Weathered

Most of the houses in Sayville have been updated, especially after the storms that have battered the area in the past. This house still looks a little worn and weathered and is right near the beach. I think it needs a little TLC. 

Garden View

My plein air group visited the Peconic River Herb Farm in Calverton recently. I can always find an interesting view with the small buildings and structures they have on the property. 

Pine Tree

There are some interesting pine trees near the beach in Sayville. I love the tiny pinecones that grow in clusters. 

Fort Greene Brooklyn

 The NYC Urban Sketchers headed to the Fort Greene area of Brooklyn, home to the Brooklyn Academy of Music and the Barclay Center recently. The area has really changed since I was there last (about 12 years ago.) We met at a small plaza on Lafayette Street. Directly across was Fancy Free, a Brooklyn Pub which has an incredible crowd of people on line outside. At 10 AM the line went all the way down the block. Why? To begin with they were displaying the trophy for the Premier Soccer League and visitors could go inside and take photos with it. Then a crowd stayed and watched the Arsenal team (the local team) win the Premier League championship. Also inside at the time was the current NYC Mayor Mamdami as well as Spike Lee, the filmmaker and director who is from the neighborhood. 

Although I had no interest in the game I was up for the challenge of sketching Fancy Free and the huge crowd watching the game.

After lunch there was time for another sketch. I walked around the corner just past the pub and found this sign and apartment. I couldn't resist the sign and the details on the basement apartment. It is a fun neighborhood and I hope we go back another time.

Clouds Over the Trees

I used my sketchbook from Venice for this painting. You can see some of the markings that the watercolor ground didn't cover well.  It is strange paper, but I'm making the best of it. The clouds were near the Great South Bay in Islip. 

Poppies and Foxgloves from the Garden

 Every Spring I wait to hear my friend, Susan tell me that her poppies are in bloom. This time they had bloomed and it rained for several days. She told me they would only last a few more days at the most, so I scurried over to her garden and painted them.

Susan also had foxgloves that were in bloom, so I did a loose painting of them too.

Cloud Studies

I was down by the Great South Bay at Captree State Park and the sky was just wonderful...and constantly changing. I did a few small cloud studies. 

Lobster

 On summer holidays I try to arrange to have lobster on one of the days of the weekend...and sketch the creature if I have time. Luckily Shop Rite tends to have them on sale then, although this year they were the most expensive they've been yet. I guess it is partly due to the cost of gasoline lately. They were good!

 The irises are in bloom here right now. I stopped at Sayville Rotary Park to paint one of the irises. This was done in my sketchbook from Venice on the paper that was treated with the watercolor ground. Although it wasn't like painting on regular watercolor paper there was less bleeding this time.

Baked Fresh Pretzels

We had another drizzly day over the holiday weekend but the Sayville Farmers Market takes place every Saturday at the Grange in Sayville. There is an area where I can park behind a few of the tents and sketch from the car. This time I had a good view of Knot of this World, a vendor who sold fresh baked pretzels. There wasn't a big crowd out shopping in the rain, but he had quite a few shoppers while I sat there sketching. 

Like I said, it was a drizzly day. This was the view from my mobile studio. I had to use the wipers a few times.

Little Vincent's Pizza

 This was painted in the sketchbook I bought in Venice which lets the paint and the ink bleed through the page. I tried seeing what would happen if I treated the paper with watercolor ground, which is supposed to make any surface suitable for watercolor. I only did 1 coat of the watercolor ground. Although it didn't bleed as badly as before the edges of the paint don't hold a crisp edge. I may try putting a second layer on the next few pages to see if that helps.

Anyway I stopped at Little Vincent's Pizza Restaurant in Lake Ronkonkoma. It was raining so I sat in my mobile studio to capture the view before I went in for a slice.

Quick Sketches for Creative Spark

Here are a few quick sketches done for the Creative Spark Scavenger Hunt recently. 

Something full, something empty, and a vegetable.

Shelving

Matt the Model

A few times a year the Patchogue Arts Council pays for a model for the Patchogue Sketch Club. The last few times we've had Hector model for us. This time we had a new (to us) model named Matt. He was a definite surprise and modeled as stripped down as you can get and still be PG. He has a really interesting face with a long curling mustache, a wild head of hair, and a solid body. I usually sketch small but found I had to sketch Matt the entire length of my paper. He posed in a variety of positions for different intervals. I hope he is invited back again.

Sayville Park Foliage

This is one of the locations down by the Great South Bay that I return to often. It is the beginning of the shaded area of the small park as you pass the little beach in Sayville. 

Beach Days Begin

 Sunday was a beautiful, warm day so I headed down to the little beach on the Great South Bay in Sayville. I thought about the sketches I had done in the workshop I took with my friend recently and did this sketch in a similar manner. The sketch itself was mostly a continuous line sketch.

Port Chester Sketch

 I was up in Port Chester for a memorial service for a good friend. Before I headed home I stopped to do a sketch in the area. It helped relax me after a day of journeying through special memories. This was done in the sketchbook that has the lousy watercolor paper. The color bleeds too much. I am hoping to remedy that. I bought a jar of "watercolor ground" which should add some sizing to the paper. I hope it helps.

Toyota Service

 I never mind when my car needs to be serviced. There is always something/someone to sketch. It would be nice if I could watch what the mechanics were doing, but that isn't possible at most service centers so I had to settle for the people in front of me. Finished this slightly before the oil change and tire rotation were finished.

Robinson's Pond

 The Patchogue Sketch Club finally got to actually go out and sketch recently. Our destination was Robinson's Pond in East Patchogue. It was a very windy day and we had a very small turnout. I sat on the sidewalk behind the bridge to skech one of the houses that overlooks the pond. The swans made an appearance but then floated under the bridge to the other side of the road.

