Yosemite Accommodations

 On Saturday the NYC Urban Sketchers visited Yosemite National Park virtually. As for previous virtual events our guides provided us with a website with access to photos and videos of Yosemite. I started thinking about my visit to Yosemite many, many years ago. My sister, Fran and her husband had moved out to California and my friend and I flew out to visit them. Fran wanted us to see some of the area and arranged for the three of us to visit Yosemite. We stayed in a tent somewhat like this one. None of us were exactly campers but the tents were on raised platforms and had beds. I also remember having to lock up anything that faintly resembled food in a special box to keep the bears away. I guess it worked because we didn't have any bears visit.

Maritime Museum Grounds

 On Wednesday evening the Patchogue Sketch Club and some artists from Paint the Great South Bay met on the grounds of the Long Island Maritime Museum. It is a great place to sketch because the marsh views are always a little different. It was a hot night so I sat in the shade of one of the buildings which gave me a different foreground than I have when I usually sketch there. I sketched the boardwalk and pilings and the marsh first leaving the sky empty. I wanted to paint that when the sun was starting to set. There were some muted sunset colors and a bit of orange where the ball of the sun was as I finished this.

People Two Ways

 I gave Art Rage on my iPhone another try at the pool. I still haven't figured out zooming in and out without ruining what I have. lol This was sketched at the pool and I did most of the color there, but when I got home I picked up my stylus and used it to complete the color and add lines. That worked much better than my finger. lol I still am having a hard time filling an entire space with color. I have a hard time getting rid of the tiny white spaces.

The other night I was out sketching with the Patchogue Sketch Club as well as some folks who were painting for "Paint the Great South Bay," a plein air event going on this week which I'm not doing this year. I have too much going on and it takes too much time to really participate properly. I did this sketch of one of the other sketchers, Liz working directly in pen.

Assorted Food

 Sometimes for the WetCanvas Scavenger Hunts we end up searching for and sketching food. I don't mind except it usually makes me hungry. Here are a few recent food sketches.

Ah...a NY bagel.

Some almond biscotti...

A bit of avocado...

Circus Fantasy with Lefty Lucy

 This week "Let's Art With Lefty Lucy" had a bit of a circus/fantasy theme. Lefty Lucy's costumes always bring a smile to my face. Lucy as ringmaster?

The final 20 minute sketch is usually a portrait and a lot of fun to do. When she sits up closer I was able to see that the decorations on the hat were feathers and she was wearing the spider web veil.

Hibiscus ii

For the few days that the hibiscus plant was in my living room I did a few sketches of the opening (and closing) blooms. Now that it is back outside on the patio I've been too lazy to go back out in the heat and sketch it.  Here is another sketch of an open hibiscus and a bud.

 

Digitals

 I haven't done a digital sketch in a long time. The ones I did previously were done with Art Rage on my iPad and since I didn't do them regularly I didn't make a lot of progress. The other day it was rainy and a perfect day to go for a pedicure. I had my phone with me and was going to read the book I had downloaded on it but once I got into the pedicure chair I decided to do a sketch. I quickly downloaded Art Rage to the phone. I had no stylus so I was sketching with my finger. The screen on my phone is small and my finger blocked most of my view but at least the figure was recognizable...

so I did another one. I couldn't figure out how to enlarge sections and then make them the correct size again and couldn't figure out how to do layers and move them. I guess I will have to practice if I want to do this again. The nail technician didn't come out too bad, but with that misshapen foot I may need to see the podiatrist. lol

American Indian Pow Wow

On Saturday the NYC Urban Sketchers virtually sketched images for an American Indian Pow Wow. I have never attended a pow wow, but have thought about going a few times. We have a branch of the Shinnecock Indians who have a reservation east of where I live and each year around Labor Day they have a ceremonial pow wow there. Our event leaders from our group provided a website with links to images and videos of pow wows all over the United States. 

 

Hibiscus 1

 After my surgery a friend and her husband sent me a hibiscus plant. I had read that these plants require a lot of sunlight...something I don't really get. I put the plant outside on the railing of my patio. There were several buds on the plant that all fell off in a short time. I thought that didn't bode well for blooms, but recently new buds appeared. The first one opened into this beautiful hibiscus flower. I stood outside by the railing and sketched the first flower.  Of course this weekend the forecast was for Hurricane Henri to sweep through our area, so I brought the hibiscus and my two hanging plants indoors for safety. 

