Sketching the Easter Bonnet Parade

I can now cross this event off my sketching bucket list. So many hats, so little time! This group is an entourage of 7 people. The come in matching outfits every year.

These guys came with their hats and jackets covered with glued on jelly beans and candy corn in Easter colors.

Harriet is a milliner . Smart lady. She comes every year in one of her creations. Good publicity. This had was so huge it was hard to miss her.

 Polka dot paper bags filled with peeps.

Husband, wife, and nephew. He was dressed in a morning suit. We were having a pleasant conversation while I was sketching. Unbeknownst to me , until afterward, I was filmed sketching them.  www.youtube.com/watch?v=pbaNu_xGwt4&ebc=ANyPxKo7ZI0yF...</a>
You can see me sketching from the 4 min to 4min 29 sec mark.

If it walks like a duck, talks like a duck, looks like a duck... it must be a duck.

This guy moved so fast that I sketched him coming and going. He has been participating in this event for 40 years. He used to live in the village, but now lives in Miami. He leaves his morning suit at his friends apartment in NY and flies up just for the parade.

One of my favorites of the day. An American Bulldog , rescued and adopted last November... all 65 lbs of her. Built like a tank and a tail that didn't quit. She donned rabbit ears. Her name is Brisket.

I didn't bring my stool. I figured it would be too crowded and limit my view. I sketched directly in ink and ended up sketching over 50 peeps. Color was added from memory at home. I can't wait to go back again.

Doing Battle WIth The Samurai

After some warm up sketches I decided to attack the Samurai using a pen as my weapon!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

If you read Elaines' post below, we attracted a pretty large crowd. We should have set up a tip jar, after all, if the Met can charge for looking at art, shouldn't we be able to?  ;^)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Brooklyn Heights

The first thing that grabbed my attention walking onto the promenade was the view!

I had a little bit of time left to do this quicky sketch overlooking the BQE. I have to laugh... when I am on this expressway the traffic is at a standstill, but when I was sketching it was like the Autobon! 

After lunch it was time to tackle something more structured! I picked the first, most complicated building that I saw ;^) . Another great location I would love to spend more time at.

Sketchers Exhibit

A new gallery opened today in Bellport, NY called the Paper Cup Studio. The first show is of local scenes and prominently features three of the NY Urban Sketchers. To see sketches matted and hung as a grouping really elevates the art form and makes for an exciting exhibit. Right off the bat one of Joans' sketches sold!

Moi

Joan Tavolott next to two of her sketches.

Gina Lento .

Goodbye FAO Schwarz, and I Hear Voices

Many, many, many decades ago before the internet, we used to get these thick beautiful paper catalogs. When I was a child, the FAO Schwarz catalog always came around Thanksgiving and I would dogear the pages and put gold stars next to everything I wanted. My fantasy was fullfilled the moment I stepped into the store.

I always wanted this giraffe. I don't think it would have fit in our tiny apartment. I found a little niche in a display area where I could tuck myself in out of the way of the never ending steam of shoppers and site seers. I could have spent many days sketching here. For me, it was all about childhood memories. Goodby FAO. I will miss you.

Several weeks ago, I had 40 minutes to kill before meeting some clients at CPS. I had my sketchbook and went across the street to sketch the horses. I spent the first 15 minutes talking to the carriages drivers. As the clock was ticking away, I did two quick sketches. This was my third one.  


I had ten minutes left and I wasn't thrilled with the results. It was then that I felt a gentle nudge in my back with a flex nib pen. It was then that I started to hear voices... well , one voice actually. It was Melanie Reim saying "tell a story". It was right in front of me the whole time. The empty Verizon phone booth that went the way of the dinosaur, the horse which may be gone from the city, and the chaos of the city streets behind the horse. Thank you Melanie. I think I got it!

 

Toys and Horses...So Much To Sketch

Today's gloomy skies didn't dampen (no pun intended) our enthusiasm to sketch at and around FAO Schwarz. The store is headed for closure, but it was most certainly busy today. Outside was a greeter dressed like a toy soldier who was constantly busy posing with people outside the entrance. It was hard to get a photo or a sketch done without someone besides him in the picture...so I included a visitor.

When it started to sprinkle some of us headed into the store. I think I could have spent days there sketching. There were so many things I wanted to sketch. This was my first trip to FAO Schwarz so I knew I had to find the "Big Piano" what the movie "Big" made so famous. I had to sketch that if nothing else. I had a hard time deciding where I could stand to sketch without being in the way...off to the side seemed to work best. The people on the piano changed quite quickly so sketching them was not so easy. I decided to focus on just one girl and included some of the people behind her.

After lunch we headed over to the carriage horses who also may be leaving the city. They are a definite draw for tourists and were very busy today. We had two horses and their drivers in front of us for a short while so I concentrated on the sketch of this horse and driver before they moved away. I added another carriage that replaced them a while later. I needed to include a bit of the Plaza in the background for atmosphere.