Olish's Farm

On Mother's Day I thought it would be a good day to go out and capture some of the floral baskets that were on display in the local nurseries. I headed over to Olish's Farm in Eastport and was not disappointed. There were all kinds of baskets and potted plants for sale as well as numerous other decorative elements. 

 

Porch Seating

 I love houses that have big front porches where you can sit and watch the world pass by. This house in Sayville had several chairs ready for some relaxing body to occupy them. I'm available! 

Bridge Repairs

Memorial Day and beach season are nearly upon us and the bridges to both beaches that I tend to go to are being repaired. I was able to sketch the bridge that connects Smith Point Beach to the mainland from the parking lot. I loved that I was able to see the big, yellow crane next to the bridge. They have been narrowing down the traffic to one lane open, so traffic is halted either going or coming there. Since this is the only car access to the beach as well as the campground there, it is really important that the bridge is repaired and stays open. I hope the finish the work soon.

I would love to sketch the work being done at the Robert Moses Bridge, but there is no place that I can see where I can legally park and see the work being done.

Building in Eisenhower Park

I was meeting friends for lunch in Westbury and went a little early so I could sketch for a bit before going to the restaurant. I drove into Eisenhower Park in East Meadow and found this unusual building. I have no idea what it is used for but I liked it and did a quick sketch.

Starbucks and Cinco de Mayo

The Patchogue Sketch Club was meeting, but the forecast was once again for rain so we moved to an indoor location. I brought along some fruit to use for sketching and Mark and Teresa sketched it too.  

For the sketch above I used a sketchbook I had bought in Venice. It is leather and had paper that I was told was watercolor paper. It is a bit textured and absorbs the watercolor as well as the ink. Some of it shows on the back side of the paper. I don't think it has a lot of sizing like our paper here usually does. 

Jerry and I celebrate Cinco de Mayo with tacos from The Fat Boy Burrito Company in Patchogue. Luckily I decided to do take-out and called ahead. There was a line outside. The food is very good!

Outboard Marine

I like finding marine related buildings like this one in Islip. It is fun to sketch the vehicles and details. 

Trees by the Beach

 The trees down by the beach in Sayville have unusual shapes do to being exposed to the wind from the Great South Bay. They are gnarly and mishapen, but beautiful anyway.

Lewin Farms Greenhouse

The north fork of Long Island is home to quite a few big nurseries. It is the perfect place to do some plant shopping.  The plants by the greenhouses at Lewin Farms in Calverton always look good.

Borough Park in Waldwick, NJ

Over the weekend I took a ride to visit my sister, Mickey who lives in Waldwick, NJ. It was a nice day so we took a ride over to Borough Park in Waldwick. I was able to do a sketch and we also got to log in a few steps while we were there. Across the water there was a deer feeding on the plants. 

Lighthouse View from Captree

The Fire Island Lighthouse can be clearly seen from the parking lot across the bay from the island itself at Captree State Park. 

Up the Hill

In Bellport there is a street that runs parallel to the water at the end of Bellport Lane. The street goes up a hill after you pass the entrance to the Bellport Dock. With the flowers in bloom it looks really nice. 

Related to Exercise

 A prompt for the Creative Spark Scavenger Hunt was "related to exercise." I pass this banch of LA Fitness in Patchogue quite often and it fits the bill.

Workmen

 There has been a lot of road and utility construction going on all over this area. Recently I spotted a group of workers digging and doing something on one of the corners of my street. Of course there were a lot of workmen, but it seemed like only two were doing anything. lol

Cherry Trees

We are lucky to still have some cherry trees in bloom here. These were in Oakdale. 

Gardener

One of the promps for the Creative Spark Scavenger Hunt was "having to do with gardening." I took a ride over to Mama Farm owned by the actress, Isabella Rossellini in Brookhaven. Imagine my excitement to find a young woman actually sitting with flats of plants to go in the field. What a find! 

Continuous Line Practice

The Creative Spark Scavenger Hunt date was coming to a close so I decided to put some of the items into one still life and do a continuous line. The items were something in a box (toothpicks), used for cleaning (Simple Green), used for cooking (wooden spoon), soft or squishy (the duck), smooth (the Keenex box), and crunchy (tortilla chips).

Workshop "From Sketches to Stories"

The NYC Urban Sketchers offers some workshops each year. Shawne Cooper, a friend of mine was offering what sounded like an interesting workshop called "From Sketches to Stories." It involved not only sketching but writing too. I decided to join in. The original location was supposed to be the Elizabeth Street Garden, but rain was forecast for the day, so a decision was made to hold the workshop at Pier 57, a very welcoming indoor location looking out at Little Island.

Shawne showed a variety of her sketchbook pages where she used writing to correspond with her sketch. We were given a page of photos of planting arrangements (pots, urns, etc) from Elizabeth Street Garden. Using tempera sticks we blocked in a solid shape for the item we chose. Once it was dry our assignment was to fill the solid area with our reaction to the change in location. This we did with marker on the shape we had created. Here is mine.

The next assignment was to look at Little Island and come up with a few things that it reminded us of. The structure of the park reminds me of tall champagne glasses. Our goal was to write about some memory that this reminded us of and write about that. Of course we did a sketch of Little Island and what it reminded us of and then we wrote about that memory. I combined the Little Island design with a champagne glass, a champagne bottle, and a bit of the ocean.

When we were finished each sketcher shared her/his page with the group. It was really interesting to hear the stories that were created by each person.

In case you have never seen Little Island, this is what it looks like in real life.

We did one more very quick activity and then took a few photos.

The group at work inside Pier 57