A friend told me the hibiscus flowers only last for a day and then they close up and fall off. Luckily when the first flower closed another bud was ready to start blooming. So far I have had three flowers. I was really happy to see this!

Here is the sketch of the first hibiscus flower. I sketched it in my Stillman & Birn Delta Sketchbook.

Lavender

 I think one of the nicest fragrances is the smell of lavender. In the past I've sketched in a lavender field a few times with one of my art groups. Due to my surgery I missed the lavender when it was in bloom. For a recent Wet Canvas Scavenger Hunt we had to sketch something that smelled wonderful. I have a bunch of lavender that I bought at the lavender field a few years ago. The fragrance is no longer very strong but if you are close to it or more the sprigs a little you can still smell it and it makes me feel good.

For those of you who are curious, Hurricane Henri didn't hit us directly. The storm wasn't as bad as they predicted...just a lot of rain but so far no really strong winds. Apparently it made landfall in Rhode Island but is supposed to swirl back this way.  

Skies

 As we were sitting in Shorefront Park in Patchogue the sky had these wonderful sections as the sunset started. It was fun to try to capture them. These are small...about 2 1/2 x 4 each.

Shorefront Park

 The Patchogue Sketch club met at Shorefront Park in Patchogue on Wednesday. I find it a rather dull place to sketch. It is a big park with lots of space but nothing really exciting to sketch. The views of the water have no shrubbery or trees or reeds. Instead of focusing on the water I decided to face west hoping that that sunset would be nice. There were some buildings and cars in the far distance so I included those.

Lapin Agile

 On Tuesday nights I am always ready to sketch Lefty Lucy but this week there was some kind of power failure and she couldn't pose for us. Now what??? I was ready to sketch and had no model, so I decided to take a virtual visit to the Montmatre area of Paris. I used Googlemaps to find the area and saw that there was a cabaret in that area. It took a while to get a front view of Lapin Agile which is a landmark venue in a 19th-century stone house and features chanteuses singing classic French songs. Too bad Jerry and I didn't know about it when we were in Paris...he would have loved it.

Oyster Bay - Part 2

 The NYC Urban Sketchers have met up in Oyster Bay several times in the past. Down the block from where we meet is a building that was the "Summer White House" when Teddy Roosevelt was President. There is also a famous snack bar there called the Bonanza that serves hot dogs, fries, chili and assorted other "foods" and in addition has a menu of outrageous Italian ices. According to their website they have been serving the community from that location for over 100 years. I just love the quirky look to the building itself, so I found a spot across the street where I could sit and see the line of people waiting that kept changing as I sketched. Of course IRL there is a tree that is pretty much smack in the middle along the curb in front of the stand. I used artistic license and left out the tree since it blocks so much. Then of course there is the obligatory car that always pulls into the space on the corner blocking the view (even though it is a no parking zone). Again I used artistic license and left out the cars. I just hope the car(s) don't stay too long and sketch the people when the cars are gone.

Suzala, our host each time we go, has told me many times that they have the BEST chocolate Italian ices made with Ghiradelli chocolate. I'm not much of an Italian ice person (I prefer something creamy like ice cream) but I do love chocolate. After listening to her rave about them I did finally try one and it was delicious! I was raving about it as we started gathering for show and tell and a few of the other sketchers also went over to indulge. 

Anyway, here is this year's version of the Bonanza stand.

Oyster Bay - Part 1

The NYC Urban Sketchers met on Sunday this weekend because it was supposed to be very hot on Saturday and storms were forecast. I'm glad we changed the day because Sunday the weather was perfect for outdoor sketching in Oyster Bay. We have sketched in Oyster Bay several times before and it is a town on Long Island Sound with some old homes, a few lovely churches, a motorcycle shop that houses Billy Joel's motorcycle collection, several restaurants, and views of boats and water. It was another location that I could go to easily and know that I could handle the walking. 

