Sayville Corner

I am enjoying sketching the corners in the local towns here and seeing what I can include. This corner is on the way going out of Sayville.

Bridge by Melville Mill Pond

I've painted the bridge by the Melville Mill Pond a few times. There is a peaceful pond and the bridge makes lovely reflections.  The park is really lovely all year long.

Lighthouse View

 A beach day at Robert Moses State Park usually includes a sketch or painting of the Fire Island Lighthouse.

Elephants, Elephants, Elephants

 When I finished the Posca workshop (see the post below) I had lunch with a few of the sketchers. Then I wanted to go sketch the Elephant Migration in the Meatpacking District. Even though the NYC Urban Sketchers planned to sketch this the following weekend, I wanted to sketch it while I was in the neighborhood.

This is an impressive installation of 100 life-sized elephants that is aiming to raise money and awareness for the animals. The elephants are scattered throughout the Meatpacking District mostly along Ninth Avenue around 14th Street. Each of the elephants is unique and is an exact replica of a real elephant now freely roaming on plantations in parts of Southern India. A group of 200 artisans spent years making the sculptures in India where they have shown that humans and animals can live harmoniously in the same space. The elephants are made of lantana, an invasive weed that is taking over forests and displacing wildlife. 

I got there about 3:00 and it was so crowded. I tucked myself against a planter and a sign so I wouldn't get trampled. There were so many people surrounding the sculptures that I could barely see them. I sketched a few and then headed off to Penn Station for the trip home.

Playing With Poscas

 I recently took a workshop with Shawne Cooper called "Playing With Poscas." For those of you who are not familiar with Posca markers they are acrylic markers, fast drying, and come in an assortment of colors and nibs from very thin to outrageously wide. Luckily Shawne had a great assistant in Mel Barranco, who helped her carry around the materials and sketches she brought along to share with us.

We joined Shawne outside the entrance to Little Island, one of the newer NYC parks perched along the river. After Shawne showed us a few samples of her Posca works, we were told to work on our own sketch using BIG shapes first and to only use two colors. A white or black thin liner could also be used for additional details. Shawne discussed some of the benefits of working with the markers and the #1 benefit in my mind is that the Posca markers can be used over another color and will cover completely...even over a very dark color!

We moved into Pier 57 where we worked at large tables for a while. Shawne made her supply of Poscas (and it was quite a supply, let me tell you) available to us to try. She had some great really wide tipped markers that covered a page easily. We tried blending colors, using a waterbrush, and adding watercolors and other materials like colored pencils and Neocolors. Since it was getting close to the time the food stalls were opening, we left the tables to the public and headed upstairs to work outside.

The second floor provided an area where you could stand and have a ledge to work on too. Of course there was a great view of Little Island and the skyline too.

Since I'm height challenged I decided to sit and work, and I had a view of Laura in front of me. The suggestion from Shawne was to work in not more than 3 colors, but I broke out and used a few more. For those who know me, using such bright colors that aren't the normal colors I was seeing is a big challenge for me.

I did a second sketch of Little Island using some of Shawne's suggestions...big shapes first, 

then the details. Using unusual colors for parts of the sketch was fun!

Later we gathered up on the third floor to do a "show and tell." Each person told a bit about what they did in their piece/pieces and told about any materials other than the Posca markers that they used. It was interesting to see what people had sketched and what materials they had used. 

We learned from each other too.

Look at the wonderful work that we were able to create in this workshop! Many thanks to Shawne for a wonderful time and another different way to be creative!

A Day in Oyster Bay

The NYC Urban Sketchers recently met in Oyster Bay to spend the day sketching. It is a fairly easy commute for me since I can drive there in about 45 minutes. Many of the sketchers came from the city out to Long Island and were met at the Long Island Railroad train station which is about a block from the gazebo in the center of town. The location has homes, churches, businesses and if you walk about 2 blocks it has a beach and a harbor area. I've been there before and this time I concentrated on a business called 20th Century Cycles, which happens to be Billy Joel's motorcycle shop. It does a good business and there is usually a bike or two parked in front by customers.

After a short lunch with the other sketchers I concentrated on a shop called Chalikian. While I was sketching a tour group came by and the guide said that this was one of the oldest continuous businesses in Oyster Bay selling jewelry and small antiques. 

It was a fun day for all of us, and I capped it off with a home-made chocolate Italian ice from 

the Bonanza Hot Dog Stand. Yum!

Lifeguard Stand

 I made another visit to the beach, this time to Robert Moses State Park. I sketched the lifeguard stand with Procreate.