Sunken Meadow Fall Colors

I'm still trying to capture the autumn colors before the leaves all fall off the trees. This was painted at Sunken Meadow State Park on the north shore of Long Island.

 

Sunken Meadow Park

On Saturday I went to a Christmas market held at Northport High School. It was one of the better ones that I've been to recently. When I left I stopped at Sunken Meadow Park which was just a few miles away. I got my beach fix there.

 

Before & During the Eclipse

 The day of the lunar eclipse last Monday, I headed to Sunken Meadow State Park to experience it. I wanted to be around other people, and since it was going to last a while it was important to be someplace with bathrooms. lol I got there early...about 1:00, checked out how the sun was positioned, and went down on the beach. To see the sun and moon meant facing away from the Long Island Sound. Since I was early, I started sketching the view in front of me which is the concession stand up on the boardwalk with a few people sitting in chairs. After the eclipse started I decided not to actually sketch 

 After the eclipse started I decided not to actually sketch the eclipse itself but did do a sketch of a few people watching it happen.

I liked looking through the eclipse glasses. The view was really good that way. I tried to take some photos putting an extra pair of eclipse glasses in front of the lens on my phone. (That's why this photo it is so dark.) It was interesting to watch, but during the last one I saw in California it got dark like sunset. It didn't get much darker here so I was disappointed in that respect.

Sunken Meadow View

 I hadn't been to Sunken Meadow State Park in a while, but it was a sunny, warmer day and I headed over there the other day. It was too windy to sketch outside the car, but I enjoyed my time in my mobile studio with the sun shining on me.

Happy Thanksgiving

 The autumn colors that are still around fit perfectly with the Thanksgiving holiday. I hope that today you find time to appreciate the people and things that make your life special. My thanks to all of you who stop by to visit my blog and some of you who leave such nice comments. I appreciate all of you!

Happy Thanksgiving!

This was painted by one of the walkways at Sunken Meadow State Park in Smithtown.

One Week 100 People - Day 2

 For my Day 2 sketches I decided to head to Sunken Meadow State Park to sketch at the boardwalk. When I try to sketch people walking it helps for there to be a good distance where they are walking toward me, so I have time to get their details down. This particular park has a few ramps that lead from the boardwalk to the parking area so I sat facing one of them because I knew a lot of people would pass in front of me and I would have a short opportunity to sketch them. I did this group from my mobile studio.

I walked up on the boardwalk and sat on one of the benches to do these sketches...and then I joined the walkers for a little walking exercise.

Sunken Meadow

 A bit northwest of me is a state park that is located right on Long Island Sound. Sunken Meadow State Park has a boardwalk, a beach where you can swim, tidal mud flats, rolling meadows, woods, and marshes. It also has a golf course. I headed over there over the weekend for the views of nature as well as views to sketch people as a warm-up for the upcoming 1 Week 100 People Challenge. 

I sketched the people as they were coming down the slight ramp from the boardwalk to the parking lot.

Once again I am having problems with Blogger. I can post new entries but can't respond to any of the posts that readers submit. I also can't leave responses when I visit the blogs in my "favorites." This has been an ongoing but off-and-on problem for me for a while. My friend, Tina Koyama, had suggested a while back that I use Chrome for Blogger. I downloaded Chrome and so far it seems to be working and letting me respond. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it stays that way.

Autumn Light and Shadows

We had a nice, mild day on Thursday so I took a ride up to Sunken Meadow State Park which is on Long Island Sound. It is one of the few places here on Long Island where you can get a view of hills as a backdrop. The light and colors as well as the shadows were great. When I finished I was able to do a walk on the boardwalk too.

Sunken Meadow View

I seem to be a bit behind posting some of these sketches. I took a trip to Sunken Meadow State Park on Sunday. It is on Long Island Sound and across the way is Connecticut. I was planning on sketching this view with the path when these two people decided to step into the scene, so I included them too. 

A Beach Day?

It was foggy this morning but it cleared up by about 11:00 and the temperature started rising. I think we hit about 53 degrees which felt like a heat wave after the weather we had the last few weeks. I headed over to Sunken Meadow State Park in Kings Park. It is a pretty park on Long Island Sound and it has tidal flats that connect to the  Nissequogue River. It was actually warm enough to sit in my painting chair...of course I had my coat on and sweatshirt hood up...but I didn't need gloves!! I've painted this spot many times before but it looks very different depending on the tide.

