House and Flowers

 Direct watercolor done in Sayville near the Sayville Maritime Museum.

Pat's Hollyhocks

 I love painting hollyhocks, but don't see them very often. These were in my friend, Pat's garden. She graciously let me sit and do a direct watercolor of them.

30x30 Direct Watercolor #32 - Drift 82

This direct watercolor is of the restaurant Drift 82 in Patchogue. 

30x30 Direct Watercolor #31 - Islip Farmers Market

I was still in a direct watercolor mood and did that method at the Islip Farmers Market the other day. 

30x30 Direct Watercolor #19 Scenes from Port Jeff

Recently my friend, Suzala and I went to Port Jeff. Rather than ending up at an event that we were planning to go to, we walked around the town to find something to paint. I wanted to do a direct watercolor for the challenge. We found a spot in the shade outside a restaurant that looked really great. As I was finishing up, a lady with a little boy came over to see what I was doing. Looking at it she realized she was the lady with the cap sitting at the table. lol 

Next we moved to the main street in town. There was a spot with a view of Yogo Delish, a yogurt place. Luckily there was no parking allowed in front of the spot where we were painting, or directly across the street where Yogo Delish was, so we had a good view.

Flowers at the Market

 When I was out on the North Fork recently I was attracted to all the flower displays like this one at Bayview Farm & Market in Aquebogue.

Sayville Corner

For some reason I missed posting the last few days. One post was ready but I never published it for some reason. If you go back a few posts I have made sure something is posted each day.

This was done as a direct watercolor in Sayville. It was difficult to save room for the foreground trees to be in front of the roof areas. Direct watercolor requires some planning because you don't have any lines to follow.

 

Direct Watercolor #12

 I like painting and sketching fire engines but they are usually behind closed doors. I aways check as I pass the fire houses in the area and this time I was rewarded. My #12 30 x 30 Direct Watercolor for the challenge had a subject. When I passed the Sayville fire house there were two bays open and a truck in each. I had just finished painting the first one when several firemen came and closed both bays. Luckily I had enough done to complete the first one and just added the bay door to the second one. I guess my timing worked out!

Direct Watercolor #1

 Once again I am participating in the 30 x 30 Direct Watercolor Challenge hosted by Marc Holmes and Uma Kelkar. The idea for the challenge is that for the month of June the participating artists complete 30 direct watercolor paintings...no pencil lines (or very little underdrawing). I have participated since 2018...six years and have happily completed the challenge each time. Yes, once in a while something comes up and you can't complete a painting that day, but you can catch up and do more than one another day...or extend your challenge for another day or two. There is no pressure and no "direct watercolor police."

This sketch was done on Grundy Avenue in Holbrook, right across from the church I attend. I painted this on location and since it was a weekday afternoon, I had no problem sitting across the street to work.

Star Magnolia #1

I took a ride to the Bayard Cutting Arboretum the other day thinking the tulips would be in bloom, but I saw white blossoms across the path and headed that way instead. The Star Magnolia tree was starting to bloom. I had my Strathmore Toned Tan sketchbook with me and I always have a tube of white gouache so I was all set. The shading on the blossoms was done with watercolors as was the branches. All of this was done with direct watercolor. I added a bit of blue background to help make the flowers stand out.

 

Lighthouse 1

We had some warm weather so I headed down to Robert Moses Beach the other day. Since I really hadn't been there to sketch the lighthouse all summer I sat and did a direct watercolor of it before I went down on the beach. 

 

Pansy Pot

I'm trying to keep the momentum going for painting in direct watercolor. I painted this while sitting on my partially covered patio while it was drizzling on Saturday.

 

30 x 30 Direct Watercolor - Day 21

I stopped at Lewin Farms in Calverton to sketch this greenhouse and the flowers and wall in front of it. All done in direct watercolor...no pencil lines. 

30 x 30 Direct Watercolor - Day 17

 My Day 17 painting for the 30 x 30 Direct Watercolor Challenge was done of an arbor at a local nursery.

Bayville Bridge

 On Sunday two friends and I went up to Bayville on the north shore. I think it is the town that Billy Joel lives in/lived in. It is pretty and has a scenic drawbridge that my friend, Suzala wanted to paint. The bridge is under reconstruction but we sort of ignored that. Suzala had visited the area the day before and got permission from Bay Marine to paint from their marina.

The weather was colder than most days recently but we brought along layers of clothing just in case. By the end of the day I was wearing a long sleeve shirt, a light weight jacket, a fleece hoodie, and a super heavyweight sweatshirt over everything. The sweatshirt is one of my favorite things because it is very warm. I think it is a men's XL and it will fit over a puffy winter coat and all my layers. I also had my warm hat and fingerless gloves on....but no winter coat. lol

Somehow I forgot to bring my case that holds all my pens (and pencils) so I had to do this directly in watercolor. I finished this painting on site and then did my Inktober sketch which was the last one for the challenge. Having some extra time I started a pen and ink of this same view but it needs a little more work. It got too cold to keep painting and we packed up for the day.

Small Sketches

 I do a lot of sketching for the Wet Canvas Scavenger Hunts and some of the small sketches come out better than I expect. This one was sketched with a Sketch & Wash pencil and then I added watercolors. I like how the two materials worked together.

This was done just as a direct watercolor.

Swan River Preserve

 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.

Assorted Sketches

Luckily we still have some beautiful pink trees in bloom here. This time I just focused on a few branches on a tree in Sayville.

I did a few direct watercolors for assorted projects. The nose fit the Wet Canvas Scavenger Hunt as well as the NYC Urban Sketcher's theme of body parts.

This shell is also a direct watercolor done for the Scavenger Hunt on Wet Canvas.

 

My Tree and Decorations

 As I said in the last post the theme of the week for the NYC Urban Sketchers is light. What do I think of immediately when I think of light and the holidays? Of course...my Christmas tree. I did this as a direct watercolor which means no pencil lines or guide lines.

In the Wet Canvas Scavenger Hunt that ended on Christmas Day, I drew a few of my Christmas ornaments. Many of the ornaments have special meanings or were gifts (some from a long time ago) like this reindeer ornament which was made by my niece, Karen when she was young. She is now in her early 50s. I hope that you have ornaments that are special to you and enjoy looking at them as much as I do.

Brookhaven Colors

 While doing all the Inktober sketches I couldn't wait to be able to use bright colors again. However our colors here on Long Island are pretty dull. I don't know if they have already peaked or if they just haven't turned yet. Most of them are a faded brown with a bit of bright yellow or orange in a few spots. Part of the problem is that we don't have too many maple trees and those are usually the ones that have a lot of color. We have a lot of oaks which really aren't too colorful. I drove around a bit looking and this spot in Brookhaven had more color than most places. This was done directly in watercolors.