Portrait Sketches

 Last night the Patchogue Sketch Club met at the MOCA gallery in Patchogue for a portrait sketching session. Since this group meets in the evening at 6:30 the fact that we are losing light outside so early is making it impossible to continue our sketching outdoors. Mark arranged for use of the gallery space and we took turns posing for others to sketch us. Each person that modeled sat for about 20 minutes. I didn't think ahead and bring good drawing pencils so I had to work with what I had. This was good practice for next week when I think we will be having an actual model to draw. We got in 6 poses in all...and I was one of them so I only have 5 drawings from last night. One thing I know I have to work on is body proportions. The heads are always too large for the bodies I draw. I adjusted these a lot but I still can see that they need work.

When this young lady modeled I knew I had to do her in color so I could capture her sections of pink hair. I wish I had a pinker color...

Sayville Grange View

 Recently one of my art groups met at the Sayville Grange to paint. I've painted so many time there and don't really get inspired by the location any more. There is a house that at one time belonged to the caretaker of the property, but I don't think anyone is living in it any more.

Rusty View

 In addition to pretty, scenic landscapes it is sometimes fun to sketch a bit of the gritty side of life. It too has its own beauty. Down near one of the marinas in Patchogue I found a small road that has an assortment of businesses that collect or salvage pieces of anything related to boats or boat sheds or heaven knows what else. In the middle of one of the fenced areas is this wonderful rusty water tank with all sorts of "stuff" around it.

Beach Gathering

 Luckily the weather on Saturday was beautiful and sunny, so I was able to head to the beach at Smith Point State Park. Although there are no lifeguards on duty any more there are quite a few people that continue to come to the beach like it is still summer, and some of them do go swimming. This group gathered under several umbrellas and seemed to have a great time together.

Pandemic Life Project

 Today the South Bay Art Association and the Patchogue Sketch Club took part in Arts on Terry, a contemporary art fair including 300+ artists from a variety of Long Island Arts organizations. I had two paintings that were hanging with the South Bay Artists. 

The Patchogue Sketch Club did a group exhibit on Pandemic Life. Eleven of our sketchers each received an 11 x 14 canvas and was asked to sketch a scene of something that might have been seen through a window during the pandemic. Each canvas would be a window in a facade of a building that was constructed of plywood and painted to look like brick.

I decided my window would look into a room where an artist was sketching the view outside. I made it look like an art studio with shelves with bins for art materials. The artist was sketching on an easel with her mask at the ready in case someone came in.

Here are the three walls of our pandemic building with the scenes from each artist. The building panels were standing in a triangular shape.

Along the Creek

I'm never sure quite what to call this body of water that runs out into the  Great South Bay so I looked it up on the map. It is called Brown Creek...which happens to run along Browns River Road. This particular creek runs along mostly buildings that have something to do with the Sayville ferry service to Fire Island.  There are also a few houses tucked in there. I find myself at this location quite often because you can park easily facing the water and the ferry terminals.

Lighthouse Views

 I went over to Robert Moses State Park the other day. I hadn't sketched the Fire Island Lighthouse in a while. Parking so that I was facing the dunes, I dug through my beach bag only to realize I couldn't find any paper that was really suitable for watercolor. I finally gave up and used a sketchbook that is barely suitable for ink so needless to say the paper buckled. At least it didn't pill.

I moved the car a little...those clouds were calling me. I used the other sketchbook I had with me. The paper was a bit thicker so it didn't buckle quite as much. Of course later when I was sitting on the beach I found that I had a few small pieces of watercolor paper in a baggie in one of the front pockets of the beach bag. lol 

Bayport Aerodrome - Part 3

 I had a little time left before the aerodrome event was closing so I looked for a shady spot to sit with the view of this plane. As I started sketching this older gentleman came over and asked if I was going to draw his plane. I said I was going to try. He stayed and talked to me for a while. I asked him how long he had the plane and he said 50 years. Then he proceeded to tell me that he was 95 years old. I asked him if he still flies the plane and he told me that he still does and loves it. Just before I was finished 2 men came over to the plane. Between the owner and the two men they each took a wing and one of them took the tail. They turned the plane around and wheeled it back into the hangar. It was nice to see someone who still enjoyed what he was doing at the age of 95. I think the secret is to love what you are doing.

Bayport Aeodrome - Part 2

There were quite a few planes to sketch at the Bayport Aerodrome but we found that they moved some of them because they were flying. I sketch fast but not that fast. lol This plane sat pretty much in one location for most of the day. It was another one that was fun to sketch.

