Near the Tracks

Sometimes it is interesting to sketch the very ordinary scenes like this one in Patchogue at the corner of Rider Ave and Academy Street. Swezey Fuel is celebrating 100 years of business.

Draw-A-Thon

 As a fundraiser the High School of Art & Design in NYC holds a Draw-A-Thon each year. From 10 - 7 there are 2 rooms filled with nude or costumed models. You pay your admission and sketch away for as long as you like. The NYC Urban Sketchers take part in this event even though it is NOT urban sketching.

I started out in the nude room. There were 5/6 stations with models posing. It has been a long time since I drew nude models and I have to say I felt very rusty with the proportions of the human body. The models were great...and so were the sketchers. I worked in a variety of media...some more successful than others. Here are a few of my sketches.

I sketched in graphite.

I tried one in watercolor.

I did one in water-soluble ink and included some of the sketchers. The room (their gym) is kept really warm for the models. All of a sudden we noticed our model start to sway. She nearly passed out from the heat! People got her seated and brought her lots of cold water. After that she only posed sitting down. I was midway through sketching her...just down to her boot tops when it happened so I had to finish her legs from memory.

After lunch I moved into the costumed room. There were people in a variety of odd costumes but I liked this one the best. I am sure she was from some show or program but I have no idea of who she was supposed to be. I originally did this as a broader sketch but realized that my body proportions were so off that I cropped out most of her arms. I find I make the heads of the models too large for their bodies.

Lunch time came along and I sketched one of the sketchers in the room before returning to the nude room.

The model I had been sketching earlier was gone and two models were posing together on that platform.  The guy was so tall and skinny that I really had trouble with his body proportions. The woman had a lot of tattoos which were fun to draw.

I had gone in with my friend, Suzala and we lasted from about 11 - 5 ... not a bad day of sketching.

Forinos Tavern

Last week I took a drive out to Greenport which is the last town on the southern part of the North Fork. You can go slightly north and still go farther east to Orient Point. Greenport is a bustling little town and very popular with tourists in the summer. Right now it is one of the few towns that has a lot of stores and restaurants open...although some of them probably close after the new year. Pretty much right at the end of Main Street is Forinos Tavern which is built over the water. I've never been inside so I can't tell you what it is like inside or even if it was open (It didn't look like it was.). This is another sketch in my concertina sketchbook of North Fork locations.

Port Jeff View

I'm still trying to sketch some bigger views of the towns near me. This is Port Jeff. Usually I sketch one or two of the buildings there. I've never tried to do an expansive view of the town before. Port Jefferson is on Long Island Sound and you can take a ferry from Port Jeff to Bridgeport. I was sketching facing away from the water.

Christmas on Main Street

Since I didn't get to watch the lighting of the Christmas tree in Sayville I headed over there the next day and sketched the tree and a bit of Main Street. 

St Ann's Christmas Tree Sale

 Apparently every year St Ann's Episcopal Church in Sayville has a two day Christmas tree sale. I always think about going to sketch but I forget when it is being held. Finally this year I remembered. I headed over there on Saturday since they were forecasting rain for Sunday. There were 750 trees that were brought in and they were selling quickly. I ended up standing for the duration of the sketch because there was a fence around the sale area and the slats of the fence would have blocked my view. Santa was there but wasn't in my line of vision.

The Boat Yard

If you follow me here you probably know that one of my "go to" places is Weeks Yacht Yard in Patchogue. It doesn't matter the season. There is always something going on. A lot of the boats have been shrink wrapped for the winter but a few of them, like this one are uncovered. An all around the boats there is "stuff" to draw...perfect for me.