Progression

The first time I came back to drawing, not by choice, but by necessity started out with a pencil and paper in the spring of 2015.  As the skill building process evolved, I was drawn to the use of pen and ink.

Looking back at some of my older works, these two drawings give me pride and happiness.  Glad that I rediscovered the joy of making art.

NYC USK Outing last weekend

I was 30 minutes late getting to the Bennett Park.  Several others were already sketching the relic cannon.  A young boy wearing a red shirt, reading a book, provided a good contrast to the dull grey color of the cannon next to him.  Alas, our one hour time limit was up and it was time to proceed to the bottom of 181st Street.

The terrace offered a sweeping view of the Hudson River and the great George Washington Bridge.  Another hour to sketch here before heading down to the bottom of the bridge where the little Red Lighthouse is located.  That one hour came by so fast.  I needed more time for my pencil sketch of the bridge.  I stayed behind while the group made their way down to the bottom of the GWB.  I thought I'd catch up easily with them on my bike. 

They were already having lunch by the time I got there.  The view was fantastic!  Lots of activities going on the river and at the park.  It felt so diminutive looking up the suspension tower!  Somehow, I had forgotten about the Little Red Lighthouse.

The suspension bridge tower on the New York side.

I'm hoping to finish the lines and add colors on these pencil sketches one day.

The cannon and little boy in red shirt sketch.

The panoramic view from the bottom of 181st Street.

Time-Lapse

That beautiful church I blogged the other day looked even better from this other angle.  Another sketch warranted!  As I was taking a video clip, by accident, I recorded a 1 second time-lapse, not a movie, a time-lapse on my iPhone!  

I guess I mistakenly swiped the screen right?  Wasn't aware of that iPhone feature before but I immediately capitalized on it by recording a much longer time-lapse segment while coloring the sketch.  

Who knew what a happy mistake could be?  

The finished sketch.

Here's that 1 second happy accident in normal time-lapse capture.

What followed was a 26 second time-lapse capture, sped up 4x, and incorporated into a movie. 

UPDATE:  Added this full 26 sec movie clip.

Direct WC - Attempt #2

It was midday, the sun was high and very strong shadows fall beneath the tree and the car.  Marc Taro Holmes uses some dots of faint color to mark the outlines.  I tried it.  Not knowing what to do, I put a wash of light grey for the big shapes, starting with the shadows.  Then I went to town painting the green foliage.  The result wasn't what I had in mind.

Take two.  I flipped the sheet and started all over.  Mixed the burnt sienna and ultramarine blue to get a grey color.  Yellow and blue to get some green shade.  Still can't get the results I want.  And that means MORE practice!

The set-up.

The light grey indicators.

The confusing green mix

The first result.

The second attempt.

A Church Sketch

Drive down along Westchester Avenue toward downtown Port Chester and you'll likely pass this beautiful church of Our Lady of Mercy Roman Catholic Church built in 1894.  

Across the street is the local library where I found a spot on the front door steps to what was once used as the main entrance.  It offered an elevated view of the scene.

No picture of my sketch on location that time but I went back the following morning to take this photo right from the same spot. 

Pilot Hybrid Technica 04
Watercolor added later at home.

Direct WC

First attempt in direct to watercolor sketch.  

First reaction was "It's way too hard without the lines!".  Can you imagine the difficulty?  And why did I even choose a complex subject to boot?  It was totally out of my comfort zone!  However, it was a good exercise, engaging, and fun.  

Applying the tips from Elisa's workshop - back to front, light to dark, big to small - although I must admit, none of those were sticking.  The only thing I could think of was how the heck will this thing turn out sans the lines?  

I put some light green wash for big shapes and leaving out some white space for the flowers.  For the flower placement guide, I dabbled some pink and egg yellow as an indicator.  Then working on the leaves, I noticed my strokes were automatic.  It was easy to revert to learned shapes rather than from direct observation.  You'll notice the inaccuracy if you look closely.  For the white peonies to pop out against the white board, I used the creative license to change the background color to a darker shade of green,  somewhat.

It took more than a couple of hours to finish but I'm happy with the results.  

The finished artwork.

My Plein Air setup.

The subject and the results.

The Capitol Theater

I tried to make the 8:15am express hot yoga class but the morning traffic was heavier than usual the other day.  The next class was at 9:30am so I had an hour of sketching opportunity in Port Chester.

There were cleaning crews tidying up the private parking lot directly across from The Capitol Theater.  Knowing that I will be sketching there only for a short time, I pulled into this private lot and parked at a choice spot.  The Sotheby’s Moleskine sketchbook freebie was it this time.  Soon, it was time to leave for the next yoga class.

Later, I went back to the private parking lot and found spot#21 open.  Same spot that I was parked at earlier.  The car to my left obscured the view of the distant building I sketched earlier.  I continued to work on the theater facade details before adding some watercolor.  A passing shower darkened the mood but I just kept on working on it.