Friday in the City

On Friday I met two friends in NYC to see the decorations. I went in early so I could sketch a bit. I sketched on the LIRR on the way into the city. This is a young girl that was with her parents. It doesn't look very much like her.

I walked up 34th Street and came to a small park in Herald Square that was decorated.

Next I headed to the NYC Public Library on 42nd Street. This was what I wanted to sketch. Outside the library are two massive stone lions. I believe this one is named Fortitude (the other one is named Patience). At Christmas they usually decorate them both with wreaths around their necks.I only had time to do the sketch before my friends, Maureen and Rhea arrived.

But I did finish it at home.

Around the corner from the Library is Bryant Park which has a tree and a skating rink, but what we wanted were the small stores that are set up for holiday shopping.

Here is a photo of the tree there.

We had lunch, shopped some more and then headed over to Rockefeller Center to see the tree.

It was so crowded and crazy...and it wasn't even dark yet. 

We really wanted to see the tree at night, so we went to have coffee and dessert.

The tree and the lights around Rockefeller Center are just amazing...and the crowds are too!

Here we are in front of the tree.

Maureen and I walked back to Penn Station to catch our respective trains. I had a bit of a wait so I sketched someone buying tickets.

I did one final sketch of a woman on the train going home.

This ends another long, exhausting day in the city!

Winter Scenes

I was in Center Moriches the other day and the street lamps were all decorated for Christmas. Of course I had to stop and paint. This was done in my Stillman & Birn Alpha Journal.

We had a little snow this week. Near me it changed to rain and was washed away quickly but up at Sunken Meadow State Park there was some on the ground. The grass did show through in some spots but I liked the way it looked. This was also done in my Stillman & Birn Alpha Journal.

Holiday Sketches

This week I did get out a few times to sketch local holiday activities.

This first one was done from the comfort of my car parked outside the Bayport Flower House.

I was at the Smith Haven Mall this week and stopped to sketch Santa.

This is the same mall where I sketched him last year and nothing changed. lol

Santa looked the same as did the setup they had for him.

Surfcasting (SOLD)

A friend of mine asked me if I would have any small beach paintings at the show this past weekend that she might be able to give as a gift to her husband who loves to fish. I did have some beach scenes, but decided to play around and see if I could do a small painting of a fisherman (without having a photo to work from). Thank you internet!!! I researched images of people surfcasting and sort of combined them into a figure. Her husband usually goes fishing way before dawn down at one of the beaches I often go to..and he fishes nearly every day. If he catches enough he shares some of the fish with my husband and another friend of ours. 

I made the painting look like Smith Point Beach where he usually fishes and did it with a sunrise look to it. She was absolutely thrilled with it! I saw her this morning and she told me she is so excited about the painting that she is going to give it to him for his birthday which is this week...she can't wait until Christmas to give it to him. lol I hope he loves it as much as she does. She said it looks just like him except that he doesn't wear a hat when he fishes. 

Happy Birthday, Dave!

PALS Show Weekend

This was a busy weekend for me. It was the weekend of the PALS Plein Air Limner Society's 4th Annual Painting Long Island Show. This is the plain air group that I paint with every Tuesday morning. We usually paint beginning in April and continue until the beginning of December if the nice weather lasts. Here is our invitation.

Of course Saturday was snowy and cold here on Long Island and very few people stopped by, but we made up for it today when we had a lot of visitors...and quite a few people who purchased paintings, cards, etc.

I took a few photos of the paintings.

This wall is PALS On the Go and the work was done by some of the artists while they were traveling or vacationing. I have one hanging from Venice, one from Maine, one from Ireland, and one from France.

Some of the paintings below were done completely on location, some finished in the studio, and some done completely in the studio from references from our locations. We painted at some wonderful places this year!

Here is a photo of most of us that were at the gallery today for the show. From left to right are Liz, Jeanne, Chris, Susan, Marlene, Laurie, Rita, Rosamaria, Mary, Laurie, and me. 

Grand Central Terminal Sketch

As I said yesterday, I went into NYC to meet friends. I took the train to Penn Station and then walked across town to Grand Central Terminal where their train was arriving. Grand Central is such an iconic  location. I had about 35 minutes to sketch so I walked up one of the many sets of stairs and sketched the view looking down into the main room of the terminal where the clock sits on top of the booth in the center. There were crowds of people everywhere. I didn't sketch all of them. LOL Who could.

I did the drawing and most of the color before they arrived, and finished the rest last night after I got home.

Then we went off shopping through all the Christmas booths in Grand Central, then to a very nice lunch, and then shopping at the holiday booths in Bryant Park. It was freezing out! Once the sun went down we were able to stay outside for a while but then it got too cold and we went for coffee so we could be inside. This was my last sketch for the day. I didn't sketch on the train coming home because it was crowded and I didn't want to be that obvious in a crowded car. I like being able to sketch on the train mostly hidden by the high seats.

Train Ride to the City

Today I went into NYC to meet two friends and experience some of the excitement of the city at Christmas time. I took the Long Island Railroad into the city and of course sketched on the way. Two people posed for me in transit. Of course they had no idea they were my models. I was sitting far enough away from them that they didn't notice and the high backs on the seats hid me pretty well. I used a combination of watercolors and watercolor pencils for these.

I did another sketch but I have to finish adding the color. My friends met me before I could finish it completely. I hope to finish it tonight and post it tomorrow.