Paint the Great South Bay - Part 7 - Quick Draw

"Paint the Great South Bay" had a quick draw event on Saturday which was the last day for painting. We were allowed to paint anywhere in the designated area but you could only start painting at 9 and had to have your painting framed and ready by noon.  

I decided to leave town and headed to Brookhaven to the Post Morrow Foundation. I paint pretty quickly so I was sure I could finish and drive back in the time allowed. There is a nice fountain there in the middle of an herb garden. The fountain has never been running when I've been there so maybe it isn't a fountain at all.

Then the paintings by the artists who were taking part in the quick draw were displayed in front of the Patchogue Theatre where the public was asked to vote on them.

My painting, "Post Morrow View" came in third in the voting. Each of the top 3 winners won 2 tickets to a show at the theatre.

Paint the Great South Bay - Part 6 - The Lighthouse

One morning during the "Paint the Great South Bay" I headed over to Robert Moses State Park to paint the Fire Island Lighthouse before it got too hot. Temperatures in the 90s were forecast and the following day it was supposed to rain...so it was now or never. This is a favorite location of mine to paint. I checked around and found a spot right where the sand met the end of the boardwalk at Field 5. I had to stand to paint this or I would lose the view behind the dunes. I set up my beach umbrella so I could stand under it in the shade and then set up my easel. I didn't plan well and had to move the umbrella so it would actually shade my paper and easel too. Unfortunately I forgot to take a photo of just the painting and this one is still hanging at the show. I did take one photo as I was painting the sky and a few photos of the setup when I was done. I cropped one to make it easier to see here.

Paint the Great South Bay - Part 5 - The Model

One evening during "Paint the Great South Bay" the plan was to have a model pose for us. Originally Jayne was supposed to pose for us at the beach, but the weather forecast was for possible storms so the location was moved to a place where we could seek shelter if necessary. The location was the Terry Street Garden in Patchogue where I had painted the view with the church. As you can see Jayne had some props with her and was dressed in an outfit that looked like it was from the 20s. Painting anything white is a challenge to say the least.

We sketched and painted maybe an hour with one eye on the sky watching the dark clouds approach. With our experience lately with the storms rolling through as soon as the first drop fell I packed up all my stuff and put it in my car. I came back to help Jayne with her props since she also had a chair to carry to her car. We no sooner all got into our cars when the heavens opened up. Minutes later there was thunder and lightning. Luckily we were all safe inside our cars and heading home in the pouring rain. 

The painting is far from finished. I do have a reference photo if I decide I want to work on it, but I doubt that I will. I was happy with it in some respects but the bottom of her body is much too short in proportion to the top.

Here is a photo of a few of us who lasted until the rain came with our paintings in various stages of completion.

Paint the Great South Bay - Part 4 - Casa di Parma

I was driving through Bellport with a destination in mind for my "Paint the Great South Bay" painting but got sidetracked by this setup in front of Casa di Parma on South Country Road. It had a bit of a French feel to it. The ladies working inside as well as the customers going in and out loved it. I will have to see if I can get the owner to see it. I called this "Sidewalk Seating."

Paint the Great South Bay - Part 3 - Sunflowers

Last Tuesday my plein air group invited the painters from Paint the Great South Bay to join us in East 

Moriches to paint at the sunflower field we had painted at last week. This time we had sunshine not rain. I called this one "Sunflower Daze."

Paint the Great South Bay - Part 2 - Marsh View

I am posting the paintings for Paint the Great South Bay a bit out of order. I forgot to take photos of two of the completed paintings, so I will post those last and maybe have a chance to get photos of the finished pieces that are hanging in Patchogue. 

Down at the Long Island Maritime Museum in West Sayville there is a great view of the marsh from the dock. That's where I headed for this painting. You can see a bit of the beach off on the left where the bay comes in between Fire Island and West Sayville. This was a location that several other artist also painted. Some did the marsh and some did the boats that are outside at the museum. It was a windy day and I am lucky the painting didn't blow away...my water containers did. They ended up right in the water. lol

Paint the Great South Bay - Part 1 - View from the Garden

This past week I have been participating in a plein air event called, "Paint the Great South Bay." This year we had 40 artists participating. Some of you have done plein air events so are aware of what goes on. Basically we were given geographic boundaries to stay within and we were free to paint anywhere in that area. Paper surfaces and canvases were stamped with the logo of the event and those had to be used for our paintings. We were asked to take photos on location during the painting and when the painting was finished to prove it was actually done on location. Several events were set up so that if you wanted to paint with other artists you could. Last Saturday was the first day of the event and a painting opportunity was set up for the group to do a nocturnal painting in Patchogue Village with most people painting from the park near the gallery. I don't know why it was considered a nocturnal event since we started at 5:30 and I don't think anyone was still there by the time it got dark. lol

I focused on part of the Congregational Church which can be seen from the park. I did most of the painting on Saturday but decided the church needed a shady side on the right so when I was in the area the other day I went back and added some shading to the building.

