Bush Farm Sunflowers

My final painting for the plein air event was done at Bush Farm in Brookhaven on Saturday. I was attracted to the buildings with a small area of sunflowers. 

Snowy View

 We recently had about 4 inches of snow. Although it is an inconvenience it definitely improves the wintry look of things. This was painted in Brookhaven.

Winter Foliage

 Right now the trees are mostly bare...with a few brown or rust-colored leaves. Luckily the grasses have nice variations of yellows, ochres and browns. This was painted last week in Brookhaven before the snow fell.

Hog Farm in Autumn

I drove over to Hog Farm in Brookhaven last week. I caught it when it was open and there were a lot of people and things to sketch. 

There were several dogs with their owners, but very few stayed put except for this one.

Brookhaven Farm

 Down along Main Street in Brookhaven there are a few areas of farmland. This one is behind a farm stand, but I focused on the farm this time.

Snow Scene in Gouache

I haven't done a painting in gouache for a long time. When you don't use gouache for a while it dries up and gets really crumbly. I should have just thrown out what I had and started over but I was ready to go out when I decided what I was doing. I sprayed the paints a lot before I left the house so they would soften a bit, but I still had problems with tiny crumbled bits in the paint. Regardless I liked the way this came out. There was a pile of cut tree trunks and the snow on them made a nice design. Painted in Brookhaven. 

Goodbye, Friend & Pathway Thru the Color

It is with great sadness that I report that my internet friend, Michael Perchard passed away today. He was known on Facebook as Michael East Boston. Although I never met him in person, his constant support, good humor, and artistic joy gave us a special connection. Michael loved painting the ocean...and waves. He went out of his way to be nice to people. He was a big supporter of organ donations and received a double lung transplant in 2017. Without the immunity we count on to fight off sickness, he recently caught Covid twice and didn't survive this last bout. His posts always made me smile and I will miss him. Wait for us in that big art studio in heaven, Michael!

I can still find autumn colors if I search hard enough. There are a lot of areas where the leaves are all off the trees. This was painted in Brookhaven. 

Carman's River Canoe & Kayak

I love seeing all the activity at Carman's River Canoe & Kayak, especially on the weekend. Most of the time that I've stopped there I felt like I would be in the way with people taking kayaks off their roofs and carrying things around. This time I parked on the other side of the office facing the building. I sketched this from the car and kept out of everyone's way. I've only been kayaking once (on a visit to Maine quite a while ago). I'm not sure I could get in and out of the kayak easily any more. I remember how tired my arms were after kayaking back then. lol I'm happy watching and sketching now.

Hog Farm Evening

On Wednesday the Patchogue Sketch Club went to Hog Farm in Brookhaven. We met at 6 so we would have some light for sketching. There was a constant flow of people coming to pick up their farm shares or just shop for the fresh delights. It was a good night for sketching.

Sketching at CEED

On Sunday the sketch group component of the South Bay Art Association got together at CEED in Brookhaven for a sketching session. There were only 5 of us who showed up but we had a good time sketching and talking. 

There were several raised beds planted with vegetables and flowers. There were a few eggplants growing, but there were very few tomatoes. I think those get picked as soon as they turn red.

 

There was a table by the building that was filled with a lot of cacti and succulents. I sketched a few of them. One of the workers told me that the plant on the right with the huge leaves is over 40 years old. I thought that was rather impressive.

Here are a few of our members working on their sketches.

Crimson Clover

 The other day a friend was telling us about a field near her house in Brookhaven where the owner plants something different each year. This year he planted crimson clover and a big part of the field is just small red flowers. I remember passing it once before and stopping to paint it, but I can't remember what he had planted then. I ended up sitting in my mobile studio at the corner of my friend's block to paint. Between the deer ticks and the deer (never mind the wild peacocks) I figured that would be the safest way to paint.

Beaver Dam Road View

 If you drive all the way down Beaver Dam Road in Brookhaven you reach the water with this view. At one time it was a rustic area with access to the water and fishing. A few years ago they built a small park-like area with a paved walkway. 

Along the Service Road

Sometimes I will find places to sketch that don't have a great place to sit with my car. This was part of the service road that connects to a highway in Brookhaven. There happened to be a small turn-around in front of one of the houses. I'm not quite sure if I should have been parking along it but I liked the scene with the colors going away from me. I pulled over as far as I could in the dirt and grass. Since it isn't a really busy spot I didn't think I would be blocking anyone.

Birches

Although the trees are starting to flower there are still a lot of areas where the winter browns are still showing. I like how the white birches interrupt the browns. This was done in Brookhaven.

 

Marsh View

 Here on Long Island there are so many marsh views to sketch. I never get tired of sketching them. This one was down Beaver Dam Road in Brookhaven.

Brookhaven Colors

 While doing all the Inktober sketches I couldn't wait to be able to use bright colors again. However our colors here on Long Island are pretty dull. I don't know if they have already peaked or if they just haven't turned yet. Most of them are a faded brown with a bit of bright yellow or orange in a few spots. Part of the problem is that we don't have too many maple trees and those are usually the ones that have a lot of color. We have a lot of oaks which really aren't too colorful. I drove around a bit looking and this spot in Brookhaven had more color than most places. This was done directly in watercolors.

Inktober Day 5 - Sketchers

When I do challenges like Inktober 2020 I try to keep myself at least a day ahead sketching, so that if something happens and I really can't sketch something one day, I still have a backup. So on Saturday when I was at the park in Brookhaven I did two sketches. When I finished the stream below I turned around and the other sketchers were sitting spaced and socially isolated through the park. I started with the closest sketcher and slowly some of the other sketchers crept into the sketch too. 

The days are getting shorter and Daylight Savings will make that even worse soon. It will probably put an end to the Wednesday night group sketch meetings for the Patchogue Sketch Club. We were meeting originally at 6:30 and then at 6:00...now at 4:00. For the last few years we were able to meet at the local library through the fall and winter and we would have themed sketch nights. As of right now due to Covid groups are not allowed to meet and there is a time limit that you can stay in the library. So that isn't going to happen. We will have to figure out an alternative...maybe Zoom, who knows.

Paint the Great South Bay - Part 7 - Quick Draw

"Paint the Great South Bay" had a quick draw event on Saturday which was the last day for painting. We were allowed to paint anywhere in the designated area but you could only start painting at 9 and had to have your painting framed and ready by noon.  

I decided to leave town and headed to Brookhaven to the Post Morrow Foundation. I paint pretty quickly so I was sure I could finish and drive back in the time allowed. There is a nice fountain there in the middle of an herb garden. The fountain has never been running when I've been there so maybe it isn't a fountain at all.

Then the paintings by the artists who were taking part in the quick draw were displayed in front of the Patchogue Theatre where the public was asked to vote on them.

My painting, "Post Morrow View" came in third in the voting. Each of the top 3 winners won 2 tickets to a show at the theatre.

30 x 30 Direct Watercolor - Day 12 - Train Trestle & Still Life

Today for my Day 12 Direct Watercolor I did a street scene along South Country Road in Brookhaven. The owner of the house that was to my immediate right came over to ask if he could help me. I explained that I was painting the scene and he said, "Oh, OK. I just was wondering why someone was sitting in front of my house."

#directwatercolor2019 #30x30directwatercolor

Last night one of my art groups had their meeting. They have been having trouble finding models so they are doing still life setups instead. I thought this one was pretty interesting.

Field and Trees

We have a lot of fields and trees nearby. This area is part of the Post Morrow Foundation that buys land to preserve and conserve the rural and historical character of areas in Suffolk County. There are several areas in Brookhaven that have been preserved through this organization.