Lifeguards

From my recent sketches you can tell where I have been spending most of my time.LOL

Most days lately I have gone to the beach for part of the day and then come home to the pool in our development to get some exercise. As much as I love going out painting, the summer is so short and I love the beach. So I try to combine the two.

I have to say that I did this one in pencil first. The structure of the lifeguard chair looked just too hard to try it directly in ink. This also was done on actual watercolor paper. In the time it took me to sketch this out, the lifeguards I started sketching were replaced by different people because their sitting time was up for a while.  

Ink Sketching at the Beach

Like I said in the previous post, I am trying to do some sketching directly in ink. I read an interview with James Richards on the website Wanderarti where among other things he described how he sketches a city scene in ink starting with a picture frame, a line for eye level, and then begins sketching figures in the foreground. It made a lot of sense. Here is the interview if you are interested. http://www.wanderarti.com/busy-city-sketches/
I've been trying to do that a bit in my ink sketches but I've been at the beach instead of in the city.
Here is one sketch that I did that way.

This was not sketched on watercolor paper...just regular sketching paper, so the watercolor isn't quite the same as it would be on better paper. But since I'm experimenting with this process I don't mind.

At the Beach

I've been trying to paint or sketch when I am at the beach. I put on my floppy hat and my sunglasses. People usually don't realize what I'm doing.

I'm also trying to force myself to sketch directly in ink once in a while.

I know I rely on my pencil and eraser too much. These were done with no pencil sketch.

Indoor Sketching

On Saturday we had showers, but I was itching to sketch somewhere. I grabbed my sketchbook and headed up in the direction of the mall in Lake Grove. Then I remembered a new Fairway Market had opened near there so I went there. It had just opened about a week ago and it was super crowded. I put a shopping basket next to me in the produce department for a bit of protection and pulled out my sketchbook. I'm not used to sketching standing up but it wasn't too bad...and I only had to move a few times so people could get to the oranges behind me. lol  For my first sketch I did some radishes surrounded by leeks, scallions, and lots of leafy lettuces.

Next I sketched the ladies shopping by the big pile of corn.

With all the people passing by and all the workers in the store not one person seemed to care that I was standing there sketching. 

Alive After 5 - Part II

The Patchogue Sketch Club had a table set up at the Alive After 5 street fair. I did a few sketches sitting with my friends by the table. There were a few interesting food trucks parked across from us and they had a bit of traffic which made them fun to sketch. Imagine a hot dog vendor with the name "Old Dirty Dogs." lol That must tell you something.

Right next to us on the grass was a vendor with all these hula-hoops. I assume they were selling them but mostly there were people just trying them out. One little girl near us was doing a great job with two of them.

The group will return to sketch there on the two nights it is open in August, so I will try to get there and sketch again.

Alive After 5 - Part I

Downtown Patchogue has been having designated Thursday nights this summer, which are part of "Alive After 5." This is sort of like a street festival. The main street is closed and filled with food vendors and merchants, outdoor bars and areas for restaurants, and live entertainment. This is where the Patchogue Sketch Club headed to sketch this week. Some of the bands playing are good...and some not so good. lol For the first sketch I made sure I was sitting near a band that I could listen to for a while. This is a sketch of one of the bar areas on the street...and no, I didn't indulge.

This was sketched of some of the people passing by. Most of the figures are a composite of the head of one person, the torso of another and the legs of a third. It is almost impossible to sketch one complete person since they move so quickly and the crowds of people block your view so easily and often.

Animals

Over on Paper, Paint, Pencils & Pens we were doing sketches of Wildlife.
I did a few animal sketches.