First Sketches of 2024

If I am not away for the holidays I like to take a trip to the beach to start off the new year. I headed over to Robert Moses State Park to paint. These are two small (maybe 3 x 5 in) paintings that I did from the parking lot while sitting in my mobile studio. First I painted the Fire Island Lighthouse... 

and then I painted the sky over the dunes.

You can see my New Year's Day beach sketches for 2018 here and for 2019 https://watercolorsbyjoan2.blogspot.com/2019/01/first-painting-for-2019 here.

When I was finished with these I threw my sketchbook in my tote bag, pulled on my hat, gloves, and scarf, zipped up my winter jacket and headed off to walk to the lighthouse. It is about 3/4 of a mile to the lighthouse and then 3/4 of a mile back...so I got in some walking to start the year.

A LOT of people come to Robert Moses Beach and the lighthouse on Jan 1 every year. It is nice to walk along and have people say "Happy New Year" as they pass. They give out free hot chocolate and cookies when you get to the lighthouse.

I went around the back side of the lighthouse down near the bay side and sat down to sketch. I finished the pencil sketch only to find out that I had left my palette on the front seat of the car, so I couldn't complete the painting. I will have to go back another time when it is a nice day and finish it.

How did you start off the new year?

Out With the Old - In With the New

 Yesterday was New Year's Eve and although it was a dreary, wet day I had to go out to pick up a painting from an exhibit in Patchogue. While I was out I decided to do a sketch. I found this view of the back of some buildings and sat in my "mobile studio" to sketch. At times I did have to put the wipers on to see the view. So here is my last painting of 2022.

2023 arrived today and luckily the weather was much more cooperative. It was sunny and mild (somewhere around 55 degrees) and I headed to one of my favorite places...Robert Moses State Park where the Fire Island Lighthouse is located. It is amazing to me to see the number of people who come here on January 1 each year. The boardwalk to the lighthouse was crowded with people and many of them had their dogs with them. I walked to the lighthouse which I believe is just under a mile. There were a lot of people outside, a long line to climb to the top (no way for me) and they were giving out free hot cocoa and cookies to the visitors. I parked myself against the railing in front of the lighthouse and sketched some of the people. I was able to sit down for a while when someone vacated a bench, so I was able to comfortably add watercolors. This is my first sketch of 2023. When I walked up to the window to get some cocoa the ladies there wanted to see what I had sketched and asked me to post it to their FB page.

On the walk back to the parking area I found a bench facing the lighthouse and did a small painting. This is the last page in this particular sketchbook which I started back in 2014. The paper is definitely not meant for wet media, but it is small and fit in my bag. A family came along and the kids were really interested in watching me paint. The parents asked if I minded and I said no. It was really nice talking to all of them. One little girl loves art and asked if she could see the other sketches in the book. The mom had majored in art in college but hasn't sketched or painted anything in a long time since she's so busy raising her family. I told her to find time, even if it is only a few minutes, and do something art related for herself. It was a nice way to spend the day and share my art on the 1st day of the year.

Out With the Old - In With the New

 Happy New Year!

Wishing everyone a joyful, healthy, safe, and loving 2021!

Even if we haven't had the greatest year, I think most of us have learned to be more appreciative of what we have and not take our loved ones for granted. Celebrate what you can and when you can.

Here is my last sketch of 2020 done at Lake Ronkonkoma of the view across the lake.

Here is my first sketch of 2021. If I am not visiting family or friends somewhere for the holiday I try to get down to the ocean on New Year's Day. I went to Robert Moses State Park where the Fire Island Lighthouse stands. There are always so many people who have the same idea as me. I enjoy seeing so many families out enjoying the day together. 

There are also always people who come down to the beach and celebrate the new year with food and drinks, often tailgating from their cars. This group looked like they were enjoying each other's company. They visited for quite a while (of course not quite long enough for me to finish the entire sketch, but luckily I took a photo just in case). I hope they were safe being with each other. Although they were outdoors and probably far enough apart, they weren't wearing face coverings. Of course I was safe in my "mobile studio" away from them.

New Year's Day Visits

Happy New Year!!!

On New Year's Day I decided to drive over to the beach. This is sort of an unofficial tradition for me if I am home and don't have any other plans. 

In the morning I had watched a few youtube videos about painting with gouache. That is something I'm hoping to practice this year...no, I will still do most of my work in watercolors, so don't worry. This past year I bought a starter set of Holbein gouache tubes containing a primary red, blue and yellow as well as a white and black. 

