Paper and Threads

We just returned from a wonderful visit in Martha's Vineyard.  Each morning except one we walked 2 miles on Philbin beach - once in fog, several times with partly cloudy skies, and the rest in beautiful sunlight.  The sand was firm near the surf and perfect for walking.  We saw one live orange crab, one dead baby shark, and several cormorants that visited the rocks daily.  But there were almost no shells to be found, except slipper shells.  These are almost the only ones I could take back to the house to paint.

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Urban Sketchers Gathered for Lunch: We met on 5th Ave opposite the Guggenheim Museum, and had lunch in the Gardens behind the Cooper Hewitt Museum.  These were 3 of the artists sitting across from me in the gardens.

Park Person: My Husband and I went to the Boat Basin (Conservatory Garden) in Central Park early on a Sunday morning.  While drinking coffee and eating a croissant I sketched this person who was very busy editing a manuscript - and she stayed long enough to be drawn and painted.

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Drawing along Museum Mile:  The group met in front of the Guggenheim Museum, and Urban Sketchers spread out along 5th Avenue throughout the day.

Two sections of my Accordion Sketchbook:  This is my USK accordion book which I reserved for NYC paintings.  These are two sections done on June 22nd.

Composite Painting of the Museum - I linked the two halves in Photoshop. 

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I love two minute sketches - they are more free and spontaneous for me.  Twenty minute drawings - the longest in the venues I draw - are sometimes torture.  I'm done by 10-15 minutes and keep fiddling with lines. This was one of my 2 minutes sketches today at Figure Drawing. 

Five Minute Sketch: This was a full body pose, but I chose to limit the amount shown, just to post the face of the model and amazing hair.

Ten Minute Sketch:  Thin, but muscular, and I was even able to see and paint his vertebrae.

Twenty Minute Pose:  Devin was a very relaxed model and I would love to draw him again.  He told me afterward that he likes to "mix it up and next time he may have his dreadlocks loose!"

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My friend and I went to Wagner Park under threats of rain and thunderstorms, but we actually made it through the morning session, had lunch, and were able to sketch the model for the first hour before the rain began. 

Flowers blooming in Wagner Park: I love seeing the various flowers in bloom each time I visit Wagner Park.  The staff keep the flower gardens looking beautiful, and there are always a few new types of flowers since the week before.

Figure Al Fresco - Brianna

We had one minute warm up sketches, 2 five minute sketches, and 2 ten minute sketches.  While drawing the first few minutes of the 20 minute sketch, rain drops began and we packed up and went to visit an exhibit at the Center for Book Arts - Manhattan's amazing bookbinding/letterpress center.  It poured as we were moving between sites, and were lucky we left the minute that we did.  I was drawing with a watercolor pencil, and the first few rain drops made a mess on my paper.

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