Inktober Day 30 & Day 31

 My Inktober Day 30 sketch is of a restaurant in Bellport. I've eaten there but not in a very long while. I used Platinum Carbon ink for this both from my Lamy pen and from my Sailor Fude pen.

Maybe I'll have to go back...but from what I remember their lobster rolls have celery in them, and I don't like them that way.

    My final sketch for Inktober 2021 was done when I was out with friends painting on Sunday. It was a chilly day and we were painting a bridge near the water. I turned around and saw this view, so I took out my Lamy pen and did just a line sketch...no use of water for bleeding the ink.

As much as I enjoy doing Inktober I am usually glad when it is finally over and I can get back to using more color. I'm glad I did so many sketches with the twig and Chinese ink. In the past I'd do one sketch and then those supplies would be put away and not taken out for a long time. It was fun to see the variety of effects I was able to get with the different inks.

Inktober Day 29

 A field and a fence...what more could I need. This was done with my Elegant Writer pen and my Lamy filled with Platinum Carbon ink.

Inktober Day 28

Inktober Day 28 took me riding around in Wading River. There is quite a bit of farmland like this with rows from the produce that was growing. I don't know what was growing in this particular field but it looked perfect for Noodler's Brown Ink. 

Inktober Day 26

 Once in a while the weather keeps me from going out to sketch. This past week we had what around here is usually called a nor'easter but this time was renamed a bomb cyclone. I don't know who made up the term but I do know that the west coast was also affected by one. We had heavy rain and strong winds, so I stayed home. Of course I needed a subject for my Inktober sketch so I looked around and spied a cluster of tomatoes. Not only would they suffice for Inktober, they would fit in the current Wet Canvas scavenger hunt. I just didn't have the heart to forgo color for this and pulled out the Zebra Zensations fountain pens I have. I wasn't sure I would be able to get the colors I needed but they worked using the red, the (bright) green and the purple. It gave me more shades than I had expected...and helped brighten the day a bit.

Inktober Day 23

 On Saturday I was looking for a scenic farmstead to sketch. I headed out to Eastport to Olish's Farm but their displays hadn't changed and it was too crowded. I continued driving heading toward East Moriches when I saw this small farm stand called Baha Farm. I pulled over to the side of the road and found a parking spot with a view. I started sketching this focusing on the truck figuring it was going to disappear soon, and I was right. I barely got the shape done before it pulled out. I sketched for a bit and the owners started moving things. Uh-oh...they were packing up. Who packs up their farm stand at 2:00 in the afternoon? I tried to get as much into the sketch as I could before they moved it and was fairly successful before the tables were bare. It was a cute spot and I'd like to go back at some point and maybe sketch the view from across the street. I used assorted inks for this one.

Inktober Day 22

 I headed out east of me to find something different to sketch and to see if the leaves out there had better color than here. (They didn't.) I stopped at Jason's Vineyard in Jamesport and looked for a spot with vines that was scenic. Before working on my Inktober sketch I did a small 5 x 8 painting of the vines. I didn't go in to try the wine...maybe another time.

The view of the vines was behind the vineyard building so I was parked in the back of the property. It was a nice day so I sat outside my car to paint. Looking back at the building there was an interesting view of some wine barrels that I sketched for Day 22 using assorted inks including Noodler's Brown ink, Noodler's Lexington Gray and Platinum Carbon Ink.

Inktober Day 21 and Beach Sketches

 For my Inktober Day 21 I headed over to sketch the Fire Island Lighthouse at Robert Moses State Park. It was a beautiful, sunny, warm day....and about 79 degrees. This view was from the parking lot and done with Chinese ink and a twig.

Somehow I don't think these beach scenes ever got posted.

Inktober Day 20

 I don't think I've been to the Suffolk County Farm in Yaphank since the start of the pandemic. I missed seeing and sketching the animals. So I headed there for my Inktober Day 20 sketch of the chickens and roosters.

Inktober Day 19 & Random Food Sketches

 I'm still practicing using the Chinese ink and my twigs to do sketches. Inktober Day 19 was done down by Sayville Beach looking from the parking lot.

