Suffolk County Farm

I hadn't been to the Suffolk County Farm in Yaphank for a while. There were some flowers in bloom. I painted them in direct watercolor for the 30 x 30 Direct Watercolor Challenge 2025.

The sheep were out and some were near the shelter...

(These were also done for the 30 x 30 challenge.)

and some were just grazing in the nearby field.

(More for the 30 x 30 challenge.)

Animal Sketches

 I recently headed over to the Suffolk County Farm in Yaphank. It was a fairly nice day and I figured it would be a good day to be outdoors sketching some animals.

The rabbit kept hopping away or turning around and hiding, but I did get a sketch. The pig stayed pretty still lolling about in the mud.

The goats are always very curious and come over to the fence to check things out. It has been years since I've been able to sketch the cows there close up. They kept having them out in the farthest part of the field so I couldn't see them. This time there were a group of them in the feeding area near the trough. Buttercup hung around where I could sketch her.

Suffolk County Barns

Last Tuesday my plein air group, PALS, went to the Suffolk County Farm to paint. It was windy and cold so my goal was to find someplace to sit where the wind was blocked. I ended up sitting next to one of the small barns and I had this view in front of me. I wasn't crazy about it until the sun came out and it lit up the area and created great shadows. I was really happy with the way it came out.

 

30 x 30 Direct Watercolor - Day 28

The challenge days are almost over. Here is my Day 28 painting. This was also done at the Suffolk County Farm in Yaphank, but from the fringes of the farm near the parking lot for the sheriff's office. I'm not sure what this building was/is used for. It doesn't look like most of it is big enough to stand upright inside it. I liked the way the sunlight was making shadows on the building and the rickety shingles on the roof. 

30 x 30 Direct Watercolor - Day 27

For my Day 27 direct watercolor painting I painted on location at the Suffolk County Farm in Yaphank. I am assuming that the silos contain grain for the animals. I was really happy with the way this came out. 

The Farm

The Suffolk County Farm in Yaphank has a great view across the field. I even found a few animals in the fenced area. 

Inktober Day 20

 I don't think I've been to the Suffolk County Farm in Yaphank since the start of the pandemic. I missed seeing and sketching the animals. So I headed there for my Inktober Day 20 sketch of the chickens and roosters.

Suffolk County Farm

 I hadn't been to the Suffolk County Farm in Yaphank to visit the animals in a long time. It seemed warm enough the other day to actually sit outside so I walked through the farm and found some of the cows inside the pen, near enough to see them and sketch.

Inktober Day 15 and Pat's Shed

 I had a busy day of sketching yesterday because I wanted to do my Inktober sketch but I knew my sketch group was sketching at someone's garden later in the day...and I wanted to use color there.

First I did my Inktober Day 15 sketch near the Suffolk County Farm in Yaphank. This is one of the buildings on the property. I'm not sure what it is used for but I liked how it was nestled among the trees.

The Patchogue Sketch Club met at one of the member's homes to sketch in her garden in Patchogue. Pat has wonderful plants, cosy corners set up with all kinds of baskets and gourds, and a few sheds. This is her potting shed and is surrounded by wonderful plants and trinkets. Now you see why I had to use color. lol

Inktober Day 9 - Chickens

 Sketching at the Suffolk County Farm is always fun. The chickens are always an active group but they were fun for my Inktober Day 9 sketch. They never stay still enough to get them in one shot, but they usually return to the same position so I moved back and forth from one chicken to another. I used a combination of different pens and inks for this. 

 

At the Farm

I visited the Suffolk County Farm in Yaphank the other day and decided to focus on the birds. The turkey was strutting his stuff and didn't stay still for long. I sketched him directly in watercolor.

The chickens are usually always in the same place but they weren't there. I asked one of the workers and she told me they moved them to a different enclosure. There used to be a real scrawny one that looked like he had been in a fight with some animal and lost, but I didn't see him when I was there. I hope something didn't happen to him. I worked on all three of these at the same time...waiting for each of them to come back to the same or similar pose.

Inktober 2018 - Day 30 - At the Suffolk County Farm

This morning I was at the Suffolk County Farm in Yaphank with my PALS Plein Air group. It was very windy and cold. I wasn't sure if it would be warm enough to paint/sketch, but I lucked out and found a building that blocked the wind for me. I'm going to post the painting first since I did that first.

