Inktober Day 24

 On Sunday the NYC Urban Sketchers met at Inwood Park which is at the very upper edge of Manhattan, across the river from the Bronx and an area known as Spuyten Duyval. It is an area that I'm not familiar with at all, but the views from the park were great. Muscota Marsh meets the Spuyten Duyval Creek in this area which is near Columbia University. The big C on the cliffside stands for Columbia. The view looks toward the Henry Hudson Bridge.

When I first got to the park I stood by the street level entrance and decided to do my Inktober Day 24 sketch of the Columbia University Boathouse. This is a quick line sketch done with my Lamy pen with no shading.

Next I joined the other sketchers down below on the walkway along the creek/river. It had that great view that I mentioned above. Instead of doing a sketch I did an actual painting on some sample Hahnemuhle watercolor paper that was about 6 x 8.

In the afternoon I did a sketch of a similar view including some of my sketching friends hard at work. For this one I used my Lamy pen and watercolors. I started this one with the figure of my friend, Dana. I was amazed that she stood holding her sketchbook in the air for so long while she worked. I did the figures before working on the background. Even with fellow sketchers there is a good chance they will move out of the scene before you finish. lol It turned out to be a great location for sketching and one that we will probably return to in the future.

Broadway Bull

 On Sunday the NYC Urban Sketchers met in downtown Manhattan to sketch near the charging bull statue located on Broadway in the Financial District. Our goal was to sketch people and this was a good place. It is always a fun location because so many tourists come there to snap their photos with the bull in assorted different silly poses. The bull's rear is a popular spot because for some reason people love to pose while touching the bull's genitals. (I'm putting it nicely. lol) People also like to climb up and sit on its head. I expect to see someone get gored by the horns.

I started sketching from the top step of a restaurant called Cipriani. Of course a while later someone came along and told us that we had to get off the steps...the steps were "private property." The restaurant was hosting some kind of event/show and they were expecting a lineup of guests. So we moved and since I sketch quite quickly I had the bull and the people already sketched and was able to finish it from another spot.

Back to the City - Part 2

 After lunch we walked over to Foley Square which is in the middle of the court buildings downtown. I found a spot looking out that contained some of everything...lights, street signs, lamp posts, one way arrows, scaffolding (something you see a lot of in NYC), people, and vehicles, all with the backdrop of NYC buildings as you looked downtown. It was a fun location. The sketching was followed by a show and tell from about 20 sketchers who had participated. It was a great day despite some rain.

Back to the City - Part 1

 My friend called and asked if I wanted to go into the city with her to meet the NYC Urban Sketchers on Sunday. Her husband said he would drive us in and drop us off where we were meeting. That meant I wouldn't have to walk too far or worry about public transportation. The weather forecast was for cloudy skies and a chance of showers so I was pretty sure it wasn't going to be a good pool day... so I said yes.

The group started off in City Hall Park which has a lovely fountain and a backdrop of lots of tall buildings. The park was pretty empty in the morning but a few people stopped by to see what we were doing. I found a good spot and started painting but after about a 40 minutes it started to drizzle. I covered up my sketchbook and moved over to an area that was pretty dry due to the thick foliage on the trees. It wasn't quite the same view but I had all the basics sketched in already and when it came time for the background buildings I got up to see what was there so I could paint it. 

We had lunch in the park and it was fun to catch up with a few people I hadn't seen the last time I got together with them. Some of the regulars who show up most of the time from Westchester couldn't get to the city because their rail line was so badly affected by the flooding we had. 

Ferrara's Bakery

On Saturday the NYC Urban Sketchers virtually sketched some of the different areas in Manhattan. Although I wasn't able to meet up with them on Zoom, I worked on this sketch from Little Italy later in the day. Ferrara's is one of the best known bakeries in Little Italy. I love stopping there for a pastry and a capuccino. I am not a cannoli person, but everyone seems to love them. 

