Part 2: Sketches of the day

I went back to sketch from the East Balcony terrace at the Apple Store in Grand Central Terminal.  The first one was done in graphite pencil and the other using the Pilot fountain pen.

Part 1: Sketches of the day.

Of course, a good past time is sketching.  Here are some sketches of the day: the seated young girl with the beautiful long dark hair and the train conductor.  It was a productive sketching day.

Sketching with the Urban Sketchers New Haven

It has been about three decades since I last disembarked at this train station before taking a Greyhound bus to Hartford.   Honestly, I don't have any recollection of what the station looked like then but for a couple of hours last Sunday, the Urban Sketchers of New Haven met and sketched inside the Union Station.  The long oval wooden seat benches lined the central waiting hall.  We gathered together after 3:00 PM for the throw down and soon it was time to catch my train back home.  Fountain pen and Bic 4 color ballpoint pen.  Size is about 8.5 x 5.5 inches on Reflexions sketchbook.

A view from the coffee shop

After having a cup of coffee at this one bookstore, we went walking further down the street and saw another bookstore.  She and I went inside.  I thought we were going to spend a longer time there while she browse the bookshelf.  Well, I just had enough time to sketch this scene.

Yale University Art Gallery

Last Saturday, we took a day trip to New Haven, CT primarily to visit the Yale Center for British Art Museum which I’ve never been to before.  It also turned out to be a community day so there were lots of families with young kids participating in the event.  Up on the 4th floor, there were nice paintings but the view outside this one big window was what captured my interest to sketch.

Sketches at the Grand Central Terminal

I had the Off-Peak Round Trip ticket to the city but finished early with what I needed to do after 4:30PM.  Alas, the off-peak train isn't running until after 8:00PM.  With all the time I had, sketching was the next best thing to do at the East Balcony side of the Apple store.  Up there, I had a good view of the main station floor, busy with all the coming and going of commuters, tourists, and others.

Then it was time to sketch the Apple store at the East Balcony side.  Before  I knew it, the next off-peak train was ready to open its doors to commuters heading home.  Glad there wasn't much snow accumulation but it sure was a hassle moving around in the city in that kind of weather.

Waiting for the train

I had to go to the city yesterday just as the snow was starting to come down.  Inside the Harrison train station waiting room, this lady's phone was abuzz!  We could all hear her steady stream of messages coming in.  The phone was rather loud.  The PA system announced a delayed train arrival at this station.

At the Grass Island Park

It was such a beautiful afternoon looking out toward the Long Island Sound.  Blue skies with streaks of white.  Calm before the storm.  The tree in the foreground first captured my interest then I branched out from there.

I just started using that small Pen and Ink sketchbook freebie from the last Symposium.  Paper quality was ok.  At 80lb gms weight, it was thin so I doubt anything wet is good for it.  I'd better stick with the Bic 4 color ballpoint pen and the Fountain Pen with DeAtramentis Document Black Ink or pencil if I continue using this sketchpad.  Here's what I sketched Tuesday afternoon.

Self Portrait Sunday

I joined the Self Portrait Sunday group.  Basically, you have all week to practice doing a self portrait from life, not photo, and post every Sunday.  Here I was looking at myself in front of the bathroom medicine cabinet mirror and used a Bic 4 color ballpoint pen mini.  In the end, I took a selfie pic, looked at what resemblance there was, sort of, and tried to "correct" my sketch .  It wasn't anywhere close to my likeness but I hope to improve my observation and get a much better sketch next time.

Sketching at The Met

Last weekend's NYC USK group outing was at The MET and I was happy to see many of my sketching friends there.  I found myself sketching the Rembrandt self-portrait which used up all the time I allotted myself that morning before having lunch with Anne.  And the more I try to get a likeness of my sketch to the portrait, the further it deviate from it.  I asked Anne for another half hour to sketch at the Arms and Armor before heading home which was a good thing.  At least I have another sketch for the day.  Look, I found my other sketch from 2017 when we were at the Arms and Armors for comparison!

