Wednesday, April 30, 2014

Pretty in Pink

Don't you just love when the trees are covered with blossoms? I do.
This was done along Bellport Lane in Bellport.


Tuesday, April 29, 2014

Dog Walking

On Sunday I was in Bellport and drove down by the dock. I had passed this lady further back in town a while before. I just loved the red coat on the dog. You notice this woman is bundled up in a winter jacket and hat...yes, spring temps seem to have disappeared again! I was back in Bellport today and passed the same woman and dog...the dog was easy to recognize. LOL I used a fairly new pen today called "Le Pen" which bleeds a little when you wet it. I like the effect.


Monday, April 28, 2014

Pots and Baskets

When I was at the Peconic River Herb Farm on Friday I did a second piece in my Stillman & Birn journal this time. I painted directly in watercolor for this...no sketching with my pencil. I am really happy with the way this came out.


Sunday, April 27, 2014

Flowers By the Fence

This was sketched and painted at the Peconic River Herb Farm in Calverton. It is a garden center, but it has all these lovely nooks and crannies where flowers and plants are blooming. There are several greenhouses...some filled with plants and some with bric-a-brac, and a main building filled with pots, bottles, antiques, seeds, and just a fun assortment of things. They even have picnic benches and chairs set up inviting people to linger. My thanks to the staff of the Peconic River Herb Farm for always being so welcoming when I stop by to paint. Never once have they told me I am in the way or that I can't paint there. They are really so nice!


Saturday, April 26, 2014

Pink House

On Friday I joined two friends at Blydenburg County Park in Smithtown to paint. I had never been to the park before. They have an area with historical houses and have people dressed in period costumes that do programs for kids and groups. There were too many school kids around to paint up by most of the buildings so we headed down by the lake to sketch. This pink building and a mill were down near the water. It was an interesting spot to sketch and I will probably return there to sketch or paint the other buildings and people.


Friday, April 25, 2014

Mary

This week's sketch model at the SBAA Portrait Group was Mary.
She was a great model!

When I was out the other day painting the forsythia (the day I met the photographer) I also did an ink was of a massive tree. I forgot to post it then. This is across a double page spread in my Stillman & Birn Beta Sketchbook.


Thursday, April 24, 2014

Human Beings And How They Spend Their Time - Part 1

On the Paper, Paint, Pencils, Pens blog we are doing a new theme: Human Beings And How They Spend Their Time. Some of my sketches are being done from my photos and some from life.

This lady was cooking at a farmers market in Arles, France. (photo)

Some do yard work. (life)

Church is often an option. (life)


Going to weddings. (photo)


Practicing, practicing, practicing... (life)



Wednesday, April 23, 2014

A Trip to NYC

Last Wednesday my sister, Mickey and I planned a trip to see the American Watercolor Society Show in Manhattan. We decided to combine it with a bit of sketching. Like everything this year it was an adventure because of the "spring" conditions of cold, snow and ice, and wind. We have not been lucky weather wise. Since it was really cold when we got into the city we decided to sketch from indoors looking out. We went upstairs in the Whole Foods on 14th Street overlooking Union Square Park. They have a cafe area that has huge windows and we found a table right up front in a great spot.

First I sketched Union Square Park which had some trees and shrubs in bloom...and as always people.


Next I focused on one of the street lamps and signs.


The taxis on the corner caught my eye. I need to practice car shapes, but they are much harder to do from up above. There were a few food carts on the corner too.


Then we went off to have lunch and see the show (which was fabulous).
When we got out of the show we headed back to the park to do one more sketch. It had warmed up a bit so we were able to sit in the sun and sketch comfortably. I liked the combination of the flowering trees, the closed umbrellas, and the lady in her coat with the hood up.






Tuesday, April 22, 2014

Fame in Setauket

Yesterday I was out plein air painting in Setauket. I was sitting by the water painting the pond, the bridge and the forsythia bush. A man came over and asked if he could take my photo and I said yes. People have asked to take photos of me painting before. Anyway, he goes to his car and comes back with this big camera with a huge lens and starts snapping away. Finally I asked him if he was a professional photographer and he said he works for Newsday which is one of the big Long Island & NY newspapers. He took my name and told me that my photo might be in the paper today.

I tried to find a way of linking the photo, but it doesn't give everyone access, so I took a photo of the photo on the computer. LOL It came out OK.


Here is the painting I was working on when he came over.



Monday, April 21, 2014

World Wide Sketch Crawl #43 - The Gowanus Canal

The NYC Urban Sketchers picked the Gowanus Canal area in Brooklyn for our sketch crawl on Saturday. For those of you outside of NYC, the Gowanus Canal for a long time has been known as one of the most polluted waterways in the country. Recently environmental projects have been done to try and improve the conditions. It is making a slow comeback, and they are trying to get it declared a national historic area. Most of you know that I tend to paint attractive landscapes that are "pretty." Well, this was gritty and dirty and just so much fun to sketch. I was really pleasantly surprised. Just to give you an idea of the area here is a photo of the Union Street Bridge. This was one of the prettier spots.


