Urban Sketching at Bronx Community College

Last Saturday the NYC Urban Sketchers visited Bronx Community College. I wasn't sure I would find it an interesting location to sketch but was pleasantly surprised. We lucked out and had sunny, mild weather (which we haven't had on a sketching day in a while here in NY). I sat facing Gould Memorial Library and sketched the view straight ahead.

Next to where I was sitting there was a magnolia tree just starting to bloom. I sketched it with the tight buds on it in the morning, and by the time we came back to that spot in the afternoon it was in full bloom. LOL

A little warm weather was all it needed.

I headed for the Hall of Fame, which has busts of famous Americans in assorted fields.

We were up on a high hill and you could see the tops of the trees in the background.

I did a bust of Edwin Booth, who was a Shakespearean actor.

At lunch we shared our work and talked a bit before heading out for more sketching.

I did get a few photos of our members sketching.

Jim

Swami

Mark

Svetlana

I did a sketch of the top of Butler Hall.

Here is the bust of Abraham Lincoln and a view of part of the Hall of Fame. You can see that portions of it curved around. It was a really pretty walkway with information about each of the people depicted.

At the end of the day we sat and shared our sketches. It is always so great to see the work everyone produced during the day. Here are a few photos.

Svetlana showing her work.

Hugh showing his sketches.

Then it was Swami's turn to share.

Mark had some great sketches.

Susan had some great sketches to show too.

And finally we posed for a group photo.

Mike, Joan (me), Hugh, Susan, Mark, Svetlana, Jim, and Swami

I think everyone had a great time!

Patchogue Rescue Boat

Last Wednesday our sketch group headed down to the Fire Island Ranger Station in Patchogue.

This rescue boat was moored on the water there. This was done in my Stillman & Birn Beta Sketchbook. 

Double Portrait Day

Last Tuesday I was able to do two portrait sessions again. First I painted in the morning with the SBAA Portrait Group. We almost always have "mature" ladies or gents pose for us. They are the only ones who seem to be free in the morning unless college students are home for breaks. LOL

Eileen graciously posed for us.

In the evening the WetPaints Sketch Group met. One of the women brought her 2 nieces along and the older one posed for us. She was a teenager and had never posed before but she was fantastic.

This is Olivia.

Girls at the Dock

My friend, Ai, was hosting a challenge over on Wet Canvas in their Watermedia Forum. The host provides a group of photos and you have the entire month to do one or more of the photos as a water media piece. Her theme is "Friends" and the photo came from Flickr's Creative Common. This was done on watercolor paper using watercolors, inktense pencils, and oil pastels.

 It is 5 x 7.

For some reason this makes me think of camp counselors.

Kingstons Clam Bar

Down by the water in West Sayville is Kingstons Clam Bar. Right now it is closed because it hasn't opened for the season yet. It did have some interesting light and shadows on it, so I did a small painting of it.

Time Away From Home - Part 3

Here are a few more paintings done for the "Time Away From Home" theme.

This was done from a photo taken at Sebago Lake when we used to go up there for vacation as kids.

It was rustic...but heaven!

I was in Hawaii only once and we visited Haleakala Crater for sunrise.

It was beautiful!

On a trip to Washington, DC I got to see a Calder exhibit at the National Gallery.

His mobile was in the lobby.

The red rock formations in Sedona, Arizona are just wonderful to see.

Flowers For Sale

I love all the stands that are finally popping up with an abundance of flowers for sale.

It finally feels like spring here on Long Island but we are far from free of frost, and the bushes and trees are mostly bare. There are some weeping willows that are starting to get leaves and are a pale yellow green. Hopefully these last few warmer days will help the buds move along.

This was done at a farm stand in Sayville. I maneuvered to get a fairly good view of the plants and the stand and was busy sketching from the car. I was partly finished when the man from the stand came over to see if I had a problem. I showed him the sketch and he told me I should have parked in the lot. I just didn't want to take up space for customers, and besides...from this spot nobody could get in my way. lol