Saturday - Part I - Dobbs Ferry

Although the NYC Urban Sketchers were meeting in Queens on Saturday, two friends and I decided to escape Long Island and head a bit north. We were hoping for some hills, quaint towns, and maybe more color on the trees than we had here. Our destination was Westchester County and the towns of Dobbs Ferry and Hastings-on-Hudson. Both are overlooking the Hudson River. We had never been to either town. We drove through Hastings-on-Hudson first to see what was there and grab a coffee before we went to check out Dobbs Ferry.

We decided Dobbs Ferry would be our first sketch location. After driving around a bit I parked at the top of a hill overlooking the water. The only way I could get a good sketch of the whole street was by standing in the middle of the street...so that's what I did to sketch the view. When cars came along I just moved out of the way. (It was a quiet street so there wasn't much traffic.) Then I sat in my chair to the side of the street to add ink and watercolors. 

Next, from the same spot I looked to my right and  I painted a building that was part of either a church or group of community buildings. I know that right behind the rock wall was a community garden where people were working to clean up the garden for the end of the season. I didn't venture over there. I wanted to finish the painting.

Then JoAnn and I walked down the hill to meet Susan in the center of town for lunch. For the afternoon we headed to the neighboring town, Hastings-on-Hudson. More on that tomorrow.