A Summer Treat

Last week I bought a watermelon and unlike the last one I wanted to make sure I got to paint it.

So I put a big sign on it that said, "Paint slices." That way I would remember and my husband wouldn't cut it up and eat it. I was able to cut up most of it, and use a few slices for these.

Want a slice???

The Shed

Here is one last painting that I did on Saturday. This was done at the vineyard,

and I think this was a storage shed off of where they did the wine tastings.

They kept carrying out cases of wine while we sat and pained and sipped.

The Vineyard

Long Island's east end is becoming well know for its vineyards. The soil is perfect for growing grapes.

On Sunday when we were out east, we stopped at a winery. I liked looking through the rows of grapes and seeing this house which was across the street. This is 5 x 7.

Field with Sunflowers

Yesterday my friend, Sue and I drove out to the north fork of Long Island. 

Along the way we passed a field with groups of sunflowers.

We pulled over at the nearby farm stand and asked it we could go inside the fence and paint the field.

Luckily they said yes! This is part of the Bayview Farm Market and Farm in Aquebogue.

Sunset ATCs

After painting the crane above on Wednesday the colors in the sky started changing for the sunset.

I decided to paint the sky while the sun was setting, but have found in the past

that it is too hard to do a sunset en plein air unless it is small and you can work fast.

Each of these took me about 10 minutes tops and are 2.5 x 3.5.

Crane at the Dock

On Wednesday evening the Patchogue Sketch Club met down Pine Neck Avenue in Patchogue.

There is a small beach and a dock area. Hurricane Sandy did some damage to the dock and they are repairing things. That left a big red crane for me to sketch. This is about 6 x 8.

Sketching People

A fellow blogger had a link to Marc Taro Holmes' blog.

http://citizensketcher.wordpress.com
Or you can click on his name in my list of blogs I visit on the right.
He is very good at what he does, so you may want to check him out.

He gave a step-by-step explaination of how he sketches moving people.

So I've been practicing sketching people at the beach lately.
Here are a few pages of my attempts.

Bait Shop

Yesterday my plein air group painted near the White Cap Fish Market in Islip. Across the canal was an interesting bait shop that I painted. This is 8 x 10.

Here are a few photos from our painting location.

Laurie, Jeanne, and Sharon

Liz painting.

Susan and Laurie

Me

Sayville Sketch

On Friday my friend, Susan and I met at Starbucks in Sayville to sketch the town.

This was the view in front of me.

Luckily the temperature had cooled off a bit so we were

comfortable sipping our iced drinks.

Venetian Arch

The weather last week was so hot that I didn't do much plein air painting. Mostly I sat at the pool. I would go in and kick for a half hour and then come out and sit in the shade for a while, and then repeat.

I got restless not painting, so one day I brought a few photos and some watercolor postcards and worked a bit.

This was done from one of my photos taken in Venice. I added some hanging laundry...cause there is often hanging laundry in the narrow streets. There is nothing like a painting of Venice to enjoy working on a little texture. This is 4 x 6.

Family Sketches

On Wednesday I went to NJ to visit my sister, Mickey. Her two granddaughters were visiting her for the week, so we had a "Girls Day." There was jewelry making, sketching, and painting.

I did a sketch of Kateri who is 7 years ago. I made her look about 12...so we know what she will look like in the future. lol

Jadyn had been working on beaded jewelry. I have a lot of beads so I brought them with me.

She loves looking through them and using them for her creations.

Here are Mickey and Jadyn looking through a box of beads.

Here they are later looking at some of the necklaces, bracelets, and earrings that Jadyn made.

Katerie did some sketching too. She did a sketch of each of us.

I sketched her again.

Here is a photo of the four of us before we went out to dinner.

And Jadyn, Kateri and myself at the Hacienda, Mexican restaurant.

It was a fun time with them.

Salt Air Farm ATCs

While I was at Salt Air Farm where I did the painting posted below, I also did two ATCs (2.5 x 3.5) for my WetCanvas exchange. 

Neither of the people they went to follow my blog so it is safe to post them here.

Both are of the field of wildflowers.

Here are a few more photos from Salt Air Farm.

First the barn.

Then some of the gorgeous flowers.

Salt Air Farm

The PALS Plein Air group went to Salt Air Farm in Cutchogue on Wednesday.

The temperature was in the 90s and the humidity was high.

I wanted to paint the wildflower field, but there was no shade for this view.

I had an umbrella on my easel to shade the paper, and I survived being mostly in the sun.

This is 8 x 10.

Here is another view of the painting against the actual view.

A few of the other artists painted while sitting or standing under the peach trees.

Here is Jeanne who organizes our outings.

Laurie painted in the shade too.

Linda had a spot under the trees.

Laurie painted out in the sun like me.

Susan had a shady spot.

The peach trees were full of fruit.

There was a nice barn...maybe I'll paint it next time.

Beach Sketches

The beach is such a great place to sketch/paint people. Unfortunately most of the time I get a view of someone from behind. These two ladies were sitting directly in front of me. Luckily they were talking for quite a while so I was able to see the sides of their faces most of the time.

Little children are among my favorite beach subjects but they don't stay still for very long. This young girl was an exception. I don't know what she was watching but she stood there for quite a while.

New ATCs for the WetCanvas Landscape Exchange

Here are a few more ATCs (2.5 x 3.5) that I've done for the WetCanvas Landscape Exchange.

All of these were done en plein air and have been received by their new owners.

This was for Dominic in the UK and is titled "Across the Water."

It was painted near the Maritime Museum in West Sayville.

Both of these were painted from Smith Point Park.

This one was done facing the mainland

Here is "Beach View I" which I sent to Bridget in Alberta, Canada.

"Beach View II" was done for Bonnie in Regina, SK, Canada.

This time I faced the ocean.

Pemaquid Point

We always have to visit Pemaquid Point. I usually paint the lighthouse but we didn't have much time so I did a view of this small building and the rocks. Three ladies were nice enough to sit and pose too.

Boothbay View

I always try to get down to Boothbay Harbor when I visit my sister in Maine.

There are so many great views by the harbor.

Traveling on the Ferry

I am going to backtrack a bit now. On Tuesday I headed up to Maine. I like taking the Cross Sound Ferry from Orient Point, NY to Bridgeport, CT. It makes the distance I have to drive shorter and it is such a nice ride. I arrived at the ferry terminal early enough to sip some coffee and sketch the view out the window of my car. The other cars were lined up waiting for them to unload the ferry that had come the other way.

Once on board I found an interesting view to sketch. The lifeboats really attracted me.