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
#inktober #inktober2018

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.