New York Botanical Gardens - Part 1

 Last weekend my friend, Susan and I decided to go to the New York Botanical Gardens. We are sharing a "senior dual membership" and as long as you visit twice, you come out ahead. The NYC Urban Sketchers were going to the Brooklyn Botanical Gardens but from experience we know that gets much too crowded on weekends when the cherry trees are in bloom. The gardens in the Bronx are much larger so the crowds are spread out much more.

Another friend of ours who we haven't seen in a long time (probably before Covid) was going to be there in the morning because her son takes a nature class there on Saturdays. Elaine dropped him off for the class, and we all sketched by the Conservatory until she had to pick him up. It was great to catch up with her after such a long time.

Elaine and Isaac left about noon and Susan and I hopped on the tram to go to paint the cherry trees at the top of daffodil hill. The sign there says there are 1 million tulips planted on the hill. I haven't counted them but from my estimates the sign must be right. Here is a photo of just part of daffodil hill. Now imagine that view in multiple directions!

I sat at the bottom of the hill and painted the view above.

As you can see I was concentrating more on the trees than the daffs...and I didn't stop.

I will post more tomorrow.

Brooklyn Botanic Garden - Part 2

 After sketching in the very hot Aquatic Room I needed to cool off. I skipped lunch and just noshed on some almonds. The cafe was too far to bother walking over. I'd rather be sketching. The plan was to go outside to sketch next. While I was waiting for my friend in the center of the lobby area I decided to do a quick sketch of some of the leaves. There are plants from all over and I remembered to take note of what I was sketching. These leaves belong to a ceriman plant. It is sometimes called a Swiss cheese plant because of the holes in the leaves. They grow mostly in Mexico and Guatemala and produce a large fruit. 

When Suzala was ready we bundled up to head outside. It was windy and not too warm, but the sun kept us from being too cold. I did end up wearing my fingerless gloves by the end of the sketch, but my hat and scarf remained in my backpack. I started with the conservatory and those big windows. I was working in a small sketchbook that is about 3 1/2 x 5 1/2. It was a reasonable size just in case I got cold. But I kept sketching and was comfortable enough to expand the sketch onto the other side of the page. This was done directly in watercolor (quicker than sketching it in pen or ink first). I was able to fit in a bit of the buildings surrounding the garden.

We headed back inside for show and tell but had about 10 minutes before that was starting so we headed into the Desert House which had loads of cacti. I tucked myself into a corner and sketched the cactus that was closest to me. 10 minutes was just barely enough time to capture something.

On our way out of the garden we stopped to check out what was in bloom. Brooklyn is a bit warmer than where we live on Long Island. There were lots of daffodils, hellebores, crocus, etc in bloom. Some of the magnolia trees were starting to bloom and there were some cherry trees with tiny blossoms too. 

I guess Spring is here!

Brooklyn Botanic Gardens

Yesterday the NYC Urban Sketchers met at the Brooklyn Botanic Gardens for sketching. There are several big greenhouses that are partly underground and will keep you warm (a bit too warm) while it is frosty outside. The weather report was for a fairly mild day so I was hoping to get to sketch outdoors too.

I began in the Desert greenhouse which has some wonderful varieties of cacti. That is my favorite of the rooms for sketching because it is dry and comfortable...as long as you are not wearing a heavy sweater. I was prepared with a flannel shirt and a t-shirt underneath...so I was comfortable. I included the windows so this wouldn't be mistaken for a sketch from Arizona.

Then we walked over to the cafe for lunch. I brought my own lunch due to my experience the last time we were there in the winter and the concession stand was so underwhelming. This one was too. Coffee was made one cup at a time with pods...so you know how long that took with about 15 sketchers waiting. They had soup, wraps (that were premade and cold) or scones and cookies. Not very exciting fare for sure!  How difficult is it to provide something a bit better? Yes, there is a regular restaurant but lunch runs around $20 and takes far too much time.

After lunch we headed back to the greenhouses. I went in the tropical room and it was just too hot. The temperate room wasn't much better, so I opted to go outside. It wasn't as windy as earlier in the day but I needed my warm coat, hat, scarf, and fingerless gloves. After a while I was wishing I had my tights on under my jeans...and covered the tips of my fingers. All this to be able to sketch the conservatory. 

Around 3 we met to walk over to Tooker's Alley for drinks and "show and tell." I didn't sketch there because I was busy talking to a couple that were visiting from San Francisco and a guy visiting from Copenhagen. We also had a guy from somewhere in South America but he didn't join us for show and tell. It was a good day of sketching and meeting new people.