The Cathedral of St. John the Divine

Last Saturday was my second visit to the Cathedral of St. John the Divine.  The first one was about six or seven years ago, also with the NYC Urban Sketchers.  We finished our show and tell early at 2:00PM, because the cathedral was to have a holiday choir performance at 4:00PM.  I made three sketches and I think I like the high cathedral ceiling best.

The high cathedral ceiling.  I misjudged the height so I ran out of space on my sketchbook. 

The choir and orchestra rehearsal.

The sound and light technicians checking everything is okay.  The color wash was added later at home.

 
 

HS Art & Design Draw-a-thon 20

I first joined the HS Art & Design draw-a-thon in Nov 2018 and has been going ever since to this semi-annual fundraising event.  When I first did the live drawing, it was very exciting and very exhausting at the same time.  A week ago, I did their last event for 2024 and it still felt new like it was my first time although I've gotten a little bit better at it.

  

In the Chelsea Market

A week ago, we walked the High Line Park from W26th until we got near the Chelsea Market building.  We got off the elevated walk park and visited several shops inside this very busy shopping center.  Since it was cold that day, we decided a cup of coffee and some pastry would be good at the Sarabeth's Bakery.  They have a glass-encased visible work floor area that I sketched while waiting for Anne to come back from viewing others shops nearby.

 

At the HUGH Food Court

Last year, I made a small detailed sketch of this group of Urban Sketchers who stayed behind at The HUGH Food Court after the Show & Tell was over.  I brought the same sketchbook today and used a previously prepared page with some acrylic markers on it.  Nice to see a contrasting comparison of how I sketched at the same venue from a year ago.  

That's Mary P in front of me and a few other sketchers in the background.

I still remember this scene and that's Mary P on the far left side.

A Day at the MET

Coming out of the "Art Work: Artists working at the MET" exhibit at Gallery 199, we emerged at Gallery 153 where the Greek Art: 6th-4th Century BC is located.  Another artist occupy one end of a corner bench so I sat at the other end.  Soon another fellow positioned himself in between us and pulled out an iPad and fired up his Procreate app.  The first guy there got up and moved somewhere.  I think he didn't like the  company.  I sketched the closest to my field of view.

The Grand Brasserie Restaurant

I made a 10 minute sketch of this restaurant at the Vanderbilt Hall in Grand Central Terminal last Wednesday.  It was a rough sketch but the timing was long enough so I could get the 6:39PM train ride home.  I added the hatching a day later and this is the result.

Thanksgiving Day Holiday

It's the Thanksgiving Day holiday.  A rainy one though...  Just staying at home.  Trying out some ideas to paint the view outside the balcony window.  Mixed media.

The Ramen Bar

We had lunch at this ramen place in Chelsea last Sunday.  The place is called Jun-Men Ramen Bar.  Their ramen broth is so good, I want to go back there again!  Anne ordered a Chicken Ramen and sake while I chose the Pork Ramen.  Of course, having a need to sketch, I included my ramen bowl on the lower right corner of the sketchbook page!

   

The Raclette Sandwich

On Sunday, at the Bryant Park Holiday Market, we lined up to order a traditional Raclette sandwich. There was a long line but not a problem or me. Sketch-waiting time. We lined up to pay and waited some more before they made our sandwich. They melt the half-wheel Raclette cheese under the heating element before scraping the melted cheese and spread it onto the bread. I love stinky cheese!

The Young Lady with a Red Bonnet

She dons a beautiful red bonnet hat and a heavy, bold colored, and checkered wool coat.  That was the reason I sketched her from the open gap space of the head rests in front of me.  As soon as we hit the end of line, I tried to get her name, first by complementing her beautiful hat and before asking for her name - Tena.  It worked! 

Commuter Sketches

On the 6 Train to Grand Central, I noticed this father of two with his young son on his baby chest carrier.  His daughter to his right but was out of my view.  I only get to see the top of hear head but I was able to get the whole scene down.  Added the hatching later at home.

 

A Coffee Shop sketch

Not one, but two sketches done last weekend at this nice coffee house in Long Island City, Queens.  I try to faithfully observe and capture the gestures quickly.  When done, I try to put a name to the subjects I sketch.  Usually, they would gladly give their name when asked.   If I feel like it, on another occasion, I go back to the captured sketch and add the hatching later.  

