Before & During the Eclipse

 The day of the lunar eclipse last Monday, I headed to Sunken Meadow State Park to experience it. I wanted to be around other people, and since it was going to last a while it was important to be someplace with bathrooms. lol I got there early...about 1:00, checked out how the sun was positioned, and went down on the beach. To see the sun and moon meant facing away from the Long Island Sound. Since I was early, I started sketching the view in front of me which is the concession stand up on the boardwalk with a few people sitting in chairs. After the eclipse started I decided not to actually sketch 

 After the eclipse started I decided not to actually sketch the eclipse itself but did do a sketch of a few people watching it happen.

I liked looking through the eclipse glasses. The view was really good that way. I tried to take some photos putting an extra pair of eclipse glasses in front of the lens on my phone. (That's why this photo it is so dark.) It was interesting to watch, but during the last one I saw in California it got dark like sunset. It didn't get much darker here so I was disappointed in that respect.

Cooper's Beach Views

 Recently I took a ride out to Southampton. In season the beaches there are nearly impossible to go to unless you are a resident. Mere mortals, like myself, are charged $35 or more to park. Needless to say, I do not go there unless it is off-season even though Cooper's Beach is often on the list of the Top 10 Beaches.

It was windy and cold with a somewhat stormy-looking sky so I sat in my mobile studio up by the few parking spots overlooking the beach itself. From my car I couldn't see down to the beach and the water's edge. It looks like there was a lot of erosion from our winter storms.

Here the dunes had a small opening where I could see a bit of one of the beachfront million-dollar houses.

Tulips Past Their Peak

I kept my Easter tulips for quite a while. They are fun to sketch when they start drying up and losing their leaves. I wanted to include the entire plant so I sketched it across a double page spread.

 

Outside MoMA'a PS-1

 The NYC Urban Sketchers met at MoMA's PS-1 in Queens on Saturday. It is a museum featuring very modern art in a restored former school building. Suzala and I checked out a few of the exhibits and the building itself before deciding we would attempt to sketch out on the street in front of the museum. It was cold and windy, but we were bundled up and there were chairs outside to sit on. The view we saw was more interesting than inside the museum itself with the train trestle, buses, cars, and people. Our plan was to sketch outside until we were too cold and then go into the basement boiler room of the building to sketch the wonderful things there.

We lasted for almost 2 hours, until our hands were freezing. We decided we needed some food and went looking for lunch before going back to join the group for show and tell.

The Hermitage

Last Friday I finally got together with my sister, Mickey in NJ. We usually plan to do something art related when we get together. It was a cold and windy day so we decided to try sketching some cherry trees from my mobile studio. Unfortunately we couldn't find any that were in a location where I could park the car and have a good view. Instead, we headed over to The Hermitage, a historic house nearby in Ho-Ho-Kus. The architecture sure kept us busy.

Jamesport Country Store

 The Jamesport Country Store is a fixture on the North Fork of Long Island. It has been there for as long as I can remember. I was inside many years ago, and it seemed to have a bit of everything. If it isn't inside it must be in the collection of odd things outside the store, like the bicycle built for two. I've wanted to sketch there for a while but there never seems to be any parking in front. I found a spot recently and sat in my mobile studio long enough to do this entire sketch. A man kept coming back and forth between the store and his old truck, carrying things. I guess he was the owner or manager. After several trips he came over and asked if I was OK or if I needed anything. I showed him what I was doing but he seemed puzzled by that and just walked away. lol

Peony Tulips

Jerry's niece, Beth, gave me some peony tulips for Easter. She had given me yellow ones last year and remembered how I liked them. They droop so nicely. This was done in my Strathmore Beige Toned Sketchbook with watercolors and white gouache.