Peak times it must be! For the flowering trees are in full bloom these past few days and soon they will be gone. I sketched a few of the ones near my work. It's hard when I don't have much free time during the week so I try to insert sketching during my lunch time and whenever possible after work. I wish I have more time doing this kind of activity.
There's an auto repair shop located on Eldridge Street and Milbank Avenue in Port Chester, NY. Parked in front of the shop is a VW Combi and an older Mercedes-Benz Station Wagon. I haven't seen it move from that spot in many months. Perhaps they aren't in good working order. Yesterday, at lunch time, I found an empty parking spot across from the repair shop where I did my In-Car Sketch of the scene.
I attended the eight o'clock morning mass last Thursday at the Church of the Resurrection in Rye, NY. That was my first mass attendance since the pandemic began last year. I arrived a bit earlier so I sketched the altar. Once the service was over, I added a little bit more details..
This morning, I did the same routine I made last Thursday. It's nice to have a "fresh eye" on this work. Now I see where I made the errors on the previous sketch.
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| The Saturday sketch enhancement. |
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| The Thursday original sketch. |
It was a bit cloudy yesterday but like we did before, we packed lunch and brought our usual gear. She has her book while I got my sketchbook. We don't have a park pass so we paid $10 for the day. It's a huge park that is open year round. There are lots of outdoor activities you can do here including camping, hiking, fishing, etc. We followed the paved road past a small bridge and saw a nice picnic ground. The number of parked cars suggest it was a good day to be outside. The bugs were also very active and in your face. It was less buggy here than the first picnic site we saw just past the park entrance. Here I sketched some fly fishermen. It was fun to see some live catch and release action, too.
It looks like a pop-up community kitchen showed up by the Port Chester Housing Authority today. Some volunteers kept re-supplying the table with groceries and fresh vegetables. Soon, there was a crowd and for a moment they gathered in a semi-group circle. They must have said a prayer and thanks for the blessings. Lucky to have seen it happen while at lunch from across an empty parking lot.
I found the accordion sketchbook my daughter gifted me back in 2016. In it are some pen and ink sketches from my visit to Granada, Spain. It was a spontaneous decision to visit this Andalusian city but it was very much worth it. On my first day, I remember watching the sunset and sketching this view from that little garden by a modern mosque near Calle Mirador de San Nicolas. When the young steward saw what I was doing, he allowed me to stay a bit longer so I can wrap it up and even asked in limited English if I can teach him how to draw. The following day, I was inside the Alhambra. Judging the line quality in these sketches, I must have used the Platinum Carbon Ink Pen filled with Diamine Grey Ink.
Two weeks ago, I sketched at the Muscoot Farm Park with the Westchester Urban Sketchers group. I went home singing praises to Anne on how wonderful this place is. With a beautiful weather we had yesterday, albeit on the chilly side, we packed some sandwiches, trail mixes, cut up fruits and single-serve wine for a picnic at the farm. Of course, I had to do my sketching, too. After our picnic, we ventured out on the park trails, mostly staying on the tracks carved out by the farm tractors. It really was a nice hike but since the park closes at 4:00 PM, we made sure we got out in time. Perhaps, we should start out earlier next time if we were to hike the entire trail loop.