A Beautiful Noise

Today I was much more inspired than yesterday. The NYC Urban Sketchers had a theme for the morning of doing "poetry sketching." The idea was suggested by another of our sketchers, Suzanne Cleary, who wanted us to find a poem that spoke to us and illustrate it. It didn't really have to be a poem. It could be a verse, a lyric, or words that inspired us. Jerry and I had watched a Neil Diamond concert on PBS last week. The song, "A Beautiful Noise," has been in my head ever since. I could even see the image I wanted to sketch to go with it, so I searched the internet and found the image of the NYC #7 train heading around the curve from Manhattan into Long Island City, Queens. This is a very iconic view to those of us here in NYC with the back of the Silvercup sign. For the non-New Yorker's  the sign was part of the Silvercup Bakery that is now the Silvercup Studios where movies are produced.

Draw-A-Thon

Twice a year the High School of Art and Design in Manhattan has a Draw-A-Thon as a fundraiser and the NYC Urban Sketchers usually attend. It starts at 9 AM and ends at 5 PM. There are two large rooms set up with models. One has nudes and the other has costumed models. Once you pay your admission you can sketch for as long as you want during those times. It is grueling to sketch that whole time, so my friend, Suzala,  and I got there about noon and sketched until about 4:30.

I started off in the room with the nude models. This one woman captured my attention. She was big and had a shape that was fun to sketch. There were some 2, 5, and 10 minute poses. The first two pages were the quick poses and were done mostly in watercolor pencils and are very light so they don't show all that well.

These were done with my Elegant Writer pen and each was a 10 minute pose.

Then I moved into the cafeteria where the costumed models were posing. This particular model held the same pose all day so that people could do a complete painting of her. She had great dreadlocks. This probably took me about an hour.

Next I sketched the people around me in the room as well as the two other models who were doing what I believe were 15 minute poses. The one in the black and white on the left did several costume changes but the one more toward the middle I only saw in one outfit.

Bryant Park Carousel

After the workshop with Katie in Bryant Park was over, a few of us had lunch in the park and then continued sketching. I wanted to do a larger version of the carousel so my friend Mia and I went to the other side of the park to get a closer view. I tried not to add a lot of detail but I couldn't help myself. I wanted to sketch at least on child on an animal and it morphed into many animals. lol

Black and White

Recently I snuck in a few black and white sketches. This was done last weekend on the train going into Manhattan.

Yesterday I was meeting two friends in Bronxville for lunch. Bronxville is about 60 miles from me but can take anywhere from 1 1/4 hrs to 2 hrs to get to, so I always leave with time to spare. I got there early so I sketched what was immediately in front of me while I was sitting in my car. This is a continuous line drawing.

My friends ended up calling to say they were running a little late, so I told them to call when they were almost there and went off in search of a better location to sketch (and that had parking). This is what I found. I had about 25 minutes to sketch this.

Federal Hall and the LIRR

Our second location on Saturday was Federal Hall and the Stock Exchange. It was a very crowded area. Luckily I found a spot to tuck myself on the steps of Federal Hall where I was out of the way of the people and could see the statue of George Washington. There were people coming up the stairs all afternoon long, but I ignored all of them except this woman.

I did start another small sketch but I need to finish it before I post it.

This sketch was actually done on the Long Island Railroad in the morning on my way to the city. This group of people was sitting opposite me in seats facing each other. First they all ate breakfast and then the woman with the partly alizarin crimson hair started braiding the hair of one of the other people who I am hoping is just crouching between the seats and not sitting on the floor. lol

Trinity Church

On Saturday the NYC Urban Sketchers met at Trinity Church in downtown Manhattan. The church has a prominent position in the Wall Street area. Presently parts of it are being renovated but the spire called to me. It was a challenge to sketch...even to just find a spot where you could see it comfortably enough to draw it.

There is a large cemetery in the back with some very old tombstones. The church has been rebuilt on the same spot several times in it's 200 year history.

