Return to the New York Botanical Gardens

After sketching the cherry trees at the New York Botanical Gardens one weekend, one of our members asked that the NYC Urban Sketchers also visit there while things were in bloom. The daffs, the tulips, the cherry trees, the lilacs, the peony trees and the rhodies were all in bloom when we were there so it was arranged that we would go again. Since I had been painting so many cherry trees I decided that my first stop would be the lilac garden...oh, what a lovely smell. They were in bloom in various shades of purples and lavenders, as well as whites. It was beautiful!

Across from the lilac garden is the actual cherry tree location. Last week we had been to daffodil hill, but this was another area of the gardens. Right at the edge overlooking a small hill was this massive, wonderful cherry tree, the thought of painting anything else went right out of my head. lol

This is the sight that was before me.

By the time I finished this painting I knew I needed to get back to the Conservatory where our show & tell would be. I took the tram, but I only had a short time before we were starting. I started a sketch of some of the potted plants in the area, but didn't get to finish them. I did take a photo so hopefully I will be able to complete it at home.

New York Botanical Gardens - Part 1

 Last weekend my friend, Susan and I decided to go to the New York Botanical Gardens. We are sharing a "senior dual membership" and as long as you visit twice, you come out ahead. The NYC Urban Sketchers were going to the Brooklyn Botanical Gardens but from experience we know that gets much too crowded on weekends when the cherry trees are in bloom. The gardens in the Bronx are much larger so the crowds are spread out much more.

Another friend of ours who we haven't seen in a long time (probably before Covid) was going to be there in the morning because her son takes a nature class there on Saturdays. Elaine dropped him off for the class, and we all sketched by the Conservatory until she had to pick him up. It was great to catch up with her after such a long time.

Elaine and Isaac left about noon and Susan and I hopped on the tram to go to paint the cherry trees at the top of daffodil hill. The sign there says there are 1 million tulips planted on the hill. I haven't counted them but from my estimates the sign must be right. Here is a photo of just part of daffodil hill. Now imagine that view in multiple directions!

I sat at the bottom of the hill and painted the view above.

As you can see I was concentrating more on the trees than the daffs...and I didn't stop.

I will post more tomorrow.

Inktober Day 24

 On Sunday the NYC Urban Sketchers met at Inwood Park which is at the very upper edge of Manhattan, across the river from the Bronx and an area known as Spuyten Duyval. It is an area that I'm not familiar with at all, but the views from the park were great. Muscota Marsh meets the Spuyten Duyval Creek in this area which is near Columbia University. The big C on the cliffside stands for Columbia. The view looks toward the Henry Hudson Bridge.

When I first got to the park I stood by the street level entrance and decided to do my Inktober Day 24 sketch of the Columbia University Boathouse. This is a quick line sketch done with my Lamy pen with no shading.

Next I joined the other sketchers down below on the walkway along the creek/river. It had that great view that I mentioned above. Instead of doing a sketch I did an actual painting on some sample Hahnemuhle watercolor paper that was about 6 x 8.

In the afternoon I did a sketch of a similar view including some of my sketching friends hard at work. For this one I used my Lamy pen and watercolors. I started this one with the figure of my friend, Dana. I was amazed that she stood holding her sketchbook in the air for so long while she worked. I did the figures before working on the background. Even with fellow sketchers there is a good chance they will move out of the scene before you finish. lol It turned out to be a great location for sketching and one that we will probably return to in the future.

Inktober Day 23 - Throgs Neck Bridge

Returning to Long Island always involves a bridge or a ferry. Coming back from my sister's house in NJ meant a trip across the Throgs Neck Bridge which spans from the Bronx on one side to Queens on my side. I've wanted to sketch the bridge for a while but am usually in a hurry. This time I was determined to find a spot to see it and sketch it...easier said than done. I know there is a parking area along the north side of the Cross Island Parkway but I wasn't sure it had a view and besides I was heading south. I ended up going really out of my way and hitting construction on the local streets but I was fairly certain that the Bay Terrace Shopping Center parking lot in Bayside had views facing the bridge. Once I was able to get to the parking lot it was a breeze, so here is my Day 23 Inktober sketch.

#inktober

#inktober2019

NY Botanical Garden Part 2

I headed up to the lilac garden next. There was so much in bloom and so many different kinds of lilacs. The fragrance was wonderful!!! Lilacs are not easy to sketch because of the tiny little parts of the flowers. I used my watercolor pencils to give them some texture to look like the little flowers.

Adjacent to the lilacs was a peony garden. One of the volunteers told us that the wife of the entertainer, Bob Hope had lived in the Bronx when she was growing up and loved visiting the garden. She donated money to the NY Botanic Garden for them to create a special area. They bought the collection of peony plants so the whole collection came from her donation. I started with a closeup of one of the peonies.

At 3:00 the NYC Urban Sketchers met for our show and tell. It was still early so my friends and I decided to stay and do one more sketch. I did this view of the peony garden and the lady that was busy looking at the flowers.

