Savona Part 2 & At Sea

Savona had an interesting old town area with narrow streets that reminded me of Venice. One street must have been behind a theatre because it had a sign for "Phantasma dell' Opera."

I loved the look of this street too.

Here are a few photos I took in Savona.

This was the street I sketched.

The outside of the Savona Cathedral.

Savona at night.

From our room at the hotel we could see our ship come into port. We were within a half block of the cruise terminal, so once it docked I walked over to take a photo of Costa Pacifica which would be our home for the next 11 days.

There was a very long period of waiting before we boarded while everyone was checked in...so of course I sketched.

Here is the view as we departed Savona.

We were at sea the entire next day, so I sketched along the outside pool deck. That orange thing was a water slide that went from the very top deck. I didn't go on it.

I also did some small pencil and some ink sketches of people on the deck.

Of course I was sketching individual people when there were many, many occupied chairs crowded together. More to come.

Savona - Part 1

The first part of our trip was a cruise on the Costa Pacifica that left from Savona, Italy. In order to make sure we weren't delayed and would be on time for the departure we spent two nights before the cruise in Savona which is a small town, but pretty. I did all of these in my concertina sketchbook that I made for the trip.

Right across from the harbor was La Campanessa, the bell tower. I sat in the square in front of it to sketch it the afternoon we arrived.

It really looked lovely at night. You can see that the perspective in my sketch was a bit different. I was sitting much closer to the towers, so you didn't notice the difference in heights.

The following morning I headed back down to the harbor to sketch one of the old fishing boats. I focused on one and a fisherman was sitting on the boat repairing his nets. While I was doing the sketch his friends kept coming down to talk to him, but they noticed what I was doing and came over to look. I got a lot of "Bella, bella!" Then the fisherman himself came over to see. He didn't speak any English but I figured out that his name was Momo and that was his boat. He left with a big smile. I guess nobody has ever sketched him before.

I did some walking around the town and just loved all the arches along Via Paleocapa.

I did another sketch of the bell tower from across the harbor from a spot near where the photo above was taken.

More to come tomorrow.

My Trip Begins

Yes, I am finally back! The trip was great and I will post a bit at a time. Like many artists when I travel I like to keep a sketchbook as well as do individual loose paintings. I made a special accordion sketchbook just for the trip. Sometimes it is hard to decide if I should use the sketchbook or do an actual painting.

Our trip started at Kennedy Airport on Sept. 12. We always get to the airport with plenty of time to spare so we find someplace comfortable to sit and have a drink. We sat at the bar of the New York Sports Bar and had a drink. I pulled out my sketchbook and did this of the bartenders. The one with the ponytail and beard was our bartender. When he saw the sketch he asked if it was for him and I said no, it was in my sketchbook for the trip and I couldn't give it to him. He said for a sketch he would give us free drinks.

So I pulled out my small sketchbook and did another for him...and we got two free beers. lol (Don't tell anyone...I don't want to get him in trouble.) I took a photo of the sketch before I gave it to him.

I couldn't resist sketching the couple sitting across the aisle from us on the flight.

We had an overnight flight from NY to Milan on American Airlines, arriving early the next morning. From Milan we took the train down to Savona, Italy.

Those sketches and paintings will be next. Ciao!

Dahlia Garden

On Tuesday my plein air group went to the Bayard Cutting Arboretum to paint at the dahlia garden. It is such a great location to paint. This is 8 x 10. 

Since then I have been very busy getting ready for my upcoming trip. We leave tomorrow so this will be my last post for a while unless I can find somewhere along the way to upload a photo.  I am ready with sketchbooks and sheets of watercolor paper and hope to sketch and paint every step of the way. If I can't post I will see you in a few weeks. Ciao!

The Susan

This boat, The Susan, has been docked down at the Sayville dock on and off for quite a while. 

It is always a fun boat to sketch.

People, People, People

Luckily it was nice the last few weeks and I was able to get to the beach a lot.

I sketched a lot of people there sometimes just directly in ink...

...and sometimes adding watercolors.

And sometimes with no ink at all.

Bellport Sailboat and Sunset

Last Wednesday the Patchogue Sketch Club met down by the dock in Bellport. There are always some sailboats pulled up on the beach like this one. The sun is starting to set so much earlier now. I tried to leave the sky until nearly last so I could put some color into it.

We were there long enough for me to do a small sketch of the Bellport Yacht Club and the sun setting behind it. The colors were soft in the sky in this direction which is southeast.