Armor at the Met

Today the NYC Urban Sketchers met at the Metropolitan Museum of Art to sketch in the Arms & Armor section. This is such a fun place to sketch with so many sketching possibilities. I started with one of the samurai warriors. The museum's policy about materials isn't really enforced in all areas and I have always been able to use any kind of medium in this section...probably because almost everything is behind glass. I used my Lamy pen, a Zebra Fine Line Brush Pen and a few assorted watercolor pencils.

After lunch I headed back to sketch another suit of armor. This one had a lot of detail to it. I liked the hearts by the elbows and knees. I also did a separate helmet since I had a little time left before our "show and tell."

Portrait Party 2019

You've seen some of my practice portraits...and today was the real thing! About 100 members of the NYC Urban Sketchers met in the cafeteria of the High School of Art & Design in Manhattan for our annual portrait party. We were divided into 8 groups of about 12 people each. Each sketch lasted a mere 10 minutes and then you moved on to the next person who was posing...and someone in the group is responsible for timing each sketch so we keep moving along. We took a few breaks but for the most part we sketched from about 1:00 until about 3:30. It is amazing to see all the sketches laid out on the floor when we're done. 

Here are my sketches of the other 11 people in my group. Some came out better than others, but I kept up and got them all done.

Here are a few photos of the event and some of the sketchers.

The City

Yesterday I went into Manhattan to meet friends and see the Christmas decorations. The two friends I met are not sketchers so I needed to sneak in some sketching before I met them. I took the Long Island Railroad into the city, so that gave me the opportunity to sketch people on the train. So this sketch will be added to the ones I have for the project for the military unit.

I also went into the city earlier than we were meeting so that I would have about 40 minutes to sketch before they arrived. We were meeting in Bryant Park on 42nd St to shop at the Holiday Market. Bryant Park also has a great free skating rink in the winter. It was a mild day so I found a seat near the rink and sketched until they called and said they were at the park. The rest of the sketch I finished this morning. This will also be for the project. I will have to fix this because the man only seems to have one leg...and I'm sure he had two. lol

We took a photo in front of the tree in Bryant Park but it hadn't been lit yet for the season.

From there we went up to Rockefeller Center. We had to take our annual photo in front of the Christmas tree.

We sort of blocked most of the tree in our selfie, so here is a better view of it.

Swag Bags and On to the Draw-A-Thon Part 1

I know some of you were wondering what we got in our swag bags from Blick. Let me just say that they were prepared with about 100 bags in case we had a big turnout. Some of the merchandise was from the store itself but Caran d'Ache had their own little bags for us filled with art treasures. I arranged everything we received on my kitchen table this morning. My hubby was impressed with what I came home with. This includes the extras that Caran d'Ache gave us too.

In addition all customers coming into the store had the chance to spin a prize wheel and get a gift ranging from gift cards, paints, sketchbooks, aprons, etc. I got a small set of some kind of acrylic paints that I will gift to some artist that will use them.

After lunch I won a watercolor pad and a set of koi watercolor paints. We shopped at the store for a while and I'm sure they made money off of us since everyone I know that was there bought several things. lol (We never do seem to have enough supplies.) All I know was that my backpack weighed a ton and I had to carry it into the city.

From Brooklyn many of us headed into Manhattan to the Draw-A-Thon at the High School of Art and Design on 56th St. This is one of their big fundraisers. You pay a fee to enter and there are two big rooms with models posing from around 9am until 6pm. One room is strictly nudes and there are 4 areas set up. Two are for long poses and the same pose is held all day long. In the third area the model does mostly quick gesture poses that last from 2 - 10 minutes. The last area the model poses for about 10 minutes each time. I went to that area and sketched for about an hour and a half.

During a short break I started sketching the woman to the left of me who was sketching with her legs resting on a chair. I sketched the model when she posed again but at one point she was down on the platform and I couldn't see her from where I was sitting, so I went back to sketching some of the other people sketching in the room.

When I got tired of the nude models I went to the other room which was much more fun...but that's for tomorrow.