NY Botanical Garden Part 2

I headed up to the lilac garden next. There was so much in bloom and so many different kinds of lilacs. The fragrance was wonderful!!! Lilacs are not easy to sketch because of the tiny little parts of the flowers. I used my watercolor pencils to give them some texture to look like the little flowers.

Adjacent to the lilacs was a peony garden. One of the volunteers told us that the wife of the entertainer, Bob Hope had lived in the Bronx when she was growing up and loved visiting the garden. She donated money to the NY Botanic Garden for them to create a special area. They bought the collection of peony plants so the whole collection came from her donation. I started with a closeup of one of the peonies.

At 3:00 the NYC Urban Sketchers met for our show and tell. It was still early so my friends and I decided to stay and do one more sketch. I did this view of the peony garden and the lady that was busy looking at the flowers.

NY Botanical Garden Part 1

On Saturday the NYC Urban Sketchers took part in a Lilac Festival at the NY Botanical Garden in the Bronx. Each year they have a paint out and selected artists are invited to take part in the plein air event. We are invited to come and sketch in the garden. Of course we don't get the same royal treatment as the invited artists but it is a very nice event. There are designated areas that the invited plein air painters set up and paint. The sketchers can work in those areas too or basically anywhere in the park. The park is huge and there is a tram that you can take to the different areas, but sometimes it is better to just walk and see what is in bloom. On Saturday pretty much everything was in bloom...the azaleas, the cherry trees, the dogwoods, the crabapples, some daffodils, the lilacs, the peonies, etc. Although showers were forecast in the morning we lucked out and had cloudy weather followed by some sunshine so the weather didn't impede anyone's sketching.

I was walking with another artist and we got sidetracked in the azalea garden which was what we came to first. It is a good spot because in addition to the colorful azaleas and the trees in their spring greenery, there are huge rocks to add to the sketches. This first one was done directly in watercolors and I was able to include several different colors of azaleas that were blooming. I did this on half of the page in a Strathmore sketchbook that is about 8 x 10.

Turning about 35 degrees I sat in the same spot and sketched the path going through the azalea garden. There were some wonderful yellow plants and some trees that were covered in nearly white blossoms. I always find those white blossoms a challenge. This was done below the sketch above and again directly in watercolors.

Tomorrow I will show you what I sketched in the lilac garden.

Arthur Avenue Retail Market

After my time at the NY Botanical Garden I drove over to Arthur Avenue which was about a 15 minute drive, however finding parking took almost that long. The "Little Italy" section of Arthur Avenue is in the middle of a not so safe area so it was important to find a good spot for parking. I lucked out and was right in the middle of the best area with restaurants, bakeries, pastry shops, cheese stores, etc. There is a Arthur Avenue Retail Market which is indoors and has a bit of everything, even a cigar maker at one end. There are cheeses, meats, salamis, sausages and parma hams hanging...a bit of sensory overload. There is a produce section, a section with all kinds of Italian specialties, a butcher, etc. There were tables in the center where you could sit and eat, or in my case have a cappuccino and sketch. I had a good view of the deli as well as barrels of who knows what and most of the time a variety of people ordering at the counters. Nobody bothered me and I was able to sit and sketch for about an hour and a half while I waited for my friends to arrive. Then we were off to shop at a few shops and finally we ventured into a wonderful Italian restaurant, Emilia's. I felt like I was back in Tuscany. We had lots of time to catch up and talk and were never rushed.

Here is my sketch done inside the Arthur Avenue Retail Market.