Little Vincent's Pizza

 This was painted in the sketchbook I bought in Venice which lets the paint and the ink bleed through the page. I tried seeing what would happen if I treated the paper with watercolor ground, which is supposed to make any surface suitable for watercolor. I only did 1 coat of the watercolor ground. Although it didn't bleed as badly as before the edges of the paint don't hold a crisp edge. I may try putting a second layer on the next few pages to see if that helps.

Anyway I stopped at Little Vincent's Pizza Restaurant in Lake Ronkonkoma. It was raining so I sat in my mobile studio to capture the view before I went in for a slice.

Quick Sketches for Creative Spark

Here are a few quick sketches done for the Creative Spark Scavenger Hunt recently. 

Something full, something empty, and a vegetable.

Shelving

Matt the Model

A few times a year the Patchogue Arts Council pays for a model for the Patchogue Sketch Club. The last few times we've had Hector model for us. This time we had a new (to us) model named Matt. He was a definite surprise and modeled as stripped down as you can get and still be PG. He has a really interesting face with a long curling mustache, a wild head of hair, and a solid body. I usually sketch small but found I had to sketch Matt the entire length of my paper. He posed in a variety of positions for different intervals. I hope he is invited back again.

Sayville Park Foliage

This is one of the locations down by the Great South Bay that I return to often. It is the beginning of the shaded area of the small park as you pass the little beach in Sayville. 

Beach Days Begin

 Sunday was a beautiful, warm day so I headed down to the little beach on the Great South Bay in Sayville. I thought about the sketches I had done in the workshop I took with my friend recently and did this sketch in a similar manner. The sketch itself was mostly a continuous line sketch.

Port Chester Sketch

 I was up in Port Chester for a memorial service for a good friend. Before I headed home I stopped to do a sketch in the area. It helped relax me after a day of journeying through special memories. This was done in the sketchbook that has the lousy watercolor paper. The color bleeds too much. I am hoping to remedy that. I bought a jar of "watercolor ground" which should add some sizing to the paper. I hope it helps.

Toyota Service

 I never mind when my car needs to be serviced. There is always something/someone to sketch. It would be nice if I could watch what the mechanics were doing, but that isn't possible at most service centers so I had to settle for the people in front of me. Finished this slightly before the oil change and tire rotation were finished.