Weeks Boat Yard Postcard

 Weeks Boat Yard was the subject of another postcard that I did for the project being sent to Ukraine. I've sketched this view so many times.

Bodhi's at Corey Beach

 For the Creative Spark Scavenger Hunt recently we had to sketch something used for sports, so I sketched the surfboard that is part of the outdoor decor at Bodhi's Shack down by Corey Beach in Blue Point.

Dunes at Cupsogue Beach

If you follow my blog you are aware of how I am attracted to the beach, the dunes, and the foliage that is there. Cupsogue Beach in Westhampton has some really nice dunes and a great beach. I'll have to make a point to get there this summer.

 

Beach Fences

 At the end of Dune Road in Westhampton is Cupsogue Beach. I was there on a cold, very windy day. The beach fences and their shadows attracted me.

Sunflower in Watercolor and Ink

I have continued doing some sunflowers for the postcard project being organized by my friend, MaryJo Ernst who is a fellow Urban Sketcher who lives in Michigan. The project is being done to send the postcards to Ukraine in support. I have tried to vary the design and sometimes the medium I've used for the postcards. This one was done with watercolors and ink.

 

Veggie Continuous Line Sketch

I like practicing continuous line sketches. It makes me really observe what I am looking at to see the connection to the next item and their relationship and size. This was done for a Creative Spark Scavenger Hunt. You can see the actual continuous line sketch with no color added posted below. 

View from Browns River Road

 I've painted the view from Browns River Road a number of times. There are some ferry landings and some houses along the canal there. This is another 4 x 6 postcard.

Sunflowers in Acrylic Inks

 I am still working on some postcards for the project for Ukraine. Instead of working from life I used one of my photos for inspiration for another sunflower painting. This one was done with acrylic inks. They are fun to play with but aren't easy to work with en plein air because the bottles can spill. They worked fine on my kitchen table and I was able to quickly paint this directly without any pencil drawing.

Weeks Yacht Yard

 I've sketched versions of this view of Weeks Yacht Yard in Patchogue so often. It always calls me when I am nearby. This is 4 x 6 for the postcard project.

Bodhi's in Winter

 OK, spring has finally officially arrived, but this was sketched while it was still winter. I headed down to Corey Beach in Blue Point last week for inspiration for another postcard for the project. Bodhi's Beach Shack was closed up but the fun signs and the surfboard made me think summer. I'm ready for my feet to be in the sand and the sun warming my body. How about you?

Beach Dunes at Cupsogue Beach

I took a ride down to Cupsogue Beach in Southampton. It is at the very western end of Dune road. It was a cold, windy day so I happily sketched from the comfort of my mobile studio.

I heard noises up on the roof of my car, and then I saw feet standing on the sunroof. Before I knew it I had a visitor sitting on the front of my car. If I knew he was going to stay as long as he did, I would have sketched him too.

I moved the car a bit and got back to sketching another view from my mobile studio. Both of these are 4 x 6 paintings for the postcard project.

Sketching at the Met

 Recently the NYC Urban Sketchers met at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. I used tan toned paper and dry watercolor pencils to sketch "Air" by Jean Pierre DeFrance in the European sculpture gallery.

In the afternoon I went the American Wing. I love that you can see the sculptures and look behind them to the outside. Again I used dry watercolor pencils to sketch. Only dry media is supposed to be used in the museum, especially the areas with the sculptures.

Sunflower in Watercolor and Ink

 Here's another sunflower done for the Ukraine project. I'm trying to do them different ways. This was done using one of my photo references.

Near Land's End

 We have a lot of canals running through Sayville. This is near Land's End and Brown's River Road near where the ferries depart for Fire Island.

Sunflower in Watercolor

 I have been doing a postcard project where, along with other artist, I am creating postcards to be sent in support to Ukraine. I have done some landscapes, seascapes, a few still lifes, and a few of their national flower, the sunflower. This is 4 x 6 done in watercolors. My friend, Mary Jo Ernst, a fellow Urban Sketcher from Michigan, is organizing the drive and the postcards will be sent to her at the end of the month. Since sunflowers are not in bloom here at this time of year I am using photos I have of them as inspiration.

Ceramic Pieces

 The theme for the Patchogue Sketch Club last week was "ceramic." I collected a few interesting and colorful pieces from home to bring and sketch.

Bagel Express

 Last week I drove a friend to her cataract surgery appointment at Stony Brook Hospital. I had some time before I needed to be back to pick her up. I headed over to Bagel Express in East Setauket. They not only made a delicious egg on a bagel, but it was a great place to sketch. I couldn't pass up a hanging bicycle over the coffee station! 

Hunt Sketches

A recent Creative Spark Scavenger Hunt list included a building, stairs, a sign, and a vehicle. I got them all covered in one. 

The items were something orange, something green, and something blue. This was done mostly with Neocolors which I wasn"t too thrilled with.

And finally maybe the item was some kind of jewelry. Is was a cameo that belonged to my grandmother. Rumor had it that my Uncle Joe (her youngest son) brought it back when he returned from serving in the army in WWII.

