Traveling to the City

 Saturday I planned to join the NYC Urban Sketchers at a location at The Forum at Columbia University in Harlem. My usual sketching partners from Long Island weren't going so I took the Long Island Railroad from Ronkonkoma to Penn Station, a ride that was about 1hr 30 min. The good part about taking the train is that I usually have time to complete a sketch on the way there.

Ronkonkoma is the first stop so I make sure to find a spot to sit where I am pretty sure I will have a good view of a few models. A lot of the people who board the train (at 8:07 AM) pick up breakfast for the ride in. Most of the passengers ride all the way to the city, so I had a lot of time to work on the sketch. A family got on and were seated across the aisle from me and facing me. There were a mom & dad and two daughters. The mom had the window seat that wasn't visible to me, but I did manage to sketch the two children and the dad. 

I was finished before the train arrived at Penn Station. 

Now I was ready for the subway ride up to 125th Street.

Lindenhurst Street Corner

We decided to do another sketch while we were in Lindenhurst. We found a good, shady spot to sit that looked down W Hoffmann Street with the Long Island Railroad Station in the distance. Of course I loved the wires, signs, fire escape, and street light too.

 

Ronkonkoma Train Station

 The Patchogue Sketch Club recently met at the Ronkonkoma Long Island Railroad Station. If I am going into NYC I often take the train from this station, but I don't have time to sketch there. It was nice to have the time to capture the architecture of the station.

Railway Car

At the Long Island Railroad Station in Riverhead there are a few old train cars. My favorite is the bright red one, and I've painted it before. 

Train Ride

 One of the best things about taking the train into the city instead of driving is being able to sketch on the train. It ride is a bit jerky so I usually sketch lightly in pencil before adding watercolor and ink. Sometimes I get a clear view of a passenger, but on Saturday I got legs and hands all around! 

This sketch and photo will give you an indication of how I sketch on the train.

Train Sketching

 Last Saturday I decided I needed to go into the city for some sketching. The NYC Urban Sketchers hadn't gone in on the weekend in several weeks and I was craving sketching something other than Long Island. Even though the group wasn't going in, I decided I would go on my own. I took the 8:08 train from Ronkonkoma. I had to switch at Jamaica to go to my final destination of Grand Central.

There are usually people within view for me to sketch. The problem is that Ronkonkoma is the first stop and sometimes there are no other people seated near me. I lucked out and there was a lady in the middle seat with her bag across from her...and nobody else in the way. I find the Long Island Railroad trains to be rather shaky so I usually sketch the scene in pencil first. I added the watercolor and used a watercolor pencil I had in my bag to outline the scene. A lot of the time I outline with pen.

Here is the setup I had in my lap. I have this tiny wooden palette that is maybe 4 inches long and 1 1/2 inches wide. The top and bottom come completely apart but will stay together because the palette contains tiny magnets. The paint colors are on one piece and the mixing area on the other piece. 

Directly ahead of me I could see a young woman in the space between the seats. She slept most of the way to Jamaica so she was a good model.

City Trip

Last Sunday I made a solo trip into the city. The American Watercolor Society Show was going on at the Salmagundi Club, and it is one of my favorite exhibits. Since I was going in by train I did a sketch on the LIRR going in. This lady had such bright red hair (dyed).

I went in to the city on the 8:20 train which arrived in Penn Station around 9:40. The exhibit didn't open until 1:00, but I had a plan to sketch before it opened. I took the subway down to 14th Street and walked over to Union Square. There was a beautiful cherry tree in bloom right by one of the subway entrances in the park, so I sat myself down on a bench and started painting.

Then I meandered around Union Square for a little while. There are always vendors selling something, and they were also having some Earth Day events and exhibits. I sat at a table and sketched looking uptown. I included some of the people conversing, some vendors, and a bit of the exhibit booths from the Earth Day celebration. I lasted there until about 2:00 and had just packed up my materials when it started to rain lightly. I ducked into Whole Foods and grabbed a snack (fruit) and waited for the rain to stop.

