Larry

I don't get to paint live animals very often but my art group met outside and my friend, Jenn brought along her pooch, Larry. He sat fairly still except when he would spy a squirrel...luckily I drew him fairly quickly.

 

Lucy in Blue

 On Tuesday evening Lefty Lucy posed in a beautiful blue gown like she was royalty...complete with a tiara. What do you think?

Plein Air in Bellport - Part 2

 After looking at the gray skies for the first painting that I posted yesterday I was craving some color. Off in the distance I could see a spot filled with colorful kayaks. It was still drizzling so I stayed under the shelter where I was standing and painted from there. I had a small square piece of watercolor paper that fits into a 6 in x 6 in frame. I painted slightly larger than that and when I framed it I cropped it to fit the frame. I worked with more pigment this time so I didn't have as much of a problem with the paper not being dry. I'm happy with the way this came out.

Plein Air in Bellport - Part 1

 On Sunday the South Bay Art Association held its first Bellport Plein Air by the Bay, a paintout open to all artists. Unfortunately the day was dreary and damp, with light mist and showers. There was no rain date. 

I found a fairly covered sheltered area that had a view of some of the boats docked in the marina. I sketched out the scene and then went to do a wash of grey color for the sky...the paper absorbed every bit of the water and would not dry! If I tried adding any additional color to the paper it bled and faded. The humidity really made it super difficult to get anything to look like anything other than a faded grey. I waited and waited but the drying time was really slow. I decided to try and do the pencil lines over in ink and that worked a little better, allowing me to isolate some of the colors on the boats. I worked on this for about 2 hours before deciding that I would have to do stronger colors at home once the paper dried. So this is not officially a complete plein air painting. I punched up the color and added the reflections in the water. Since the weather was so difficult for painting all the artists were told that they could work on their paintings more at home from their photos so I am not the only one who has added to the work they did on location.

The completed artwork is going to be on display and up for sale next Saturday at Bellport Day, a big celebration in town. There will be prizes for 1st place, 2nd, 3rd and best in show.

I haven't decided on a title yet...maybe "Bellport Grey." This painting is 8 x 10.

Assorted Sketches

Here are a few quick sketches that I've done recently. The first one is of a jeep. It was red and I planned on painting it red but mistakenly used my Lamy that had water-soluble brown ink in it. Adding watercolor just wouldn't have worked so I just did it as a wash.

When I finished the jeep I noticed this white house behind it that had this wonderful light and shadow. I knew I had to capture it quickly before the light changed. I used a small piece of watercolor paper that was about ATC sized and painted directly in watercolor. Of course when I finished I wished I had done it on larger paper.lol

These leaves were done for a Wet Canvas Scavenger Hunt recently. They were done in direct watercolor.

Balloons

 I had time to join the NYC Urban Sketchers Zoom group yesterday morning. They were virtually sketching hot air balloon festivals and events. I am not brave enough to take a ride up in a hot air balloon. I don't like heights but do OK if I have a wall or a railing nearby...I'm not sure a basket would give me enough security. While looking through the images I found these cute hot air balloons that were part of the Great Reno Balloon Race.

Waterfront View

 While I was in Sayville the other day I sat in the Land's End parking lot facing back toward the shore. This house must have such great views.