Wading River View

There is a road in Wading River that goes right along the Long Island Sound with homes tucked between the dunes. I'm not sure how often they flood, but it was nice when I was up there.

Setauket Water View

 My plein air group, PALS, was invited to paint at the home of one of our members who overlooks the water in Setauket. Her house and property are lovely and the views are spectacular. In the distance you can see Connecticut across Long Island Sound. Many thanks, Chris!

Crab Meadow Beach

I haven't been back to Crab Meadow Beach in Fort Salonga for quite a while. It is a pretty spot on Long Island Sound. I figured I should go before the season starts because then I won't be able to park because I'm not a Smithtown resident. 

View from Kings Park Bluff

If you head up to the north shore along the Sagtikos Parkway to nearly the end and head east you come to the town of Kings Park. There is a park called Kings Park Bluff with a nice view out over Long Island Sound where you can park on two different levels. I drove over there the other day and parked facing the water. A woman and her husband came along and sat on the bench in front of me. I sketched her first and by that time he had left her side. Of course he came back after I was nearly done, but he didn't sit back down.

 

Port Jeff View

I'm still trying to sketch some bigger views of the towns near me. This is Port Jeff. Usually I sketch one or two of the buildings there. I've never tried to do an expansive view of the town before. Port Jefferson is on Long Island Sound and you can take a ferry from Port Jeff to Bridgeport. I was sketching facing away from the water.

Inktober 2022 - Day 12 - Wildwood State Park

 I am always looking for someplace new and different to sketch. I've never checked out Wildwood State Park in Wading River before. It is an interesting spot on the north shore. Here on the south shore we have sandy beaches, but the north shore has rocks, boulders and pebbles. I found it interesting enough that I also did a small watercolor of the area too.

Mount Sinai Waterview and Sketchbook School Street

I drove up to Cedar Beach in Mount Sinai on Saturday. Mount Sinai is on the north side of Long Island where there are bluffs along Long Island Sound. The landscape is a bit different than the south shore...still a lot of water but the land down here is pretty flat. There was a mound of sand by the water and beyond that was a sand bar and across the inlet some rather large, expensive houses.

I have been working on my "Collage the Street" from Karen Stamper's Sketchbook Revival lesson a little bit at a time. I think it is finally done.

 

Sunken Meadow

 A bit northwest of me is a state park that is located right on Long Island Sound. Sunken Meadow State Park has a boardwalk, a beach where you can swim, tidal mud flats, rolling meadows, woods, and marshes. It also has a golf course. I headed over there over the weekend for the views of nature as well as views to sketch people as a warm-up for the upcoming 1 Week 100 People Challenge. 

I sketched the people as they were coming down the slight ramp from the boardwalk to the parking lot.

Once again I am having problems with Blogger. I can post new entries but can't respond to any of the posts that readers submit. I also can't leave responses when I visit the blogs in my "favorites." This has been an ongoing but off-and-on problem for me for a while. My friend, Tina Koyama, had suggested a while back that I use Chrome for Blogger. I downloaded Chrome and so far it seems to be working and letting me respond. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it stays that way.

Autumn Light and Shadows

We had a nice, mild day on Thursday so I took a ride up to Sunken Meadow State Park which is on Long Island Sound. It is one of the few places here on Long Island where you can get a view of hills as a backdrop. The light and colors as well as the shadows were great. When I finished I was able to do a walk on the boardwalk too.

Sunken Meadow View

I seem to be a bit behind posting some of these sketches. I took a trip to Sunken Meadow State Park on Sunday. It is on Long Island Sound and across the way is Connecticut. I was planning on sketching this view with the path when these two people decided to step into the scene, so I included them too. 

Sagamore Hill

 On Sunday one of my plein air friends contacted a few of the NYC Urban Sketchers on Long Island to organize an outdoor sketching event. Sunday was supposed to be a beautiful day with temperatures about 60 degrees. Considering that they were forecasting snow for later in the week, Suzala figured this might be our last opportunity to be out in comfortable weather.

Out of the invited group only three of us, Suzala, Ron, and I met at Sagamore Hill National Park. Sagamore Hill was the home of the 26th President of the United States, Theodore Roosevelt, from 1885 until his death in 1919. It is located on the north shore of Long Island near the town of Oyster Bay. There are several buildings and a steep climb down to a small beach on the Long Island Sound. We sat at the top of the hill to sketch the house itself where it was very windy...and colder than we expected.

I focused on only part of the house. In the spring and summer there are wonderful striped canopies over all the windows. They are gone at this time of year.

Below are our sketches from our mini throwdown before we left to go home. 

The top left was done by Suzala, and the bottom sketch was done by Ron.

Main Street Port Jeff

I'm still not feeling energetic but I wanted to get out and sketch a town. I headed up to Port Jeff which is north of me along the Long Island Sound. I like views like this where you are looking down a street. Some day I am going to find a spot to sit where I am uphill looking down toward the town and the water is above the tree line. I haven't lucked out to find a parking space like that. This was done from my mobile studio.

A Beach Day?

It was foggy this morning but it cleared up by about 11:00 and the temperature started rising. I think we hit about 53 degrees which felt like a heat wave after the weather we had the last few weeks. I headed over to Sunken Meadow State Park in Kings Park. It is a pretty park on Long Island Sound and it has tidal flats that connect to the  Nissequogue River. It was actually warm enough to sit in my painting chair...of course I had my coat on and sweatshirt hood up...but I didn't need gloves!! I've painted this spot many times before but it looks very different depending on the tide.

The park also has a boardwalk along the beach that is 3/4 of a mile long in one direction, so I got some exercise walking the length of it and back. These people were actually sitting on the beach in their chairs. LOL

30 Day Challenge - Day 30 - The Rock

Yes, today is the last day for Leslie Saeta's "30 Paintings in 30 Days" Challenge. This gouache painting was done at Sunken Meadow State Park on the north shore of Long Island. There is a nice beach and boardwalk along Long Island Sound and the Nissequogue River runs through to the Sound. This huge rock usually has a few birds perched or nesting on it...fewer since the changes caused by Hurricane Sandy.

If you would like to check out the other work by the participating artists look here.

Rye Beach

The other day I was meeting a friend midway between her house and my house at Rye Beach up in Westchester County. This beach is located on Long Island Sound about 1 1/2 hrs from me. I got there early before she arrived and pulled out my sketchbook. These are the buildings on the promenade by the beach.

Hummingbird Sanctuary

Today my plein air group (PALS) went to the Hummingbird Sanctuary in Baiting Hollow. We did see hummingbirds but they are impossible to paint from life because they are so tiny and quick. Instead I focused on some of the flowers that attract the hummingbirds at this peaceful place on a bluff along Long Island Sound.