EDM - Week 4

Can you believe that May is over already? I can't. And that means that EDM (Every Day in May) ends today. Here are my sketches for the last week of the challenge.

This is a sketch of my friend Susan's cat Mocha done at her house last week.

Mocha wasn't doing to well at the time and since then Susan lost Mocha. 

RIP in Mocha!

Beach Bench

This was a quick sketch I did while sitting on the small beach in Sayville.

The beach is tiny so I can always get a view of someone sitting on one of the benches by the walkway. I love his typical summer pose.

Susan's Flowers

I am very lucky to have a good friend who has a beautiful garden in East Patchogue, and as soon as a new flower comes up Susan calls me to let me know. She called the other day to tell me her poppies were starting to bloom....so I was there in a flash. I did two small poppy paintings and one iris.

These are about 2 1/2 x 5. Thanks, Susan!!!

Patchogue Garden Sketch

Last Wednesday the Patchogue Sketch Club went to a small garden at the corner of Terry Street and South Ocean Avenue in Patchogue. It is maintained by the Patchogue Garden Club and they have done a really nice job on the plants and flowers. I sketched looking out of one the trellises at the edge of the park. I even caught Reu'ven sketching on the right of the picture.

Irises at the Arboretum

Last week I made a second visit to the Bayard Cutting Arboretum to find the irises that were in bloom. These purple beauties are so much fun to paint. These are small...the first one is 4 x 8 and the second one is 2 1/2 x 5.

Honoring Those Who Sacrificed

Today is Memorial Day here in the USA. For many it is a holiday with bbqs, or a day of shopping for that big sale, of just a day off from work. Many people forget that the day actually honors those who gave their lives in service to our country.

I planned to head to Sayville which usually has a lovely memorial service in Sparrow Park on Main Street. I checked the internet to find out what time I needed to be there and it said 11:00...but they were wrong. The service at the park was already over when I arrived, and I just barely caught the tail end of the service in front of the Sayville Fire Department. I sketched two members of the color guard in front of the property as well as the memorial wreath.

When the service was over I went over to the memorial in Sparrow Park and sketched that too.

My gratitude to those who fought for our rights and freedom, 

especially those who gave their lives for us. 

Rhodies

Last weekend I was at the Bayard Cutting Arboretum in Oakdale for the Wet Paints Member's Show which I was participating in. When the show was over I grabbed my paints and headed to paint something in bloom while I was there. Some of the rhododendrons were in bloom so I did them in watercolors and ink.

Garden Tour Sketches

My plein air group (PALS) is taking part in the Sayville Garden Tour next month. During the tour there will be artists from our group painting in each of the gardens. The garden club prints up a black & white brochure to hand out when people buy the tickets for the tours, and they asked if we could do a few small black & white sketches of each garden to go inside the brochure. So last week 6 of us met and did a quick sketchcrawl through the gardens.

Two of the gardens are at private condo units in the same complex. 

This was the front garden in one of them.

This garden had a lot of nooks with statues tucked among the flowers and foliage.

I thought the pig was cute.

This garden had a pond area with a fish that I think sprays water when it is up an running.

Most of the gardens were still being readied for the tour next month, so not all features were ready and with our weather many of the flowers were not in bloom yet.

This garden also had areas with statues and a water feature that was being prepped by the homeowner that day.
I did like the cherub on the pedestal.

There are 8 gardens in all, but I didn't get to sketch each one. It was very strange to be working on a sketch of a garden in black and white. I was itching to get at the color! lol

Daily Life Sketches

Over on "Paper, Paint, Pencils, Pens" we have been sketching things that represent "Daily Life."

I began with my morning routine which includes coffee, oatmeal with berries...

and then I go off walking either alone or with friends twice a week.
I needed my walking sneakers.

Eating out is a fun part of daily life.

I was potting my herbs. I'm growing basil, rosemary, curly leaf parsley and dill this year.

My sketch group met in Patchogue to sketch one of the small corner parks.

Reu' ven was sketching on the right.

Food shopping seems to be part of every day for me.

And with the amount of driving I do to locations to paint and sketch I'm always getting gas.

EDM - Week 3

Here are my sketches for Every Day in May for week 3.

Sayville Sketches

Last Wednesday the Patchogue Sketch Club met outside Starbucks in Sayville. Luckily we had an umbrella to sit under because it was drizzling on and off and it was much too cold for a May night. We were all bundled up to sketch.

First I sketched the couple at the next table. It didn't look like they were drinking anything, but maybe they had already finished. lol

Once in a while I challenge myself to work directly in paint or ink without any pencil lines. 

I did that for this sketch looking down Main Street...paint first, then ink, then more paint.

Beach Rocks & Lighthouse

Last week I took a ride up along the north fork of Long Island to the Horton Point Lighthouse in Southold. After this weekend you need to be a resident to park in the area, so it was now or wait until the fall. I decided to go down to the beach which required walking down a staircase of over 125 steps. Of course that meant I had to walk up those same stairs when I was finished. It was a workout lugging my backpack and chair too. This was a bit of the rocky view down there.

Of course when I got to the top I had to sketch the lighthouse, which you can't see from down on the beach. You have to be a ways out in the water in order to see it.
Both of these are 5 x 7.

At the Arboretum

This was done at the Bayard Cutting Arboretum in Oakdale last week. The wisteria are in bloom!!!

This is 8 x 10.

Sketching in Washington Heights.

I met up with the NYC Urban Sketchers on Saturday. Svetlana organized a wonderful day for us in Washington Heights. We met at Bennett Park which is on the former site of Ft. Washington. Inside the park are some cannons which were fun to sketch...or climb on like the little kids did.

Next we headed down the hill to Plaza Lafayette which overlooks the river and the George Washington Bridge. I wanted to try to catch the height of the bridge down to the bike path down at the bottom so I used a vertical format.

We had some regular members of the group show up to sketch and welcomed a few new sketchers. We have members from France, Germany, Russia, and China sketching with us. Most of them work here in NYC or are finishing their education. It is an interesting group.

Here are John and Mark sketching the view.

Svetlana 

Jimmy 

Lucy

Michael

And the whole group from the morning.

Our next stop was lunch. Some of us sketched a bit. I did a woman at the next table. I used my ink pen and the crayons that were on the table. That waxy smell of crayons always takes me back to beijng a kid. I usually sketch directly on the table covering, but decided I wanted it in my sketchbook...just in case it came out good. 

After lunch we went down to the park by "The Little Red Lighthouse" also known as the Jeffrey's Hook Lighthouse. It is right at the bottom of the George Washington Bridge. It is no longer operating but is a popular spot, especially since a children's book had been written about it. I liked seeing this 40 ft structure contrasted against the huge bridge. I sketched the lighthouse with a view of the workings underneath the bottom of the bridge.

There was a group having a picnic nearby so I included them in a second sketch. I did this one directly in ink...no pencil lines first.

My thanks to Svetlana for organizing a great day of sketching and to all the sketchers who showed up today to make the day such fun!

I reposted most of this from the NYC Urban Sketchers blog...I don't know how/why it came out with a colored background and frames around the sketches. I wish I knew. lol