Crocuses

 We are finally getting some signs of spring here. The crocuses were the first to appear. I headed over to the Bayard Cutting Arboretum and found this group of crocuses waiting to be sketched.

Spring Blooms

 Spring has finally hit here on Long Island. My friend, Susan, invited me over to sketch in her garden. I focused on her purple crocuses. I love how they stick their heads out through whatever is there in the garden.

I did an ATC using ink and watercolor to do another sketch of a few of them. It was so nice to be able to sit outside in the sunshine without having to wear a jacket. Yay!!!

Crocuses

I painted the crocuses in my friend’s garden recently.

So far, so good with posting from the iPad. The size came out better this time.

Susan's Studio

Last week I went over to my friend, Susan's house with the intention of painting some of her crocuses and hellebores that were sprouting. Susan's business is creating designer custom window treatments and bedding. She has a large studio at the back of her property where she does all her work. I went in the studio and we started talking and talking while she was hemming some drapes. So instead of going out and sketching flowers I pulled out my sketchbook and sketched her at work. She's been telling me I could come and sketch her studio but this was the first time I took her up on the invitation. I think she enjoyed having company while she worked, since it is such a solitary type of work most of the time. She has huge bolts of fabric, a huge worktable, and lots of work literally hanging from the rafters. It was a fun challenge to narrow down my focus and only sketch some of what was there. Some day I'll sketch a few of her sewing machines too.

Welcome to Spring & The Final Part of the Urban Sketching Day

Happy First Day of Spring!!!
 In the spirit of the day I wanted to paint some outdoor flowers today. My good friend and fellow sketcher, Susan, who lives nearby is always ready to share her garden treasures with me. I called her this morning to check that something was in bloom in her garden and she told me to come on over. She works from home, so we chatted for a little while and then she went inside to work while I painted her crocuses, hellebores, and heather. Luckily it was sunny and warm enough to spend some time in the garden without freezing. Thanks, Susan!

On most occasions when the NYC Urban Sketchers gather, we meet at the end of our sketching day to share our work over drinks. I think we had about 20 people with us at the Brooklyn Museum and we headed out at about 4 to Tooker's Alley, a bar nearby. They open at 4 so we didn't worry about it being too crowded for us...and Mark always lets them know we are coming. Once everyone has a drink or whatever they order we start sharing our sketches from the day. It is always fun to see how everyone else captures the same or almost the same views. Some people do a lot of quick sketches and some people complete one longer piece. We have 2 rules when we share...you can't say anything negative about someone's sketches and you can't say anything negative about your own. The second rule is the hard one. LOL

In addition to sharing our sketches, almost everyone immediately whips out a sketchbook and starts sketching the other sketchers at the table or the other patrons where we are. It is good because the other sketchers usually don't get up and move...although they move around some talking to people to their right or left. I was able to get two sketches each with several people seated opposite me.

As you can see from the three days of posting...it was quite a busy day!