My first stop was at Captree State Park. The parking lot was covered with the remains of the snow from the other day. There were also some pockets of snow along the dune fences and on the dunes themselves. I should have experimented a bit with the gouache paints beforehand to see what combinations would produce what shades, but I dove right in.

Next I headed over the bridge to Robert Moses State Park which is on Fire Island. It was amazing to see the frozen areas around the pilings of the bridge. They made such beautiful patterns and textures, but there was no way to stop and take photos. 

It seems that a lot of people have the same tradition of visiting the beach on the first day of the year. When I was there last Jan 1st there were a lot of people tailgating and celebrating in the parking lot and walking to the lighthouse. I usually walk along the boardwalk to the lighthouse, but it was too cold on Monday.  This year there were some people hanging around and some diehearts that were heading down to the beach with beach chairs and coolers. (They did actually sit there on the sand.) The thermometer in my car said it was 19 degrees and the wind was really strong. I got out of the car long enough to walk over to the boardwalk and take a few photos.  This is what it looked like...beautiful but frosty!

I did sit in the car and do a watercolor sketch of the dunes and snow, but I was cold and soon headed home with my heater blowing nice hot air. 

Out With the Old, In With the New

I decided to finish the year off right. First I headed down to the water to do the final sunset of 2012. The colors weren't anywhere as exciting as they were the other day. This was done by the water in Sayville.

 

On New Year's Eve after a big prime rib dinner cooked at home and a few martinis I was definitely relaxed and worried that I wouldn't last until the ball dropped. So I decided to sketch until it did. Sketching Times Square from the tv was a challenge in itself. Most of the time they focused on the crowd or the performers with a quick look at the buildings. I did a few of the signs from what I saw, a few people from what I saw (yes, that person on the left in the front is a giant...perspecive isn't easy after martinis. lol), the ball, and a few buildings mostly from memory. Anyway I think it captured the magic of the night.

 

Yesterday, New Year's Day, I spent most of the day taking down my Christmas tree. Usually I don't do that until the middle of January, but we bought a new HDTV and I got a laptop for Christmas, so the cable tech is coming this week to connect everything. Yes, I will finally have the internet at home. Yeah!!!

The result of all that exhausting work is that I didn't get out to sketch anything, so again I sketched inside. I painted this bottle of wine instead of drinking it. lol Come over and I'll share it.

 



Reflections on 2012 and Happy New Year

Reflections on 2012

 

As 2012 comes to an end I must say it has been an interesting year with some highs and lows for all of us. My thanks to family and friends for your support, love, and encouragement.

 

On a personal note my family is doing well. We celebrated 3 weddings this year in various places in and out of the country. I was lucky enough to attend all three and I happily welcome Flor, Emily, and Rachel to our family.

 

Several blogging friends came to the area this year. Ai Nukoolkit visited NYC from Thailand and I got to spend 2 days sketching with her in Manhattan. Lin Frye was here for a workshop, and after several years of being internet friends we got to meet. Hurricane Sandy make it necessary for her to stay on Long Island a bit longer than she wanted, so we were able to spend some extra time together.

 

I participated in several shows and have my work in the Fiedler Gallery in Greenport. I sold some paintings at shows and as commissions, so I am grateful for that.

 

The art groups that I belong to met this year on a regular basis. It is always fun to go out and sketch and paint on location with both the PALS Plein Air group and the Patchogue Sketch Club. I also met with the SBAA Portrait Group. My thanks to Jeanne Salucci, Gina Lento, and Don Stonebridge for coordinating things so well for the groups.

 

My thanks to my partner in crime, Susan Toplitz, who researched so many Long Island locations for us to paint together this year. It is always fun to have company! She and I joined the NYC Urban Sketchers where we met some wonderful artists. I met another blogging friend, Carol King, this year as we met with the NYC Urban Sketchers to do a Worldwide Sketchcrawl in Brooklyn.

 

Last but definitely not least, my thanks to my husband, Jerry, for his support and understanding of the love of art that I need to express. He has the same love for his music. Jerry puts up with a lot from me and I appreciate it.

 

There are many friends who are still not fully recovered from the devastation of Hurricane Sandy. I thank God that Jerry and I weren't affected, but my thoughts are with those who lost so much and are still struggling to get their lives back to normal.

 

I have MANY, MANY things to be thankful to God for this year, and if you are reading this you are among the things I am thankful for too. I appreciate your visits, comments, and support this past year. I wish all of you health, happiness, love, and creativity in the coming year.

 

 Happy New Year!!! Wishing you all the best in 2013!

 

 

 This painting was done for the Weekend Drawing Event on WetCanvas from a photo supplied by "pjartwc". My thanks to Jan for the reference.