My friend, Susan drove and we did a little tour of the town looking for sketching spots. For my first sketch I spotted this small yellow house right nearby our meeting spot. The house was in itself a very basic, sort of simple structure but had a wonderful, wild garden in front of it behind a fence. It was also on a side street and there were no cars parked in front. In fact I had a spot to sit directly across the street that was marked "no parking here to the corner." 

I sat down and a little while later my friend, Andrew came along and asked if I minded if he sat next to me. It was fine with me. The homeowner, who was a fairly elderly woman, came out a few times to work with the plants and flowers and must have noticed that Andrew and I were staring at her house...so she came over to see what we were doing. She was thrilled to see us painting it. Andrew is deaf so he wasn't able to hear what she said about how she works on the garden every year and how much it means to her. He showed her a card that said he had a hearing problem so she wouldn't think he was being rude and ignoring her. Andrew can read lips but I don't think he could understand much of what she was saying so I filled him in later. It was a nice location to sketch!

Under the Sea - Part 2

With the NYC Urban Sketchers theme of "Under the Sea" I just had to do something that involved a diver...so here is a quicker sketch.

One of our Zoom leaders for the virtual events, Dina (on the top left corner) tries to take a screenshot of everyone holding up their artwork for each event. I think we had 2 pages of faces on Saturday but I don't seem to have the second one. I am smack in the middle of this page. This week we had a sketcher join us from Australia and another from Germany. I'm impressed with the lady from Australia because it was 1 AM there when we finished.

Under the Sea - Part 1

 Yesterday the NYC Urban Sketchers's Virtual theme was "Endless Wonders Under the Sea." We were provided with a wonderful web page designed by one of the members with links to all kinds of videos and photos of things under the sea. I decided to use a page from a sketchbook I had received from two good friends. It is a Stillman & Birn Nova Trio and contains toned papers in three colors: tan, black, and gray. I knew the black world be a fun background for some of the sea creatures I saw in the photos, like this blanket octopus. I used gouache instead of watercolors since it is opaque enough to cover the black. I really like the way this came out.

Still Life with Veggies

 For the last few days I didn't get out to sketch. Between physical therapy, waiting for a dryer repair, and the heat I barely squeaked out some time for the pool. But while waiting for the repairman I put together a few things from the fridge for a still life.

Harbor Crab View

 The location for sketching with the Patchogue Sketch Club on Wednesday evening was across from Harbor Crab in Patchogue. Harbor Crab is a waterfront restaurant built on what seems to be a barge on one of the branches of the river in Patchogue. We had a great view and luckily a nice breeze to cool us on an unusually warm day.

With Wings

For her costume for "Let's Art with Lefty Lucy" we were treated to a bit of an angelic look. Not only does she change her costume but her hair too. It is much easier to draw it straight instead of the curly look. For some reason I made her face and body a little too elongated in some of the sketches..

Garden Gate

 This scene has attracted me before. I love the white gate calling you to the garden. This is a corner house off Broadway Ave in Sayville.

Small Sketches

 I do a lot of sketching for the Wet Canvas Scavenger Hunts and some of the small sketches come out better than I expect. This one was sketched with a Sketch & Wash pencil and then I added watercolors. I like how the two materials worked together.

This was done just as a direct watercolor.

At the Farmer's Market

On Saturday morning Sayville hosts a farmer's market at The Grange, a local park. I haven't been there to sketch in quite a while but that's where I headed. I found a spot to sit in the shade at a picnic table next to one of the booths. As I started sketching the woman in the booth yelled over that she recognized me and that I had sketched her once before when she first started working at the farmer's market probably back in 2010. I brought over the sketch and we were talking for a while. The wanted to know if I still had the original sketch and said she'd like to buy them. So now I am looking through all my sketchbooks for the other sketch of "Sweet Melissa."

Garden Market

 Out in Mastic there is a garden center/market called La Corte's Farm Stand. I've sketched there several times and they usually have a collection of flowers or pumpkins later in the fall and some unusual sculptures or garden art outside...like the giraffe this time. It is always fun to see what they have on display. When I was finished with the sketch I went inside and bought some delicious tomatoes and corn...probably the best I've had so far this season. They also had lots of pies and cookies which smelled wonderful...but I resisted.

