On Sunday a friend and I went to see the North East Watercolor Society's Members' Show in Garden City. The work was really good and inspiring. Since we were in the area we stopped at the Blick store in Carle Place. I bought a few tubes of watercolor and gouche as well as a few Neocolor II crayons since they sell them as open stock. I skeched some of the supplies when I got home since "bought recently" was one of the Creative Spark Scavenger Hunt prompts.
I couldn't visit Smith Point Park without sketching the actual ocean view. This was done directly in watercolor. I tried to catch the waves.
The clouds were great in the sky looking back toward the mainland from Smith Point Park. Sometimes you have to look the other way. lol
This is the front porch of the Swezey Avey House in Yaphank. My plein air group will be holding our annual exhibit and sale there in November. The patriotic bunting makes this historic house look so welcoming.
A new restaurant opened this spring in Bellport called La Plage. Passing by it today I saw this scene by the outdoor seating area. I quickly sketched the woman outside the fence just in case she moved away sooner than the other women. It was a smart move to draw her first because she moved off quickly.
As you know I do sketches for Creative Spark's Scavenger Hunts. Some of the sketches are really small like this sketch of a golf court. It is about 2 inches by 2 inches.
I stopped at the Sayville Farmers Market last Saturday. The vendors were set up around the perimeter of the field so I aimed for the vendors right actoss from where I was parked.
I had an appointment up in Wading River and when I was done I stopped at Andrews Family Farm to so a quick painting. I liked the view of the umbrella and table in the middle of the flower field.
This was sketched down at Sayville Beach looking toward the entrance. The flag was flying at half-mast since it was the 25th anniversary of 9-11.
An easy way to get some of the listed items for the Creative Spark Scavenger Hunt is to put several of the items into a still life. Then I like to do a continuous line of the whole thing...
My plein air group always heads to the Dahlia Garden at the Bayard Cutting Arboretum at this time of year. I usually do a closeup of a dahlia or two but I did a more encompassing view of some of the flower beds this time.
I am not a golfer and it took quite a bit of studying as I sat there to capture the correct stance of these models. This was sketched at the West Sayville Golf Course.
This is not my best lobster sketch. I made the body too thick, but I'll post what I've done anyway. For this one I used Neocolors and watercolor.
When we were in Chinatown we met an elderly Chinese gentleman who invite us to an art reception nearby that he was participating in. We spoke to him for a short while before he continued on to where the show was taking place. We stopped by to be polite and were amazed by all the gorgeous artwork. Much of it was in the Chinese style, but most of the paintings were large and lovely! I was so happy we stopped and viewed the show.
After viewing the reception I walked down to sketch Joe's Ginger, one of the Chinese restaurants with large lanterns in front.
It turns out this restaurant is connected to Joe's Shanghai which is where we were heading for dinner...which was absolutely delicious.
A few friends and I decided to organize our own little trip into NYC recently. We headed down to Pell Street in Chinatown. It was busy, but the view on Pell Street couldn't be beat...lots of people, Chinese lanterns and umbrellas...with a few NYC water towers thrown in.
The schools here on Long Island went back last Tuesday. I went down to Islip Beach and there was no lifeguard and only a few people on the beach. The staff should be back for the Labor Day Weekend...but it seemed too soon to see it so empty.
The Patchogue Sketch Club is working on our group project for Arts on Terry which will take place on Sunday, Sept 13. Mark and Karen were working on their canvases at the MOCA Gallery (more about the project in the future) but I had already finished mine at home. I kept myself busy sketching them as they worked. Mark is used to me sketching him but Karen was unaware that I sketched her. She is new to the group and doesn't know that I tend to sketch the members often. She liked the sketch.
I've sketched the ferry boats that leave Sayville for Fire Island quite a few times. There are usually a few docked along Brown's River and if I time it right I can get a sketch done before the ferry departs for it's trip. There were a few people on board when I started so I was able to include a few figures. This was sketched in the sketchbook that seems to have no/little sizing so the ink and the watercolor behave differently than on most of the papers that I use. Bon Voyage!
I wanted to sketch the land formations by the marina attached to the Timber Ridge Golf Course in Great River the other morning. This woman was actually sitting on the front end of a boat that was docked there being stocked with supplies for a trip. I loved her pose so I sketched her...and of course the boat pulled away before I could sketch it too. She was already in a seated position so I plunked her down on the dock that was right in front of me.
My second sketch on Saturday was done inside Madison Square Park. There is a fountain on the south end of the park and a small round pond on the north end of the park. The fountain was in a perfect sunlit spot and the bench I sat on was in the shade. A jazz group was playing nearby.
Another NYC Urban Sketcher came along when I was nearly done and we started talking and sharing stories. Then a photographer came along and told us he was doing a project on groups of people in the park and how they use the park. He asked if he could take some photos of us working. Later when we were doing our show-and-tell he took photos of everyone and their work to use in the project.
On Saturday I joined about 40 other NYC Urban Sketchers in the Madison Square Park area. On the left is the Flatiron Building. I liked the vibrancy of the yellow umbrellas and foliage in the foreground of the sketch. I was sitting on the outside sidewalk by Madison Square Park which is located near 23rd Street between 5th Ave and Madison Ave.
This was painted by the park down on the bay in Sayville. It looks out toward Fire Island.
My plein air group went to Lenny Bruno's Farm in Manorville. There were sunflowers in the field and a nice road heading back toward the barn. Of course I was sitting there and a truck came along bringing produce back to the barn and the farm stand, so I had to move over a bit. I think I need to lighten the red truck on the left by the barn...or at least give it some light on top of it.
