Suffolk County Vietnam Veterans Memorial

The flickr.com blog for Urban Sketchers had a theme for the week to do a sketch of something that honors someone. This was my first visit to the Suffolk County Vietnam Veterans Memorial. It is at Bald Hill in Farmingville and is located on one of the highest points on Long Island.

I included the Suffolk County police officer who was standing there as a reference for the height of the memorial.

Blue Point Sunsets

The Patchogue Sketch Club met at the end of Blue Point Avenue at the dock to sketch on Wednesday evening. We moved up the sketching time from 6:30 to 6 because it is getting darker earlier. Sigh!

I sketched a view of the beach there from the dock.

Then I did a few more ATC sunrises. I have about 13 of them done this summer...maybe I can do a series of them. For these I tape them to a board with some double sided tape and paint with a regular brush, not my waterbrush. The waterbrush makes the paper much too wet. As it is it doesn't dry fast enough. As soon as I get one nearly done I move to the next one, until I have 3 going at once. Then I can move back and forth between them. The foreground is never dry enough when I want to paint it so I usually darken it when I get home and the paper is dry.

Assorted Sketches

Even when the weather isn't good, I try to get outside to at least do a sketch. This was done down at the Blue Point dock from my car because it was spritizing (not good for watercolors or ink). At this time of year there are always people fishing and crabbing...often with their children. This was done in my Stillman & Birn Alpha Sketchbook with lovely ink that bleeds.

When the weather is good...I try to get down to the beach for at least a few hours. There are always willing subjects standing and sitting around. These next three were all done at Smith Point Beach.

Sometimes I'm close enough to sketch a tiny toddler who may or may not stay put long enough for me to do a sketch. This little lady stayed put for most of the time. I'm still working on a blend to use for skin tones...and they are even harder on children. I try to not be obvious that I'm looking so the parents don't get nervous that I'm watching their child. lol I rarely have anyone notice that I'm sketching them or someone they are with.

And the hardest subject of all at the beach are the gulls. If they come close enough some kids usually chase them.

House at the Islip Grange

Yesterday my plein air group went to the Islip Grange in Sayville. It was drizzling so I wasn't sure if we were going to meet, but Jeanne said we could always paint from the gazebo...and that is what we did.

This is a building from the early 19th Century as would have been found in this area.
I liked the rough texture to the outside and that recessed window.
This is 5 x 7.

Sunset ATCs

After painting the boats in Bellport last night, I did two ATCs of the sunset.

Bellport Boats

Yesterday my friend and I headed over to the Bellport dock about 6:00. We figured we would have time to sketch something and also paint a sunset. There were a lot of small sailboats along the side of the dock near the gazebo to sketch. This is about 5 x 6.

Sunflower Field Revisited

There are certain locations that call you back...and this is one of them. On Friday I made another trip to the sunflower field in Center Moriches where I did the painting posted on Aug. 20 below. Unfortunately Mother Nature didn't exactly cooperate. In the days since my group painted there the sunflowers started really shriveling up. I used some artistic license and made them look 

fresher than they were.

This is 8 x 10.

Farmers Market Sketches

On the Urban Sketchers flickr the weekly theme is fruit.

Where better to find fruit to sketch than the farmers market? So I headed over to the Sayville Farmers Market this morning. I wanted to do some close up sketches rather than doing the booths.

First I sketched the produce at Stan & Pat's booth.

Then I went over to "Fly In & Pig Out" run by Sweet Melissa, of Sweet Melissa's Dips and Catering in Rocky Point. She sells produce that she says is mostly Italian...I kept hearing about figs in her discussion with other shoppers. I guess I'll have to go back and try them. She had some interesting curling Italian Squash. There was cheddar cheese cauliflower too. The dips looked and sounded interesting...you could taste them if you wanted. Too bad my hands were so busy.

Melissa was very friendly and I will have to visit there again. 

My thanks to both vendors for allowing me to sketch their merchandise!

Beach People

The beach provides an endless supply of figures to sketch and paint.

Here are a few from the other day.

Not quite a life drawing class, but it will do.

ATCs

Here are two more ATCs I've done for my landscape exchange on WetCavas.

This is "Ireland II" which was sent to my friend, Ai, in Thailand.

This was done from one of the photos I took in Ireland.

This was sent to Joanne in Oregon and is titled "Short Beach". 

It was done en plein air.

Meadowcroft Estate Painitngs

Tonight the Patchogue Sketch Club met at Meadowcroft Estate in Sayville at 6:30. With the sun setting earlier and earlier we have to work fast before it gets too dark.