NY Botanical Garden Part 1

On Saturday the NYC Urban Sketchers took part in a Lilac Festival at the NY Botanical Garden in the Bronx. Each year they have a paint out and selected artists are invited to take part in the plein air event. We are invited to come and sketch in the garden. Of course we don't get the same royal treatment as the invited artists but it is a very nice event. There are designated areas that the invited plein air painters set up and paint. The sketchers can work in those areas too or basically anywhere in the park. The park is huge and there is a tram that you can take to the different areas, but sometimes it is better to just walk and see what is in bloom. On Saturday pretty much everything was in bloom...the azaleas, the cherry trees, the dogwoods, the crabapples, some daffodils, the lilacs, the peonies, etc. Although showers were forecast in the morning we lucked out and had cloudy weather followed by some sunshine so the weather didn't impede anyone's sketching.

I was walking with another artist and we got sidetracked in the azalea garden which was what we came to first. It is a good spot because in addition to the colorful azaleas and the trees in their spring greenery, there are huge rocks to add to the sketches. This first one was done directly in watercolors and I was able to include several different colors of azaleas that were blooming. I did this on half of the page in a Strathmore sketchbook that is about 8 x 10.

Turning about 35 degrees I sat in the same spot and sketched the path going through the azalea garden. There were some wonderful yellow plants and some trees that were covered in nearly white blossoms. I always find those white blossoms a challenge. This was done below the sketch above and again directly in watercolors.

Tomorrow I will show you what I sketched in the lilac garden.

Van Cortland Park & "It Takes A Village" Exhibit

After 30 days of direct watercolor I took a break today and didn't even take out my watercolors. I did work on some alcohol ink tiles this morning and then went to the pool for a few hours.

I still have a few sketches that I never posted from before my trip to Australia. Back in April the NYC Urban Sketchers met in the Bronx at Van Cortland Park. I started with a sketch of part of the Van Cortland House Museum.

My next sketch was done down by the wetlands by the lake. A lady and her little boy posed with some ducks for us.

At lunch we shared our sketches and of course did some sketching of each other.

This afternoon was the Patchogue Sketch Club's reception for our exhibit called "It Takes A Village." All the sketches are of the village of Patchogue and are hanging in Roast Coffee & Tea Company in the heart of the village. We have sketched there many times so it was nice to be invited to exhibit our work. Here are a few photos from the reception.

Rosanne O'Reilly

Rosi Berry

Me

LuAnn Thompson

Jenn, Rosanne, Gina, Me, Rosi, LuAnn

Jennifer Mesticky

Gina Lento who organizes our group outings.

Astoria Park - Part 2

One of the bridges visible from Astoria Park is Hells Gate Bridge. It is owned by Amtrak and the train tracks go across from Queens to the Bronx. I love the unusual color pink on parts of the bridge.

Here is my painting done in the same location back in 2013.

Triborough Bridge

Yesterday the NY Urban Sketchers met at Astoria Park in Queens. It is right by the Triborough Bridge (aka the Robert Kennedy Bridge) and it connects Manhattan, Queens, and the Bronx. The views of the bridge from the park are great. Yesterday started off rather chilly, so I was glad I brought along a long-sleeved shirt and my fleece hoodie. I needed them.

A Day at the New York Botanical Garden

On Sunday I went with two friends to the NY Botanical Garden in the Bronx. We planned to sketch but there were several things going on there. First there was an exhibit of impressionist paintings, then an impressionist garden, and a Plein Air Invitational Paint Out. Several artists whose blogs I follow were going to be there and I was hoping to see them.

After viewing the impressionist paintings in the library we walked and found several of the plein air artists. I talked to a few and then found a spot along the Bronx River where there was some shade.

Then I moved over by the rose garden and painted the view looking in through on of the gates.

Someone told us that James Gurney (http://gurneyjourney.blogspot.ca) was a little further up the hill so we went to check. Not only was he there but Shari Blaukopf too (https://shariblaukopf.com). Shari gave a workshop in NY recently and I would have loved to take it but I couldn't work it out. We spent most of the rest of the day watching both of them paint. They were so gracious and informative too. They were right next to each other and we kept going back and forth to watch.

Here is the piece that James Gurney was working on. He had two models in period costume posing for him.

James Gurney at work.

Shari Blaukopf with her first painting done earlier in the day.

Shari painting flowers in the garden.

The models that posed for James.

Left to right: James Gurney, Me, Suzala, Arthur, Shari Blaukopf

The day was also filled with lots of beautiful flowers. Here are a few.

Wave Hill

My friend and I went to Wave Hill in the Bronx last Saturday. It is a 28 acre public garden overlooking the Hudson River and the Palisades across the river in New Jersey. Just inside the entrance you can see this great pergola. It is on a hill and if you look you can see the Palisades just below the back edge of the pergola.

I wanted to also sketch the view from down below looking up at the pergola. There was a doorway underneath but I'm not sure what it led to...storage maybe. While I was painting this a whole herd of people started heading down the hill in my direction. Of course they blocked my view of the bottom of the scene for a while. It turned out that a falconer was going to do a demonstration where he released a young falcon and it was going to fly off and then return to him. It took a bit longer than he expected because there was a bald eagle flying in the area and he wouldn't come close to the eagle.

My final sketch for the day was of part of one of the buildings. The cafe and several conference rooms are inside the building.