Usk Sketchmas Day 23 - Person Wearing Red

 The prompt for day 23 of Usk's Sketchmas is a "person wearing red." Right away I thought of Santa. So I headed to the Smith Haven Mall. I think each year they make it more difficult to see Santa from outside the actual viewing/photographing area. I had to walk around quite a bit to get even a tiny view of Santa. I guess they don't want the families to get a good view and take their own photos of their child with Santa. There were a lot of decorations and trees blocking my view but I persisted...although there was something completely blocking my view on the left .

One Week 100 People - Day 1

 For the 6th year Marc Holmes and Liz Steel have challenged artists to sketch 100 people in the span of 1 week. For some reason their week only lasts for 5 days. I've done this challenge several times before and I always enjoy it. It pushes me to do something that I need to practice anyway. I am finally relaxing enough that I will venture into the mall, but I'm still wearing my mask.

For Day 1 I headed over to the Smith Haven Mall in Lake Grove thinking that would be a great place to find a lot of people. Thinking ahead I knew I needed to find mall locations where people would be relatively still. First I headed to Barnes and Noble which is right outside the mall itself. I know there are small tables by the Starbucks Cafe and a window ledge by the magazines. (Yes, I've sketched there before.)

Next I headed to the Food Court. There were lots of subjects to sketch and I waited for people to sit down at a table which was an indication that they would be there for a while since they were eating. I completed 2 pages of sketches there.

On my way out of the mall I passed the Apple Store. There were charging stations right opposite the store and there were stools to sit on. They were just asking me to sit down and sketch weren't they? The Apple Store has captive models who stand for a long time checking out the iPhones and other merchandise.

I was able to complete 43 sketches in one day!!!

Food Court

Like many locations I tend to return to them. Yesterday was a wet, rainy day but I needed to get out of the house for a while. I headed over to the Smith Haven Mall, walked through the stores (bought nothing) and then stopped at the food court to sketch. I like sketching at the Japanese food stall because their uniforms are so colorful...and they always have someone standing in front handing out samples.

One Week 100 People Challenge 2018 - At the Mall

The 100 People challenge started today and I made sure I went out to a location that would have people to sketch. I headed over to the Smith Haven Mall in Lake Grove. I did this first page sitting in a very comfy chair right outside the Apple Store. With their wide-open glass doors I could easily see the customers and the store personnel. I sketched some of the people inside as well as several people that came and sat across from me who were waiting for the person they were with to finish shopping. One of the people at one of those little kiosks was also in my line of site...lucky him. lol

#OneWeek100People2018

Next I headed to the mall food court. During the week it is pretty easy to get a table and find people to sketch including the guy from the Japanese stall that gives out free samples of teriyaki chicken, which I did taste. Yes, the woman on the bottom did have blue-green hair. I'm glad I sketched her quickly because she didn't stay long. Instead she bagged up her food and left. I'll have to come up with a good location for tomorrow...a place with lines of people. I will need to do a lot since they are forecasting snow for Wednesday and I might not get out in that case.

Barnes & Noble's Starbucks

We had a damp, mostly dreary day so I wanted to sketch something indoors. I was rather tired of being in the same places so I went to the Smith Haven Mall in Lake Grove. Right outside is a Barnes & Noble with a Starbucks inside. Most Starbucks look pretty much alike but I like that the showcase was visible here.

The funny thing was that I was using my water brush which was still filled from last Saturday with a mix of water and rubbing alcohol so it wouldn't freeze. I hadn't used the water brush on Saturday...just my jar of water. For this sketch the water/alcohol mix made the watercolor pigments behave a bit strangely... they separated a lot on the palette and the paper. I'll have to remember that in the future and not mix them. My friend put vodka in her water to keep it from freezing. lol

After I finished this I went into the mall and there in the center was Santa all set up already. That was my first Santa sighting of the season, but I didn't sketch him. They use the same setup and outfit each year. I'll have to find a new location to sketch Santa.

At the Food Court

On Wednesday we had another dreary, damp day. I used my time to do some shopping and then stopped at the food court at the Smith Haven Mall in Lake Grove to sketch some people. This guy looked like he would stay put for a while...at least until his samples ran out. lol

Here are a few more sketches for Every Day in May.

This is a sketch of an alarm clock that was among my FIL's possessions. He would set it when he took a nap in the afternoon and it would ring to remind him to go down to the dining room for dinner.

These boots belong to my husband. I think he has had them for about 30 years, although I probably haven't seen them on his feet in 25 years. They are very worn, but I spiffed them up a lot. He won't let me get rid of them because they are his "lucky boots" from when he lived in Texas.

Santa Sighting

I wanted to do a sketch of Santa so I headed off to the nearest mall, which turns out to be the same mall I sketched at last December, the Smith Haven Mall. The decor was exactly the same...even Santa looked the same. I need to find a new mall to sketch Santa. lol

Rainy Day at Starbucks

Last week we had a few days of rain. One of the days I decided to do a bit of shopping so I headed over to the Smith Haven Mall in Lake Grove. When I was done I stopped in Barnes & Noble to have a coffee in their Starbucks inside the store and do a sketch. I loved these colorful ladies in their rain gear. They were just begging to be sketched.

Holiday Sketches

This week I did get out a few times to sketch local holiday activities.

This first one was done from the comfort of my car parked outside the Bayport Flower House.

I was at the Smith Haven Mall this week and stopped to sketch Santa.

This is the same mall where I sketched him last year and nothing changed. lol

Santa looked the same as did the setup they had for him.

Santa Hard At Work

I decided I wanted to paint a mall Santa and I knew I needed to do it before it was too late. So I headed over to the Smith Haven Mall. There was a perfect looking Santa there (really classy) and I carefully scoped out a spot to stand where I wouldn't be in the way of any of the vendors with their carts, or get knocked into by any of the frantic shoppers. I couldn't get a direct view without being really obvious, but I found a pole I could lean against with a fairly good view.

Of course as soon as I started sketching Santa someone came and walked him away for a break. That gave me the opportunity to sketch the Santa setup while he was gone. He finally got back and I worked on him. That was the easy part but getting a child done was hard. Either the parents would be blocking my view, the child was screaming, or they didn't stay long enough. The child I did was mostly from memory because she didn't stay put very long. I think I made her a little too small, but that is one of the perils of plein air. lol

When I was almost finished Santa did come over during one of the lulls in traffic to see what I was doing...that just shows that his mind wasn't completely on the kids if he noticed me. lol

I thought about saving this for next year's Christmas card, but knowing me there will be several more opportunities before then to get something new done.

This is 5 x 7.