Grand Central Sketch

 My trip into the city last week involved transferring at the Jamaica station to catch the train to Grand Central. Although there should be a direct train from Ronkonkoma to Grand Central is just wasn't running on Saturday...just my luck. The trip took a little longer, but I ended up at my destination. Grand Central is always impressive and I really wanted to sketch in the great hall where the famous clock is. It was super crowded so I looked for a view that was a little out of the way.

I had texted a few friends telling them I was going to be sketching there, but the small group was going to the Metropolitan Museum. I wasn't in the mood to sketch sculptures so I decided to stay put. I told them if anyone was passing through and wanted to stop and say hello to let me know. I sat so that I was at the side opposite the Apple Store. It gave me a view of the clock too. The holiday decorations were still up so I was able to include those too. I tucked myself into a corner near track 32 with my back to the wall so nobody could bump into me. Nobody noticed I was there. It was a great spot except when a lot of people stood in front of me and blocked the entire view. 

When I was done with the sketch I looked at my phone and there was a text from my friend, Mel. He had been there earlier looking for me, but had finished sketching and was heading to the Met to meet the other group. It turns out he was sketching from a spot slightly ahead of me by platform 28. I couldn't see him, but we were on the same side of the hall. It would have been nice if I had found him earlier.

Holiday Decorations

 The other evening the Patchogue Sketch Club met and our theme was holiday decorations. I gathered up one of my gnomes, an Analee doll, my Christmas tree topper (which won't fit on the top of the tree), and a few ornaments. I finished most of this while there but when I got home I remembered I had bought a pan of metallic gold watercolor that would be perfect for the star!

Holiday Time

It is a little early for Christmas sketches but in December the Patchogue Sketch Club will be putting sketches into the display case at the Pat/Med Library where we meet every week. To make sure we have holiday related sketches to show we sketched holiday items this week, and will sketch more the week after Thanksgiving. Everyone came in with such fun objects to sketch. 

Penn Station

After getting off the train in NYC I was in Penn Station. I went in early so I would have time to do a sketch before I met my friends (non-sketchers). It was cold outside so I looked for something inside Penn Station that looked festive. I found a spot to stand where I could see the violinist playing down at the end of the hall and could also see the wreaths that were hanging. Penn Station is normally pretty crowded, but everyone must have rushed up to the street to see the holiday decorations because there weren't too many people walking around inside. This is a tiny sketch...done in my small moleskin.