Inktober 2018 - Day 31 - Finally!

The last day of Inktober 2018 has arrived and I am glad to see it end. I think I did too many sketches the same way. Next year I will have to change it up a bit. For my Day 31 sketch I did a complex scene directly in ink...lots of details at La Corte's Farm Stand in Mastic.

To those of you who also took on the challenge of Inktober this year, congrats to you if you completed a sketch every day or if you only did a few. That's a few more ink sketches than you would have done if you didn't participate. And to those of you who actually followed the prompts each day, my hat is off to you.

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Inktober 2018 - Day 30 - At the Suffolk County Farm

This morning I was at the Suffolk County Farm in Yaphank with my PALS Plein Air group. It was very windy and cold. I wasn't sure if it would be warm enough to paint/sketch, but I lucked out and found a building that blocked the wind for me. I'm going to post the painting first since I did that first.

When I finished the painting I went to see if any of the other artists were still around. A few had left due to the cold but a few were still around and we chatted for a bit while Jeanne worked on her painting. When everyone left I found a spot to sit where the wind wasn't too bad and did my Day 30 sketch for Inktober. Just one more day!

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Inktober 2018 - Day 29 & Today's Tiles

Inktober is nearly over. Here is my Day 29 sketch done while sitting outside the Sensationally Sweet Gourmet Candy shop in Patchogue. It was too windy to sit outside...and I was too lazy to get out of my car. lol I did use my orange micron pen to give it a little Halloween color. I am hosting the Scavenger Hunt over on WetCanvas this week and one of the items I listed was "having to do with Halloween" so when I passed by this shop I pulled over and backed up to park in front of it. I didn't dare go in!

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I've got to keep the alcohol ink tile momentum going. Here are two that I did today.

Inktober 2018 - Day 28 - At the Car Show

Today I headed out to Riverhead to a classic car show that was being held outside the Hotel Indigo. My thinking was that this would be a good place for my Day 28 Inktober sketch. I've been wanting to make some notecards with cars on them so I brought along good, loose paper that was 5 x 7 to sketch on. As you came in there was this vintage 1927 Ford parked by the hotel. I found a spot to sit across from it where it should be a pretty clear view to see the car. It worked well and nobody blocked me for more than 2 seconds. Several people wandered over to look at what I was doing. When I finished I took a few photos of it and the actual car.

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Here are a few other cars that caught my eye. It seemed like it would be too disruptive to sit and sketch any of these in the middle of all the people so I took photos and started to leave. 

But on my way out there was a Harley that was parked right near where I had been sitting earlier, so I stopped to sketch it. While I was sketching the bike a man came over and said that people told him I had been sketching his car earlier and he asked to see the sketch. He wanted to know if it was for sale and bought it. So this year Inktober has been a financial success with a sale. lol I'm glad I had taken a photo of the sketch earlier, so I can still make prints of the sketch.

Anyway, here is the Harley that I sketched. This one I did in ink and watercolors.

Inktober 2018 - Day 27 & More Tiles

A Nor'easter was forecast for most of the east coast today, so I decided that I would stay home and work on some art for the art fairs that are coming up. But first I needed to get my Day 27 sketch done for Inktober. When my sister and I were at Abma's Farm the other day I bought a few gourds to bring home. They were a good still life setup for the sketch.

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Here are the new tiles I did with alcohol inks.

Inktober 2018 - Day 26 & "Art Camp"

I was in NJ yesterday and today visiting one of my sisters. Due to our schedules we haven't been able to get together in a long time, so I'm glad we were able to work out two days to visit and create art. Today I sketched the view from her living room window for my Day 26 sketch for Inktober 2018.

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Yesterday we went to Abma's Farm in Wycoff, NJ to sketch as part of our "art days" or "art camp." The owner of the farm gave us permission to sketch in the greenhouse that contained the greatest gourds and pumpkins! She kept coming in to see what we were doing and asked if she could take a photo of each of us and post it on their FB page. She posted it with the heading "Art Comes to Abma's Farm!" Here are the photos she took when we were working on our first sketches.

This is the view I was sketching...the "Baby Bumps." They were so ugly that they were beautiful!

I also sketched the goosenecks and Turkish Turbins...all on one page.

Art camp continued today. In addition to the Inktober sketch I did we worked on alcohol ink tiles. My sister hasn't done too many of them and is learning the technique. She wasn't really happy with this one when she finished it but I liked the abstract design a lot.

 

I am doing several arts & craft fairs for the holidays, so I worked on a few alcohol ink tiles that were winter scenes. Hopefully they will sell well.

Then we went off to buy some art supplies to finish up our day before I returned home.

Inktober 2018 - Day 25

Last night my art group had a sketch night with a model. He was supposed to be dressed like a hippie for Halloween, but Seamus wasn't wearing anything different from what he usually wears when he's modeled in the past. One of the members was dressed sort of like a cat so I sketched her too as well as a few other members. I kept the sketches in ink so they would fit for my Day 25 sketch for Inktober.

