Thursday, July 10, 2025

At the Grange

Last week the Patchogue Sketch Club went to The Grange in Sayville. I've sketched there so many times and I'm always looking for something a little different to sketch. Luckily Mariann was sitting across from me sketching the scene behind me. I started with her and then included the scene behind her.



Wednesday, July 9, 2025

Lavender By The Bay

 Every summer my plein air group waits to hear that the lavender at Lavender By the Bay is in bloom. They have two locations...one in Calverton and one in East Marion. I like the one in East Marion better, but the one in Calverton is a lot closer so we've been going there. I did one 8 x 10 painting directly in watercolor.


Below is my setup with the finished painting.

I decided to do another smaller (4 x 6) directly in watercolor and it was done in about 15 minutes. I like the looseness to this one and the white spots that I was able to save.








Tuesday, July 8, 2025

House on Greene Avenue

 There are a number of charming houses with beautiful gardens on Greene Avenue. This was done in direct watercolor.



Monday, July 7, 2025

Hydro Peppers

Last weekend I went to the Islip Farmers Market. The weather wasn't the best so I parked and sat in my mobile studio to sketch. I was behind the stall for Hydro Peppers. People kept stopping by the booth and I had to know what he was selling. When I finished the sketch I walked over to the booth to check things out. He was selling hot sauce and pepper jelly. I asked how hot it was and after being warned that it was hotter than what I was used to, I sampled the hot sauce. Yikes!!! It was so hot! As much as I enjoy hot sauce it was too hot for my taste, but if you like your hot sauce very hot...this is for you! 



Sunday, July 6, 2025

Fountain

 I haven't found too many homes in the area that have fountains, but this one in Sayville is one of my favorites. One of the items on the Creative Spark Scavenger Hunt recently.


Another item on the Scavenger Hunt list was an anchor. This one is outside by Shellfish Marine Inc down by the West Sayville dock.





Saturday, July 5, 2025

Acrylic Presentation

Last Wednesday the sketch group was invited to a presentation by our local ambassador for Holbein and Legion Paper. He visited recently and did presentations on watercolor (which I attended) and more recently on oil paints (which I did not attend).

Jim brought along samples of their acrylic paints, an irridescent medium, several of their papers including black, gessos, and other interesting materials for us to try. At the end of the presentation he gave out the materials he brought along.

I did this little scene on yupo paper with acrylic paints. I beieve the blue was a matte acrylic. I liked how the acrylics adhere to the yupo. When I've painted with watercolors on yupo the paint floats and takes a very long time to dry.


I tried the irridescent medium mixed with the acrylic paints on the black paper.


The acrylic paints blended better than I expected on the paper we had.



It is always fun to experiment with new materials...without having to buy them.


Friday, July 4, 2025

Happy 4th of July

Happy 4th of July! 

The Farm on Lakeland is located on Lakeland Avenue in Sayville. The have a large assortment of plants and vegetables for sale. I always buy corn and tomatoes there when they are at their peak. I often sketch The Farm from the side around the corner so that I don't take up one of the parking spaces in front since there aren't too many of them. This was done in direct watercolor for the 30 x 30 challenge.

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