A Commuter Sketch

A rainy Thursday morning commute but I don't mind the rain.  We need the rain!  Lots of train commuters this morning.  I did not take my preferred seat at the front.  Instead, I chose to stay at the back end so I can have this view.  Also, it was a good thing I have a backup sketchbook in my backpack for I left the other one on top of the scanner bed at home.

A nice view from the back area of the car.

A Brioche and Tea

I've passed by W37th St. many times and had seen the small dining area at the back of this bakery (Marvelous by Fred).  I thought it would be nice to sketch there one day.  Well, it happened yesterday and was so glad I did.  The raw sketch was done on-site and I finished the shading at home.  The young lady at the center is Sophia.  She was delighted to see the sketch.

Recent Sketches

I have not posted a new entry here for a while but it doesn't mean I've stopped working on my sketches and drawings.  Here's the most recent one from yesterday on my way home from work.  This delivery guy parked and waiting for an order in front of Chick-Fill-A across from the Grand Central Terminal building you see in the middle back area.

Across from the GCT.

 

Portomarin Church

Last month, for a week, we walked the last 114 Km of the Camino de Santiago starting from Sarria (Lugo). Day 1 - Sarria to Portomarin was about 24 km hike. It was the longest hike I've done ever! At the end of the day,
I managed to sketch this 12th century church in Portomarin which was previously situated along the banks of Minho river. This church was rebuilt "piece by piece" on its current site back in the 1960's when the river was flooded to form a reservoir.

Weekend sketches

In keeping with the daily sketch practice, I did a couple last Sunday.  The first one was at the local Target parking lot and the other at the Rye Marshlands Conservancy.  Two different subjects, stretching the mind on what best approach to mark making.

A Sketch Crawl in Park Slope: Part II

At lunchtime, I made my way down 5th Avenue to join the other sketchers near the Old Stone House of Brooklyn.  The playground was full of young families enjoying the mostly cloudy day.   The sketchers were given instructions on where to meet for the 3:00 PM "show and tell" event which would be held at the other side of the Old Stone House (behind this house view I sketched).  For this sketch sheet, I initially started with a direct to watercolor sketch (Stone House roofing and some foliage) but later switched to doing line marks with the ballpoint pen, a fountain pen, and acrylic markers.  The the two young urban sketchers in the foreground provided a good anchor to finish the sketch.

A Sketch Crawl in Park Slope

My first sketch in today's sketch meet at Park Slope, Brooklyn was near the corner of President Street and 5th Avenue.  Can't miss the pink painted storefront of a bookstore, I had to sketch it on this pre-marked page.  Meanwhile, the car at the curb by me started to pull out and the rear passenger window rolled down.  The young girl in the back shouted "I like your drawing!" with a nice smile and a thumbs up!  Oh, it made my day!

Friday Evening Sketch

I made a quick stop at the Morgan Museum and Library after work and sketched the BeBimBop Jazz ensemble.  They're there every Friday evenings from 4:30PM to 6:45PM.  Lucky to have caught the tail end of their performance this evening.  After their set, I walked over to show this sketch to Joe, Ean, and Danny.  They were kind to ask permission to take a photo of it, too.

Doodles on Black Mark

I love the new sketchbook my son gifted me last April.  The paper is thin yet strong enough for ink and light watercolor wash.  Interestingly, I used the black marker on a few pages to play with.  Much to my surprise, the ink results blew me away.  It looks as though the black mark was floating against the background of small boxes of lines.  This is exciting and it has to be explored even further.

 

A commuter sketch

Back at sketching metro commuters to and from the city.  Both cars were crowded!  I got the car number this morning before I detrained but not the one on the return trip home.  I forgot to note it down since I couldn't see it from where I was seated. (Right image sketch)

The Gantry at Riverside Park South

Once a busy depot to transport rail cars onto the barges across the Hudson River, the gantry is a rusty, decaying relic at the Riverside Park South.  Amazing nevertheless.  One of the many highlights to see at this beautiful riverfront park.

 

Pier 1 CAFE

It was my first time visiting the beautiful Riverside Park South riverfront, thanks to the NYC Urban Sketchers.  Lots of interesting subjects to sketch at this park but the first thing that attracted my attention was the overhead bridge support structure for the West Side Highway.  It's amazing how the riverfront has been rehabilitated for public use.  I thought the Pier 1 Cafe is a nice subject against the highway support structure in the background.

 

Lunch at Bryant Park

The Bryant Park is three blocks away from where I work so I took a lunch break there one day this week.  I saw a group having a nice break in one corner so I sketched them.  I don't think they noticed me at all and even if they did, it was just a sketch of them anyway.

