Art's House - Commission

Someone who bought one of my paintings at a show in December asked me if I could do a painting combining several black and white photos. This is the house that Art lived in as a teenager. There was one reference of the entire  house, but he wanted to change the front so it showed the changes his parents made including the arch over the steps and the stones by the door instead of the siding. Art was really happy with the way it came out!



Forsythia in Bloom

I love this time of year when the forsythia blooms and looks like a riot of color everywhere. Of course I usually spot it on or along a parkway and can't stop to paint it. This painting was done of a caretaker's cottage at Spring Lake Golf Course in Middle Island.

Don't laugh but I actually sat on the service road of the Long Island Expressway to paint this one. Both were done in my Strathmore journal.



Sunken Meadow Views

Last week we had such warm temps that I headed up to Sunken Meadow Park. It was actually warm enough to sit in short sleeves (no scarf, earmuffs, or coat) and paint. I walked out a bit onto the shore around the inlet. The longer I painted the more I saw in the distance because it kept clearing. This is about 6 x 15.

I also did a watercolor and ink of another view there. I used water-soluble ink and soluble ink to get some of the texture in the hillside.



Portraits

With all the plein air paintings I've done lately I neglected to post the portrait I did with my group last week. This is Dean.

Yesterday Iris posed for us in her bit black and white hat.





Dune Road View II

On Friday we had such wonderful weather so I drove back out to the Hamptons to the same spot on Dune Road where I knew I could park. I wanted to try another view of this area. Instead of painting the view to the right like last time, I looked slightly left. This painting is about 6 x 15. I also used a fine micron pen for the wires. I think that works a bit better.



View from Sandpit Park

This was the painting I did last week at the Patchogue Sketchclub location at Sandpit Park in Patchogue.



Stony Brook Harbor Views

We have had record warm temps making it perfect to actually sit outside and do plein air painting.

This was done at Stony Brook harbor. I like the little shed that gives the scene an interesting look. This painting is about 5 x 6.

Then I painted this from the exact same spot...just shifting my focus a bit. This one is 3 x 10.

I am enjoying being able to paint more than one view at the same spot.

Foggy Morning

This morning I got up at 7am and instead of going out for my early morning walk, I went out to paint fog. We've had very warm temperatures which have created dense fog conditions in the morning, but I seem to be missing the best of the conditions. Yesterday the fog had already lifted by the time I got out at 9:30. I was determined this morning!!! The first painting was done at a park that is about 3 minutes from me. I sat in the car so that the misty fog didn't wet the paper. I kept turning on the heat and blasting it to dry the layers of watercolor paint. The second painting was done down by the bay in Sayville.



Dune Road Views

With the forecast for mild weather I headed for Dune Road out in the Hamptons, an area that has million dollar homes. Right now you can park in some areas, but once the season starts you have to be a resident. This was done in the Quogue section of Dune Road where "Hotdog Beach" used to be. I believe the fence on the left is what remains of "The Barge" which was a local bar/hangout when I first started going to the Hamptons in college. The second painting was done from the same parking area, but I parked close to the road itself so I could look down the road to paint.



Seatuck Paintings

Both of these small paintings were painted at Seatuck Environmental Center in Islip on Saturday. Despite the sunny skies and warm temperatures, it was cold sitting outdoors when you aren't moving. By the time I finished the second painting I was wearing a winter coat, scarf and earmuffs. I guess that tells me to always be prepared.





Portrait of Joan

This is a portrait of one of the artists that I do portraits with on Tuesdays. Her name is Joan and she volunteered to pose for us last week.



Punta Cana Sketches Part 4

I love being in tropical places where I can get to see the sunrise over the water. Every morning when we were in Punta Cana I got up before sunrise, threw on some clothes and headed down to the beach in the dark to paint and take pictures. One morning it was still so dark that I had to stand by one of the lights to see my paints when I started painting. I would do a quick sky and then move on to taking photos of the sunrise. Then before I went back to the room to shower, I would take a long walk on the beach. My hubby and sister came with me the first morning, but they didn't join me the other days. Here are my paintings and a few photos of the sunrises there.

Punta Cana Sketches Part 3

I liked the colorful tourist shops on the resort property.

I enjoyed painting the people relaxing on the beach.

This is the downstairs lobby/bar area of the resort. I liked the opened archways looking out at the foliage.

I even painted in the resort lobby while we waited for our bus to the airport. We were early so I had lots of time to sketch people.



Punta Cana Sketches - Part 2

I took a walk every morning on the beach just after sunrise. By the afternoon there were lots more people walking. I used artistic license and left some of them out.

This was painted from the veranda near the Sea and Sea Restaurant that was down by the beach.

The pool was very refreshing!

I'll be back tomorrow with a few more paintings.

Punta Cana Sketches Part I

I was in Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic for the wedding of my nephew, Kevin and his wife, Flor (photo below) for the last 5 days. Of course I had to paint everything I saw. lol Here is the first group of sketches. I wll post more tomorrow.

This is a view at the pool at Majestic Elegance.

 

I found the seaweed, tiny fish, and coral on the beach.

The fruit is passion fruit, which I did not like at all. It was great for sketching, but too bitter for me.

I was ready to relax in one of those chairs with a cocktail in my hand.

This is the beach shack where you can make reservations for water sports.

Here is a photo of the happy couple.



Sayville Dock

I love going down to the Sayville dock because there is usually some huge boat out of the water and being worked on. There is always a lot of atmosphere. This was done in my Stillman & Birn journal.



Stony Brook Harbor

One of my favorite towns to paint in lately is Stony Brook. The harbor there has nice marshes and you can see quite far. I have to paint it now before the season starts and only locals are allowed to park there. IRL this isn't quite as yellow, This was done in my Stillman and Birn journal.



Blue Point View

There are a number of hidden spots nearby and this is one of them in Blue Point, across from Flo's. I painted this from my mobile studio/car.



Veggies

Our weather hasn't been the greatest so the other day I did a sketch at home in my Stillman & Birn journal. There is always something to paint.



Queen City Cupcakes Revisited

My sketch group went back to Queen City Cupcakes in Patchogue last night. The owner, Carol, who has been so welcoming to us, has all kinds of interesting treasures (besides cupcakes) for us to sketch...and everything is for sale. I ended up coming home with a white lamb. lol