Inktober 2018 - Day 9

Our trip to Maine was coming to an end. We began our trip home around 9:30 and stopped at our favorite restaurant in Kittery for an early lunch. Then I sat outside for about 40 minutes and did a sketch of Bob's Clam Hut for my Inktober 2018 Day 9 sketch. There is always a colorful cast of characters to sketch there.

#inktober #inktober2018

I went for my walk this morning and found one decorated pumpkin that  I missed taking photos of. He was hiding by a shop by the back parking lot.

Yesterday afternoon after I had already done my blog post for the day I did a painting of a restaurant called Schooners Landing which is down by the dock.

Inktober 2018 - Day 8

Today the Damariscotta Pumpkinfest Regatta took place. Down along the river behind the shopping area is the town dock and that is where all the pumpkin races are held. I don't know who hollows out the pumpkins...or how, but somehow they are turned into pumpkin boats that do actually float. Some are very tippy but that adds to the fun and the challenge of the race. There are solo paddle races, two-person relay paddle races, and motored pumpkin races. People get to the dock really early so they can get a good spot to view the race. My concern is always to find a new spot to sketch the event from. 

This year I was able to get pretty close to the dock so I started sketching as the contestants started arriving. There was a guy dressed as a Viking and one dressed as a Gnome who were there long before their races were starting...in other words perfect models who would be there for a while.

I used the original ink sketch for my Day 8 Inktober  sketch.

Here are a few photos from some of the races. There were several boats that capsized and had to be brought back to the dock to be bailed out for the next race. 

Once I took a photo of the sketch above I decided it needed some color, so I finished it with my watercolors.

Yesterday after I finished the Inktober sketch I posted, I headed over to the gift shop that is near the lighthouse. I sat near the edge of the cliff where it overlooks some of the rocks. In my younger days I would have climbed down on the rocks either by the gift shop or by the lighthouse itself, but I know nowadays I would have some difficulty getting down to the rocks and back up so I did it the easy way. Instead of using my watercolors I did what is probably about a 5 x 7 gouache painting.

Inktober - Day 9 - Pumpkinfest X 2

Today is the last day of Pumpkinfest here in Damariscotta. Today's big event is the Pumpkin Regatta where huge pumpkins are hollowed out and turned into boats. I went down to the harbor at around 10 to find a place close to the water where I could sit on my chair. Of course they were forecasting rain during the day. I took my slicker just in case. Since I was there about 1 1/2 hrs before the racing would start I got a good location and I was right in front of the truck that was delivering the pumpkin boats. They were forklifted off the truck. I decided since they were so close to me that was what I would sketch. I used pencil first and then my water brush and watercolors. Then I started adding some ink. It spritzed a bit so I closed the sketchbook until it stopped and then I started again. I got a good part of this painting done before it really started to rain. I was getting just too wet and it didn't look like it was going to stop, so I packed up my stuff and headed over to one of the stores. I never did see any of the actual race. When I got back to my sister's house I finished painting and inking this sketch. 

Here are a few photos I took while I was sitting there.

The crowd waiting in the rain.

The forklift delivering the pumpkin boat to the river.

The Viking boat taking a spin.

The Unicorn boat out on the river.

After I dripped off a bit in one of the stores I went back out and sat across the street under the overhang in front of the bookstore on Main Street. That was a nice, dry place and I was able to do my  Inktober Day 9 sketch of the view across the street. One of the decorated pumpkins was sitting in front of the Damariscotta Center. #inktober #inktober2017

 Here is a photo I took of the scene...right about when the shuttle bus must have dropped people off. lol