I haven't done much sketching at the pool this summer. I'm in the water almost all the time, or there are no people close by to sketch. This guy sat at the edge of the pool for a really long time. Of course once I started sketching him he moved with his daughters. I did did have him sketched, but needed to add the color to him from memory.
Last week my plein air group, PALS, met at the dahlia garden at the Bayard Cutting Arboretum. There were dahlias of assorted colors like these purple ones.
A lot of the homes in Sayville have such welcoming porches with chairs and great landscaping. Sometimes I feel like a peeping Tom. lol
Brookwood Hall and Park in Islip was the meeting point for the Patchogue Sketch Club last week. There is a lake, a ball field, a garden, and Wednesday night there was also a concert. We hadn't sketched there before so there was no set location in the park to meet. I wandered around and found a serenity garden which had a rocky waterfall. It was peaceful and surprisingly enough a few other sketchers found me. It was fun to play with the rocks and foliage.
On the grounds of the Sayville Maritime Museum is the Frank F Penney Boat Builder building. It is a nice contrast against the land and waterscapes of the area.
Once upon a time the NYC Urban Sketchers had holiday parties, but the group got so large that we couldn't find an indoor location to host the event. Instead we have switched to a summer event that is held at the Queens Botanical Garden in Flushing. The event includes raffles, sales, a garage sale, and assorted fun activities...and a wonderful chocolate and a wonderful vanilla cake.
My friends and I decided to go outside the gates of the QBG and take to the streets for a while. It was a very hot day so finding shade was a must. We sat along the fence in the shade and had a great view of the restaurants that were across the street. Of course they were occasionally obscured by trucks and buses, but sketching was still possible.
The day ended with raffles, prizes, old friends, new friends, and a great feeling to be with people who have the same interest that I have. Let's do it again!
My final painting for the plein air event was done at Bush Farm in Brookhaven on Saturday. I was attracted to the buildings with a small area of sunflowers.
Several times a week there is a sailing class for kids in Bellport. All the kids show up and start getting their small sailboats ready to go out for a lesson. I was there early so that I sketch out the scene before they moved off. I also took a few photos to use as references. While they were out on the water and out of sight I worked on the sky and the surrounding objects in the area. This was done during the SBAA plein air event.
I am participating in a plein air paint out sponsored by the South Bay Art Organization. Artists can paint in Bellport, Brookhaven, or East Patchogue. Then each artist selects one of their paintings to be on display and for sale at Bellport Day which is this Saturday. Since most of the people who come to the festival are actually residents of Bellport, or people who are there for the summer I tried to do scenes that will connect with them like this one of Main Street. I got a lot of positive feedback from people walking around the town on Friday.
I was in Sayville last Sunday and liked the view of the outside of the Sayville Bean Coffee House. It looked like a nice spot to grab a cuppa on a Sunday morning.
There is a small marina in Sayville along Brown's Creek. I sat there but wasn't looking toward the creek and the water. There is a lovely garden in the circle at the entrance and views of a few houses behind it. I still had the Caran d'Ache Neocolors in my bag and gave them another try for this scene.
Shhhh...I don't know if the person that this was created for received it yet or not. I did a commission for a friend (who is standing in the back of the Bronco). She asked me if I could combine several references from the gay pride parade and do a sketch with her standing in the back and her wife and her friend who owns the Bronco inside. It is a thank you gift to him for driving them. We also decided to change the location to include this restaurant that the driver owns. I have to say it was a challenge to get all this information in a 5 x 7 sketch...but I did it!
I did the Terry Street Gazebo a little differently. I used Caran d'Ache Neocolors. I've had them for a long time but have never really used them...so this was a bit of an experiment. Although they are "water soluble" they don't blend completely and leave texture. I guess that can be a good thing.
Last Wednesday the Patchogue Sketch Club at Rotary Park. They are a Fleetwood Mac tribute band and were pretty good. I was happy that I had time to sketch each of the members of the group and a few audience members too.
My sketches for the Creative Spark's scavenger hunts sometimes includes continuous line sketching. Here are a few of them that I've completed recently.
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| "Clutter" on my table. |
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| "keys" |
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| "egg beater, watering can, rock, fork, art supply" |
On one o the recent Creative Spark scavenger hunts one of the objects was a bottle. I had a six pack of Stella Artois bottles from the holiday sitting around. Instead of just sketching one bottle I did them all. If you notice, two of them hadn't been opened at the time.