Anyway plans were made for the group to meet in Manhattan and take the ferry across to Brooklyn and do a walk with some participants that are actually working on improving the canal. My friend, Susan and I were already on the Brooklyn side so the plan was to meet along one of the bridges. One other sketcher did meet up with us, but we didn't ever link up with the rest of the group.

Susan and I started at the Union Street Bridge (pictured above). While we were sketching an instructor came along with two kids and their parents. He was giving them a perspective lesson and it was great to see what they had sketched. I did one of most of the bridge and then one of the bridge house.



Next we drove over to the Ninth Street Bridge. Sunil found us sketching there. He is one of those people who has an easy time sketching standing up...not me. LOL

I sketched the Ninth Street Bridge with the oil tanks and the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway with the traffic on it. Then I sketched an interesting jumble of "stuff" alongside the canal.



At this point we heard voices calling to us. The other sketchers that we were supposed to meet were up on the elevated subway platform to take the train to the next location they planned to sketch. We decided we would rather stay where we were. There was a small fleet of cement mixers with colorful polka dots that I just had to sketch. LOL


Susan and I headed over to the Whole Foods Market by the 3rd Street Bridge. They had a wonderful park-like path around the parking lot that had views of the canal. I did one final (double page) sketch of the 3rd Street Bridge. I sketched it on location and started painting it, but it was getting late so I decided to finish it at home. It was really fun to sketch things so different from what I normally do.





Saturday, April 19, 2014

Happy Easter & Happy Passover

This is the image I used for my Easter card this year.
I painted it en plein air at my friend, Susan's garden.

Wishing you a Happy Easter and Happy Passover!
I hope you are surrounded by family, friends, and love as we celebrate
the holidays and our faith. Enjoy!


Friday, April 18, 2014

Time Away From Home - Part 3

Here are a few more sketches for the Time Away From Home theme that we are doing over at Paper, Paint, Pencils & Pens. Come and visit...the link is the palette on the sidebar.

I visited the Saguaro National Forest in New Mexico on one of my cross-country trips.
I love the saguaro cacti.

We had stopped in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

There have been great animals in some of the locations I visited...
like this curly sheep in Dingle, Ireland.

And this pelican in Georgetown, SC.

Thursday, April 17, 2014

Urban Sketching at Bronx Community College

Last Saturday the NYC Urban Sketchers visited Bronx Community College. I wasn't sure I would find it an interesting location to sketch but was pleasantly surprised. We lucked out and had sunny, mild weather (which we haven't had on a sketching day in a while here in NY). I sat facing Gould Memorial Library and sketched the view straight ahead.

Next to where I was sitting there was a magnolia tree just starting to bloom. I sketched it with the tight buds on it in the morning, and by the time we came back to that spot in the afternoon it was in full bloom. LOL
A little warm weather was all it needed.


I headed for the Hall of Fame, which has busts of famous Americans in assorted fields.
We were up on a high hill and you could see the tops of the trees in the background.


I did a bust of Edwin Booth, who was a Shakespearean actor.



At lunch we shared our work and talked a bit before heading out for more sketching.
I did get a few photos of our members sketching.

Jim

Swami

Mark

Svetlana


I did a sketch of the top of Butler Hall.

Here is the bust of Abraham Lincoln and a view of part of the Hall of Fame. You can see that portions of it curved around. It was a really pretty walkway with information about each of the people depicted.


At the end of the day we sat and shared our sketches. It is always so great to see the work everyone produced during the day. Here are a few photos.

Svetlana showing her work.

Hugh showing his sketches.

Then it was Swami's turn to share.

Mark had some great sketches.

Susan had some great sketches to show too.

And finally we posed for a group photo.

Mike, Joan (me), Hugh, Susan, Mark, Svetlana, Jim, and Swami

I think everyone had a great time!

Wednesday, April 16, 2014

Patchogue Rescue Boat

Last Wednesday our sketch group headed down to the Fire Island Ranger Station in Patchogue.
This rescue boat was moored on the water there. This was done in my Stillman & Birn Beta Sketchbook. 


Tuesday, April 15, 2014

Double Portrait Day

Last Tuesday I was able to do two portrait sessions again. First I painted in the morning with the SBAA Portrait Group. We almost always have "mature" ladies or gents pose for us. They are the only ones who seem to be free in the morning unless college students are home for breaks. LOL
Eileen graciously posed for us.


