I am always looking for someplace different to sketch. I've passed the Blue Point Diner many times but couldn't find a good spot to sit in my car. I saw it the other day and made several u-turns to find a spot where I could see. Where the plants and steps are on the left a car was parked. Of course as soon as I started sketching the car, which belongs to the owner/manager, it backed out of the space and was gone. So I erased the car and continued sketching. I was happy with the way it came out.
The NYC Urban Sketchers had a different kind of event this week. Rather than a location the day focused on two holidays. The morning's focus was the Hindu celebration which is the "Festival of Color." It is also known as the "Festival of Spring" and the "Festival of Love." Some families hold religious ceremonies but for many people Holi is a time for fun. It is a colorful festival with dancing, singing, and throwing of powder paint and colored water. The festival signifies the victory of good over evil. In all the reference photos I found people were covered with bright pigments. It must be fun if you don't mind the mess. I had a hard time getting my watercolors to be bright enough so I ended up adding some oil pastel to this.
There is a park called The Grange that is down the road from me in Sayville. I've sketched there many, many times and have probably sketched just about every view there. On Saturday the Patchogue Sketch Club decided to meet in the afternoon around 2:00 while the weather was nice (since we are quickly losing our evening light on Wednesday nights). I debated whether I wanted to go and finally went a little early because the Sayville Farmers' Market is held there until 2:00 and I was hoping to get some farm fresh veggies. I was able to do that and wandered over near the caretaker's house. I walked all the way around looking for something different and saw this area with the missing picket from the fence and a bit of color. I had my spot!
There are so many boats along the canal in Sayville where the ferry boats depart for Fire Island. Some of the boats are commercial but most of them, aside from the ferries, are private. As I turned into the parking area there was a separation in the grasses and reeds where a sailboat could be seen on the other side. I had been on the other side first but couldn't find a good view of this. I did like it with the grasses though.
The other day the weather was so perfect I had to head over to the beach for a while. Corey Beach in Blue Point is only about a 15 minute drive and now that it is off season I can park there easily. Quite a few other people seemed to have the same idea. There were people sitting on the beach in beachchairs, little kids playing in the playground and on the swings, and a number of people sitting at picnic tables having lunch. I brought my chair down on the beach and pulled out my sketchbook. It was the perfect way to pass some time in the sun.
This Tuesday Lefty Lucy was dressed as a showgirl/angel for Costumed in Quarantine. This was the first time I remember seeing her as a redhead and not in a blonde wig. I don't know if this is her natural hair but she rocked it. As usual she did some one and two minute poses and for most of those I was only able to capture part of her body. Finally for one of the five minute poses I grabbed a pencil and sketched her quickly. This was one of my favorite sketches of the night.
It was so sunny and nice the other day so I decided I wanted to sketch down by the beach. I headed to Corey Beach in Blue Point. It turned out that it was much too windy to sit on the beach and sketch so I ended up sitting in the passenger side of my mobile studio to get a view of something more than the big SUV that was parked in front of me. I am assuming that this little building is for the life guards and storage of their gear.
I have sketched inside the Terry Street Garden in Patchogue quite a few times. This time I sketched the view from outside looking in through the covered arch. In the background are some buildings that are part of artist residences called Art Space. They were designed specifically for artists to live in as they redeveloped Patchogue to be an art destination. I sat in my car to sketch this.
I am so lucky to have so many places her on Long Island where I can get to the water. Although I don't sail I enjoy looking at sailboats. In my opinion they are much more elegant than motor boats...and a lot quieter. This was done en plein air along one of the canals in Patchogue. I was facing a housing complex so they must have their own dock.
On Saturday the NYC Urban Sketchers had "The Other 71%" as their sketching theme. In the morning we sketched creatures that would be found underwater, and in the afternoon we sketched the coral, seaweed, etc. I didn't have time to join them on Zoom and ended up doing just one sketch on Sunday morning. It is nice that we are all so flexible. lol This was done with mostly watercolors but I added some oil pastels to the coral for texture.
Friday night I went to a fundraiser in Sayville for a little while. Since I was already out and it was so close to sunset I decided to ride down by the water and watch and sketch. There is a parking lot by a restaurant called Lands End, that extends out into the bay. It faces the water at an angle and looks a bit back toward the mainland. It was filled with cars, so I had to sit back a bit and didn't have a front row seat. I sketched the building in but when I was leaving I noticed it didn't really look that long. The right side was actually another building, but it was getting dark in the car and I couldn't really see well. I was happy with the way the sky and the reflection came out. Of course I used artistic license and left out the row of cars parked in front of me.
The other day I went out and was hoping to find something locally to sketch. This restaurant, called Hummus is in my town, Holbrook, (which I don't find too scenic). My actual town center has mostly strip malls with cookie-cutter buildings and parking lots in front. Hummus is a bit different because it is on a triangular corner and the parking is in the back. It is there by itself next to what I think is an insurance company. The colorful exterior and umbrellas make it a bit different, and now it has a little car parked out in the outdoor seating area. They have Mediterranean fast food and is quite good.
On Tuesday morning I finally met up with my plein air group at the Maritime Museum in Sayville. Most of the locations they've met at this year have been too far for me to join them and be able to get back to take care of Jerry. This was perfect! It was good to see them and converse at a social distance with our masks. This time I focused on the sailboat that was at the dock. Most of the boats there are motor boats so I was glad to see this one. There were artists standing on the dock but I used artistic license and left them out. One of them was trying to retrieve a $40 brush that she had dropped into the water. (A hazard of plein air painting by the water.) She was successful.