The park also has a boardwalk along the beach that is 3/4 of a mile long in one direction, so I got some exercise walking the length of it and back. These people were actually sitting on the beach in their chairs. LOL

The Rock

This was painted up at Sunken Meadow State Park in Smithton recently. It was the first time in a long time that I actually got out of the car and sat on my painting chair at an outdoor location. It has been too cold or windy even if it seemed mild enough. This day I was able to sit with no gloves or hat...wonderful. I ignored the bit of wind. Of course a day or two later we had a snowstorm. lol

This rock is surrounded by the hillside, the parking lot, and Sunken Meadow Creek which runs into the bay there. When Long Island had the horrible flooding from Hurricane Sandy it changed the way the land and the marsh areas were. This rock had been completely submerged for quite a while. I am glad it is back, although many of the birds that were always there no longer come to the rock. It is a pretty spot.

30 Day Challenge - Day 30 - The Rock

Yes, today is the last day for Leslie Saeta's "30 Paintings in 30 Days" Challenge. This gouache painting was done at Sunken Meadow State Park on the north shore of Long Island. There is a nice beach and boardwalk along Long Island Sound and the Nissequogue River runs through to the Sound. This huge rock usually has a few birds perched or nesting on it...fewer since the changes caused by Hurricane Sandy.

If you would like to check out the other work by the participating artists look here.

Sunken Meadow View

Now that Inktober is finally over I can get caught up with other art I created during that time. Before we started our trip I met up with 3 friends up at Sunken Meadow State Park on the north shore. We had to paint quickly because the tide there changes rather quickly. By the time we were done the small islands were all covered up and all you could see was the tips of the grasses.

Am I glad that Inktober is over...yes and no. I put a lot of pressure on myself to make sure a new sketch is done daily, even though I know I don't have to do one every day. I usually sketch anyway, but this makes me more structured so that is something I will miss. It was fun to use different kinds of inks for the sketches. Too bad I didn't bring them along on the trip to continue experimenting, but I'm lucky I got the sketches done. lol I know me and I will join the group again next year. 

"30 Paintings in 30 Days" - Day 21 - Pink Plumeria

My day 21 painting for the "30 Paintings in 30 Days" was done from a reference photo from my trip to California last year. This is 5 x 5 inches.

#30paintingsin30days

On Sunday, which was very cold and blustery, I went up to Sunken Meadow State Park. I knew there was a view that I could paint from my car. This is 5 x 7. Then I took a 2 mile walk on the boardwalk. I walked the length of it and when I turned around to walk back it had started snowing, so I had the snow blowing in my face on the whole way back. We ended up with a coating of white but not much more. This weekend they are forecasting quite a bit of snow, so we shall see. Maybe I'll get to wear my new snow boots.

30 Paintings in 30 Days - Day 24 - Sunken Meadow Sky

For day 24 of Leslie's challenge I drove to Sunken Meadow State Park which is about a 25 minute ride northwest of me, right on Long Island Sound. I really like this view and have painted it many times. This time I painted it from my car because it was so cold outside.

Sunken Meadow Sky by Joan Tavolott

If you would like to see the artwork by the other talented artists taking part in the challenge check here: http://lesliesaeta.blogspot.com

If you would like to vote check out Sea Dean's blog. http://paintamasterpiece.blogspot.com

Sunken Meadow View

Sunken Meadow State Park is on the north shore of Long Island on the sound. There are some lovely views of the hills and the water...and Connecticut if it is a clear day. It was cold the other day when I was there so I sat in my car facing an opening in the fence where a path was leading down to the water. This is about 5 x 7 done in my Stillman & Birn Beta Sketchbook.

Winter Scenes

I was in Center Moriches the other day and the street lamps were all decorated for Christmas. Of course I had to stop and paint. This was done in my Stillman & Birn Alpha Journal.

We had a little snow this week. Near me it changed to rain and was washed away quickly but up at Sunken Meadow State Park there was some on the ground. The grass did show through in some spots but I liked the way it looked. This was also done in my Stillman & Birn Alpha Journal.

Sunken Meadow

I took a ride up to Sunken Meadow on Friday and painted this. It is 6 x 15.



Sunken Meadow Views

Last week we had such warm temps that I headed up to Sunken Meadow Park. It was actually warm enough to sit in short sleeves (no scarf, earmuffs, or coat) and paint. I walked out a bit onto the shore around the inlet. The longer I painted the more I saw in the distance because it kept clearing. This is about 6 x 15.

I also did a watercolor and ink of another view there. I used water-soluble ink and soluble ink to get some of the texture in the hillside.



Bellport Vista

Yesterday a frind and I painted at Sunken Meadow State Park on the north shore of Long Island. It is a pretty park with wonderful views of the marshes. At this time of year everything looked golden. This is 5.5 x 15.