Boat at the Dock

One of the lessons Marc Taro Holmes did was to paint directly in watercolors. Directly in ink is hard enough, but directly in wc is NOT easy. lol I did have fun doing this one down at Squassux Marina in Brookhaven though.

Saville Modern Diner

The Patchogue Sketch Club met in Sayville last Wed night. Someone had the idea to go down the street and sketch the local diner which has closed and is soon to be transformed into a sushi restaurant. We found that if we sat across the street the driveways and no parking areas made it possible to get a good view. (Most of the street is parked car after parked car.) It turned out to be a great spot and we were able to have coffee from the restaurant we were sitting in front of. The diner building had a lot of character, but I must say that the food wasn't good...no wonder it closed.

Red Barn

I seem to have a thing about red barns, but maybe that's because so many of them here are red. This was on the grounds of the Smithton Historical Society. 

Supermoon Eclipse

Tonight I'm just posting photos. We are presently having a supermoon eclipse. The weather right here is clear and I've taken a few photos.

9:10pm

10:00

At this point I finally went and dug out my tripod. It helped. lol

This one was at 10:20pm and is my favorite.

This one was taken at about 11:00.

I'm ready for bed...11:48. Reminds me of a black & white cookie.

Japanese Garden

Our PALS plein air group was invite to a private Japanese garden in Stony Brook. The garden was planted 17 years ago for the owner's wife who was born in Japan and was homesick. She is gone now and I think he enjoyed sharing it with us. He was so sweet and brought out tea and ginger cookies for us. We plan to go back again.

Reenactment

On Sunday there was a Civil War Reenactment at the Grange in Sayville. I'm not a history buff at all but I wanted to sketch a bit of it. I only planned on sketching for the morning. There were lots of soldiers and people in costume. Of course as soon as I started sketching a soldier someone would yell "Muster!" and off he would go. I thought this soldier would be safe because he was a sentry, but he wasn't there for long. 

This lady was doing some cooking and had a table filled with items from that era. I really liked her costume.

Return to the Gowanus Canal

It may not be the prettiest place around, but the NYC Urban Sketchers seemed to have a great time at the Gowanus Canal which is considered the most polluted waterway in the United States. There is a strange kind of beauty amid the gritty views along the canal. My thanks to Jessica Dalrymple and the members of the Canal Conservancy for inviting us to come and sketch the views. I missed going there with group last year, but did sketch there once before.  I did feel a little guilty (but not for long) in the morning watching the volunteers hard at work lifting and cleaning while I was sitting on my chair in the shade. They Canal Conservancy is making some headway cleaning up the area.

I found a good spot outside the salt lot to sketch the view across the canal. What drew me to this spot was the "End" sign and the view of the cement factory behind it. As gritty as the location is there are spots that just call to be sketched.

The Third Street Bridge was a great view too.

The views on the other side of the canal were interesting. 

I liked this side view of the cement factory.

Painting right near me was Jeanne Pierre who was working on an oil painting. It is hard to resist sketching another artist at work.

It was a great day of sketching!

Sanctuary

Last week my plein air group went to paint at a hummingbird sanctuary overlooking Long Island Sound. We did see some hummingbirds but many of them have already started their voyage to warmer climates. Of course the birds who were there were much too fast to sketch, paint, or take photos of.  The gentleman who runs the sanctuary gave us a tour and told us about the plants that attract the hummingbirds. On the property was this enchanting small one-room building which contained a bed, dresser, table and lamp. I can just imagine reclining there watching the scene in front. With all the flowers it felt like being somewhere tropical, not Long Island. 

Yacht Yard

For some reason this sketch is one of my recent favorites. I like the way the dark brush pen adds a bit of drama in spots. This is a location along the wharf in Patchogue. 

Statue

This statue is tucked near a wall at the Bayard Cutting Arboretum.

Houseboat

Don't you think living on a houseboat would be fun? This one was along one of the canals in Bayport where the Patchogue Sketch Club met the other night.

House Commission

A friend of mine asked me to do a painting of her aunt's property in upstate NY that she wants to give to her as a gift when her house is finally sold. She sent me photos of the house and barns that were taken by a real estate agency. Then she sent me photos taken by a drone...I don't know about you, but that's the first time I worked from drone photos. LOL  None of the photos included both the house and the barns. I had to do a composite and the only way I could do it was as a panorama. She was happy with the result!

Sailboat

Recently I bought some ink and pens to use in the online class I was taking. I thought I got waterproof ink, but I guess not because the lines ran. This was done at the Islip Marina.

