Monday, August 31, 2020

Collioure, France - Sketch 2

When I was looking for a reference to use for Collioure I found several that I thought would make good sketches. Who could resist this building with the turquoise door? My thanks to Patricia Chow for bringing us to such a great location this past weekend.


Sunday, August 30, 2020

Collioure, France - Sketch 1

The NYC Urban Sketchers had Zoom event today hosted by Patricia Chow, a member of our group who lives in California. We have been having members virtually lead us through an area, a style, or a location. Patricia led us to the lovely town of Collioure, France which is the birthplace of a style of art called Fauvism. She also spoke about Fauvism, which I admit I knew nothing about. It is a very colorful style of art that didn't last too long. Here is what Wikipedia says about it.


I found a colorful, flower-filled street using Google Maps that already had a lot of strong color, so in some ways this sort of fits the idea of fauvism. I personally have a difficult time straying from the actual color of something I am sketching or painting. I have never visited Collioure, France, but from my experience wandering around the town, I am sure I would be very happy visiting there in person.


Since this is not sketched from life it isn't a true urban sketch.


Saturday, August 29, 2020

Kayaks at the Boat Yard

I don't know how I got so organized yesterday morning that I was able to paint the plums and then have time to go out and sketch something too. Maybe it had something to do with being up before 6 AM. lol I didn't have a lot of sketching time which meant I had to go someplace that was a sure thing. I haven't been to Week's Boatyard in Patchogue in a long time, but it is one of my favorite places to paint. It has several ramshackle buildings and lots of boats. They don't mind if artists sit and paint. In fact they often come over and talk to me when I'm there. This time I didn't even get out of the car. I saw the colorful kayaks by the small red building, backed my car up for a good view, and I was set.


Friday, August 28, 2020

Three of a Kind

For some reason I was wide awake at 6 AM this morning. So rather than just surf the internet I pulled out my sketchbook and grabbed these three plums that were sitting on the counter. This was done directly in watercolor.


Thursday, August 27, 2020

Flo's Summer 2020

I have sketched Flo's many, many times in the past. This is the first time I've sketched in this summer.  It is a beach snack shack up the street from Corey Beach in Bayport.  It serves hot dogs, burgers, fried clams, etc.  Usually there are lots of umbrellas and picnic tables, but due to the restrictions from Covid 19 there are just a few tables so people can be socially distant. I sat across the street to sketch this so that I could fit the building as well as some of the customers since they are so important to the scene.


Wednesday, August 26, 2020

Lefty Lucy & Life's A Beach

Last night Lefty Lucy modeled and the theme was "Life's A Beach." Of course she was costumed like she was going to the beach in a skimpy bikini and a shirt tied under her breasts. She even had a beach ball with her. 

Here are a few of the quicker poses.


And the longer poses...








Tuesday, August 25, 2020

Parking Lot View

The other day I went out food shopping and on the way out of the Stop & Shop shopping center I stopped at the bagel store. When I got back in the car I noticed these three cars with the trees bending over them providing some much needed shade. I did a quick sketch with a brown ink pen and then left. The bagels smelled too good for me to sit there for long. lol I was going to add some shading when I got home but I decided to leave it as it was.


Monday, August 24, 2020

What Are You Missing?

The afternoon part of the NYC Urban Sketching event on Saturday was to sketch something that you miss in the time of this pandemic. There were so many things...family, friends, travel, gatherings... Instead I focused on something in NYC that I miss, and that is sketching in museums. This was done from a photo I had taken at the Metropolitan Museum on one of our trips there to sketch. This beautiful statue is in the American Wing and I have sketched it before.


Sunday, August 23, 2020

The Lady in the Harbor

The NYC Urban Sketchers have been holding Saturday Zoom gatherings with a theme. This week it was to sketch our hometown, NYC. For the morning we were asked to select places that we loved best.  One of the places I love but still haven't really had the opportunity to sketch is The Statue of Liberty. I've included her in sketches as part of the background out in the harbor. I looked for a reference where she was in the foreground, and in this case the background is Ellis Island.

I visited the Statue of Liberty many times, especially with my students when I was teaching. I don't miss the days of having to accompany the students as they climbed inside the statue. In those days I didn't do urban sketching so it was a treat to do this sketch. Maybe some day in the future I'll actually go to Liberty Island just for the purpose of sketching.


Saturday, August 22, 2020

Maritime Museum

Wednesday night the Patchogue Sketch Club met at the Long Island Maritime Museum in Sayville. I have to say I have never been inside the museum itself, but have sketched some of the old boats outside and the wonderful views across the marsh to the bay from the docks there. It was good to be able to schedule my night so that I could get out for about 2 hours. Jerry is good that way. As long as I give him dinner before I go it seems to work out. This is the second week in a row that I have gone out to meet up with the sketchers.

Here is the view from the dock looking toward the bay.