Meadow Croft Road

I often go back to sketch at Meadowcroft Estate in Sayville. This is the dirt road entrance to the property, looking back toward the street. The fragmites hide the water nearby.  

Sea Cliff Chemist

 I don't know where my mind has been but I missed several posts so I am catching up with about 4 new ones.

This painting was also done in Sea Cliff. From where I was sitting to paint I couldn't tell if this historic building is still used as a chemist. I also checked on the internet but didn't find anything that gave the history of the building.

Pink House

Recently a friend and I took a ride to Sea Cliff which is on the north side of Long Island. It is a lovely town overlooking the water with lots of interesting old homes like this pink one. A number of them were small like this one, but with a lot of charm.

Not Quite Ready

In Patchogue there are quite a few restaurants/clubs along the canals that eventually lead out to the bay. Of course they opt for a tropical feel with palm trees outside. I'm sure this is a fun place to have a bite to eat or a cocktail and watch the water when the season starts...but they're not quite ready.

Seashells

 The Creative Spark Scavenger Hunt had sea shells as an item to sketch. I did my setup as a continuous line and then added watercolors to the sketch.

Island Dreams Coffee

We had a warm, but rainy day recently. I headed over to the Bayport-Blue Point Library where Island Dreams Coffee is located. When I arrived it was closed and the sign said it would reopen at 3:00. That was fine by me because there was nobody blocking my view of the counter. A young woman from the local high school arrived at 3:00 and opened the cafe for business. By that time there were other people waiting for coffee. I hadn't left room for the young woman but found that I could fit her in behind the pastry display. lol I did have a coffee, but I find it very annoying that they don't have any brewed decaf coffee available. I find that in a lot of places.

Short Beach

 A slightly warmer day took me up to Short Beach in Smithtown. If it wasn't for the wind I probably could have sat outside to paint, but I sat protected in my mobile studio.

Holbrook House

We had a lot of very cold days recently so if I went out I was painting indoors or from my mobile studio. This house is directly across the street from my church, Good Shepherd. I sat in the driveway of the grounds pulled all the way over so I was out of the way. I'm always attracted to the trellis in front of the house. 

Islip Buoys

 Riding around in Islip I found this house with a lot of lobster buoys along one of the canals. It reminded me of the houses in Maine. They were prepared with a few boats too.

Ace Hotel Lobby

After 3 sketches in the bar area I made my way back to the Ace Hotel Lobby. There were sketchers all over. I found a spot to sit in a comfy chair and a view of...you guessed it...sketchers sketching. My only problem with the lobby was that it wasn't well lit and it was hard to see the details of what I was sketching...which could be a good thing. lol 

 The staff at the hotel was really very nice. We monopolized their lobby and part of the restaurant from 10 in the morning to 3 in the afternoon when we had our show and tell.

Ace Hotel's Bar Area

 The NYC Urban Sketchers were scheduled to meet at a fashion exhibit at FIT (the Fashion Institute of Technology) for our sketching location last week. Unfortunately when we got there we found out that we couldn't use stools, backpacks had to be hand-held, and only dry media could be used in this very DARK exhibit. We are adaptable and the organizers offered another location...the Ace Hotel. A few of the sketchers stayed to sketch standing in the dark, but my travel buddy, Suzala and I checked out the exhibit and then headed to the Ace Hotel which was a few blocks away. Many members of our group were already there working.

There was a nice hotel lobby with comfy seating, but it was fairly dark. Off to the side was the entrance to Koloman, their lovely contemporary French restaurant that was very European in feeling. I went in to scope it out and found Leslie sitting at the bar with her coffee and pastry. She was busy sketching the bar area. As long as we ordered something they were fine with us staying in the front of the bar area which had a huge window that overlooked the street. It also had a ledge all across the window which provided a good space to work. 

I started sketching Leslie, who was now joined by Elaine. The waiter took my order and before I could finish my first sketch, my coffee and this delicious croissant with jam and butter was delivered. It made such a great subject that I had to sketch that too...but quickly so I could eat the croissant! So I switched and started sketching the croissant on another page leaving space for the rest of the presentation. As soon as I had the croissant sketched, I moved back to the sketch of the sketchers because I know people, even sketchers, tend to move after a while. They were now joined by a random person not affiliated with our group, but I included him too.

Then I moved back to the food setup and added in the plates, jam, butter, and cutlery.

While I had the street view in front of me I decided to paint the building right across from us...some sort of construction was going on there with workers going in and out, but that is the fun of sketching NYC.

Our group in the bar area changed as people joined us and left us for the lobby. This photo was taken by my friend, Suzala of some of us ladies that were sketching and chatting about all kinds of things. We had a great time together!

Left to right: Me, Leslie, Shawne, Elaine and Kim.

Southdown Coffee

 After sketching at the camilla house (see yesterday's post) we decided to stop for coffee. Suzala checked with her daughter to see which coffee shop in Oyster Bay would be best for us as a sketching location. She suggested Southdown Coffee. We found a small table tucked near the window with a nice view of the counter...and sketched away.