When I finished the painting I went to see if any of the other artists were still around. A few had left due to the cold but a few were still around and we chatted for a bit while Jeanne worked on her painting. When everyone left I found a spot to sit where the wind wasn't too bad and did my Day 30 sketch for Inktober. Just one more day!

#inktober, #inktober2018

Inktober 2018 - Day 19

It was windy and a bit cold at the Suffolk County Farm. I went there to do some bird sketches for my Day 19 for Inktober 2018. I did a few chickens and then went over by the turkeys. The guy on the bottom right looked like he had tangled with some creature. He was nearly bald in spots and missing so many feathers. I wonder what his story was.

#inktober #inktober2018

Sunflower Field

I have painted this view of the Suffolk County Farm many times, but have never seen sunflowers in the field...cows maybe, but not sunflowers. This view is on the exit ramp of a very busy highway here on Long Island. The ramp runs on the south side of the Long Island Expressway and there is this very roomy spot next to the marked exit ramp. I'm always expecting the highway police to come along and give me a hard time about parking there, but so far I've been lucky. It isn't like I'm anywhere near the traffic coming off. Just one side of the field had the flowers so I backed up into the corner to get this view. I always sit in my car for safety when I paint or sketch there.

Inktober - Day 4 - Creatures

Today I went to the Suffolk County Farm to sketch animals. I wanted to practice sketching with the twig, so I used that for this sketch of the sheep. The second sheep wasn't cooperating and was sleeping with his backside facing me. #inktober #inktober2017

In a nearby pen there were two peacocks. This one was so colorful but kept turning away and going inside the little house to eat. I kept following it around trying to stay on the same side of it so I could finish the sketch. I did this one directly in watercolors.

Sheep

I visited the Suffolk County Farm Museum to see if there were any baby animals yet. There were a few babies running around and lots of the adults. I got a lot of good views.

The new entry for "Tracy at the Farm" is here if you care to check it out:

http://tracyattheranch.blogspot.com

Inktober - Day 14 - Suffolk County Farm

Both of these sketches were done at the Suffolk County Farm in Yaphank. Birds really don't stay still for too long. These were constantly eating and turning around. Of course when I got there I realized I didn't have my brown ink pen which would have been perfect for the star in front. Instead I used a gold gel pen with water to give his feathers a little color.

#inktober #inktober2016

And of course I had to do a real color version. I did this as a sketch directly in watercolors.

Animals, Animals

One day this week we had really mild temperatures. I decided to go out and actually paint/sketch outside of my car. I headed over to the Suffolk County Farm, which turned out to be a lot more muddy than I expected. I love sketching the cows there because if they are not out in the far pasture, they are eating at a trough and they usually stay put. I sat in my chair and started sketching when plop, plop, plop...it started to drizzle. It does make a bit of a problem because I was using wc pencils in addition to watercolors, but I kept going. The drizzle only lasted minutes.

Next I headed over to the sheep...who don't stay still. If someone walks by they all meander over to wherever that person stops. I ended up working on 3 small sketches on the same page adding to each as that sheep or a similar looking one looked like it was in the same position. I'm happiest with the one in the top right corner. I think I got his shaggy wool just about right.

SketchCrawl #48

Saturday was the 48th World Wide SketchCrawl. My friend, Susan and I decided to stay local and headed over to the Suffolk County Farm in Yaphank. My first sketch was of a calf, but after coming over to greet us he turned and sat with his back to us.

The red barn is where they sometimes feed the cows if they are not out in the pasture. I like when they bring them in because they eat at a trough and you can get real close. They were nowhere to be found...just our luck.

This is one of the silos on the farm. I'm not sure what is inside...and I should have checked since the door was open.

There was a kid's birthday party going on, so there were moms and their kids over by the animals. I sketched these two little girls and their mom who were checking out one of the horses.

Over in the fenced area were a few other animals...a piglet

and a rooster and a goat.

Quick Cow

I took a trip over to the Suffolk County Farm to check on the animals and see if any babies were born recently. I got sidetracked watching the cows coming in to be fed. I plopped my chair down and sketched one, but by the time I finished it was very cloudy and windy so I never really got to check on the babies.

Here is my sketch for Every Day in May

a nearby tree...