The Barn

Long Island has several structures that had been drive-thru convenience stores. Most of them had been shut for years, but recently two of them were restored and reopened as drive-thru coffee shops. This one in Ronkonkoma had opened a few days before I sketched it, and apparently has had long lines of coffee drinkers. I haven't tried the coffee, but the line was down to the middle of the next block for most of the time I was sketching. 

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.

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.

Direct Watercolor #7

My 30 x 30 Direct Watercolor for the challenge was done of a now closed drive-thru Dairy Barn in Ronkonkoma. Places like this make you appreciate not having to get out of the car to do some shopping. There aren't too many places like this around any more. It was a bit of a perspective challenge.

Last Wednesday the Patchogue Sketch Club met inside due to the poor air quality and smokey conditions caused by the fires in Canada. Mark had a project for us to work on. The Patchogue Arts Council was celebrating the Game of Shroom, a world wide Art & Seek holiday on June 10. They were looking for miniature works of mushroom art to be displayed in the next show in the MiniMoCA in the garden on Terry Street. Real mushrooms were provided as models and we worked on mini-canvases. Watercolors and canvas don't work particularly well together but I gave it a shot. The texture of the canvas shows quite a bit. This was about 2 inches by 3 inches. 

My second mini-mushroom painting was even smaller...maybe 1 inch x 2 inches. I did this one from a photo. Both mini paintings will be on display in something called a MiniMoCA, which is a miniature enclosure designed to look like the gallery space in the Museum of Contemporary Art in Patchogue. Our artwork will be hanging on the "walls" of the enclosure. Maybe I'll remember to go over and take some photos of it so you can get a better idea of what it is.

 

Mangiamo

With the dreary, very cold weather we've been having there isn't much that seems exciting to sketch. I looked around for an interesting restaurant or shop to sketch and found this one in Ronkonkoma.

 

St Marys Church

 When I pass St Marys Episcopal Church in Ronkonkoma I always smile. There is something about the way the church is decorated on the outside that is so unusual. I've never gone inside to see what that is like, but I have sketched the church before.

Along the Lake

I drove around the other day looking for some color and found this spot along Lake Ronkonkoma. I liked that you could see a few houses nestled in the orange trees. Since I painted this the colorful leaves are getting harder to find. The last few days haven't been sunny so there is this dull gray pallor over most of the area. They keep saying a chance of rain but the closest I've seen is a bit of spritzing or a hail shower.

 

Cousins Maine Lobster Truck

I got out of the house late today because I stayed home to watch a live streamed program about Claude Monet's paintings from the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC. It was on from 2:00-3:40. Today was Monet's 180th birthday. The program was well-worth watching and another part will be shown later tonight about his time at Giverny, France. When I got out I knew I didn't have a lot of time before it got dark. I had seen posts on FB about Cousins Maine Lobster trucks coming to locations on Long Island. The destination for this weekend was Ronkonkoma which is about 10 minutes from me. So I drove to where the truck was parked and sketched until it was too dark to see anymore. Then I joined the socially distanced people on line and brought home lobster rolls to have for tonight. 

One Tipsy Soldier

Today I dropped off all my remaining tiles and ornaments at the Catbird Seat in Sayville. Debi, the owner has sold a lot of my tiles this year and told me to bring over any that were left. Hopefully in the crunch before Christmas more of them will sell.

I had a few errands to run but I made sure to stop and do a sketch while I was out. I had passed this nursery in Ronkonkoma the other day. I liked the two inflatable soldiers...especially the tipsy one. lol I sat in my "mobile studio" to sketch this since today was a bit on the cold side.

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. 

Train Passengers

Today I went into the city on the Long Island Railroad to meet up with the NYC Urban Sketchers. On the way in I had a great view of these 3 ladies. From what I gathered from their conversation today was the birthday of the lady in the middle. I think the two on either side were daughters and seated directly across facing them were two granddaughters. I showed them the sketch before we got off the train and they were laughing that I sketched the one on the left eating her bagel. lol
#momentsketchers

Tomorrow I will post the other sketches from the day.

Inktober 2018 - Day 13

Today I took the Long Island Railroad from Ronkonkoma into Manhattan for a 10 x 10 workshop given by the NYC Urban Sketchers. I used the train time to sketch 3 people across the aisle from me for my Day 13 sketch for Inktober.  I will touch up the work I did in the city and post it tomorrow. #inktober #inktober2018

Gowanus 3 & Inktober 2018 - Day 3

For this sketch by the Gowanus Canal in Brooklyn I stood, leaning against a wall/fence and was looking toward Carroll Street. There was a lot of construction going on...so lots of orange fencing to restrict traffic where the road was all torn up.

My Inktober 2018 Day 3 sketch was done at Little Vincent's in Ronkonkoma. They reheated my pizza slice and it was much too hot to eat without burning my mouth, so I started sketching my view. Of course I stopped once I was able to eat the slice and then finished this when it was done. I used my Lamy pen, a brush pen, and my water brush that I touched to the Lamy pen to get some shading. And yes, the pizza was good!