In the evening the WetPaints Sketch Group met. One of the women brought her 2 nieces along and the older one posed for us. She was a teenager and had never posed before but she was fantastic.
This is Olivia.



Monday, April 14, 2014

Girls at the Dock

My friend, Ai, was hosting a challenge over on Wet Canvas in their Watermedia Forum. The host provides a group of photos and you have the entire month to do one or more of the photos as a water media piece. Her theme is "Friends" and the photo came from Flickr's Creative Common. This was done on watercolor paper using watercolors, inktense pencils, and oil pastels.
 It is 5 x 7.
For some reason this makes me think of camp counselors.


Sunday, April 13, 2014

Kingstons Clam Bar

Down by the water in West Sayville is Kingstons Clam Bar. Right now it is closed because it hasn't opened for the season yet. It did have some interesting light and shadows on it, so I did a small painting of it.


Saturday, April 12, 2014

Time Away From Home - Part 3

Here are a few more paintings done for the "Time Away From Home" theme.

This was done from a photo taken at Sebago Lake when we used to go up there for vacation as kids.
It was rustic...but heaven!


I was in Hawaii only once and we visited Haleakala Crater for sunrise.
It was beautiful!


On a trip to Washington, DC I got to see a Calder exhibit at the National Gallery.
His mobile was in the lobby.


The red rock formations in Sedona, Arizona are just wonderful to see.



Friday, April 11, 2014

Flowers For Sale

I love all the stands that are finally popping up with an abundance of flowers for sale.
It finally feels like spring here on Long Island but we are far from free of frost, and the bushes and trees are mostly bare. There are some weeping willows that are starting to get leaves and are a pale yellow green. Hopefully these last few warmer days will help the buds move along.

This was done at a farm stand in Sayville. I maneuvered to get a fairly good view of the plants and the stand and was busy sketching from the car. I was partly finished when the man from the stand came over to see if I had a problem. I showed him the sketch and he told me I should have parked in the lot. I just didn't want to take up space for customers, and besides...from this spot nobody could get in my way. lol


Thursday, April 10, 2014

Time Away From Home - Part II

For the "Time Away From Home" theme I have been going through my photos from many of my trips. The top two were done from photos taken on the beach in Malibu, California in 1969. The figure on the blanket is supposed to be me (when I still would wear a bikini).



In 1973 I backpacked through Europe with my sister. One of the places we visited was Athens, Greece. This is a section of the "Porch of the Maidens" in the Acropolis.


I took a trip with friends to Florida in 1977 and we visited Disneyworld. 
This was done from a photo of the parade there. I hope they have better costumes for the Seven Dwarfs now...this one looks like his beard was plastic.


There will be more to come.

Wednesday, April 9, 2014

Bayside Jamesport

I can only go for so long without painting near the water. This was done on the north fork of Long Island at the Jamesport Town Beach. It happened to be one of those sunny, warm days that made me think that spring is actually here. 


Tuesday, April 8, 2014

An Evening at Roast

Last Wednesday the Patchogue Sketch Club had downtown Patchogue as our sketching location. It started out warm enough to do an outdoor sketch...or most of one. I sat across the street from Roast Coffee & Tea Trading Company and sketched these two men having a conversation in front of the coffee shop. 


By the time the sun started setting, it was getting too cold to be comfortable outside. So we headed inside for something warm to drink. We continued sketching indoors. I sketched a couple at a nearby table and then Maureen, one of the other sketchers.




Monday, April 7, 2014

Time Away From Home - Part I

Over on the "Paper, Paint, Pencils, & Pens" blog our new theme is "Time Away From Home."
We are sketching places and things that remind us of vacations, trips, or any time we spent away from home. I am doing sketches from photos taken on my many trips.

I started with a sketch of a musician my husband and I saw playing on the street in downtown Galway, Ireland last April. There was so much music in the pubs and on the streets there. I really enjoyed it. Yes, this young man did have red hair and a red beard.


In 1970 I took my first vacation with a friend. I wasn't even 21 years old yet when Suzanne and I flew out to California. We stayed a few days with her cousin and his family. Then we drove up the coast from San Diego to San Francisco making a few stops along the route. This was done from a very faded photo I took in Malibu.


I was young and in fairly good shape then. Here is a sketch of me in my bikini on the beach in Malibu. The blanket was a purchase we made when we took a trip down to Tiajuana, Mexico from San Diego. This was also done from one of my photos.


Backtracking to an earlier time, here is a sketch of a family vacation from when I was a kid. We rented this very rustic cabin on Little Sebago Lake in Maine. The cabin had a fireplace for heat on the cool Maine summer nights and only cold water and no tub or shower. Each cottage (I think there were 5.) had a rowboat and we spent a lot of time rowing around the lake. We thought it was paradise and went back for a week for a few summers. We always cried when it was time to go home. 


There will be more to come.