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Inktober 2018 - Day 24

The Inktober days are flying by...just about a week to go. I guess I haven't minded doing ink since our trees still have so little autumn color that I don't feel like I'm missing anything. lol This was done in Islip for my Day 24 of Inktober 2018. This building was by one of the canals and the yard was chock full of assorted junk...fun for sketching.

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Inktober 2018 - Day 23

My Tuesday plein air group went to Frank Melville Park in Setauket today to paint. We were hoping for some autumn colors but there wasn't much yet. I did get a bit of color fix working on that painting but it isn't quite finished yet. I will post it when it is. I took a break for lunch and figured I might as well go back and do my Day 23 sketch for Inktober 2018 while I was up there. (Setauket is on the north shore of Long Island, about 25 minutes directly north of me.) When I went back I sat looking toward the bridge that is over by the watermill.

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Inktober 2018 - Day 22

With thoughts of autumn in my head I decided to find a local farmstand to sketch for my Day 22 of Inktober 2018. This was done from my car at The Pumpkin Patch, a tiny farm stand in Yaphank. They had a nice setup of autumn and Halloween related items outside the small building. It was worth the trip since I got to sketch and bought some local tomatoes and corn.
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Inktober 2018 - Day 21

Our weather seems to have changed overnight and the cold arrived. I went out today in my down jacket so I could get an Inktober 2018, Day 21 sketch done. Sayville was having a Fall Festival today with wasn't much more that food vendors, some crafts, a few rides, and this giant bouncy pumpkin. I sat across the street on the steps of the bank somewhat protected from the wind and in the sunshine...a good spot. 

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Inktober 2018 - Day 20 & Sketching at the Met

Today I went into the city to meet the NYC Urban Sketchers at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. I took the Long Island Railroad in so I had a good opportunity to do a few ink sketches for Day 20 of Inktober 2018.

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Our plan today was to sketch in the American Wing at the Met which is a wide open, light-filled room with lots of sculptures. But most of it was closed due to a party that was being held there tonight. That section was roped off but you could still see across the room so I sketched a statue with some Tiffany glass windows behind it. The museum has a "dry media" policy, so I worked in watercolor pencils for my first sketch and then used my water brush. Nobody complained. The policy is very often not enforced but I have been there when a guard came over and told me I could only use dry media. I don't know what the title of the sculpture is since they wouldn't let us into the area that was roped off.

I started a second sketch before lunch and finished it after lunch. It was done by William Wetmore Story of Cleopatra. I did this one in graphite pencil. Right after I finished it they announced that all visitors had to leave the American Wing so that they could set up for the function that was taking place there.

We headed from there to a section of the museum that has European sculptures. This time I focused on the view of the room, the people and the sculptures.

Inktober 2018 - Day 19

It was windy and a bit cold at the Suffolk County Farm. I went there to do some bird sketches for my Day 19 for Inktober 2018. I did a few chickens and then went over by the turkeys. The guy on the bottom right looked like he had tangled with some creature. He was nearly bald in spots and missing so many feathers. I wonder what his story was.

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Inktober 2018 - Day 18

Now that it gets dark earlier and the temperatures are getting colder the Patchogue Sketch Club is meeting at the library on most Wednesday nights. This week we had a theme and everyone brought kitchen tools. Mark had already set up some of his items and I added some of mine to make the setup larger. For this sketch I took one of my old water brushes and filled it with a mixture of platinum carbon ink and water. I would have preferred a water-soluble black ink but couldn't find any in my collection of inks. 

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Inktober 2018 - Day 17

For my Day 17 sketch for Inktober 2018 I headed to Blue Point to Corey Beach. It is a beach on the sound and I sketched the view of the gazebo looking at it from up the street.

Inktober 2018 - Day 16

I headed into Sayville to sketch another one of the decorative scarecrows that are hanging all over the town. This one is called "Henny Penny" and was decorated by the staff from the Rooster Cafe. The scarecrow is hanging right in front of the restaurant and looks like it is dressed like a waiter from the restaurant. It was raining while I was sketching and this was in a perfect spot for sketching from the car. 

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Inktober 2018 - Day 15

Today's Day 15 Inktober sketch was done at the West Sayville boat dock. There is a company right before you go out on the dock that does boat repairs and repainting. There are always one or two boats being worked on in addition to lots of scaffolding, pipes, ladders, etc that are fun to sketch.

