Anime Characters

 On a frigid day the NYC Urban Sketchers met at Tangram Mall in Flushing. I was a bit skeptical that a mall would provide anything interesting to sketch...but I was wrong. I felt like I was in another world because it was filled with Chinese, Japanese, and Korean stores and restaurants. I could easily sketch there again without running out of subjects.

Along with my friend, Susan Toplitz, I sat in front of Akiba House, a shop that sells anime related items, Japanese snacks, etc. The window display for the shop was great with the anime characters and the backdrop with anime cartoons. Many people stopped to check out our sketches and the young kids gave us their seal of approval.

Pens, Pens, Pens

 I have a love of Lamy pens and I have a few. Each of these is filled with a different color waterproof ink...black, grey, and brown. Each comes in handy in different situations.

Years ago I visited an internet friend who lived in Italy. I knew her from online, but this was the first and only time I met her in person. After a day of art activities together I had to head back to Florence to catch my train back to Venice. We planned that day to explore a bit of Florence. One of the places we stopped was the Fabriano store where Robin taught me a bit about Lamy pens. I bought the red one that day. We stopped for lunch and there at the table Robin gave me a lesson on filling and installing a converter in the pen and how to care for it. I remember that time often when I look at my Lamy pen.

Sadly Robin passed away a few years later and I never got the chance to spend time with her again. I am so glad I did travel to meet her and spend a bit of time with her. I thank her for her inspiration.

Here we are in Robin's living room during that visit.

Leslie K

During the winter most of the boats here are in dry-dock and covered, but I found a few boats along Brown's River that were still uncovered. Leslie K was uncovered but out of the water in Sayville. 

Panera with Procreate

 We had a stretch of very cold weather recently. It was too cold to sit in my "mobile studio" without keeping the engine running, so I looked for an indoor location for sketching. I hadn't been to Panera in a while so I stopped for a coffee and a sketch. They have a front area that has tables and booths that have a pretty good view of the counter.

Landscaping Truck

 The other day I spied a few landscaping trucks in the parking lot of one of our local strip malls. I like sketching things that have a lot of clutter and all the hoses, brooms, and shovels made me smile. Next I'd like to sketch one that has the back hatch open and the workers nearby.

The Grange on Toned Paper

I tend to do a lot of sketches at The Grange because it is so close to home and is a great spot with this driveway. I grabbed my Strathmore toned tan sketchbook when I was heading out because I know that while gouache works so well on the toned paper. I've sketched this driveway twice this winter and the view each way makes me happy. 

Here is the painting and my supplies balanced on my lap while sitting in my mobile studio.

Gorilla Diorama

The American Museum of Natural History has wonderful dioramas. I learned from previous trips there to bring along my book light because the rooms with the dioramas are very dim. It makes a lot of difference. The gorilla diorama included about 5 gorillas, but I focused on just one. I used my watercolors and some Caran d'Ache crayons that I had at home that worked well for the fur on the gorilla. I think this section of the museum was the noisiest. The kids definitely weren't using their indoor voices. lol

Apatosaurus

 The NYC Urban Sketchers met at the American Museum of Natural History last weekend. It was a cold, snowy day which I'm sure added to the number of people seeking a fun diversion for the day. I think we sketched there 2 years ago. Here is the version I did back then. I usually head right up to the dinosaurs before it gets super crowded. I tucked myself into a corner where I had a view of the entire apatosaurus. His tail was too long and didn't fit on the double-page spread. While I was painting a little boy came over and looked at my palette and then my painting and said, "You didn't paint that. It doesn't have the same colors." I guess he was looking at the brighter colors in my palette which just didn't go with the dinosaur. 

Several other sketchers ended up painting nearby and it was fun to see their versions when we all met up for show-and-tell later.

Mobile Home Park

I've sketched this location before. It is a quaint mobile home park. I sketched it from across the canal while I was parked in the lot for White Cap Seafood. I would love to sketch some of the other mobile homes but aside from sitting right in front of them, there is no view from a distance. 

Holbrook Diner

 The Holbrook Diner on Main Street always has a lot of cars in the parking lot. I was attracted by the shiny facade and the reflections. Maybe I need to go in and check out the food.

The Pizzeria

 The Pizzeria in Bayport has a great front window where you can get a view of the staff working behind the counter. I've sketched this view before, also from my mobile studio.

By the Pier

 I'm always looking for views to sketch. I love how the gulls pose on top of the pilings by the dock. This one cooperated and stayed in one spot for a long time. This was done by Mascot Dock in Patchogue.

Off Season at Silly Lilly

 I was out in the Moriches area and stopped by the Silly Lilly Fishing Station. It was mostly closed up for the season with the larger boats shrink wrapped. There were a few smaller boats that were out of the water. Even the parking area was closed off with a chain and a "no parking" sign was visible. It was still a fun location for sketching.

Industry City Sketches

The NYC Urban Sketchers met recently at Industry City in Brooklyn to sketch. It is a complex of industrial buildings that have been transformed into restaurants, bars, shops for various things, and businesses. The weather was mild but rain was predicted. Somehow I had forgotten to put my small watercolor palette back in my backpack. Luckily there was an art supply store there. All I wanted was a small, inexpensive palette and the salesperson found a Yarka set that was $5.95. I used Yarka paints back when I first started doing watercolors. The paints don't contain much pigment, so they didn't give me the same results I get from my Winsor Newton and Daniel Smith Paints, but I adjusted.

