Japanese Pond

Here is the third painting I did at the Brooklyn Botanic Gardens last week. After the previous painting I had some time left to sketch. I did this in ink first so that I would at least have the sketch if I didn't get to paint the whole thing. Of course there were kids around the pond walkway, but I was sketching by a raised area of grass and was right up to the fence. Unfortunately two geese decided they wanted to visit that spot and they attracted a lot of kids. I was afraid to put anything down on the ground because the geese have been known to pick up brushes or paper towels and walk away with them. lol I didn't quite finish the piece there because a guard came over and told me they were closing the pond area for the day. It closes at 5:30 and we had been there since 9:30. I took a quick photo so I could finish it at home. 

This weekend is the big Cherry Blossom Festival, the Sakura Matsuri which celebrates the traditional and contemporary Japanese culture amid the blossoming trees. If we thought it was crowded last week, I can't imagine what it is like this weekend. They always get incredible crowds. As much as it would be wonderful to experience the music and dancing, I'm glad we are missing it.

My "fake" blog has a few days left. You can check it out here:

http://tracyattheranch.blogspot.com

A Day in Brooklyn

The NYC Urban Sketchers met at the Brooklyn Botanic Gardens this morning because it is cherry blossom time there. Our first stop was at the Japanese Pond. I did a painting of the pond with the orange Torii (gateway),  with the wonderful cherry blossoms in bloom in the background.

This is about 5 x 7.

I also sketched the crowd of visitors on the viewing platform across the pond.

This is about 3 x5 and was done directly in ink.

After lunch I painted a view of one of the staircases with the flowering trees and a few people.

This is 3 x 5 and done directly in paint.

Lastly I painted a view of a fountain with the greenhouse behind it.

This is 3 x 5 and done directly in paint.

After the gardens a few of us headed over to the Brooklyn Museum which was having some wonderful special exhibits. One was "Fine Lines - American Drawings from the Brooklyn Museum" which included drawings of Homer, Eakin, Sargent, Hopper and Hartley among others. There were even sketchbooks belonging to some of the artists.

Next we saw the John Singer Sargent Watercolors. That was great!

The last exhibit we saw was by Anatsui and was hanging sculptures that looked like fabric but really made from metal caps that were flattened and connected with wire. They looked almost like soft, draped fabric hanging. Here is a photo of one of the sculptures.

Isn't this gorgeous?

Due to the length of this post I will save the entry of the "fake journal" until tomorrow.