Hydro Peppers

Last weekend I went to the Islip Farmers Market. The weather wasn't the best so I parked and sat in my mobile studio to sketch. I was behind the stall for Hydro Peppers. People kept stopping by the booth and I had to know what he was selling. When I finished the sketch I walked over to the booth to check things out. He was selling hot sauce and pepper jelly. I asked how hot it was and after being warned that it was hotter than what I was used to, I sampled the hot sauce. Yikes!!! It was so hot! As much as I enjoy hot sauce it was too hot for my taste, but if you like your hot sauce very hot...this is for you! 

Fountain

 I haven't found too many homes in the area that have fountains, but this one in Sayville is one of my favorites. One of the items on the Creative Spark Scavenger Hunt recently.

Another item on the Scavenger Hunt list was an anchor. This one is outside by Shellfish Marine Inc down by the West Sayville dock.

Acrylic Presentation

Last Wednesday the sketch group was invited to a presentation by our local ambassador for Holbein and Legion Paper. He visited recently and did presentations on watercolor (which I attended) and more recently on oil paints (which I did not attend).

Jim brought along samples of their acrylic paints, an irridescent medium, several of their papers including black, gessos, and other interesting materials for us to try. At the end of the presentation he gave out the materials he brought along.

I did this little scene on yupo paper with acrylic paints. I beieve the blue was a matte acrylic. I liked how the acrylics adhere to the yupo. When I've painted with watercolors on yupo the paint floats and takes a very long time to dry.

I tried the irridescent medium mixed with the acrylic paints on the black paper.

The acrylic paints blended better than I expected on the paper we had.

It is always fun to experiment with new materials...without having to buy them.

Happy 4th of July

Happy 4th of July! 

The Farm on Lakeland is located on Lakeland Avenue in Sayville. The have a large assortment of plants and vegetables for sale. I always buy corn and tomatoes there when they are at their peak. I often sketch The Farm from the side around the corner so that I don't take up one of the parking spaces in front since there aren't too many of them. This was done in direct watercolor for the 30 x 30 challenge.

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Off to the City

Recently I went into NYC to join the NYC Urban Sketchers for the day. I took the train into Penn Station and had a nice spot to sketch these ladies on the train ride in.

We met at The Vessel, a very unique structure that you can climb. I didn't. Sketching it was complicated enough. This is the second time I've sketched it. You can see my other sketch of it here. I believe it is the 3rd sketch in that post.

The Vessel is right by The Highline, a wonderful elevated walkway/park that residents and visitors enjoy.

The sketchers had visited the Highline a while ago to sketch the giant pigeon. I wasn't able to go to that event, but the pigeon is still in residence so I got my chance. He is super big!

Refreshing

During the really hot days that we had last week, watermelon sure was refreshing. 

This was done for the 30 x 30 Direct Watercolor Challenge...and then eaten almost immediately.

 

Misty Morning

This was painted on one of those foggy, misty mornings down by the bay in Bayport. It was done directly with watercolor for the challenge.