Green-Wood Cemetery Sketching

The destination for the NYC Urban Sketchers recently was Green-Wood Cemetery in Brookly. We've sketched there before, but for me it has been a few years. Just outside of the main entrance is the Weir Green-House. Originally it was just a place to purchase flowers for the cemetery, but it has been renovated recently and is now the visitor's center for Green-Wood Cemetery as well as a place to buy flowers. It is a beautiful building from the outside, but I didn't have a chance to go inside.

My next sketch was of the main gate to Green-Wood Cemetery. At the top of the tall spire is a huge nest that is the home to the Broolyn parrots. There is a large (and quite vocal) colony of parrots that make their home in the entrance. The story goes that back in the 1960s the original parrots escaped from a shipment which arrived at Kennedy Airport from South America. The escaped parrots found their way to Brooklyn and have been there ever since. It is entertaining to watch them fly in and out of the spire.

Across from the entrance is a high hill (said to be the highest spot in Brooklyn) that offers a great view of the entrance itself and the NYC skyline in the distance. I climbed up to the top of the hill and sat with quite a few other sketchers who had the same idea. It was a perfect location until I had to figure out a way to get down from there. I always find going down a hill or down stairs to be more difficult than going up. The two ladies who I sketched in front of me were mother and daughter. The mom was from Florida and her daughter lives nearby in Brooklyn. Neither had ever sketched with our group before.

Our show and tell was scheduled for 3:00 so I had a full hour to find another location to sketch. I wandered and found this view on the side of that same hill. The trees here are massive since many of them are original trees that were here in the 1860s when the cemetery opened.

At our show-and-tell there were about 35/40 sketchers. It is always fun to see how everyone interprets the scenes at a location.

The only downside to the day was the incredible amount of traffic that we sat in going home. The distance from the cemetery to our first stop to drop someone off was 58 miles. It took us nearly 2 1/2 hours. My thanks to my friend, Susan who drove through the traffic. Then she and I had another 1/2 hour to drive...luckily without traffic.

Continuous Line Sketch

 One of the items for the Creative Spark Scavenger Hunt was "condiment." I had fun sketching the bottle of ketchup and trying to keep the line going. Of course I added color when I finished the line sketch.

Live Model

 The Patchogue Arts Council arranged for a live model for the Patchogue Sketch Club. Donna was our model and she came in a sort of 60s style outfit...very colorful and wearing white boots. She also had a guitar for a prop. She was good and we all enjoyed sketching her. Poses ranged from 5 - 20 minutes. Here the longer poses are shown first and the 5 minute poses are at the bottom. I'm glad I had my watercolors with a bright orange and yellow, as well as a bright orange watercolor pencil.

Sayville Water View

I sketch down by the water in Sayville quite often, but I try to find a slightly different view if I can. This time I sketched from the parking lot at the town marina. The view of Sayville Beach is a little different. 

Islip Beach

A friend and I were looking for a scenic spot where we could enjoy the outdoors, have some shade, and sketch. Here on Long Island we have many small beaches that are specific to certain towns. I've sketched at Islip Beach before and it has a cute restaurant called Key West. I suggested that Suzala meet me and I would drive us down to the beach since I get free admittance as an Islip resident. It turned out to be a great idea. There is a large covered area with picnic tables where we sat and each had a view. She sketched the restaurant and I concentrated on the people sitting on the beach in front of the restaurant. It turned out to be a great location.

Shadows in Bellport

 This particular view in Bellport is a favorite spot of mine to sketch or paint. There are always strong shadows along Bellport Lane looking down to the Bellport Dock.

Patio Flowers

 The other day it was too hot to go searching for a location to sketch. So instead I sat out in the morning shade on my patio and sketched on of my hanging baskets of begonias.