Shallow Water

On Wednesday the Patchogue Sketch Club met at Swan River Preserve in Patchogue. Looking at the sky it was fairly certain that at some point we would have at least showers. I didn't want to head too far along the pathway just in case, so I wandered over by the train trestle bridge. There is a kayak launch there and rather shallow water where you could see the brown dirt, some rocks and some green algae on the water and the rocks. There were also some dark areas from the leaves under the water and beneath the foliage. Sure enough when I was about 75% finished it started to drizzle very lightly. I was tucked under the overhang from a big tree which shades most of my paper, but I did get some texture from the misty drizzle. Of course when I finally reached a stopping point, packed up my materials (except for the sketchbook which was much too wet), and walked back toward my car the drizzle stopped. Some of the other sketchers had already left but a few were left so we enjoyed sitting around and talking until it got dark. 

Polkadots for Lefty Lucy

Tuesday night was "Let's Art with Lefty Lucy." I love the outfit she was wearing with all the dots, but originally I thought it was going to be too hard to do. It turned out to be easier than I expected so I really enjoyed it. I'm happy that her apron came out looking like sheer fabric. She is a lot of fun! 

 

Coffee Time

When I was in Bellport the other day I noticed a new place to have coffee...at the Bellport Apothecary. Looks like a fun spot. 

Beach Time

 Sunday was a cloudy, breezy day and I was looking for a place to sketch. I was a bit worn out after my day with the NYC Urban Sketchers on Saturday, but had to pick up a painting in Patchogue from an exhibit that was closing. I ended up stopping at a small beach in Bayport. I think the playground was actually bigger than the beach itself, but it is nice to have any beach on the Great South Bay. It is especially good for families because the area is usually small and the swimming area is roped off.  I also like about that they usually aren't crowded and you don't have more than a few steps before you are on the actual sand.

Astoria Park - Part 2

 After my first sketch in Astoria Park I slowly walked up to where we were meeting for lunch. That is a special time because in the morning most of the sketchers are scattered all over and usually you don't know all the members that are actually there. But most of them do show up for lunch! It was great to see everyone and catch up with them.

After lunch I returned to the same location as before but I turned toward the opposite direction. This is the view looking through underneath the Triborough Bridge. Of course NYC isn't NYC without a touch of graffiti, so I included that where it was on the wall.

I always love to sketch other sketchers at work. Mark was seated nearby and was sketching the same view of Hell's Gate Bridge that I posted yesterday.

Someone snapped a photo of me sketching Mark.

At 3:00 we met up again for "show & tell." There were about 20 of us there on Saturday and it is always fun to see the variety of sketches from the same location. Lewis always takes photos of each member with at least one of their sketches.

The day was a lot of fun, but I was exhausted. My sketching stamina isn't what it once was because I'm out of practice sketching all day. My hip felt OK on Saturday, but I knew I had overdone the walking at the park. (Walking to the ladies room was farther than I remembered.) On Sunday I could feel that I had done too much...but I think it was worth it.

Astoria Park - Part I

 On Saturday the NYC Urban Sketchers were meeting in person at Astoria Park in Astoria, Queens. With all that had happened with Jerry and then the restrictions from Covid 19 I haven't been able to join the sketchers in person since some time in December of 2019. This was an opportunity that I really wanted to take advantage of because it is a location that we can drive to easily and there is parking. Also it would be a somewhat shorter day of sketching and I could leave Jerry for part of the day. I texted my friend, Suzala to see if she was going and she volunteered to drive if I came to her house. My only hesitancy was the amount of walking it might involve. I had been there before to sketch and knew what the park was like.

It was so great to see the other sketchers! There were probably about 20 of us that showed up and for quite a few of us this was our first meeting since Covid. We've seen each other at Zoom events but not in person. My feeling is that there is a possibility that if the Covid cases start rising again we may be restricted again, so I definitely wanted to do this now while we could. Several of us picked a spot that was along the East River which has views of two bridges, the Triborough Bridge (which I didn't sketch this time) and Hell's Gate Bridge which is below.

We took a break for lunch and some catching up...but I had to walk back up the hill to our meeting location which was worth the hike.

Seascape

 I still love sketching scenes along the water here on Long Island. We are blessed to have such great views to capture nearby. This was done in East Patchogue.