First I painted in the garden. I liked the contrast of the stone birdbath and the flowers.

This is about 4 x 6 in my Stillman & Birn Alpha Sketchbook. 

The other artists were still working so I went over by the vegetable garden and did a quick watercolor sketch just with paint. I really abused the paper in this one with a lot of water and paint...but the paper took it well...no pilling, no buckling.

Sunflower Field (SOLD)

Today my PALS Plein Air group met at a sunflower field that I had scouted out last week.

It was a really beautiful spot, and the rusty truck really was a nice touch.

I was standing near the fence along a fairly busy road while I was painting. This particular field had been written up in the newspaper last week so it is getting more visitors than usual. Quite a few people stopped to take photos of the sunflowers. One woman came over to me and looked at my painting (which was about 1/8th done) and told me it was gorgeous. She wanted to know how long it would take me to finish it and that she wanted it for a gift for her husband's birthday tomorrow. They come to the sunflower field every summer and take pictures. I told her it would probably take me at least another 1 1/2 hrs and she told me not to leave before she got back. I promised her I would be there until at least 12 noon. But you never know if people will return. How many artists have heard those words "I'll be back." But she did return with her daughter and bought the painting. Yeah! She had tears in her eyes when she saw it finished. I did take a photo of it before she took it home. 

Needless to say that made my day!

This is 8 x 10.

Here I am working on the painting.

Since I sold the other painting I decided to do a smaller similar painting before leaving.

This one is 5 x 7.

Here are the other PALS artists at work.

Jeanne

Laurie

Laurie

Linda

Rosamaria

Susan

Shed at the Dock

On Thursday morning I went back to the dock by the White Cap Fish Market in Islip.

I liked the bit of clutter with the dock behind it. I can always find something there to paint.

Holbrook Carnival

This has been one busy weekend of sketching for me. Today the weather wasn't great...mostly overcast with light showers from time to time. I went out early in the day to an art show and visited with some friends doing the show before we walked around to see the art.

When I got home I debated if I should go to the pool and get some exercise between the showers, but decided it was too cool. So I grabbed my bag of sketching supplies and headed to the carnival here in Holbrook. It is run by All County Amusements who handle most of the carnivals in the area. I've sketched at their carnivals before.

First I stood near the kiddie caterpillar ride. Luckily the rides didn't last too long so I was able to sketch a bit more each time the ride stopped.

Next I sketched the umbrella ride. It isn't easy to sketch a moving ride, so I sketched the cars as they stopped to slowly unload. While I was sketching the owner of the carnival came over to see what I was doing. I gave him my art business card so he could see the sketches on my blog when they were finished. He said the purple car is his favorite...mine too.

I did the above two sketches standing up, but I found a bench to sit on to sketch the "win a 

live goldfish" toss game.

This last sketch I did from the same bench looking over at one of the "food" stalls.

I got it sketched and painted about half way when it started to drizzle...not good for watercolors. lol

So I finished this one when I got home.

Red Hook, Brooklyn

Today the NYC Urban Sketchers met in Red Hook, Brooklyn. Some members took the ferry from Manhattan, but Susan and I drove instead. This was my first trip to Red Hook and it is quite an unusual place. Our first stop to sketch was at the Fairway Market, the first stop for the ferry. Out back they have tables and food stands. We sat in the partial shade of an umbrella.

I also sketched one of the windows on the upper floor of Fairway Market.

Next we headed to the Red Hook Yacht Club, which is sort of a men's club in this crazy building filled with all kinds of things from the 60s. The men inside were quite the characters, and so nice to us.

Here is an actual photo of the place from the outside...

and the inside. Don't you love that car?

Here are Mike and Melanie sketching.

And Mark sketching.

The it was off to the Brooklyn Crab for lunch. I sketched a few of the patrons.

After lunch we headed down the street to continue sketching the views.

Here's the real thing. Isn't the Statue of Liberty great?

Sunsets

In the summer when I go out on Wednesdays with the Patchogue Sketch Club we are usually in a location by the water and we get some really nice sunsets. We meet at about 6:30 and stay until the sun sets. Some of the sunsets are just amazing. I've started doing tiny ATCs each time, because it is impossible for me to do a bigger painting since the sky changes so quickly. This time there was color in every direction I looked...not just to the west.

Here are the two ATCs (2.5 x 3.5) that I painted and a photo I took. I'm going to have to read my manual for my camera because the sunsets don't come out as good as they should.