Monday, March 20, 2017

Welcome to Spring & The Final Part of the Urban Sketching Day

Happy First Day of Spring!!!
 In the spirit of the day I wanted to paint some outdoor flowers today. My good friend and fellow sketcher, Susan, who lives nearby is always ready to share her garden treasures with me. I called her this morning to check that something was in bloom in her garden and she told me to come on over. She works from home, so we chatted for a little while and then she went inside to work while I painted her crocuses, hellebores, and heather. Luckily it was sunny and warm enough to spend some time in the garden without freezing. Thanks, Susan!



On most occasions when the NYC Urban Sketchers gather, we meet at the end of our sketching day to share our work over drinks. I think we had about 20 people with us at the Brooklyn Museum and we headed out at about 4 to Tooker's Alley, a bar nearby. They open at 4 so we didn't worry about it being too crowded for us...and Mark always lets them know we are coming. Once everyone has a drink or whatever they order we start sharing our sketches from the day. It is always fun to see how everyone else captures the same or almost the same views. Some people do a lot of quick sketches and some people complete one longer piece. We have 2 rules when we share...you can't say anything negative about someone's sketches and you can't say anything negative about your own. The second rule is the hard one. LOL

In addition to sharing our sketches, almost everyone immediately whips out a sketchbook and starts sketching the other sketchers at the table or the other patrons where we are. It is good because the other sketchers usually don't get up and move...although they move around some talking to people to their right or left. I was able to get two sketches each with several people seated opposite me.



As you can see from the three days of posting...it was quite a busy day!

6 comments:

  1. Lucky you having such a good group to join.
    I admire your dedication as well as your art.

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    1. Having people to go out sketching and painting with is so great. I love sharing my love of it with others who feel the same way. Thanks, Julie.

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  2. Happy spring to you, too! I'm not seeing many flowers yet, but it's gotta be soon!

    - Tina

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  3. Man, I think my head would be swimming at that point. But how much fun and how quickly you gain tips and tricks when working with so many others interested in your same passion. You do inspire me to get back to my sketching now that I am feeling better. Love these strong little new guys popping up. We have had Spring here 30 days before usual and then had a cold snap, most things made it in my yard even after two sites in the 20s. But we did have a lot of crop damage.

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  4. Love these spring flowers, Joan. And you've definitely captured personality in each of your friends.

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    1. Sherry, it is funny that you hardly notice them and then they bloom. They definitely make me smile when I see them. Thanks so much.

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