While we were in the West Village we grabbed lunch to go and went to Washington Square Park. We were meeting several other sketchers in the park. There was a lot going on. As we were finishing lunch I realized there was a group a little further into the park playing music. I checked it out and there were 4 jazz musicians playing...and they were good. I found a spot on a nearby bench and several of the other sketcher we met up with all joined in to sketch the group. I had no idea how long they would remain so I started with the bass player on the right. I sketched him and then the sax player. I added color to them and then moved on to the guitar player, leaving a space for the drummer who was walking around taking up a collection of tips. When he came back I squeezed him into the last space. I find that the drummers in most groups are the hardest to sketch because they are usually in the back and often blocked by the other musicians. Our friend, Mel, always talks to the musicians he sketches so he found out the group's name. They were still playing when we left around 4:30. I hope the tips were good!
My friend and I went to the West Village last Saturday. Village Cigars is an iconic building which has been on Christoper Street for nearly 100 years, but has recently closed. The building is part of Greenwich Village Historic Dicstrict and has some protections. The interior of the building is being converted into a coffee shop, and I hope they are planning on keeping the outside as is.
I went over near the ferry terminals in Sayville and sat across the creek from where they depart. The South Bay Clipper was boarding passengers to make the trip across the bay to the Fire Island communities. I've only taken the ferry to Fire Island once, but it was a fun trip. These riders look like they are ready for a great day!
Our family has a tradition of having lobster to eat on the 4th of July. It is my mom's birthday. After my parents moved to Maine to live with my sister, we often went up to Maine to celebrate. Most often we bought lobsters and had a big feast. It was a good time for out of town family members to get together for a happy occasion. After she passed away the family gatherings in Maine tapered off, but most of my siblings and I still try to continue the tradition. This is one of our critters. The Maine celebrations also usually included a patriotic cake (decorated like an American flag) with strawberries and blueberries.
Last week, on a rather hot day, my friend, Suzala and I took a trip to the Vanderbilt Museum, Mansion, and Planetarium in Centerport. It was my first visit there, and I hope not my last. It was the summer estate of William K. Vanderbilt and is called Eagle's Nest. The buildings are Spanish in style.
I started sketching this view of part of the mansion and along came a photographer and a wedding party for their wedding photos. We were asked to leave for a bit while that happened, and about an hour later we returned to finish our sketches.
Last week the Patchogue Sketch Club went to The Grange in Sayville. I've sketched there so many times and I'm always looking for something a little different to sketch. Luckily Mariann was sitting across from me sketching the scene behind me. I started with her and then included the scene behind her.
Every summer my plein air group waits to hear that the lavender at Lavender By the Bay is in bloom. They have two locations...one in Calverton and one in East Marion. I like the one in East Marion better, but the one in Calverton is a lot closer so we've been going there. I did one 8 x 10 painting directly in watercolor.
There are a number of charming houses with beautiful gardens on Greene Avenue. This was done in direct watercolor.
Last weekend I went to the Islip Farmers Market. The weather wasn't the best so I parked and sat in my mobile studio to sketch. I was behind the stall for Hydro Peppers. People kept stopping by the booth and I had to know what he was selling. When I finished the sketch I walked over to the booth to check things out. He was selling hot sauce and pepper jelly. I asked how hot it was and after being warned that it was hotter than what I was used to, I sampled the hot sauce. Yikes!!! It was so hot! As much as I enjoy hot sauce it was too hot for my taste, but if you like your hot sauce very hot...this is for you!
I haven't found too many homes in the area that have fountains, but this one in Sayville is one of my favorites. One of the items on the Creative Spark Scavenger Hunt recently.
Last Wednesday the sketch group was invited to a presentation by our local ambassador for Holbein and Legion Paper. He visited recently and did presentations on watercolor (which I attended) and more recently on oil paints (which I did not attend).
Jim brought along samples of their acrylic paints, an irridescent medium, several of their papers including black, gessos, and other interesting materials for us to try. At the end of the presentation he gave out the materials he brought along.
I did this little scene on yupo paper with acrylic paints. I beieve the blue was a matte acrylic. I liked how the acrylics adhere to the yupo. When I've painted with watercolors on yupo the paint floats and takes a very long time to dry.
Happy 4th of July!
The Farm on Lakeland is located on Lakeland Avenue in Sayville. The have a large assortment of plants and vegetables for sale. I always buy corn and tomatoes there when they are at their peak. I often sketch The Farm from the side around the corner so that I don't take up one of the parking spaces in front since there aren't too many of them. This was done in direct watercolor for the 30 x 30 challenge.
Recently I went into NYC to join the NYC Urban Sketchers for the day. I took the train into Penn Station and had a nice spot to sketch these ladies on the train ride in.
During the really hot days that we had last week, watermelon sure was refreshing.
This was done for the 30 x 30 Direct Watercolor Challenge...and then eaten almost immediately.
This was painted on one of those foggy, misty mornings down by the bay in Bayport. It was done directly with watercolor for the challenge.
