At the Marina

 I've sketched at this marina in Bayport a few times. I like that they are always ready in case a boat needs to be lifted into or out of the water. Kayaks are also ready nearby and boats along the dock too.

Carman's River Canoe & Kayak

I love seeing all the activity at Carman's River Canoe & Kayak, especially on the weekend. Most of the time that I've stopped there I felt like I would be in the way with people taking kayaks off their roofs and carrying things around. This time I parked on the other side of the office facing the building. I sketched this from the car and kept out of everyone's way. I've only been kayaking once (on a visit to Maine quite a while ago). I'm not sure I could get in and out of the kayak easily any more. I remember how tired my arms were after kayaking back then. lol I'm happy watching and sketching now.

Plein Air in Bellport - Part 2

 After looking at the gray skies for the first painting that I posted yesterday I was craving some color. Off in the distance I could see a spot filled with colorful kayaks. It was still drizzling so I stayed under the shelter where I was standing and painted from there. I had a small square piece of watercolor paper that fits into a 6 in x 6 in frame. I painted slightly larger than that and when I framed it I cropped it to fit the frame. I worked with more pigment this time so I didn't have as much of a problem with the paper not being dry. I'm happy with the way this came out.

Kayaks at the Boat Yard

I don't know how I got so organized yesterday morning that I was able to paint the plums and then have time to go out and sketch something too. Maybe it had something to do with being up before 6 AM. lol I didn't have a lot of sketching time which meant I had to go someplace that was a sure thing. I haven't been to Week's Boatyard in Patchogue in a long time, but it is one of my favorite places to paint. It has several ramshackle buildings and lots of boats. They don't mind if artists sit and paint. In fact they often come over and talk to me when I'm there. This time I didn't even get out of the car. I saw the colorful kayaks by the small red building, backed my car up for a good view, and I was set.

Spring Is In the Air!

Yesterday I met my friend, Suzala in Northport to sketch. On the way I noticed they had quite a bit more snow than we did on the south shore. Sitting in the car with the sun shining made us decide to give plein air sketching a chance. So we parked down by the water where the kayaks are stored and found a patch where the snow had already melted and wasn't muddy. It was warm enough to sit our wearing a coat...and no gloves or hat!!! There were still kayaks out which seemed unusual with the snow still on the ground. This was my first watercolor sketch of the day.

When I finished I turned slightly and did a quick ink sketch of Suzala.

Here is my sketch against my subject and a photo of Suzala at work.

Suzala had about an hour before she had to leave so we headed into the center of town. We sat in the warm sun on the steps of a closed office to sketch the view across the way. I started with the car in the foreground and as soon as my pen reached to sketch the roof the owner got into it and of course left. lol That's one of the hazards of plein air painting. lol I continued with the cars across the street and then the buildings. I didn't have time to add color so I think I'll leave this just as a line sketch.

All in all, our sketching day was a pleasant surprise.

Blue Point Avenue

On Wednesday my sketch group went down to the water at the end of Blue Point Avenue.There is some nice scenery.

I also sketched a kayaker. I think he was putting the kayak in the water.

Kayak Beach

On Tuesday four members of the PALS Plein Air Limner Society headed over to Shelter Island.

We took the ferry from Sag Harbor and then we were off.

This was done on Ram's Head Island on part of the property of the Ram's Head Inn.

It was a great spot to paint.

Here is my painting against the scene.

Here is a photo of all of us on the beach there.

Here are Susan, Laurie, Liz, Jeanne, and myself.

After the first painting we went to lunch at Captain Cody's Seafood Shop.
The food was great! Here we are again.

Our next stop was the tiny town of Deering Harbor.

I painted a restaurant overlooking the water.