Dahlia Garden

On Tuesday my plein air group went to the Bayard Cutting Arboretum to paint at the dahlia garden. It is such a great location to paint. This is 8 x 10. 

Since then I have been very busy getting ready for my upcoming trip. We leave tomorrow so this will be my last post for a while unless I can find somewhere along the way to upload a photo.  I am ready with sketchbooks and sheets of watercolor paper and hope to sketch and paint every step of the way. If I can't post I will see you in a few weeks. Ciao!

The Susan

This boat, The Susan, has been docked down at the Sayville dock on and off for quite a while. 

It is always a fun boat to sketch.

People, People, People

Luckily it was nice the last few weeks and I was able to get to the beach a lot.

I sketched a lot of people there sometimes just directly in ink...

...and sometimes adding watercolors.

And sometimes with no ink at all.

Bellport Sailboat and Sunset

Last Wednesday the Patchogue Sketch Club met down by the dock in Bellport. There are always some sailboats pulled up on the beach like this one. The sun is starting to set so much earlier now. I tried to leave the sky until nearly last so I could put some color into it.

We were there long enough for me to do a small sketch of the Bellport Yacht Club and the sun setting behind it. The colors were soft in the sky in this direction which is southeast.

Rampasture View

On Tuesday my PALS plein air group met at a house on Rampasture Road in Hampton Bays. It was a super hot day so most of us stayed tucked in the shade to keep cool. I sat the furthest back because I wanted part of this charming house to be part of my painting. I can just imagine sitting in the house which had views of the cove in front of it and then views all the way across the bay to the ocean.

Sunflowers

These were a gift from my friends Jeanne and Chris when I had my solo exhibit in August.

I did this as a continuous line drawing and then added inktense pencils.

At the Beach Again!

I am still doing my "direct in ink" sketches at the beach. Some come out better than others. People are in such strange positions with foreshortening that is difficult to figure out. lol

Sometimes I sketch people that are actually sitting together.

Sometimes I just sketch unrelated subjects.

Battery Park City Promenade - Part 2

Continued from yesterday....

With our lunches in hand we headed down to our next stop along the promenade and were joined by Kay, Amy, and Jane. Our location was the North Cove Yacht Basin. Who knew there was a NYC Sailing School. We found it. There were lots of sailboats and yachts, but I wanted to sketch the view with the red Colgate sign under the clock.

Everyone was very busy sketching.

Around 3:30 we did a throw down of our sketchbooks. I always love seeing what everyone has created during the day.

Here is our group...left to right we have Mark, Jane, Jim, Amy, and myself.

Mike, Jane, and I decided to continue our day and walked down to the Robert F. Wagner, Jr Park. It had some interesting views. You could see the Statue of Liberty from where we were.

Instead of sketching a water view I concentrated on the buildings on our side of the river.

Around 5 Jane led us to the train station so we could head back to Penn Station and home.

It was a fun and productive day.

Bryant Park City Promenade - Part I

Last Saturday the NYC Urban Sketchers met at Bryant Park City Promenade, starting at the most northern end. Our host this week was Jim and he did a great job of scouting out the location.

I took the LIRR and the subway to Chambers Street and walked the few blocks to the meeting point. The entire area has been completely redone since I've been down there and has some really wonderful views. We started by River Terrace. While I was sketching a young man came over and asked if I was part of the Urban Sketchers. When I said yes he called his dad over. Don and his family were visiting from Germany. He spent a few hours sketching with us while his wife and son explored other spots.

Here is Don working on one of his sketches at the first location.

I did two sketches at that location. One included the sunflowers in the garden with the view across to New Jersey.

Then I sketched one of the moored boats with the city behind it.

Jim and Mike came along and the four of us walked down a short way to the Potato Famine Memorial. Having been to Ireland last year I appreciated how close the area looked to the Irish farmland. The only thing that seemed to be missing were the sheep. The memorial was set at a sloping angle with crumbling walls, grasses, rocks, and fencing. All that in the center of tall buildings.

Here is me and my sketch against the view of the memorial.

And a close-up of my sketch.

I took a photo of Jim sketching while I was at the top of the memorial.

At this point Don left to meet his family and a new sketcher, Kay, joined us.

We went to a deli to get lunch and walked down to the North Basin to eat where Jane met us. Sometimes that is how the day goes...we gain and lose sketchers as the time goes on.

To be continued.

People Sketches

On Saturday I took the train into the city...of course I sketched on the way there and back.

This little girl was in Au Bon Pain when I stopped to get coffee.

And over in Paint, Paper, Pencils, and Pens I did a few more little portraits.

These were done from photos.

Brother Pluckers

The Patchogue Sketch Club met at Alive After 5 in Patchogue on Thursday night. It was the last one for the summer. I had sketched some of the crowd and stalls the last time, but this time I found a trio that was a bit out of the busy crowds and therefore easier to sketch. Several people in the crowd who follow them just loved the sketch and I made sure to show it to the group. One of them asked if he could take a photo of it with his phone so I let him. They were a good group and I enjoyed their music.