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Inktober 2018 - Day 14 & 10 x 10 Workshop

For today's Inktober 2018's Day 14 sketch I went to Bellport. Like in the years past the town has decorated lamp posts and telephone poles with creative scarecrows with pumpkin heads. There is always a vote for your favorite scarecrow. The one I selected this time is Scarecrow #2 titled "Charlotte Mistress of the Night." I was attracted to her gown and the black long gloves...very high society. lol
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As I promised yesterday here is a bit about the NYC Urban Sketchers 10 x 10 workshop with Laura Rosen titled "Adding Atmosphere and Form with Color." It was a great workshop but the weather really didn't cooperate. Laura had us meet her at Riverside Park South at 68th Street and the Hudson River. The morning stared with rain so by the time everyone arrived they were wet and it was chilly and windy. Laura did a demo under the umbrellas at the outdoor cafe there but the rain was falling between the umbrellas and the wind was blowing it over to where we were working. We moved from there to a covered roadway that runs along the park. She showed us some prepared examples of how the colors in the sky transition from almost an ultramarine at the top slowly changing to cerulean as you go down and then to a light area with a tint of blue, yellow ochre, and a touch of alizarin. She also showed how warm and cool colors can help to give something form.

The rain finally stopped so we joined her out on the pier looking upriver toward the George Washington Bridge. She did a demo showing us how she layers cool and warm colors as she goes back into the scene to provide depth and atmospheric perspective. Laura uses an orange micron pen to sketch. She likes the warmth it adds to the sketches and it neutralizes with the cool colors. Here are a few photos from the demo.

Laura demonstrating her technique.

Laura adding color to the painting.

Laura's nearly finished painting.

It was hard to paint in the conditions we had because it was so damp that the paint wouldn't dry on the very damp paper. We moved back by the cafe for a wrap-up. It was a little warmer there because there was a lot less wind. Except for myself and one other sketcher everyone else opted to go leave and not paint because they were too uncomfortable. I knew I wasn't leaving without painting. So Ron and I went back on the dock. We went near some kind of storage shelter that blocked a little of the wind...enough that I was able to sketch without my fingerless gloves. lol Laura came out to check on us but she was shivering from being wet and cold. We told her she should go home and we would stay as long as we could. We were comfortable and the sun actually came out for about 2 minutes. Both of us were able to do two paintings each, one facing the bridge and one facing south. With the dampness it was hard to get dark colors without layers, but I was happy with my two paintings. I did end up adding a few darks at home to make the sailboats stand out a little more.

Around 2:00 Ron and I decided to call it a day and went to get some lunch. I think it was a productive day and a helpful workshop.

Inktober 2018 - Day 13

Today I took the Long Island Railroad from Ronkonkoma into Manhattan for a 10 x 10 workshop given by the NYC Urban Sketchers. I used the train time to sketch 3 people across the aisle from me for my Day 13 sketch for Inktober.  I will touch up the work I did in the city and post it tomorrow. #inktober #inktober2018

Inktober 2018 - Day 12

It was a wet morning but I headed out hoping the rain would abate enough that I could at least see out the windows of my car to sketch. That's what I ended up doing. There was an empty lot right across from Weeks and Reichel Printing in Sayville. I am assuming it is partly owned by the same Weeks family that owns the boatyard where I sketch a lot.

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Inktober 2018 - Day 11 & The Clydesdales

Yesterday I did my Day 11 sketch for Inktober from my car parked down at Off Key Tikki in Patchogue. It is on the Patchogue River and bills itself as a waterfront resort. It is a bar/restaurant decorated to have a tropical feel. I've never been inside or on their dock so I can't vouch for their food or drinks. Most of this was done with my Elegant Writer pen.

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Then later in the afternoon I returned to Patchogue for a special event. The Budweiser Clydesdales were coming to Patchogue. They were celebrating the opening of the new Blue Point Brewery which is part of the same parent company as Budweiser. We were also told that they were celebrating the anniversary of the end of Prohibition but I don't know for sure if that is true.

 Our Patchogue Sketch Club decided to go and try to sketch. My friend, Gina and I knew they would be starting at the grounds of the new location of the Blue Point Brewery. The event was slated to run from 5-7 so we went around 4:00 to see them get the horses ready. Of course the area was barricaded but we were able to stand along the fencing. The horses were inside huge, special Budweiser Clydesdale trailers. Each horse was led out one at a time, groomed, and readied to be hitched to the wagon that was near us. There were 8 horses and they were huge. I did a few sketches and arranged them all on one page.

Here are closeups of the different sketches.

The horses trotted along Main Street stopping to deliver a case of Budweiser to different bars and restaurants along the route. There were tens of thousands of people in the crowd lining the street. It seems like I am always in crowds lately.lol

For this last sketch I followed the truck as it went along. Each time it stopped I sketched a little more of the scene. It was a fun event! I did keep walking along and found a few of our other members of the sketch group. Most opted to watch and not sketch, but a few did sketch something...not easy to do because they kept moving. Once they passed where all the restaurants are they were turned around in a Carvel parking lot and then made their way back to the starting point.