For

The Barn

In the town of Ronkonkoma there is a drive-thru store called The Barn. It is a great spot to stop quickly when you don't want to run inside a store to shop...just pull up and order what you need. I remember when my sister had her boys and we would be heading home from some place, places like this made it so convenient to pick up food when the boys were finally asleep in the back seat. This looked like a fun...and fairly busy spot to sketch from across the street.

Women's March 2018

Today was the Women's March 2018. It is hard to believe that it is already a year since the last one and it seems things have gone steadily downhill. I knew I had to be part of the march again. I tried to get together with friends but nobody from out where I live was interesting in going into the city, since there was a local march. One of my sketching friends, Julie was getting together with a group of friends and invite me to join them.

I took the 8:40 train from Ronkonkoma along with many other protesters. I did a sketch of a few women that were sitting near me on the train.

I was meeting Julie and her friends at the Aroma Expresso Bar on 72nd St. I was early so I stood outside and sketched some of the protesters that were getting ready to march. Shortly thereafter I was joined by another friend of ours who planned to sketch. Here are the sketches I did outside the coffee shop.

Finally we were all together and started to head to the march. 72nd St was filled with people, wall to wall, so the police were moving the crowd up to 75th St. We made a left and the next thing I knew I had lost everyone except one of of Julie's friends. It is hard enough to keep people you recognize in your site, but it is nearly impossible when you don't know the people. I texted Julie a few times but in the process I lost the one person that was with me. lol Finally I decided to just go it alone. The crowd was intense and not moving since the march hadn't actually started down Central Park West. I scooted out of the barricades and found a spot to lean against a building and started sketching the crowd...this is the result.

By the time I finished this sketch I needed a restroom and something to eat. I walked away from the crowd and took care of both. Then I headed back up to Central Park West. I walked with the crowd for quite a while and then went off to the side and did another final sketch of the crowd.

In case you want to see more, here are a few photos. People were very clever coming up with signs for the march.

Saturday - Part I

I sketched this on the Long Island Railroad going into Manhattan this morning from Ronkonkoma. The models are usually there for the entire trip of over an hour.

Today was a big urban sketching day...more to come tomorrow.

Early Saturday

Last Saturday I was meeting the NYC Urban Sketchers in the city at 11:00, but of course I went in early. I took the 7:40 train from Ronkonkoma into the city. There were sketching opportunities on the train.

We were meeting at the American Museum of Natural History. It opens at 10:00 and I was there at 9:30. That gave me a little time to do an ink sketch of the building from across Fifth Avenue before I got on the line to get in. I'm glad I was there early because everyone who came at 11:00 ended up waiting on line for about 45 minutes.

Yes, Fake Journal Month started today and I was ready with my first "fake journal" page. You can find Tracy's story here:

http://tracyattheranch.blogspot.com

Patchogue Train Sketches & a Graduation

I am presently up in Massachusetts at Smith College at my niece, Caity's graduation. I have my computer so I can still do a post.

Some days you get a good view on the train and some days are just so-so. When I went into the city on Tuesday I took the Long Island Railroad from Patchogue not Ronkonkoma like I usually do. What's the difference sketch wise? On the Ronkonkoma train half the seats face forward and half face back. If you sit near the center you can get a good view of someone facing you. The Patchogue train is a multi-level train and almost all the seats face the same way. There are very few people facing you. I did manage to sketch the lady across the aisle from me.

Here are the proud parents with Caity the day before graduation. Caity will go on to graduate school here at Smith College for social work.

Joe, Caity, Joan

Here she is with 2 out of her other four siblings.

Patrick, Caity, and Jaime

 And with her proud Aunt Joan (me).

Train Travel

Going into the city to sketch at Grand Central required taking the Long Island Railroad from Ronkonkoma. The trip to Penn Station takes about 1 hr 20 min, but there are usually some models on the train to sketch. This was done with ArtRage on my iPad.

Here are my next few sketches for Every Day in May.

EDM April 9 - someone I love (my mom in her younger years)

EDM April 10 - candy 

EDM Day 11 - a bucket

To the City and Back

Last Saturday I joined the NYC Urban Sketchers in the city. We weren't meeting until 11, but I wanted to go in early and sketch somewhere. I took the LIRR from Ronkonkoma and had a view of this man and his son/grandson.

This sketch I did in pen but I find that there is a bad vibration on the LIRR as we travel, and it makes it difficult to get smooth ink lines. It doesn't seem to matter so much with pencil.

Once I got to Penn Station I stopped for breakfast at Central Market. My friend, Pat, always eats there and there is a great view if you sit all the way in the back. I sketched the people in front and behind the counter.

This man came and sat down between me and the counter. I had a little more time so I sketched him on my iPad using Art Rage.

 I'll save the sketches from the day for tomorrow's post. Before I caught the train back home I stopped in Penn Station and had coffee. Of course I couldn't resist sketching the people.

 My final sketch of the day was a woman on the train.