Bayport Aerodrome - Part 1

 My friends, Suzala, her husband, Rick and I decided to attend an event at the Bayport Aerodrome on Sunday. The field  and museum are usually open for a few hours on Sundays...but once a year they open the entire grounds and the hangars as well as the museum to the community. There was musical entertainment, games for the kids, food, old classic cars, and lots of classic old planes. There were also raffles for biplane rides and those were taking place quite often leaving from the runway next to us. The Bayport Aerodrome is the only Long Island public airport with grass runways. It has national historic status and has been in use since 1910.

I got there before Suzala so I scoped out the planes nearest the entrance. I sat down to sketch one of the yellow planes. Luckily I had filled up my palette with paint the other night so I had some very clean cadmium yellow paint to use. A man came over a few times to look at what I was doing and comment. It turns out this was his "new" plane and he bought the painting from me. It was funny because my friend and her husband had gone there before and Suzala sketched one of the planes in her sketchbook. The owner of the plane asked to buy it but she didn't want to take it out of her sketchbook. Rick told me that the smart thing to do would be to work on loose paper and he was right. The owner was happy and I was happy also.

Bayview Market

 When I head out on the north fork and think about sketching at a farmstead, Bayview Market in Aquebogue is usually where I end up. Their colorful umbrellas and produce can't be resisted...at least not by me. lol It is a very busy place and the parking lot is crazy, so I usually find a spot I like and sketch from my mobile studio. Then of course I do some shopping!

Hibiscus Page

It has take me a while but I finally finished the page of sketches of my hibiscus plant. I have already posted a few of the sketches. The last group was done just with dry aquatone pencils. Here is the full page spread and the newest sketches.

9/11 Memorial

` On Wednesday the Patchogue Sketch Club met at the 9/11 Memorial in Patchogue which just recently opened. It was a nice plot of land right on the bay. As of right now there are several boulders with places on them in memory of local residents who perished in the Twin Towers. 

Trees by the Water

 I was down by the bay beach in Sayville. It was a windy day but the trees looked good against the sky.

Watching the Waves

 I a second visit to the ocean, this time going to Robert Moses State Park. I had planned on sketching the lighthouse but the striped umbrella was too much of a distraction.

Back to the Beach

 My hip surgery sort of kept me away from the ocean beaches all summer,  If I went to the beach it was somewhere that I wouldn't have to worry about walking through sand to get where I was going, like the local bay beaches.The other day I decided to head over to the ocean at Smith Point Beach in Shirley. Due to the rough water and the high tide the water was nearly up to the dunes, so I stayed up by the pavilion which is nearly even with the top of the dunes. I sat in my chair and painted the view in a small Strathmore Visual Watercolor Journal that is 3.5 x 5 inches.

Battery Park Sketches

 

After spending the morning sketching the Charging Bull and his friends I headed down to Battery Park. There were a lot of vendors along the perimeter of the park selling all kinds of food, hats and sunglasses, and all kinds of touristy trinkets. I sat in the shade of a big tree to sketch a few of the vendors.

I still had a little time to sketch so I went over to Bowling Green Park, a small park in front of the National Museum of the American Indian. This park is the oldest NYC public park and was opened in 1733. I sketched a few of the people sitting around before our group had our show and tell.

This is actually a sketch of a guy whose girlfriend was asleep on his lap. Her curly head of hair was what drew me to the sketch.

Broadway Bull

 On Sunday the NYC Urban Sketchers met in downtown Manhattan to sketch near the charging bull statue located on Broadway in the Financial District. Our goal was to sketch people and this was a good place. It is always a fun location because so many tourists come there to snap their photos with the bull in assorted different silly poses. The bull's rear is a popular spot because for some reason people love to pose while touching the bull's genitals. (I'm putting it nicely. lol) People also like to climb up and sit on its head. I expect to see someone get gored by the horns.

I started sketching from the top step of a restaurant called Cipriani. Of course a while later someone came along and told us that we had to get off the steps...the steps were "private property." The restaurant was hosting some kind of event/show and they were expecting a lineup of guests. So we moved and since I sketch quite quickly I had the bull and the people already sketched and was able to finish it from another spot.

Flo's of Blue Point

 Every year the Patchogue Sketch Club makes a sketch visit to Flo's in Blue Point. Due to Covid restrictions there aren't as many picnic tables set up, but the other night the tilted, striped umbrellas caught my eye. There were a number of dogs there with their owners so I captured one of them too.