Several of the sketchers are participating in Paint the Great South Bay this week. I have participate in the past but with Jerry's condition I knew there was no way that I could find the time to paint en plein air every day so that I would have several paintings to display. Mark, who I sketched below came to sketch on his bicycle. He had all his painting and sketching materials with him, including a stool to sit on. He ended up just sketching with his sketchbook resting on the handlebars of his bike. Of course I started sketching him when I finished the painting above and midway he decided he was leaving. He didn't leave right away but did turn completely around so that I had to sketch the rest of his bicycle from the opposite direction.


Friday, August 21, 2020

Convention - Final Night

A lot of the speakers last night weren't on the screen long enough for me to capture them. Here are the  sketches I did from the 4th night of the Democratic National Convention as well as the full page of sketches. I just couldn't get the animation of Joe Biden. 





Thursday, August 20, 2020

Convention - Night 3

I was more focused last night for night 3 of the Democratic National Convention. There were a lot of speakers but I selected the main ones to sketch. Kalama was last to speak, but since she was the focus of the night I'm putting her first. These are all on the same page which I hope has enough room for the main speakers tonight. I'll show the whole page when it is completed.









Wednesday, August 19, 2020

Convention - Nights 1 & 2

Since this is such a pivotal time in our country I decided I would do some small sketches of some of the speakers at the Democratic National Convention. I watched some of the speakers live and some on video while I sketched. These are small...no bigger than 3 x 4. At first I just did the portraits but then I went back and did the background for each of the speakers. I hope you can recognize all of them. I need to post this now so I can sketch some of the speakers from tonight.





Tuesday, August 18, 2020

Woods View

This morning I sat out on the patio and did a sketch of the woods with oil pastels. After I used them the last time I watched a few videos to see how people recommend using them. I've mostly used them in watercolor paintings sort of like a resist and texture. This time I used just the oil pastels on Strathmore Toned Paper.


Monday, August 17, 2020

On the Canal

I have been going through the photos on my computer to organize them and move some of them to an external drive. As I'm looking at them I am saving some to a separate folder that I can use for possible sketches. Of course a lot of them are photos of Venice and this is one of them.


Sunday, August 16, 2020

The Farm on Lakeland

Today was a wet, rainy day, but I just needed to get out. I headed into Sayville and sat near The Farm on Lakeland Avenue. From where I was parked on the side of the property I could see lots of flowers and a pretty house across the street. My mobile studio came in very handy.


Saturday, August 15, 2020

A Beautiful Noise

Today I was much more inspired than yesterday. The NYC Urban Sketchers had a theme for the morning of doing "poetry sketching." The idea was suggested by another of our sketchers, Suzanne Cleary, who wanted us to find a poem that spoke to us and illustrate it. It didn't really have to be a poem. It could be a verse, a lyric, or words that inspired us. Jerry and I had watched a Neil Diamond concert on PBS last week. The song, "A Beautiful Noise," has been in my head ever since. I could even see the image I wanted to sketch to go with it, so I searched the internet and found the image of the NYC #7 train heading around the curve from Manhattan into Long Island City, Queens. This is a very iconic view to those of us here in NYC with the back of the Silvercup sign. For the non-New Yorker's  the sign was part of the Silvercup Bakery that is now the Silvercup Studios where movies are produced.


Friday, August 14, 2020

Ranch View

For some reason I didn't feel inspired to sketch today. I looked through my photos and couldn't find something that called to me. I did find a photo taken at a friend's ranch in Texas a few years ago. The view is looking down their driveway to the main road. I did it more as a thumbnail (2 1/2 x 4) to work out the composition. I'm not thrilled with it and lost the light areas. Maybe I will give it another try at some point. 


Thursday, August 13, 2020

Common Ground Sketch

Last night I got myself organized and gave Jerry dinner so that I could meet the Patchogue Sketch Club at the Common Ground in Sayville. It is a park with a gazebo, a labyrinth, flowers, trees, and sketchers. It was the first time I've been able to get out with them since the lockdown started. They've met a few time lately but not at a location that worked for me. It was great to get out and see everyone. We all had our masks and kept socially distant...but we got to talk, share, and catch up a lot! My friend, Mariann was seated near me and since I really haven't been around people I could sketch I wanted to include a person in my sketch.


Wednesday, August 12, 2020

Lefty Lucy with a Big Hat

Last night I joined Lefty Lucy on Zoom. Typical of me I missed the first few minutes, so I'm not sure what the theme was but she looked to be wearing a bathing suit, a wrap, and a big sunhat that kept disappearing into the dark background. She was wearing a lovely curly, blonde wig.

Here are the three 10 minute poses.




This was the final pose which lasted 20 minutes.


Tuesday, August 11, 2020

Tomatoes in a Row

Blogger is making changes...and I don't think I like what they are doing. I came to my blog and couldn't even see the page from yesterday!!! I found a way to get back to how the page was arranged previously, but that will only last until September and then I will have to use the new version. I hate when they change things and don't explain how to work with the new changes. Grrrr!!!

