Film Noir Theme

With the rise in Covid cases and quite a few of our Patchogue Sketch Club members sick it was decided that rather than meet in person last Wednesday we would do a Zoom meeting. Mark found us a few interesting "film noir" photos to sketch. It was fun to work in graphite for a change. 

Lebanon Sketch 1

 Yesterday the NYC Urban Sketchers joined USk Lebanon for a joint virtual sketching event in Lebanon. One of our members is/was an economist who worked quite a bit in Lebanon and has often sketched there with their Urban Sketchers group. Joy spoke to Judy Abi Roustom from the Lebanon group and a plan for sketching together was put into action. We all met on Zoom in the big group to start and Judy told us a little about Lebanon and her favorite areas. She had provided a number of links to photos and references for us to use. After the introduction we split up into "breakout rooms" of anywhere from 5-6 people. Each group had a member of USk Lebanon to provide additional ideas and information. Arin was in my group and spoke about the areas that were damaged from the recent explosions and some of the other areas in Lebanon that she would recommend.

I usually try to get a head start on the reference otherwise I would spend the morning just trying to decide where and what to sketch. On Friday I downloaded about a dozen references that were possibilities. I have to say that I knew nothing about Lebanon except what I've seen in news reports, and those usually focus on damage or problems. Lebanon is a beautiful country and I focused on some of the lovely references I found of Beirut. I also found out that right outside of Beirut there is an area that has an incredible amount of ancient Roman ruins and the oldest continually inhabited city. It was quite impressive.

Here is the first sketch that I did of Gemmayze in Beirut. This area had some damage from the last explosion, but not as much as the center of Beirut. There are a lot of areas with big, steep staircases and wonderful textured buildings.

One of the nice things about zooming is meeting people from all over the world. You can join in from anywhere as long as the time difference works for you. This was my breakout group in the morning.

We had (left to right in the top row) Terri (NY), me, Nimal (NY), 

(second row) Ingrid (Germany), Marta (Spain), Arin (Lebanon)

(bottom row) Patricia (CA), and Karen (NY). 

Pride & Prejudice Model

 On Sunday afternoon, Drawing America hosted a "Pride & Prejudice" sketching event. While the novel was being read to us on Zoom, the model, Abigail Lashbrook (@abigail_artmodel) posed in a costume similar to what would have been worn at the time. She did some short poses as well as a two of the same pose that lasted 20 minutes each. I have a problem with the audio on Zoom. After a while it comes in and out and gets distorted so I didn't get to enjoy the reading of the story, but the sketching was great! I believe they will continue the reading with another model next Sunday.

Here are some of the shorter poses.

This was the first 20 minute pose which I did in watercolors and ink.

Since I had finished the above pose, I did a second one when she resumed the pose. This one was also done in watercolors and ink, but without a pencil sketch.

Still Life With Fruit

Wednesday night the Patchogue Sketch Club met on Zoom. Mark set up another still life for us to sketch...this time it was mostly fruit. He had promised all the colors and he didn't disappoint. He did sneak in the hand and his mannekin.

Still Life

The organizer of the Patchogue Sketch Club, Mark, has been setting up a Zoom still life for the members to sketch on Wednesday nights. We meet, chat, and sketch. The good thing is we don't have to worry about the weather or where we are meeting. You can "arrive" any time after 6:15 which works out well because it doesn't matter if I make dinner and end up being a little late. The problem is that you get one view of the still life and since the lighting isn't the best, it is hard to see exactly what is in front of you. The good thing is that we usually sketch something that is more of a challenge with things that are very different than I would select. Some people focus on one item and a few of us do the entire thing. It is always fun at the end when we share what we sketched and you see the different ways that people interpreted the still life. Here is this week's sketch.

Sketches

 The Patchogue Sketch Club meets on Wednesday nights. Since it gets dark early and this year we can't meet at the library, the group has been getting together on Zoom. Mark, who organizes the group us usually picks the theme and sets up a still life for us. This week we sketched chairs, a simple subject but not so easy. Add to it that the lighting isn't optimum so it is hard to see things clearly. 

First I sketched the chairs in pencil.

Then I sketched it in watercolors.

I also participate in the Scavenger Hunts on Wet Canvas. This was a still life I set up to include a few of the items in the hunt. That wine glass looks a little wonky.

Sketch the Spooky Stuff!

 Due to the Covid restrictions the NYC Urban Sketchers have been having our weekly meetings on Zoom. Each week we have a location or a theme, and often one of the members hosts the event. This week since it was actually Halloween yesterday, our theme was "sketch the spooky stuff." For the morning we traveled virtually to a location that was spooky and Salem, Massachusetts and Amityville, NY were suggested and some links were given. I couldn't really get into the idea of the witches in Salem, but I did find some nice architecture on Derby Street and sketched a house there.

For the afternoon the suggested theme was "abandoned places." I focused on scary-looking cemeteries and looked for references for those. I combined the images from a few photos to create this monochromatic look.

Inktober 2020 Day 31 - Weeks Boat Yard & Faces

 My Day 31 sketch for Inktober was done at one of my favorite local places. It was drizzling so I sat in my mobile studio at Weeks Boat Yard in Patchogue. What I love about that place is there is so much to sketch or paint and it always looks a little different. I don't get bored there. 

Inktober is now officially over for 2020. For some reason it seemed to go quicker than it usually does. Anyway, I will be glad to get back to using my arsenal of colors again. lol

The other night one of my art groups had a Zoom meeting for the members. I am the secretary so I should have been taking notes and I did...for a while. lol Each member was asked to introduce themself and tell what they have been doing or creating this past month. There were 21 people so it took a while and I decided to sketch a bit. I didn't want to get up and miss anything so I just grabbed a piece of copy paper that had writing on one side and drew some of the faces of the members quickly with a brush pen. I should have planned this better and used better paper. I did get a few done...but not anywhere near the 21 that were sitting there. I should have started sooner.