The AWS show was great! There is always some amazing work...and a few pieces that make me shake my head. I really enjoy seeing paintings by people I know from workshops I've taken, or from following them online. I was a nice ending to my day in the city. By the time I got home it was around 6:30...definitely a full day.

Travel to the City

 Last week I traveled into Manhattan to meet the NYC Urban Sketchers at Salon 94, an art gallery/museum on E 89th St. I took the Long Island Railroad into Grand Central. On the way this lady was sitting diagonally across from me with her dog. I was hoping to be able to sketch him upright, but he was comfy snuggled down on the seat.

The group wasn't meeting until 11:00, but I went in early enough that I had time to sketch in the Grand Central Food Court by a place called Donut Plant. For most of the time I was sketching there was a line of people waiting to be served. I didn't indulge.

Brookfield Place - Part 2

 After I finished the double spread that I posted yesterday I went downstairs at Brookfield Place and sat with a number of the sketchers from our group. It was lunch time so we took turns going upstairs and getting something to eat. It is always fun to peek at what others have been sketching and the views that they chose. My friend, Janette came in from outside. I think she may have been one of the few sketchers who sat outside to paint...and she did it both in the morning and the afternoon. It was good to see her. I hadn't seen her since back in the spring because she was taking art classes on the weekend and couldn't make our sketch events. She had bought a painting of mine and I was finally able to bring it to her.

After lunch I face the interior of Brookfield Place. It has wonderful high windows like an atrium and tall palm trees. It is really a great view. This was done in direct watercolor.

I had about 25 minutes before we were doing our show and tell. I turned and faced the outside where there was a skating rink. I was able to complete an ink sketch, but was unable to add the color on location. I'm not sure if it will add color or leave it as it is.

After our show and tell I walked with Janette to the Oculus where I caught the E train up to Penn Station and the Long Island Railroad. I had a short wait and boarded the train which wasn't too crowded. I was able to stretch out comfortably in my triple seat and sketch the couple on the other side of the aisle. This was a continuous line drawing.

It was a really good day spent with like-minded people!

Trip to Brookfield Place - Part 1

On Saturday I headed into the city to meet the NYC Urban Sketchers. I took the Long Island Railroad and then the subway to get there. The ride on the LIRR was quite shaky so I did a continuous line sketch of one of the few passengers in pencil. The train wasn't very crowded and I tried not to be obvious while I sketched. I don't think he noticed, even though he wasn't absorbed in his phone like most people.

Brookfield Place is in downtown Manhattan near the World Trade Center. I had a bit of a walk and snapped this photo of the Oculus, a transportation hub and office towers that serve over a million people every week. The building reminds me of a winged bird.

I found the group inside Brookfield Place. Some members were sitting downstairs sketching, but I headed upstairs by the food area with my friend, Sonia, We got some coffee, sat at a table by the window with a great view, and chatted while we sketched. The view is the buildings on the other side of the Hudson River.

Before and After

Yesterday I decided to go into the city and join the NYC Urban Sketchers. My usual partner on these trips wasn't going in, so I took the train from Ronkonkoma to Penn Station. It is usually a pretty nice trip because I get on at the first stop and can pick my seat to give me a sketching view. I sat where the center seats of the train car face each other, but I felt it was too close to sketch the people in the other center seats. Instead I focused on a man 2 rows back and across the aisle. He was seated with a woman but I could only get a glimpse of her thru the seats. This was my "before" sketch...meaning before I met the group at the American Museum of the Native American. Those sketches will be in tomorrow's post.

It had been a fairly cold day and we were happy to be inside. When we came out after our show and tell the sun was shining and it felt rather mild. I started walking toward the subway station and turned to see the autumn colors against the tall downtown buildings along Battery Park. So I stopped, pulled on my hat, took out my small sketchbook and materials and painted the view. This was painted quickly because I was standing up and trying to balance my equipment without dropping anything. It is a direct watercolor done "after" our time at the museum.