Anyway I did this small painting from a still life setup of my "tomatoes on the vine" from the supermarket. There were originally four of them but we ate one for dinner. Two, as you can see are still connected, but one just didn't want to play nice with the others and opted to stand alone.

Monday, August 10, 2020

Peperoncino

I've been going through some of my photos and trying to organize them in some reasonable way...and get some of them off my computer. I came across this photo of peperoncino picante that I took at the Rialto Market in Venice, Italy. The little, spicy peppers looked like bouquets! Much of the produce sold at the Rialto Market (at least most of the good stuff) is grown on the island of San Erasmo which is in the Venetian lagoon. I visited the island on one of my trips and walked around to see what it was like. It is known as the agricultural island in the lagoon and is quiet and peaceful. When I would buy my vegetables and fruit while we were there I tried to make sure they came from S. Erasmo. 


Sunday, August 9, 2020

View from the Patio

This morning I sat out on my patio to sketch for a while. My side of the building faces the trees. I don't sketch this view very often because it is overwhelmingly green. lol It looks much better with snow on it. The NYC Urban Sketchers provides a theme for us each week. This week we were asked to use a book, poem, song, or words and interpret them through your art. I used a quote from Claude Monet.


Saturday, August 8, 2020

Sunflower & Happy News

I had to run out to the pharmacy the other day and figured that while I was out I could squeeze in a quick sketch somewhere. I remembered there had been a lone sunflower in front of the post office when I stopped there the other day. I was just hoping it was still standing after the storm. It was drooping a bit but I sat in my car in the busy parking lot and did this mostly in direct watercolors. The only thing I marked was where the light window sashes would go so I wouldn't lose them.


Yesterday my family grew a little. This is Joanna Runelle the daughter of my nephew, John and his wife, Emily who live in Georgia. She was born last night and I am so excited!!! You would think is would be old hat by now considering I now have (if I am counting correctly) 23 grand nieces and nephews and one by marriage. Our family has had 3 new babies born this year...and at some point I will have to get to meet them all in person. I think there are 6 I still haven't met.


Friday, August 7, 2020

Talk on the Street

When I haven't done a sketch early in the day I find myself looking through my photos on my laptop. I came across this photo of two men talking on a street in Venice. I wonder what they were discussing.


Thursday, August 6, 2020

Storm Damage

We had "tropical storm" Isaias head up the east coast this week. It never reached hurricane status but did an awful lot of destruction on its way through. It reached the tri-state area on Tuesday. From what I was seeing outside my windows there was a lot...I mean a LOT of strong wind, but not much rain like they had predicted. However, when I watched the news there were tornado warnings, power outages, and downed trees and power lines all over. Five minutes from where I live several towns lost power for nearly a day and there are some places on Long Island that still don't have their power restored. A friend of mine in NJ was told his area would be without power probably until Sunday. We were very lucky!!! Today I went out to the bank and to do some food shopping. I passed this house in Sayville with a handicapped ramp in front and I had to stop. Luckily I keep a small sketchbook, pens, and a paint palette in the car so I was able to do a quick sketch of this from my car parked across the street. It looks like the downed tree got the car too. I hope nobody was hurt!


Wednesday, August 5, 2020

Cracked and Whole

Jerry likes eggs for breakfast and each time I make them I think to myself that I should sketch or paint the empty shells...but I end up throwing them in the trash. In the present scavenger hunt over on WetCanvas being hosted by my friend, Jo Castillo, eggs were on the list of items to sketch. So I pulled the cracked shells out of the trash and put them with a whole egg for a small painting.


Tuesday, August 4, 2020

Lifeguard

I haven't done a digital sketch in quite a while so I took my iPad Mini with me to the pool the other day. I was looking for water to sketch and thought the pool would qualify. I sat across the pool from the lifeguard and she got more of my attention than the water. lol Like I've said before, I do these so rarely that I forget what I do know about using ArtRage. I think when I finally replace my iPad with something newer I will try a better digital program. The problem is that the programs have a learning curve to them and I don't want to put in the time. I would usually rather sketch the traditional way.


Monday, August 3, 2020

Savannah Part 3

For the afternoon session of the NYC Urban Sketchers virtual visit to Savannah we ventured to the waterfront and to Bonaventure Cemetery. I did my third sketch of a spot along the water. It had all the components I like to see...awnings, windows, and crumbling sections of the facade. This is an art gallery on East River Street. I liked doing the brickwork in this.
I didn't do a sketch of Bonaventure Cemetery, but I have several reference photos saved so it may happen yet...so stay tuned.


Sunday, August 2, 2020

Savannah Part 2

Savannah has so many great buildings and beautiful architecture. I found the Flannery O'Connor House which was the home of Mary Flannery O'Connor who wrote novels, short stories, and essays. I don't know her work so I can't tell you anything about it. I did like how narrow this building was compared to some of the much larger plantation style houses.