A Pizza Store sketch

I started the work week without a packed lunch so it gave me a chance to go out of the office, buy some food, and eat lunch outside.  I chose to eat lunch at the converted walk space along Broadway and West 37th Street.  From where I was, I saw a Pizza place that attracted my attention as I ate my lunch.  There was a nice reflection of the street scene against the shop glass window.  I  thought it would be a good sketch practice.  It was and I finished the hatching later at home.

A Vespa Scooter

While Anne was busy checking out the stationery store, niconeco zakkaya, on East 10th Street, I was busy sketching a parked scooter within my field of view.  I was in a bench in front of a hair salon two doors down the stationery store.  The scene was busy but I kept the sketch minimally by limiting the details that come with the subject.  And I think it worked fine!

After the workshop

After my workshop event at Bryant Park last weekend, Anne and I met up and decided to explore a little bit of the shops in the Lower East Side.  We visited a stationery store and a coffee shop.  I had the chance to sketch inside the Le Phin Coffee Shop and shared the finished work with the grateful owner/proprietor.  When asked if they could write their names on the page, they said "it would be an honor".  What a nice feeling to share something that brings joy!

  

The Old Tree by Pamela Rosenkranz

The NYC Urban Sketchers met today at the High Line to sketch the Old Tree installation by Pamela Rosenkranz.  Today's visit was just right for this installation will be replaced with a new one in the fall .  The news says a huge Pigeon sculpture will take its place.  Today's turnout was good though and everyone seem to have had a good time.  

Lower Right: Susan and Joan

Summer Friday Blues

Our Summer Fridays hasn't been kind to me the last couple of weeks (supposedly off-work at 2:00 pm provided all work is done).  Today, I left work later than I would like but on the way to Grand Central Terminal, I got the idea to shake off the blues by sketching something, anything.  I settled on a scene at the corner of 5th Avenue and West 38th Street.  Surprisingly, it worked and I felt better as I added some more shading to the sketch on the train ride home.  I thought the small touch of color on the flag made it more interesting.

The Rubin Museum of Art

When I learned about the NYC USk going to the Rubin Museum of Art last weekend, I had to go, for it may very well be the last of our group outing there (a first for me) before the museum closes it doors in October and goes globally virtual only.  A docent and an urban sketcher friend, Judy Garza, gave us a special private group tour which was really nice.  

Two sketchers among the many who were gathered at this sculpture by Tsherin Sherpa.

In another gallery on the same floor, I found this sculpture, "Durga Killing the Buffalo Demon", of Nepalese origin.  I have never sketched so many hands at one time but I just did a suggestion of hands more than actually doing all in fine details.

The last sketch I did was of Ganesha at the main floor as three urban sketcher friends were sketching the same subject.  It was a fun and productive day for me.  Unfortunately, I had to leave the show & tell portion much earlier than usual as I had other engagements to fulfill that day in the city.

The Bryant Park Fountain

It's one of the most recognizable spot at the beautiful Bryant Park.  I wanted to capture a little of the fountain and some scenes beyond.  This was the view looking north of the park.  What I would like to do next is to get some color on this using Procreate.

 

A Summer Friday Sketch

This sketch was done early last month when we were two weeks in into the office Summer Fridays program.  I recall that was a muggy afternoon but I persevered in capturing the scene at Broadway and 40th Street.  This sketch was done on a double spread B5 size MUJI notebook.  I took photos of it but didn't get a satisfactory results.

Up until this evening, the Canon scanner software I've been using with my Mac was the Image Capture application, which I wasn't too happy about with the output. Enter the Canon IJ Scan Utility Lite which I discovered from an IG post by someone I follow and who does really amazing artwork.  He got the same scanner like mine and now I know I will get better scan results of my artwork with this new software than if I were to photograph it.  It can even stitch together two pictures into one.  It's a win-win situation!  Yay!

The Bus Station Shed

I did a sketch of the bus station shed from a few years back when I was just exploring this technique of sketching with pre-marked pages.  Last Friday, I made another attempt at using a sheet of pre-marked sheet to capture this bus station shed in front of what was once the Lord & Taylor Department store.

The steps at NYPL

I made a sketch in front of the NYPL terrace last week using a page from a square sketchbook that I had done some pre-markings.  I like figuring out what will work with the scene overlay against the pre-marked page.  I saw a portion of the curved ceiling that might work so I started from there.  It seem like I'm getting the hang of it.