Riverhead Train Station

 I like checking out train stations to find something different. So many of the stations here don't have much character. The Long Island Railroad Station in Riverhead has some. I was glad to go back and sketch it.

Train Ride

 One of the nice things about taking the Long Island Railroad into the city is there is usually someone I can sketch on the ride in or the ride home. This guy and his girlfriend looked very comfortable, although they shouldn't have their feet up on the seats.

Recent Sketches

Here are a few sketches that I did recently. I took the Long Island Railroad from Hicksville recently. I got there a little early but was able to pull out my small sketchbook and capture a few of the people in the waiting room before my train arrived. 

One of the items we had to sketch for the last Scavenger Hunt on creativespark.art recently was wheels. I found these two bikes locked together.

Grand Central

Grand Central was my destination on Saturday. The Long Island Railroad has just started offering train service to Grand Central (at E 42nd St & Park Ave). Previously the LIRR trains all terminated at Penn Station (at 34th St & Seventh Ave). To get from one to the other you needed to take the subway and then a shuttle from the west side to the east side).  The new station for the LIRR is about 15 floors below ground level with an insanely long escalator that made me dizzy. 

I did one sketch on the train going into the city.  I originally planned on sketching part of this woman's friend who was seated opposite her, but I ran out of room and only sketched her one knee. lol

Grand Central was where the NYC Urban Sketchers were meeting. It is a wonderful place for sketching architecture as well as people. I started out on the main concourse where the famous clock where everyone seems to meet is located. The clock is surrounded by a vast and wonderful space. If I had been a little quicker setting up there was a group of 5 dancers performing right in front of me, but I wasn't ready to sketch before they finished. lol

After a break for lunch with the other sketchers, I remained downstairs where the dining hall is located. I sat across from Luke's Lobster to sketch. I had lobster bisque from there for my lunch. The sign says they were voted New York's best lobster roll. I can't say if that is true, but if the lobster bisque was any indication the sign may be right.

At 3 o'clock we gathered for show and tell in an empty area downstairs. Luckily most of our sketchers had their own stools to sit on. 

Pardon my ranting here. My big beef presently is that since they renovated the downstairs food stands ALL the seating has been removed, except for the businesses that have specially roped off areas for their customers. Previously there were many tables and chairs available and long wooden benches in some locations for seating. Those are ALL GONE!!! Commuters who are tired and need a break before their trains, parents with children, seniors who physically may not be able to stand for a long time, and disabled people really have no options for seating. It is disgraceful!!! Tables that you have to stand at are the only options available. Upstairs they constantly make announcements that customers are not allowed to sit on the floor or on the stairs. I guess we are lucky they allowed us to use our chairs/stools. Unfortunately I think this lack of seating is a trend in most large stations.

 

Train Ride

On Saturday I decided I wanted to go into the city and join the NYC Urban Sketchers for the day. My friend whose husband usually drives us into the city couldn't go. It was a big decision to go it alone on the Long Island Railroad (LIRR) and subway (the Q train). The train only leaves Ronkonkoma (my station) once an hour on the weekend. That meant I either had to take the 7:31 am train and get there at 9:10 before the location opened, or take the 8:31 am train and be a little late. I opted to be a little late. 

When I got on the train there was a family already seated in the middle section where the seats face each other...yay...that is the perfect spot to sketch people if I sit on the opposite side in the next row on the aisle. There weren't too many people on the train and a few of them were masked. The group I was facing included 2 grandparents and 3 kids. They were all busy eating breakfast when I got on so I sat down and had my bagel and coffee as we started to pull out of the station. They rode as far as Jamaica and then got off to switch trains to Brooklyn. It was just enough time (about an hour) to finish my sketch. I didn't sketch grandma because the seat blocked her.

