Downtown Sayville

I needed to escape outside for a while today, but it wasn't a nice day. It was overcast and very windy. I headed into Sayville figuring that it would be a good time to be able to park in town without a lot of traffic blocking my view. I used a pen I bought recently when AC Moore was going out of business. It says Premier on it and it is a brown color. I don't know if it bleeds on other paper but on the paper I was using it wasn't waterproof. I didn't mind the effect when I added the watercolors but I needed to go back in with permanent ink.

Tea Party I

The NYC Urban Sketcher's theme for the week is a tea party. We can work from life or photos, or internet information. Rather than fancy teacups I tend to drink tea out of a large mug, sometimes using a teabag or sometimes an infuser. Mixed Berry Zinger has a nice taste.

Costumed in Quarantine

Tonight was another session with Lefty Lucy and Costumed in Quarantine. This time she was dressed like a cat with a mask that someone had made for her. She has such a great body and face that it seemed a shame to cover it with a mask and a furry jacket. I guess I sort of got into it by the mid point in the sketching. I imagine that the costume was a bit warm and the mask must have been hot. She said it was roomy on the inside. Here are some of the sketches I did.

Tulips by the Fence

I wanted to sketch something that yelled spring today. I love that this homeowner in Sayville had a garden full of tulips outside the fence. I was able to sit there in my mobile studio without anyone noticing I was sitting there and see the tulips clearly.

Gdansk, Poland Virtual Sketch

Yesterday #VirtualSketch had Gdansk, Poland as their destination for a virtual event. I didn't get a chance to sketch it yesterday but since I am half Polish I figured I had better do some view of it today. There were quite a few links given and when I got to an area called Long Market on Google Street View I kept walking until I could get a good view of this tall building and the market in front of it.

Here are a few of the sketches that the other artists did of me at the Portrait Party yesterday.

Sketch done by Chintana Sang-urai..

Sketch done by Lois Bender.

Sketch by Bill Soltis

Sketch by Ellyn Rabinowitz.

Sketch by Sandy Ostertag

Sketch by Benedict Caniell.

Portrait Party & Digital Sketch

For today's NYC Urban Sketchers event we had a portrait party. We've done them quite a few times IRL but today's event was organized on Zoom. Anyone who wanted to attend who didn't know how to use it was tutored by someone who did so that everyone was ready. We all met in the Zoom "auditorium" where Mark welcomed everyone and explained what we would be doing. There was a morning sketch event and an afternoon event. We were split up into random groups of anywhere between 6-8 sketchers and sent off to our meeting room. Each person in the group posed for a 10 minute sketch. My morning group only had 6 people so we finished a bit early. That gave us time to chat with each other and share the sketches we had done. A few of our group were people I am friendly with but some were new to me. One woman was from Calgary. I sketched out each portrait with a water-soluble graphite pencil, and then went over that with permanent ink. Then I added watercolor on top. Here are my sketches from the morning.

At 11:55 we all went back to the "auditorium." Some people went and had lunch, some posted their sketches, and some of us just hung out there talking because it was the first time many of us had seen each other since social isolation began. It was fun to catch up with everyone.

After the lunch break those of us who stayed for the afternoon session or who had just joined for the afternoon session were assigned to another breakaway group meeting to sketch. This time there were 7 people in my group so I got to sketch a total of 11 people. Here are my afternoon sketches...remember each of these was created in 10 minutes.

Of course we were indoor sketching on one of the nicest days we've had in nearly 2 weeks. As soon as we were done with the portraits I headed out for a ride down to Hecksher State Park in Islip. I sat facing the water and sketched with ArtRage on my iPad. Some people were on the sand enjoying the sunshine on one of those orange inflatable cushions. There were a lot of people down by the bay, but for the most part they were in small groups and keeping distant from other people. I didn't get out of my car...just sat with the window open and let the sun shine in.

Virtual Travel

Most days I try to get in a sketch with the #VirtualSketch group on Facebook. I'll download a few photos from Google Maps Street View and then come back to them later to see if something moves me. This was a sketch of a restaurant in Colmar, France. Looks like a nice place for lunch or dinner.

Today the group was sketching in Baguio City, in the Philippines. I have this attraction to houses that have laundry hanging out. Maybe it takes me back to our clothesline behind our house growing up. With a full house with 5 kids, my parents, my grandparents and my uncle we had a lot of clothing to hang out to dry. We didn't get a dryer until my sister got her first job and started giving extra money to my parents. But my mom still liked hanging the sheets out to dry.

Beach Dunes

Somehow I forgot to post this sketch that I did at least a week ago. I drove over to Robert Moses State Park. It was a sunny, windy day and I sat in my "mobile studio" facing the water and the dunes. That definitely was a calming place to spend some time.

Lefty Lucy Night

Last night, Lefty Lucy modeled again on Zoom. She always has an interesting "costume" and this week she also had a colorful wig. She is a lot of fun to sketch and has music playing the whole time.

I didn't include my one minute and two minute poses. Most of them looked too unfinished, but I am pretty happy with most of these. 