The Farm at the Arboretum

On Sunday I went to the Bayard Cutting Arboretum in Oakdale. As homework for Marc Taro Holmes's class we were supposed to create a themed page that tells a story. The arboretum has a section with a farm that grows food for the needy. You can see the big, white barn, I started with that. Then I went to sketch the sunflowers which were definitely past their prime, but I don't mind them droopy. There were tomatoes on a vine and an enclosed area with lots of chickens, who really didn't stay still at all, especially if they thought someone came over and might have food. Then it was a race to that side of the enclosure.

Yaphank Garage

I sketched this directly in ink on location the other day as homework for Marc Taro Holmes' class. I'm enjoying doing sketches this way. Don't you just love the old pumps and the old truck?

Flower Shop

On Thursday we had a very rainy day so I went off to do some shopping and run errands. Even though they were predicting heavy rains at times, I headed over to Dick Blick which is about a 45 minute ride for me. What can I say...I had a 40% off coupon that was going to expire. Then I wanted to sketch something but the rain was still coming down. I had shopping to do at Trader Joe's and brought along my sketchbook, a pen, and my tiny palette. I asked permission to sketch and they just looked at me like I was crazy, but once I started the manager asked me not to put the store name on the sketch if I was going to sell it...so this is not for sale. LOL A nice lady posed with the sunflowers long enough for me to get her into the sketch too.

Beach Sketches

The summer beach season may be over but I managed a few more beach sketches recently. These were done directly in ink, something I am still not real comfortable with.

More on Shelter Island

This is a smaller (5 x 7) ink and was that I also did on Shelter Island the other day.

Of course I did one sketch just in ink...perfect when you don't have a lot of time to sketch while you're waiting for other people.

Shelter Island Home

On Tuesday my plein air group took the ferry over to Shelter Island which is off the eastern end of Long Island. The ferry takes all of about 6 minutes to cross to the island. A group of us headed over near the harbor and since it was an extremely hot day, looked for shade. I found shade and this great view of this house. This is 8 x 10.

Old Field Vineyard

After my visit to the flower field below we headed over to Old Field Vineyard just outside of Greenport. It is a pretty spot they are always welcoming if we want to sit and paint or sketch. Of course you can sample the wines too.

I did this 5 x 7 with ink and watercolor. The vines go all the way down to the water.

I was finished painting before my friend so I did an ink sketch to practice some of the skills from the class I've been taking.

Flower Field

On Saturday my friend and I drove out to the north fork of Long Island. We have a few favorite spots, and Sep's Farm Stand is one of them. The fresh produce attracts us but they also have a lovely field of flowers to paint. I was very thankful for my plein air umbrella that can attach to my chair, because it was really hot out in the sun.

Downtown Sayville

I did this sketch of downtown Sayville using some of Mark Taro Holmes' ink techniques. Being a watercolorist is is hard for me to not add color. lol Right now if it was on paper that would accept watercolor I would probably do that, especially since it is the next lesson in his class. I think I'm going to leave it as is. What do you think?

Along the Wharf

Here are a few sketches I did for the Mark Taro Holmes online class.

This one was done along a wharf.

This one was done across from one of the Fire Island Ferry Terminals.

Sailboat

Since I am pretty much surrounded by water, I do get to sketch a lot of boats. I think motorboats are more popular here because people take them across the Great South Bay to Fire Island. I love the stylish looks to sailboats personally...although I don't sail. I saw this one at the dock at the Maritime Museum in Sayville the other night.

Captree View

This is one of the sketches that I did for Mark Taro Holmes' workshop using 5-7 single line sketches. This is the view from Captree State Park looking toward Robert Moses State Park.

Beach Sketches

I have been spending a lot of time at the beach lately, especially since our pool here is closed until the weekend because school has started. The beach offers an endless supply of poses. All of these were done directly in ink.

People at the water, walking, digging, resting and carrying a cooler.

Here are two ladies chatting.

I like to try sketching little kids and hope that they don't just come out looking like short adults.

Here's a bit of a crowd with one guy eating an ice cream.

Madison Park Sketches

On Saturday I spent most of the day in Madison Park at 23rd St and Fifth Avenue with the NYC Urban Sketches. Mark, our fearless leader finds some really interesting art exhibits for us to sketch. 

Here is what he posted on our blog about this particular art installation.

"Teresita Fernandez's installation, Fata Morgana (an Italian phrase meaning mirage) is the Park Conservancy's largest and most ambitious outdoor sculpture to date. The outdoor sculpture consists of one and a half football fields worth of golden, mirror-polished discs that create canopies above the pathways around the park's central oval lawn. The metal forms, perforated with intricate patterns reminiscent of foliage, will create abstract flickering effects as sunlight filters through the canopy, casting a golden glow across the expanse of the work, paths, and passersby." 

(LOL I couldn't have explained it better myself.)

It was interesting but not so easy to sketch...but I gave it a try.

Of course it was a beautiful day and people were really enjoying the park. I loved this group having a picnic on the lawn.

This couple was enjoying the sun.