Suzala and I headed over to an area between two of the buildings called Japan Village. There was a bit of architecture that resembled the Japanese style and lots of lanterns. Two other sketchers joined us there, Melanie Gluck and Hugo Costa, a friend and Urban Sketcher from Spain who is working in Brooklyn this month. I hadn't seen him in a few years. I was nearly finished with this sketch when my fingers and toes started to get cold...and then the drizzle started. We all headed inside to the Japanese food court.

We were lucky to find an empty table right by the ramen counter. When my soup came I quickly sketched that before it disappeared. When I finished eating I resumed my sketching with the rest of the scene.

At 3:00 we headed off to show-and-tell with the rest of the group. There were about 25 sketchers who took part. It was a wet, but fun day of sketching.

Beach Visit

 I try to start off the year by visiting the beach on New Year's Day if possible. This year I didn't make it due to the very cold temperatures and feeling under the weather. It took me a few days to get there, and the weather cooperated so that I could actually venture out of my car without freezing or being blown away. I headed over to Robert Moses State Park where the last parking field leads to the Fire Island Lighthouse.

First I painted some of the vegetation on the dunes.

Then I faced the dunes by the water and painted this view in a tiny watercolor sketchbook I keep in the car.

I didn't want the lighthouse to feel left out, so I sat in my mobile studio in the middle of the parking lot and did a continuous line sketch of a lighthouse view.

Odometer

For the Creative Spark Scavenger Hunt one of the items was "odometer." I sat in my mobile studio to sketch this view on my iPad in Procreate. I have to work more with Procreate and actually learn to do layers the correct way. I lost part of what I did in this sketch and had to go back and redo it. Grrr!!!

 

St James Church Spire

When I do items for the Creative Spark Scavenger Hunts I try to incorporate them into outdoorviews that I would like to draw anyway. This is the spire from St. James Episcopal Church in Brookhaven. It is a small sketch...maybe 3 x 5. This fits the prompt "pinnacle."

 A few weeks ago I stopped at Shrimpy's Burrito Bar in East Islip for lunch. I decided it looked like it could be a possible location for indoor sketching. I went back a second time, ordered my lunch and started sketching. My lunch became part of the sketch. (Resisting eating it was a challenge so I had to do a quick sketch of that part. Then I ate the shrimp taco, but left the chips to sketch them and snack on them while I was working. The girl behind the counter knew I was sketching and didn't seem to be bothered that I was there for so long. I eventually snuck her into a space on the page. She was thrilled when I showed it to her and she asked if she could take a photo of it. Of course I let her. She told me I was welcome to come back and sketch any time.

Snowy View from The Grange

 I stopped at The Grange in Sayville recently after we had a light coating of snow on top of the snow we had previously. It freshened up the scene and I knew I had to paint the view. This is looking down the driveway toward Montauk Highway. I was sitting in my mobile studio just past the carriage shed.

The Barn

Long Island has several structures that had been drive-thru convenience stores. Most of them had been shut for years, but recently two of them were restored and reopened as drive-thru coffee shops. This one in Ronkonkoma had opened a few days before I sketched it, and apparently has had long lines of coffee drinkers. I haven't tried the coffee, but the line was down to the middle of the next block for most of the time I was sketching. 

Water View

 This sketch was also done for the Scavenger Hunt for the prompt "refuge." Sitting by the water is always my refuge all year long. This was done in Sayville.

Sketches for the Scavenger Hunt

I did some sketches for the Creative Spark Scavenger Hunt that was going on. 

The prompt was bourbon but I substituted a bottle of dry vermouth that was still out from making vodka martinis for Jerry for New Year's Eve. The colorful bottle was fun.

Ziploc was another item on the list.

The spoon in this sketch fit as something that agitates.

 

Vermont House Commission

 Around Thanksgiving a good friend commissioned me to paint her son and daughter-in-law's new ski house in Vermont. At the time she only had one photo of it, but promised to send me more photos after they were up there for Thanksgiving. She sent me photos of the house, the shed, and the mailbox and wanted all of them in the painting if possible. The house sat on a large piece of land and needed some foreground detail. I used artistic license (with her approval) to move the shed and mailbox within reasonable distance and move the few foreground trees closer into the scene. Of course there were no shadows on the snow and that took me the longest time to approach that because it was so important to the look of the painting. I was happy with the result and my friend was thrilled. 

The final painting was 11 x 14.

Christmas Sweets

 Here is a bit of a variety of sweets still left from Christmas...walnut crescents, chocolate chocolate chip, linzer cookie, brownie, and raspberry pinwheels.

Sky and Water

 This was painted down near Sayville Beach the other day. Cold and windy, but the sky was great.

Sayville Entry

 This is a gate entry to a property in Sayville that I've passed many times. One of the Creative Spark Scavenger Hunt items was a gate and another was ironwork. I think this sketch captured both.

I'm Back - Happy New Year

Somehow I got off track and haven't posted in a few days. That is definitely not like me.

Happy New Year!!! I hope 2026 is a good year for all of us. Wishing you the love of family and friends and the time to nourish your creativity and your soul.

We had a bit of snow here that lasted for a while due to the cold temperatures. I sat in my mobile studio outside the Swezy-Avey House in Yaphank to paint this. I was glad to see that the snow had remained on the trees and the shrubs.