Sancai Glazed Pottery

There are two current exhibits at the Bruce Museum:  Masterpieces from the Museum of Cartoon Art and Buried Treasures of the Silk Road that I wanted to see.  Friday afternoon was my chance to see the wonderful cartoon drawings.  It struck me that the "WhiteOut" liquid was used on some of these art work to make a correction.  It's delightful to see the collection of work of famous artists who have syndicated cartoons on newspaper dailies at one time.

The other exhibit feature some camel pottery.  I was drawn to this one, Bactrian Caravan Camel, Tang Dynasty, just because it was conveniently displayed next to a bench.  The room lighting was subdued so I had to make do with my Bic 4 color pen.  They have a nice and friendly staff in this museum.  As I went about my sketching, one of the guards recognized me from the Westchester Urban Sketchers outing here over a month ago.  He even offered me a clipboard, just like the last time.  I forgot to ask for his name but on my way out, we met and showed him my sketch.  I gladly  accepted when he asked my permission for a picture of it.  He said he'll show it to the people upstairs ( I guess the office). 

The Met Cloisters

I joined an afternoon sketching with the weekday NYC Urban Sketchers at The MET Cloisters at Fort Tryon Park last Wednesday.  The spot I found was inside that short hallway between the Langon Chapel and the Romanesque Hall before a guard approached me.  "Are you trying to draw?  I'd rather that you don't stand there.  You can use this corner spot here." pointing to my right just below the landing steps,  "so that you're not in the way.  You can sit there at that spot, too" he said.  Well, it turned out to be the perfect spot to sketch the Romanesque Hall.  This time, I applied my two minute "eyes open, eyes closed" idea to see if that will work.  Results still remain to be seen.  I would later learn Dan is the guard's name.  I opened up my sketchbook and showed Dan my sketch of the Romanesque Hall.   It was a good thing.

After the snow fall

I was struck by how beautiful the day is shaping up to be especially after having that snow fall yesterday.  The 3/8" Rosemary & Co. sable blend 772 I purchased two years ago hasn't been put to use so I played around with it this morning.  Here's the result.

A new sketching approach

The idea is this - two minute visual and mental evaluation of the subject to sketch without doing the actual sketching and employing the "eyes open/eyes closed" moment to lock in on the image in mind.  I try to get an imprint of the whole subject, focusing on the darker lines first, and letting that sink in into my mind.  Once the two minute time was up, I started sketching the jar and discovered  the relative ease.  I should look more into this approach and see if I can replicate the results.  It could be a key to faster sketching.

Adding the tile lines made it more pleasing, I think.

The Crabapple Tree

I went back sketching the crabapple trees for 1.5 hours yesterday.  The trimmed tops look nice but the erratic branches everywhere was a challenge.  It was easy to get lost in what part I was drawing.  I try to create the illusion of a foreground and a background branch in my sketch.  There's a lot more to study and learn.  Size is about 2 x 2 inches.

The Antler Sketch

Awhile back, a friend lay sent this antler to the garbage pile heap but I decided to save it even though I wasn't sure what to do with it.  Maybe one day I will....(fill in the blank here).   Thus it remained in my keep for some time now.

Yesterday, as I was practicing long ballpoint pen strokes for my study of tree trunks, I stumbled on the similarity of the branch I was working on to the antler I know I have.  This happened after I darkened the branch and re-oriented the paper to a landscape position.  Well, I stopped what I was doodling, searched for the antler some where, set it on the kitchen table, flipped the paper on the other side and started a clean sketch.  Mostly used a medium tip ballpoint pen for the general shape and shading while a fine ballpoint pen helped with the fine lines and texture.

Tree Study

Yesterday's cloudy morning opened up to a nice, sunny afternoon.  This was a tree study of shapes and shadows while also trying to give the impression of depth.  Ballpoint pen.  I think I'm getting a good hang of it!  Size is about 2 in x 2 in.

Stickybones

Back in February 4, 2016 I saw this Indiegogo campaign for a highly pose-able model.  "I got to have it.", I said to myself!  Well, after so much delay and three years later, I finally received my shipment last Monday and it did not disappoint.  This model can be articulated in so many ways, it's unbelievable what you can do with it.  I plan to use it to improve my figure sketches.  Oh, the gestures you can make with this model!  See the amazing yoga poses here.