These food sketches were done at assorted times for the WetCanvas Scavenger Hunts. I hope they don't make you too hungry. The top one is octopus salad and the bottom one is half of my hubby's crab leg sandwich.

Inktober Day 18

I used my Noodler's Brown ink in my Lamy pen for this Inktober Day 18 sketch. It was done down by the bay in Blue Point.

Inktober Day 17

 My Day 17 Inktober was sketched at Deer Run Farm in Bellport using my Lamy pen, my Sailor Fude Pen, and an orange Sakura Micron Pen.

Inktober Day 16

 My Inktober Day 16 sketch was done at Fantastic Gardens in Patchogue. I love seeing all the tables filled with plants outside the greenhouses. This was done with a dip pen and sepia ink.

Inktober Day 15

 While the twig and Chinese ink were still in my sketch bag I found myself down along Brown's River in Sayville for my Inktober Day 15 sketch. The twig seems to work best for soft types of foliage.

Inktober Day 13

I've had a bottle of Noodler's Purple Martin Ink for quite a few years and I don't remember the last time I used it. This Day 13 Inktober sketch was done near La Tavola in Sayville using a dip pen...another material I never use.

 

Inktober Day 12

I was out east for plein air painting on Tuesday and on the way home I stopped to do my Inktober Day 12 of this view looking toward some greenhouses in Calverton.

Inktober Day 10 & 11

 I have a hibiscus plant out on my porch patio that bloomed again this week after several weeks of no flowers. It looked so pretty in pink, but I sketched it using sepia acrylic inks instead. This is my Inktober Day 10 sketch.

Back a few years ago when I went to the Urban Sketchers Symposium in Chicago I took a workshop with Kiah Kiean Chng from Malaysia on painting with Chinese ink and a twig. Of course I don't have KK's magic twig that gives him such wonderful sketches, but I was fairly happy with this one that I did down the street nearby. Of course I probably haven't tried this method in over a year, and the twig needs to be scraped down to a better point, but it was fun to do it again for my Day 11 Inktober sketch.

Inktober Day 8

 All the farmsteads and markets are full of pumpkin displays and mums so that is what I sketched for my Day 8 Inktober. This was done with my Sailor fude pen and Platinum Carbon Ink at Olish's Farm in Eastport.

Inktober Days 4 & 5

For my Inktober Day 5 sketch I used my Lamy Safari with Noodler's Brown Ink. To me the color looks more like sepia than brow.  The ink is water-soluble so you can get some nice shading. My model was a rooster fountain in front of Bello Poultry Market in Holbrook. I've sketched the rooster before but they seem to have spruced up the entrance to the market.

Today's Inktober sketch was done with my PALS Plein Air group. We met down at Corey Beach in Blue Point on a damp, chilly morning. All of us were bundled up in fleece jackets or heavy sweatshirts. I didn't think I was going to last for too long so I didn't work on actual watercolor paper (mistake) but on sketch paper. First I sketched it with my Micron black pen...but you know how I love color so I added it after I took a photo of the ink only version.

 

Inktober Day 2 & 3

While I was in Bryant Park on Saturday I did my Day 2 Inktober sketch with my Lamy Safari pen and Platinum Carbon Ink. That is such a great park for sketching...so many good views. 

The sketch below was done down by the bay in Sayville. I used a black Uniball Signo gel pen for this sketch. It skipped a bit which ended up working well for all those bare branches and the beach grasses.

Inktober Day 1 - Weeks Boat Yard

It is that time of year again...Inktober! I. usually enjoy this for a while but then by the middle of the month I just want to do color. lol I returned to one of my favorite sketching locations for my day 1 Inktober piece...Weeks Boat Yard in Patchogue. This barn always has something inside or outside that is really interesting. This was done with my Lamy Safari pen and Platinum Carbon Ink. The really black areas were done with my fude pan which has a bent, wide nib that easily fills in areas completely. I did shade it with a very light wash of ink.