Fire Island Lighthouse

I will catch up on Inktober shortly, but I didn't want other work that I've done to end up lost in the shuffle. This past week I did a small (7 x 7in) painting of the Fire Island Lighthouse. It was a windy day so I sat where a building blocked the wind. I think otherwise this would have blown all the way to the lighthouse. I am lucky that this lighthouse is so accessible at Robert Moses State Park. I can see it from the parking lot and there is a nice boardwalk that leads to it...and provided about a 1 1/2 mile walk round trip.

Inktober Day 9

 This sketch fits the prompt "dip pen + brush pen." I sketched it outside the Sayville Bean Coffee House. I used a dip pen with Noodler's Lexington Gray ink and a gray Tombow dual brush pen.

#inktober #inktober2026

Inktober Day 8

 Koosjie Koene's Inktober prompt for day 8 was "use a dip pen." As you can see I have a fancy glass one from Venice, but I really rarely use a dip pen. I find dealing with the ink bottle and pen to be rather messy unless I'm working at a table. This was done at Frank Melville Park in Setauket. The building is a water mill that is no longer working. I sketched it from the front. For a while it was the park office, but I don't think it is used at all now.

#inktober #inktober2026

Inktober Day 7 + Urban Sketching in Forest Hills

 The prompt for this Inktober sketch was negative space. I guess how you look at your subject determines if you see the negative or the positive spaces. For this sketch I headed over to Robert Moses State Park where you can actually see the Fire Island Lighthouse from the parking lot or the beach. There is also a nice boardwalk that provides a nice way to walk to the lighthouse.

#inktober #inktober 2026

The NYC Urban Sketchers met in Forest Hills over the weekend. I took the LIRR from Ronkonkoma and switched at Jamaica to reach our destination. I hadn't been to Forest Hills in a long time, but can remember being there for a Barry Manilow concert at the tennis stadium probably in 1974. 

My first sketch was of the Forest Hills Station which was where I had arrived. As you can see there were already some sketchers at work.

Next I headed around the corner to the residential area. Most buildings in Forest Hills are Tudor style. I felt like I was in another country. On Dartmouth Street I found this interesting entryway to sketch.

When I was finished I headed back over to Station Square. Susan and Kim were sitting at a table outside Forest Hills Pizza and sketching the view in front of them. I grabbed a slice of pizza and then joined them outside to sketch. Kim was giving advice to Susan to make her shadows darker. I took her advice too and I think it helped my sketch. I did this one quickly since we were meeting in about 40 minutes for show-and-tell.

It was great to spend the day with the other sketchers and see the wonderful work they created as well as some of the interesting spots they found to sketch in the area.

Inktober Day 6

The Inktober prompt for this sketch was "varied line weight." I went down to Cedar Beach in Babylon which is along Ocean Parkway.  The weather was lightly spritzing off and on. Something for kids must have been going on inside the concession area. Families kept going inside and some of them were coming out with pumpkins. I liked the view outside so I didn't bother going in.

While I was there I also did a small painting (I needed to use some color.) of the dunes. If you look thru the break in the dunes you can see there is what looks to be a sandbar or a small area of land that since the nor'easter last week is now sitting out in front of the beach. Apparently several of the beaches have had their landscapes changed quite a bit.

 

Inktober Day 5

 This Inktober sketch for Day 5 is a self portrait with minimal lines. I was sitting in my car with the sun visor down. I used the mirror that was there to do a rather quick sketch of my face not using too many lines.

Inktober Day 4

My sketch for today is a time limit 5 minute sketch that was on Koosje's Inktober Prompt List. I made sure I had a good view from the front seat of my "mobile studio," set the time on my phone for 5 minutes and started sketching this view at The Farm on Lakeland in Sayville. My pen was moving quickly!

#inktober #inktober2026