With our cold, windy days I've been looking for locations where I can part and sketch from my "mobile studio." At this time of year you can park along the street by Corey Beach in Bayport and get a view like this one. The covered pavilion and the life guard's shack are a good backdrop to the shrubs and beach grasses.
The arches and fancy decoration were a lot to capture. I liked this view looking through the arches to other arches in the midground and then the background. I did use ballpoint pen to make the lines stand out a little...nobody from the Cloisters noticed.
On Saturday the NYC Urban Sketchers met at The Met Cloisters which is located in Fort Tryon Park, high on a hill overlooking the Hudson River. I decided to drive and did the trip by myself. I wasn't sure how long it would actually take me or what the parking situation would be, so I left earlier than my GPS told me to. I got there about 15 minutes before it actually opened. I was able to park directly across from the main entrance. Sitting there, munching on my bagel, in my side-view mirror I noticed Mel and Josh (who were hosting the event) standing in front with another person. I decided to do a very quick sketch of what I was seeing in the mirror. My art supplies were in the trunk and I only had minutes. I grabbed the only paper near me in the car which was a pad of small sticky-notes about 3 inches square. That was my paper. You can see that the signs are backwards because I was seeing them in reverse in the mirror. This took me under 5 minutes.
I don't remember ever being inside, although my sister says my dad took us there when she was maybe in 5th grade (which would put me in 1st grade). The interior is really lovely with chapels, arches, and courtyards. I sketched alongside some of the arches facing toward a small chapel.
The Cloisters' policy for artwork is pencil only, so I used mostly watercolor pencils dry for the sketches I did.
I did a continuous line sketch for a scavenger hunt on Creative Spark. Of course when the sketch was done I added washes of color.
In Middle Island there is a small lake called Artists Lake. It abuts a main east-west road on one side and then is encircled by a few small developments. Every time I pass by there is a flock of birds hanging around. I think a lot of people stop to feed them. This time they were out in the frigid cold sitting on the snow and ice...not a comfortable idea in my opinion. The lake was fairly frozen and there were two teenagers walking on it not too far from the edge. I don't know how thick the ice was, but I wouldn't take the chance. Two men came along with an auger(?) that screws into the ice. I couldn't see where they went and if they were checking the thickness of the ice, but in about 7 minutes they were back at their car and drove off.
I sat outside the entrance to San Succi Preserve in Holbrook to capture the snowy view there.
Our temperatures were still freezing today, but warmer temperatures are supposed to be on their way. The snow will probably be gone soon, so I'm glad I sketched it a few times.
I still participate in the scavenger hunts on Creative Spark. It is a challenge finding some of the items that people put on their lists.
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| a lemon or other fruit and crustaceans |
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| a pine cone (done in direct watercolor |
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| a feather |