After the short poses 10 minutes seems so long. lol

I like this one but her body should have been taller. I've got to watch the body proportions. :)

Virtual Sketch from Venice

It was a rainy day so I stayed inside and joined #VirtalSketch to do some sketching along the canals in Venice. Last year at this time I was actually there for the entire month of April. I guess this will have to do. I ended up at Squero San Trovaso, the gondola boatyard along the Rio San Troveso. This was done with a brush pen and watercolors.

I also took part in Sketchbook Revival this month. One of the lessons involved creating Layered Pages. Some people used their pages inside books, but I decided I would use them for covers for a sketchbook (which I will have to work on). Thanks to Kellee Wyneee Conrad for the lessons! Here are the outside and inside covers I made using gesso, acrylic paint, stencils, and collage.

Nearby

This is a sketch I did locally in Sayville. Although I don't live there I tend to go there several times a week. There are so many nice houses and views...and it is on the water so I love it. I've sketched the view down this street several times before and tend to return anyway.

The cherry trees are still in bloom here, but probably won't last much longer. I've found several of them recently and have been sketching all of them in the same accordion sketchbook. This one was in Islip in a tiny little garden area in a corner of a small trip mall. I sat across the street in the parking lot of the Midas Muffler shop. lol

NYC Usk Hunt in NYC

The NYC Urban Sketchers had our weekend event today and it was a little different. Our organizer, Mark, gave us a list of 25 things to find on the streets of NYC using Googlemaps Streetview. As a New Yorker it was easy for me to find some of the things, but I would imagine that someone from another state or country would have a little more difficulty.  My first sketch was a firehouse with a fire  truck included.

Then I was off to find an ethnic restaurant so I headed to Chinatown.

Another item to find was a $1 pizza place. None of them had a good view, so I ended up doing a 99 cent pizza place instead.

Last I went looking for a food cart. This is my husband's favorite food cart in the city. Usually in the evening there are lines down the block...and often limo drivers pull up and order something too.

In case you are wondering what else was on the hunt list, here it is. Maybe I'll try doing a few more during the week.

THE MANHATTAN V-SKETCH HUNT

1) Find and draw a sculpture of a bull.

2) Find and draw a boat or ship docked in the waters of NYC.

3) Find and draw something art deco.

4) Find and draw a NYC Taxi.

5) Find and draw a doorman

6) Find and draw an ethnic restaurant.

7) Find and draw a bridge

8) Find and draw a view of another state visible from NYC

9) Find and draw a scene that shows the streets being repaired.

10) Find and draw a fire house, include a firetruck if you can.

11) Find and draw an American Flag on a NYC building

12) Find and draw a street vendor

13) Find and draw a famous place

14) Find and draw a steakhouse

15) Find and draw someone wearing religious clothing

16) Find and draw a store that sells CBD products.

17) Find and draw Hamilton’s Custom House

18) Find and draw a statue of George Washington

19) Find and draw an art school

20) Find and draw a famous bar in NYC that is at least 150 years old

21) Find and draw a carousel (Manhattan only)

22) Find and draw the burial place of a US President

23) Find and draw a statue of a real woman (i.e. a statue of Michelle Obama would be acceptable, a statue of Justice is not acceptable since it’s not a real person)

24) Find and draw a $1 Pizza store.

25 Find and draw a police horse.-

Virtual Sketch in Korea

The #VirtualSketch group listed Seoul, Korea as their destination for sketching today. (It may be actually tomorrow's destination because it is organized by someone in the Netherlands and there is a time difference. I usually feel like I'm a day behind. lol) They gave several links and one of the links was to Bukchon Hanok Village,  a traditional town that is now a cultural center. It had interesting buildings but they were clustered along narrow streets and it was difficult to get a view from far enough away so that you could see the entire building at once. So I focused on the upper portions of these two buildings. It looks like an interesting area to explore. #VirtualSketch

Daffs in Bloom

I found a small group of daffodils along a fence the other day. Luckily they were in a spot where I could sit socially isolated in my car and not get the attention of the homeowners. Usually there is nobody home when I park in front of people's homes, but with the virus these days there are almost always people home. The daffs were a bit of a break from the trees.

Here's another bonus cherry tree I found the other day.

More Blooming Trees

I love seeing all the trees and plants that are in bloom right now. The contrasts in color make things so great looking. I think this is a weeping cherry tree.

Sketches - Lefty Lucy Session 3 & a Virtual Trip to Madrid

Last night was the 3rd live session with Lefty Lucy Costumed in Quarantine. She moved from Facebook to Zoom for the session, and it seemed to work a bit better.

5 minute poses

10 minute poses

20 minute pose

The other day the #VirtualSketch group went to Madrid. I wandered the streets a bit and found this interesting chocolateria. I think it would be a place I would stop. I left this as a brush pen sketch.

Magnolia in Bloom

The other day I was driving and could see the top of this tree in the distance in East Islip...so I followed it to see if it was in a location where I could park and paint it. My friend, Suzala had given me a small, 5 inch x 5 inch, home-made, accordion sketchbook that I used for this.