 

Train Rider

Yesterday I went into the city to meet the NYC Urban Sketchers. Our location itself will be another post, but like usual I did sketch on the train going into the city. This man was sitting across the aisle from where I was seated and since he slept almost the entire trip he made a good model for a direct in ink sketch.

Trip to Essex Market - Part 1

Yesterday the NYC Urban Sketchers were meeting at Essex Market on Delancey Street in the city. Julie had organized the sketch event but couldn't be there in the morning due to work. So she asked if someone would be able to be there by 10:00 am to meet any sketchers that wanted to make sure they were in the right area. So I volunteered. I was on the 7:39 train from Ronkonkoma. With the holidays approaching there were a lot more riders on the early train. I lucked out and facing me was this young man right between the seats. Facing him was a friend of his with headphones on. They were talking most of the way in but he stayed still enough that I could sketch him...and include one headphone on his friend. lol

Essex Market has changed a lot since the last time I was there in 2014. They remodeled the whole thing. Before it was a throwback to the Lower East Side with brick walls and wood and lots of charm. Now it looks like a modernized industrial building with food and specialty shops...not much different from a lot of the specialty markets they are building now. I'm not saying it wasn't fun to sketch there...only that the old time feel was gone. 

I walked around and checked out a few spots for possible sketches. I picked this view of Davidovich Bakery for my first sketch. I had promised to be on the main floor so sketchers could find me and I posted on FB to look for me near the staircase. I had a counter in front of me to sketch on, but I had to stand to do the sketch. Later in the day they did put out high stools by that counter but I made do without one. 

Davidovich Bakery specializes in top quality artisan bagels based on old recipes passed down in the family. The shop also had delicious looking breads, pastries, and cookies. I resisted them all. I did a tall sketch because I also wanted to include some of the outside view of the brick building and the Christmas trees being sold outside. 

A Trip to the Met - Part 1

On Saturday the NYC Urban Sketchers met at the Metropolitan Museum of Art to sketch. There was an exhibit that was ending soon called "The Last Knight." This exhibit is reported to be the most ambition North American loan exhibition of European arms and armor. Much of the work has never been on view outside Europe and includes some of Emperor Maximilian I's own armor, including a suit of armor that he wore at the age of 12. There were also tapestries, sculptures, glass, toys, and manuscripts.

I got attracted by this armor as I came into the first room. When I read the information about it it said that it was the first combat armor worn by Maximilian I. I set my stool out of the way of traffic and started sketching. My original plan was to do sketches of several of the suits of armor on the same page, but I was nearly done with the first one and this young girl came along. She seemed so intent standing there that I couldn't resist sketching her near the display and the next thing I knew the sketch had grown to include a man looking at a relief of a coat of arms. This probably took me nearly 1 1/2 hours. I did it with watercolor pencils. The museum prefers that you use dry media, but the guards often overlook that especially in galleries where the objects are behind glass. I did take out my water brush and use that and the guard didn't say anything. 

I did a sketch traveling in on the Long Island Railroad in the morning. If I leave from my home station the ride takes about 1 hr 20 min and if I am lucky there is usually someone sitting across the aisle from me that I can sketch.

Inktober Day 27 - Around Tudor City Part 2

My Day 27 Inktober Sketch or sketches were done on the Long Island Railroad going into the city. Usually I don't sketch on the LIRR in ink because the vibration of the train is too jerky, but I figured for Inktober I would give it a go. These two people were sitting in the same row but came on the train at different stops and didn't know each other.

#inktober

#inktober2019

Once the Halloween Doggie Parade was over (see yesterday's post), we met in the park and had lunch and talked a bit. Then I went out of the park and back on the street. We were a bit elevated on Tudor City Lane which gave us a great view of the Chrysler Building. I could only fit a small part of it on my paper.

I finished the above sketch and had about 30 minutes before we were meeting for our "show and tell." I ended up doing a quick watercolor sketch of the view out of one side of the park. Using just a few pencil lines for placement I did most of the sketch directly in watercolors. I finished just in time.