Beach Scenes

On Sunday (which now seems like eons ago) I headed over to Robert Moses State Park to sketch. It was a sunny day but very windy, so there weren't too many people around. I sat in my mobile studio looking at the dunes and painting while several groups came to enjoy the actual beach. I like that most walkways down to the beach have their own unique fences so they usually look different.

Then I drove down to the other end of the parking lot which faced a fence. The Fire Island Lighthouse was visible in the distance. This time I sketched on my iPad with my ArtRage program. If I stop using it for too long I forget what I'm doing.

An update on my hubby. He came home from the rehab facility today. Unfortunately he had a fall about a week and a half ago and pulled the muscle in his good leg. Right now he is in a lot of pain and can't stand or put any pressure on the leg. That made for a very challenging day for me and my sister-in-law. (Thank heaven for her help.) It also felt like the day lasted about a week. Hopefully with bed rest his muscle will heal. He had been doing so well before that. I am looking forward to seeing that again.

Portrait Party & Digital Sketch

For today's NYC Urban Sketchers event we had a portrait party. We've done them quite a few times IRL but today's event was organized on Zoom. Anyone who wanted to attend who didn't know how to use it was tutored by someone who did so that everyone was ready. We all met in the Zoom "auditorium" where Mark welcomed everyone and explained what we would be doing. There was a morning sketch event and an afternoon event. We were split up into random groups of anywhere between 6-8 sketchers and sent off to our meeting room. Each person in the group posed for a 10 minute sketch. My morning group only had 6 people so we finished a bit early. That gave us time to chat with each other and share the sketches we had done. A few of our group were people I am friendly with but some were new to me. One woman was from Calgary. I sketched out each portrait with a water-soluble graphite pencil, and then went over that with permanent ink. Then I added watercolor on top. Here are my sketches from the morning.

At 11:55 we all went back to the "auditorium." Some people went and had lunch, some posted their sketches, and some of us just hung out there talking because it was the first time many of us had seen each other since social isolation began. It was fun to catch up with everyone.

After the lunch break those of us who stayed for the afternoon session or who had just joined for the afternoon session were assigned to another breakaway group meeting to sketch. This time there were 7 people in my group so I got to sketch a total of 11 people. Here are my afternoon sketches...remember each of these was created in 10 minutes.

Of course we were indoor sketching on one of the nicest days we've had in nearly 2 weeks. As soon as we were done with the portraits I headed out for a ride down to Hecksher State Park in Islip. I sat facing the water and sketched with ArtRage on my iPad. Some people were on the sand enjoying the sunshine on one of those orange inflatable cushions. There were a lot of people down by the bay, but for the most part they were in small groups and keeping distant from other people. I didn't get out of my car...just sat with the window open and let the sun shine in.

Lobby Piano

Today while Jerry was doing physical therapy I went down to the lobby of the rehab facility. There is a great piano there sitting in the corner of the lobby. The other day there had been a pianist playing for the residents. I listened for a while and decided I would come back and sketch it at a later time. This was done with ArtRage on my iPad.

iPad Sketching

Last week I needed to have my car inspected and get new tires, so I headed over to Mavis Tires in Patchogue to have it done. I brought along my iPad figuring there would be a wait...and I was right. I can't complain since they are always so nice there. It was much more fun to sketch the view out the window of the cars being worked on than sit and watch the TV which is set on the local news channel which repeats the same news every 5 minutes or so. lol I can always use some iPad sketching practice.

Museum of Natural History

Last Sunday the NYC Urban Sketchers visited the American Museum of Natural History. I haven't been there since I was teaching and we would take the kids on trips. It was very crowded and we started in a room the Hall of African Mammals. It had huge, life-sized elephants and dioramas with other animals. Unfortunately the room was very dim and it was difficult to see the elephants well.

I sketched one of the elephants and two of the sketchers working.

One diorama had several African animals and a background like a savannah.

After lunch the group plan was to go up and sketch in the Mammals and their Extinct Relatives Hall...think wooly mammoths. I opted to sketch in the dinosaur room instead which is usually super crowded. Even with people standing in front of me a lot of the time I was able to see a great deal of the dinosaur over their heads since it is so tall. I found a spot in a corner and started painting the tyrannosaurus directly in watercolors. My sketchbook was 9 x 12 and when I got to the spiral spine I opened it the rest of the way and continued. It was hard balancing 24 inches of sketchbook in my lap. lol He looks small here but take my word for it...he was BIG.

Here is a photo of my sketch and pretty much my view.

I had a little time left before we were scheduled to meet downstairs, so I pulled out my iPad and sketched the skull of the tyrannosaurus. I'm slowly figuring out how to shade what I sketch on the iPad.