The lawn at Meadow Croft Estate in Sayville had some lovely yellow flowers...perfect for a 30x30 Direct Watercolor.
The Patchogue Sketch Club went to the Swan River Preserve recently. When it first opened it had good views but over the last few years the foliage has gotten so tall that most of the water is blocked and all you see is green. I found a spot with a view of the bridge and that and the contrast in the foliage color gave me a focal point. The area to the back was lit by the sun so I painted that first because I knew as the sun moved down in the sky we would lose the light there.
The previous post showed my friend, Rosanne sketching this foliage-covered bridge at Swan Lake Preserve in East Patchogue. The bridge gave us something to focus on amid all the green.
The other night the Patchogue Sketch Club met at Swan River Preserve in East Patchogue to sketch. I don't find the location very inspiring...too green. I did one sketch and then sketched my friend, Rosanne who was working at the picnic table in front of me.
The Patchogue Sketch Club went to Swan River Preserve in Patchogue last week. It was our first scheduled outdoor location for the season. After several days of warm weather, Wednesday turned quite cold. I went prepared with a jacket and a heavy sweatshirt to wear over it. By around 7:30 I was wearing both as well as a winter scarf. If one was in my backpack I would have put on a hat too.
Anyway I sketched down by the tunnel that goes under the Long Island Railroad. That is one of the few places where you can see the water. Most of the foliage is so tall that it blocks the water views. I tend to go back to this spot almost every time we go there to sketch.
On Wednesday the Patchogue Sketch Club met at Swan River Preserve in Patchogue. Looking at the sky it was fairly certain that at some point we would have at least showers. I didn't want to head too far along the pathway just in case, so I wandered over by the train trestle bridge. There is a kayak launch there and rather shallow water where you could see the brown dirt, some rocks and some green algae on the water and the rocks. There were also some dark areas from the leaves under the water and beneath the foliage. Sure enough when I was about 75% finished it started to drizzle very lightly. I was tucked under the overhang from a big tree which shades most of my paper, but I did get some texture from the misty drizzle. Of course when I finally reached a stopping point, packed up my materials (except for the sketchbook which was much too wet), and walked back toward my car the drizzle stopped. Some of the other sketchers had already left but a few were left so we enjoyed sitting around and talking until it got dark.
The Patchogue Sketch Club met the other night at Swan River Preserve in Patchogue for our Wednesday evening sketching. It was so nice to be outdoors sketching with friends! I did this directly in watercolor in a small moleskin sketchbook. The sky was wonderful that night. I wish I had done a page of small skyscaps.
I kept sketching the snow while it still looked good. This was done from my mobile studio at Swan River Preserve in Patchogue.