Port Bistro & Pub

I had an appointment for my 3 month checkup for my hip in Port Jeff the other day. Everything with my hip seems to be doing well. When I finished with the doctor I looked around in town for a place to sketch. I came across the Port Bistro & Pub which looked like a fun outdoor place to do just that.

Back to the City - Part 2

 After lunch we walked over to Foley Square which is in the middle of the court buildings downtown. I found a spot looking out that contained some of everything...lights, street signs, lamp posts, one way arrows, scaffolding (something you see a lot of in NYC), people, and vehicles, all with the backdrop of NYC buildings as you looked downtown. It was a fun location. The sketching was followed by a show and tell from about 20 sketchers who had participated. It was a great day despite some rain.

Back to the City - Part 1

 My friend called and asked if I wanted to go into the city with her to meet the NYC Urban Sketchers on Sunday. Her husband said he would drive us in and drop us off where we were meeting. That meant I wouldn't have to walk too far or worry about public transportation. The weather forecast was for cloudy skies and a chance of showers so I was pretty sure it wasn't going to be a good pool day... so I said yes.

The group started off in City Hall Park which has a lovely fountain and a backdrop of lots of tall buildings. The park was pretty empty in the morning but a few people stopped by to see what we were doing. I found a good spot and started painting but after about a 40 minutes it started to drizzle. I covered up my sketchbook and moved over to an area that was pretty dry due to the thick foliage on the trees. It wasn't quite the same view but I had all the basics sketched in already and when it came time for the background buildings I got up to see what was there so I could paint it. 

We had lunch in the park and it was fun to catch up with a few people I hadn't seen the last time I got together with them. Some of the regulars who show up most of the time from Westchester couldn't get to the city because their rail line was so badly affected by the flooding we had. 

Dahlia Garden

 Usually when I go to the dahlia garden at the Bayard Cutting Arboretum I focus on one flower. It was hot and sunny so I sat under the shade of a big tree and focused on the garden itself including the pergola, bench, and the birdbath. I wasn't too thrilled with how this came out originally because there wasn't enough light on the leaves over the pergola and they blended into the background too much. I ended up using gouache to lighten the greens there. I'm a little happier with it now, but still feel it is a little too dark there. For some of the texture on the flowers I used some oil pastel.

Meadow Croft

 Meadow Croft in Sayville is an historic estate along Brown's Creek.  It was once the home of John E. Roosevelt, the cousin of Theodore Roosevelt, who would visit him there. It is now part of  the Suffolk County Historic Trust and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places in Washington, DC. This is part of the side of the house with the arbor next to it, as well as this huge tree.

House and Garden

I like houses when you can see the side garden too. This was painted from my "mobile studio" along one of the streets in Sayville.

 

Ivy League Schools

This weekend the NYC Urban Sketchers had Ivy League Schools as their virtual theme. I thought this gate from Yale University was interesting.  Jerry and I visited the campus once to see some exhibit at the library.

Window in Venice

 Due to Hurricane Ida Lefty Lucy was unable to model. She is in New Orleans and they had no power after the storm...and I don't know when her power will be restored. That left me with a free evening and a desire to sketch. I looked through some photos on my computer and selected this one of a window in Venice. I used watercolors, ink, and white colored pencil in my Strathmore Toned Tan Sketchbook.

Pappa Mia's Ice House

 I have passed this place hundreds of times and always think it is so colorful that I should sketch it. Then someone posted a photo of Pappa Mia's Ice House Ices on Facebook and I decided to do it. The building is located on a main road in West Sayville. I sat across the street in my car to sketch it. I wasn't sure it was safe enough to be sitting outside along Montauk Highway with the cars speeding by. When I started sketching it the girl who was manning it was just setting things up so slowly the giant Italian ice and the umbrella came out, as well as the bags of chips on the counter. It was too early for business so I didn't get any customers. I also didn't get an ice....maybe next time.

Hibiscus III

 My hibiscus has been blooming a lot, but I never seem to get out on the patio to sketch it. My plan is to do a full page of sketches of the blossoms, so with this one I did text too.

Here is another small bud.

Tuolumne Meadows

 Yosemite National Park brought back such good memories that I had to do another virtual sketch. This one is of one of the most scenic spots I remember seeing...Tuolumne Meadows. I can just imagine the meadow filled with flowers or filled with snow. Either way it would be beautiful. My thanks to the guides from the NYC Urban Sketchers who have been working hard to make sure we have a new virtual destination each weekend.