I like sketching at the Land's End Marina in Sayville because the view seems to go on forever. We have been having some wild clouds in the sky lately so I thought it was a nice combination.
Isn't that a catchy name for a cafe? I found a listing for this place and it sounded like it would be a good sport for sketching. The cafe and back deck are behind an antique store. Aside from beverages and some pastries there isn't much food in the cafe, but on the back deck there are tables, benches, a bar area, a performance area, and another small building the I believe is for kids. You walk down an alley to the back. The staff is very accommodating and told us we are welcome to come any time. The day we were there a duo was playing in the back. I sketched the back deck and Suzala sketched the view down the alley with me sitting at the table there.
My friend, Suzala and I were on Main Street in Farmingdale and saw 317 Main Street with the colorful orange umbrellas out front and had to stop to sketch. The restaurant was in the middle of the block and there were parking spots along both sided of the street. Luckily when we sat down to sketch the parking spot right in front of the restaurant was empty and so was the spot right in front of us on the other side. But for how long?? Suzala said just sketch fast...so I went directly in with watercolors. We painted for about 30 minutes before any cars blocked our view but eventually there was a large SUV parked right in front of the restaurant. Luckily I had mostly finished the bottom and was able to see the sign above the restaurant so I was able to continue working on the view.
Hecksher State Park is on the bay in Suffolk County. To me it seems like it isn't kept up well. There are areas that have beach access on the bay but there is little access to those beaches. A certain parking lot has been partly flooded for years. You have to drive through gigantic puddles to get into the parking lot. That was where this sketch was done. I used watercolors and Neocolor II for this painting.
My sketch group had a model dressed as a fairy this week. She did an assortment of 2 and 5 minute poses for a warm up, then a 10 minute followed by 2 20 minute poses in the same position so we would have one longer pose.
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| This was the longest pose for a total of 40 minutes. |
My plein air group met at the Suffolk County Farm recently. They did a little bit of work on the grounds since I was there last. They had little garden areas set up mostly for the kids that come there. I liked the gate and the flowers.
We had a mostly overcast day but I wanted to head over to the water. I found myself at Captree State Park which is across the Great South Bay from Fire Island. I found a small opening in the dunes where I could see the fishing pier in the background. Captree also has one of the largest fleets of charter fishing boats on Long Island.
The prompt for the Creative Spark Scavenger Hunt was "apart or in pieces." The zuccini I was planning on having with dinner worked perfectly for that prompt.
Next we headed over to the other side of the bridge to Lambertville, NJ. I remember it being small with a few antique shops when we used to go there, but now it is wall to wall shops and restaurants and is a little less commercial than New Hope. After lunch we found a spot along the canal with a view of a restaurant with a number of open umbrellas and a small bridge.
We arrived in Bucks County where we met up with another sketching friend of Suzala's who came up from Maryland to meet us. New Hope, PA has changed a lot since I was there last. It used to be a small town with shops that sold hand-made leather items, pottery, jewelry, etc as well as some small, quaint restaurants. The number of businesses has increased tremendously. It is nearly impossible to park. It is no longer the fun town I remember. We headed over near the New Hope Train Station. I started with a sketch of the train station itself. The colorful train pulled in and out of the station about every 20 minutes to go on a scenic trip. I ended up sketching it little by little since it didn't stay for long. I finished the station on location but painted the train when I got home.
Rick is the husband of my friend, Suzala, and he is a prince. He often drives us to our sketching locations in the city and very conveniently drops us off as close to where we are meeting as possible. This time he and Suzala invited me to join them on a trip to New Hope, PA and Lambertville, NJ. The towns are across the river from each other. I haven't been down there in at least 25/30 years. The trip down took about 2 1/2 hrs, so I entertained myself by sketching my view of Rick from the back seat of their car. For some reason the sketching in the car seems bumpier than sketching on the train. I think the car is an up-down motion and the train is side to side. That's my theory anyway!
This sketch covered two promps for the Creative Spark Scavenger Hunt...striped and open.
One of the prompts for the Creative Spark Scavenger Hunt recently was elegant. What can be more elegant than a wedding dress? I've sketched Sayville Bridal before and it still called to me. This is the back of the store. Some day I'll have to go around to the front and see what the display is like.
At the Common Ground on Wednesdays there is usually music. This particular week "Drive" was playing. They are a tribute group for "The Cars." They provided musical entertainment and a good sketch opportunity.
The Hawkins House was the destination for PALS this week. To celebrate our 250th birthday it was decked out in bunting. I did a side view of the house this time. You can see my previous paintings of it here.
Summer brings all kinds of treats...strawberries, peaches, watermelon, and corn on the cob. The only thing I didn't have to sketch was a tomato.
Long Island and parts of the east coast have been suffering through some very hot, humid weather recently. Usually I join the NYC Urban Sketchers in the city on Saturday, but due to the weather I knew it would be hard to tolerate the city. On Sunday the forecast was again for hot, humid weather with temperatures in the 90s.
Sayville was having a festival which included a car show on Sunday. Two friends and I decided to meet and sketch at the show. We aimed to be there at 10:00 when the car show officially opened and stay until we got too uncomfortable. Each of us had our own car so it wouldn't be a problem if one of us wanted to leave before the others. There was an area with quite a few Cadillacs. The one I selected was from 1937 and was a beauty.
I found a spot in the shade cast by a building and a SUV. That worked for a while but the sun was moving slowly west and I had to keep moving to stay in the shade. Luckily the humidity kept the paint from drying too quickly so I didn't get a lot of hard edges. I worked on this for about 1 1/2 hours. I packed up my materials, said goodby to Susan and Suzala and headed home to have lunch and spend the rest of the day at the pool in my development. It was a successful day.
