Inktober Day 6 - Lakeview Cemetery

 Tonight the Patchogue Sketch Club met at the Lakeview Cemetery in Patchogue...a perfect place to do another Inktober 2020 sketch. We started early because it is getting dark so early and luckily I parked right near the scene I was planning to sketch. I was sketching with a combination of pens that I found in my purse which included an Elegant Writer as well as a black Pitt fine line pen, and a pen that looked brown when I drew with it but turned an interesting shade of deep pink when I wet the ink. (Somehow I had left my usual assortment of pens in their case on my couch.) 

Midway through the sketch it started to drizzle and the ink from the Elegant Writer started to activate. I hurried to gather up everything and went back to my car. I moved it up a few feet so that I could basically see the same view and sat in the passenger seat of my mobile studio to finish the sketch. I usually sit on the driver's side, so sitting on the right side of the car sort of threw me off a little and I kept dropping things since I had no seat on my right side to rest my materials. I was lucky I went back to the car because it really started to rain and I would have been soaked if I hadn't moved.

Inktober Day 5 - Sketchers

When I do challenges like Inktober 2020 I try to keep myself at least a day ahead sketching, so that if something happens and I really can't sketch something one day, I still have a backup. So on Saturday when I was at the park in Brookhaven I did two sketches. When I finished the stream below I turned around and the other sketchers were sitting spaced and socially isolated through the park. I started with the closest sketcher and slowly some of the other sketchers crept into the sketch too. 

The days are getting shorter and Daylight Savings will make that even worse soon. It will probably put an end to the Wednesday night group sketch meetings for the Patchogue Sketch Club. We were meeting originally at 6:30 and then at 6:00...now at 4:00. For the last few years we were able to meet at the local library through the fall and winter and we would have themed sketch nights. As of right now due to Covid groups are not allowed to meet and there is a time limit that you can stay in the library. So that isn't going to happen. We will have to figure out an alternative...maybe Zoom, who knows.

Inktober Day 4 - Brookhaven Park Stream

 For my Day 4 for Inktober 2020 I used a combination of my Platinum Carbon Black ink and the Noodler's Brown ink. Both are in Lamy pens which I love to use. There is a small park in Brookhaven that has a small stream, a Monet-style bridge, and a gazebo. It is difficult to draw the stream without color because there is just so much foliage in assorted greens and with just ink you can't add in touches of other colors like blue for the sky and some of the reflection in the water. It was fun to give it a try.

Inktober Day 4 - Lake Ronkonkoma View

 I am enjoying using the brown ink, which in my opinion looks like sepia. When I bought it and first tried it I was disappointed that it wasn't a true brown, but I like the look. 

My Day 4 Inktober was sketched from the parking lot at Lake Ronkonkoma County Park. I believe this is the same park my parents would take us to once or twice a summer. It was a good hour drive from our home and it seemed like we were going on a big trip when we went there.  It had this huge slide in the water. I was always afraid to climb to the top so I never got to experience that thrill. I think it is funny that now I live so close to it. The slide is no longer there so I don't have to worry about it.

Then there is the story about the bees. My mother would always pack lunch when we went out for the day. There were my two parents and 5 of us kids, so buying food at a snack bar was out of the question. So Mom brought a loaf of bread, a jar of peanut butter, and a jar of jelly. As soon as the jelly jar was opened a swarm of bees headed into the jar and never left. lol We had dry peanut butter sandwiches for lunch that day!

Inktober - Day 1 & Day 2 in Sayville

Yes, Inktober 2020 has started. I will be doing my best to do a sketch just using ink for every day in October. I will vary the pens and once in a while the colors I use. 

If you read this blog on a regular basis you know my fondness for the houses in Sayville. My Day 1 sketch is of a house on Foster Avenue down near the beach. I wanted to sketch from my car since it was windy, so I had to find a spot through the hedges and trees where I could see across the street to this house. I used my new Lamy pen which is filled with Noodler's Brown Ink which is not waterproof.

My Day 2 sketch was done in the parking lot down near Sayville Marina Park. I liked the collection of trees leading down to the beach. This was done with Platinum Carbon Ink which is waterproof if you allow it to dry. In order to get the shading I touched the ink with water while it was still wet. For parts I wet the paper and drew right into the wet areas which gave an interesting irregular look.

Boats Allowed

To help catch up I am posting two unrelated sketches, other than they both deal with boats. This is the back of some buildings near a marina in Patchogue. 

On Wednesday night the Patchogue Sketch Club was invited to sketch on a strip of private property along a canal in Patchogue. The owner, Jo, told us we could sketch any of the buildings (including her house), any of the gardens, or any view from down along her dock and boathouse. I had sketched there once probably about 10 years ago but we focused on sketching her garden...in fact Jo bought my painting of her garden. The boathouse stuck in my mind since then so that's where I headed. I don't know if the boathouse is vacant at this time or if the boat that usually occupies it was out for a ride. I liked that I could see some of the equipment and materials in side.

My friend, Pat, took a few photos including these two of me sketching.

Tuesday with Lefty Lucy

 Today is officially the start of Inktober, but since I am a bit behind in posting you are getting to see Lefty Lucy Costumed in Quarantine instead.

These were 5 minute sketches.

I think these were 10 minute sketches.

Here is the final sketch which was 20 minutes.

I don't usually post the quick sketches, but I did them all on one page. The top ones were 1 minute and the bottom ones were 2 minutes. As you can see, I don't always get the entire figure done. lol