27, 20192 Comments

Key west parking lot rooster

He posed for me in front of the Lowes or was it Home Depot where he seemed to live in the parking lot. One gorgeous bird.

Fun to draw lines with it. Think next I will try a bird with my Escoda perlas to paint the bird and finish it with the sword brush.

First pass with the brush. No feet. They faded away somehow. And oh my he needs an eye. I left the eye and the beak off because they would have run into the red.

OH POO running out of room again. Guess I will have to delete some more pics sigh. What a pain.

Second stab at him. Get it it’s a sword brush. Wish I had not added yellow along the top of his head below the comb. I might go back and put some red over the yellow.

Loving the lines but those feet refuse to appear.

Added some more ground and. Ever can resist splatters. Also added beak and eye.

Here he is done. Except maybe add red under his comb?! Soon he will be flying off to a new home after I fix that yellow under his comb.

Charles Reid palette w Vlads Neutral tint. Strathmore watercolor paper 140#. Nice paper. Didn’t buckle at all.

Margaret back to watching Good Omens. Great show on amazon with David Tennant and Francis Dormand as God.

Xoxoxox

Day 2098 More sword play

June 20, 2019Leave a comment

The male cardinal has made his appearance. Fun stuff slopping paint on with the sword brush. same colors as yesterday.

Loving the abstract quality of these.

Margaret whose off to bed as soon as Zoe comes in. Xoxoxox

Day 2080 Drawing like

June 1, 20192 Comments

A crazed person

Deadline for Georgia Watercolor Show is June 10. It will be here soon.

Looking toward St Mcclou in Rouen Normandy France. Half sheet rough Fabriano 300#

This one took quite a while and still needs some people added to it. Remember you can add anyone if their heads line up with the dark dot which is the vanishing point on the horizon line. A tall guy could be a little higher but a shorter lady on that horizon line. By doing this you can add anyone into a painting even if they were never there.

Ps remember adding odd numbers of people is better than even. And assorted sizes would be more interesting.

Looking toward Van Goghs blue church in Auvers sur Oise France the town Van Gogh died in. Half sheet Fabriano rough 300#

Also where he’s buried just to the right of this church. Near the wheat field with all the crows that he painted. Too bad we didn’t make his funeral. His brother Theo gave everyone there one of his paintings if you wanted one! Not six months later Theo died and was buried next to Vincent.

All those wobbly 900 year old medieval buildings made it Difficult to sketch this. Add in all the gothic spires on St Maclou – well shoot me. So I gridded the photograph and the sketch. I used a light grey watercolor pencil on the drawing so hopefully it will melt away when I paint it tomorrow.

I also have to move the girl in the foreground either right or left. Broke one of the Dean of watercolor painters rules by sticking her in the middle. Never do that either. Drop in one or two more people and I am ready to painting this one too.

And I started the day off drawing at the dealership while I waited for my Prius’ check up. I am too lazy to get up and take a pic of those.

Stay tuned. Manana!

My evening visitor. Zoe did NOT like him a bit. I think he or she is kinda cute. Just a little small young raccoon.

Margaret putting her feet up for a well deserved rest Xoxoxoxo

Day 2054 Strancone, Italy done!!! Onward!!!

April 30, 2019May 1, 20192 Comments

At least for the monenbt. You never know. It’s subject to change right?! Until it’s framed.

At the end of class. Pallet colors same as Vld said to use. Mostly neutral tint cad red light cad yellow and cobalt today.

Thinking tomorrow or Thursday will try the beach scene we did the sepia sketch of. Lost my focal point but I can fix it in the final one. Should have been in the middle.

Like this one. Sigh.

Think I will draw the scene while I listen to tv. Lol. Can’t watch and draw right.

Spent half the day looking for paint. How can I be out of cobalt van dyke brown AND dioxzine purple. This method of painting uses shovel loads of paint. Need to buy the BIG tubes not the 16″5 oz. shoulda added to my Blick order. Sigh.

I ordered these during class Sunday and here they are already.

I did get a set of Escoda perla brushes from amazon because I could NOT get my black velvets to dry brush. They split.

Escoda perla 8,10,12 from top to bottom

If the perlas are good enough for Vlad, Iain Stewart and Joseph Zbukiv they are good enough for me. Suppose to make great calligraphic marks as well as do sweeping dry brush effects. Not a bad deal $30 for and 8 10 and a 12 travel brush Escoda perla Joseph Zbukiv Brand.

Homework from class. I couldn’t stand the tension of watching the battle this week in Game of Thrones. Eyes on paper. Eeekkk. Glad that episode is over.

Line practice

More homework from class. Supposedly if u draw two dots keep your pencil on left for eye on right dot you should get straight lines. Thinking not something to do during game of thrones or after four cups of high caffeine tea. Lol.

Margaret who has to make her clean bed first before she draws the scene so I can practice trees with my new brushes. Bet they will work on rocks too. Xoxoxo

Day 1296 Magic Time Finally

July 19, 2018July 18, 20182 Comments

This post was stuck in my scheduled posts box. I don’t know if I posted but it’s such a great post can’t hurt posting again.

Watching Charles Reid paint a person is like watching someone make magic. He twitches his brush here and here. Stating at the nose suddenly there’s a fabulous painting of a person.

John was our model today. He did a wonderful job.

Charles painting.

The Master Charles Reid the most talented watercolorist in America today.

My sketch.

Painting

More painting.

Charles said time to quit so I did and I started another of John. Let ok’ing at him he needs more shadow on his cheek to define his cheek bone. Maybe a highlight lifted also on the cheek and more shadow in his brow.

John and his Jack Russell Jedi.

We all adored Jedi

Especially me. Missing my Zoe. One more of Jedi and his dad John.

My second drawing. I had about forty five minutes left to paint him.

Progress.

Times up. Hmm think he needs more hair but I like this one best of the two paintings.

Up to the rooftop the rain had ended.

A tugboat heading up river.

Night on the river

A paddle boat passing by while I waited for my car.Look who decided to jump in bed with me tonite. My friend Karen’s collie Carly. What a sweetheart.

Tomorrows model Carver whose mom looks like Madonna.

Nite nite. Margaret xoxoxo

Day 1297 Carver

June 15, 2018June 16, 20185 Comments

So hard to draw but so interesting to look at.

A sweetheart. Both the models are so nice. And did such a great job.

I tried drawing him like the second photo but was not going well at all. So I finally flipped he paper over and drew just his head and shoulders. Still a pain. Long nose huge eyes short forehead. And foreshortening of Head. Eeekkkk.

I finally got going trying to loose my edges. It was sloppy wet. Makes more problems. So I would try to let it dry. Waiting is not something I am good at. I don’t want to at least with paint.

More progress. Loved the feathers. Scratched them in with my paint brush handle.

More done than now. He needs some shadows around his eyes from his eyebrow to under it. Also want to paint his jacket black.

Colors used. Very few. Skin Yellow ochre cad red light and cerulean plus a small bit of burnt sienna

Hair yellow ochre cerulean and burnt sienna. Maybe a cab of burnt umber.

Jacket manganese blue and burnt sienna.

Tracy kept the models til five so we had an extra hour. I moved and started another painting. Poor Carver had been modeling ALL day from 9-5 by the time he finished. I know he’s sore tonight.

My 45 minute one. I wasn’t striving for a likeness just lost edges and letting paint mix on the paper.

Can’t wait to paint these photos of John. Love the pose.

a huge boat passing by.

Storm heading into Savannah.

Night night.

Margaret last day of class😔xoxoxox 💤💤💤💤💤

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