"View from the Garden" by Joan Tavolott

One of our NYC newspapers sent a reporter and a photographer so they could do an article on "Paint the Great South Bay." Last year I was interviewed and my photo was in Newsday...this year I wasn't interviewed and my photo didn't make it into the paper. :(

Sunflowers 1

Last week my plein air group, PALS met at a sunflower field in East Moriches. We usually go there to paint every summer. Unfortunately it wasn't a very nice day. I no sooner got set up and it started to drizzle. I put up my painting umbrella for protection but it started raining harder. The water was dripping right off the umbrella and onto my palette, which I had to keep turning over to drain the water out of it. The umbrella did keep the painting out of the rain. I worked on this for a while but it got too hard to continue since the watercolors weren't drying at all. I'm not sure if I will add anything to this or leave it as it is. What do you think?

Miramar Beach

Last Wednesday the Patchogue Sketch Club met at Miramar Beach in East Patchogue. It is a small beach on the bay which isn't too exciting. I liked this house that was next to the beach and the fact that by the time we were leaving there was some color in the sky from the sunset.

Beach Sketch

This was the first beach sketch I've done in a long time. Luckily I had a sleeping model in front of me.

DUMBO

My first weekend back the NYC Urban Sketchers went to DUMBO which is short for Down Under the Manhattan Beach Overpass. It is an area that right now is a big tourist destination. This first sketch that I did of the Manhattan Bridge had so many tourists standing in the middle of the street taking selfies. I think the street will eventually have to be a pedestrian only street because the people posing are an accident waiting to happen.

After lunch I went a few blocks away and sketched this view of the Brooklyn Bridge.

In the park in front of me was an interesting couple so I sketched them too.

Workshop with Pat Southern-Pearce

Believe it or not, I think I am down to a final post from my trips to Amsterdam and Paris. I am skipping back to Amsterdam for this double-page spread. The first workshop I took in Amsterdam was with Pat Southern-Pearce. She does these wonderful spreads that usually incorporate sketching, lettering, and writing. They are a very unique style and I am not sure how I can incorporate her teachings into my own work, but I am going to attempt it from time to time. One of the important things about Pat's work is that she uses toned paper. For our workshop Stillman & Birn supplied their new 3 toned sketchbooks for us to use...grey, tan and black papers were included in one sketchbook. It was fun to follow along with Pat. She usually begins with a skyline sketch of the area and then includes small sketches (very often in boxes) to show other details of the area. She has a wonderful font of her own that she uses when doing any kind of lettering or writing. I finally finished the spread that I started in her workshop. Yay!!

Around Paris 2

Since I only had a short time in Paris to sketch I planned to make the most of it. The same day that I sketched from the cafe and did the fountain I kept going. Most of the Paris sketchers took a break for lunch at a restaurant but I kept going. I sketched this everyday market on the street.

 

Next I wandered back over toward the Seine and came across this interesting building that I just had to sketch.

And I just had to sketch outside Shakespeare & Company.

This is my farewell to Paris...one last photo.

Around Paris

My hotel in Paris was near Notre-Dame and I passed it quite often. One morning I got up and went out to get a croissant and coffee for breakfast. I went down along the Seine to sit and eat. I was facing the back of Notre-Dame where a lot of the scaffolding could be seen. I did a sketch of the view.

My friend, Lois, had met a few of the USK Paris sketchers at the Symposium and they let us know about their gathering on Sunday. We met up with the sketchers at a cafe and sketched from there until most of the group arrived. We talked, shared information and had coffee. I did this sketch of the view from my cafe table. There was a cute stuffed bear sitting there so I included him too.

The group moved to the Luxembourg Gardens next. There was a beautiful fountain with far too many horses to sketch....but I did them anyway.

Here are a few more photos taken around Paris.

More of Monet's Garden

Full disclosure...these were NOT painted completely on site in Monet's Garden in Giverny. I had the very beginnings of two small paintings and I decided to finish them. I will show you the painting and then what it looked like when the guard stopped me. lol I used photos and my memory to finish these.

I had very little done.

Paris Art

Although I wasn't in Paris for too many days I had some museums that I wanted to visit. I set aside  a day to visit museums stopping at the Musee d'Orsay first. I love the Degas statue of the little dancer and sketched that in pencil.

My favorite area was the Impressionists. It was still early and I was able to capture one lone visitor with some of the artwork.

The clock on the interior of the d'Orsay is one of my favorite parts of the structure of the museum. They renovated it since I was there and the clock isn't quite as prominent in the cafe.

There was a wonderful special exhibit of the work of Berthe Morisot. She is a founding figure of the Impressionist group and was considered to be one of the most technically daring artist in the movement. Probably due to the fact that she was a woman her work was shown much less frequently than than her fellow artists of the time and she was not nearly as famous as the others. Much of the work on display was figures in landscapes or settings and was beautiful. 

Next I headed to the Orangerie which displays Monet's waterlilies as he wanted them shown...in the round. It is a very moving experience to see them. I can't figure out how to show a video so I can't show them to you. 

I made a visit to the Sennelier store...I just had to and bought a few pens and some paper.

On my way to the Orangerie I passed the Louve. I sketched it but didn't go in.  I used one one of the new pens I bought at the Sennelier store.