Of course no street in NYC is complete without a food vendor or two...we might starve if we walk too far without being tempted. lol

Today was much too short a day for sketching. There was so much more I would have loved to sketch. Maybe we/I will just have to return.

A Day of Sketching Near the New Whitney Museum

Susan and I started our day sketching on the E Train going into the city. The sketching was fine until it got too crowded to see anything but the person right smack in front of you. Here are a few train sketches that I did.

It was cold so I looked for a spot to block the wind where I could still see part of the new Whitney Museum. I personally think the building looks out of place in the area...too modern to fit in with the warehouses, brick, and cobblestones that give the Meatpacking District so much charm.

I found the Gansevoort Street entrance to Highline Park more to my liking...and I was sitting in the warm sunshine in a spot where the wind was blocked. Yay!

After lunch a number of us ended up in a lovely sunny square with an assortment of views in every direction. In this one the restaurant was the star.

In this one done from the same location, Mark, Michael, and Michael were the stars.

I don't know why I only took one photo of the day, but here it is. We need to make sure we do a group photo in the future. Sorry we didn't get to do a big group show and tell at the end as planned, but I'm glad those of us that were still around gathered in that nice park to share. I got to see a few sketchers I hadn't seen all day.

Sunday April 19-Explore Central Park

Richard Alomar, Landscape Architect, Instructor, and Urban Sketcher will lead a sketch walk in coordination with Sketch Out/Loud. This event will take place along the west side of Central Park. Everyone is invited! (Remember to bring your own lunch)

EXPLORE CENTRAL PARK

MERCHANTS GATE: URBAN EDGE
10:00 am-12:00 noon
 

Working in groups and using creative methods of mapping and sketching, we will start at Merchant’s Gate, travel around the park edge and Broadway to Lincoln Center then find our way to Women’s Gate on 72nd Street and share our findings.From there we will take the M10 Bus to Boy’s Gate on 100th Street.

BOY’S GATE: RAMBLE EDGE
12:00 pm-3:00pm
 

We’ll take a short break for lunch (bring your own) around the north pond, then we’ll ramble through the Rambles incorporating techniques in serial sketching, story boarding and annotative sketching. We’ll finish at Fredrick Douglass Circle with a review of the day’s work

ABOUT SKETCH OUT/LOUD

The American Society of Landscape Architects is celebrating World Landscape Architecture Month (WLAM) in April with a series of events that celebrate the places and people that make our profession vital, exciting and significant. As part of that celebration Rutgers University Department of Landscape Architecture, Urban Sketchers, and the NY and NJ Chapters of the ASLA will launch “SKETCH OUT/LOUD” (SKO/L), a social media collaboration that shares on location sketches of landscapes from around the world.

It’s very easy to participate. Add the hashtag #skol2015 to your FB, Twitter or Instagram uploads when you sketch a landscape (photos and videos are also ok). If you want to know more, see the Sketch Out/Loud Flyer, visit the Sketch Out/Loud Blog or send an email to Richard Alomar, ASLA (richard.alomar@rutgers.edu)

Heavenly Sketching

It was wonderful that the Cathedral Of Saint John The Divine arranged to have choral music all day while we sketched. I knew they were from out of town when they called me "mam"! High school students from California, Vail, Georgia, Washington, Florida. Imagine singing , and sketching in the largest Cathedral in the world!

The bright back light behind the ornate fretwork captured my attention.

The building is soooo large, it was difficult to include or see so much of the architecture .

One of the stone statues.

I included this photo of a sculpture in the church yard. Hello to the first day of Spring!

 

Sketching in the Brooklyn Botanical Garden Conservatory

Sketching in the Brooklyn Botanical Garden is like taking a mini trip to different areas of the world.

You have to stop and admire the Japanese pond no matter the weather...a little snow and ice just add to the beauty of it. I love the icy white against the red!

Entering the Conservatory I made a right and headed into the Aquatic House, home to ponds, a bog, orchids, waterlilies, and tropical plants en masse. It is a challenge to figure out what to include and what to leave out...all the while dodging the drops of water falling from the condensation on the ceiling and the plants. It was cold outside but tropically warm in there.

I needed a dry climate next so I headed downstairs to the Desert Pavillion. Michael kindly shared the steps he was occupying so I could sketch some of the cacti and succulents near us.

Lunchtime is always a good time to sketch people and get in a "mandatory Jim" sketch. 

I had a few other cooperative models too.

I walked around all the different areas but each of them felt too hot (Did I really say that?) so I went upstairs to the Bonsai Museum where I knew it would be colder. I had to put my coat back on to sketch in there, but I love the grace and elegance of the plants there so I happily put up with the colder temperatures.

The entryway had some nicely landscaped areas and I tried to capture the little waterfall over the rocks.

Around 3:30 we headed over to Tooker Alley to share a drink and our sketches. It is always such a pleasure to see all the work that everyone did during the day. What a perfect time to get acquainted with Florian who was visiting from Berlin, as well as today's new members...and to catch up with our regular members. It is also a perfect opportunity for another sketch, so I zeroed in on the couple sitting at the bar nearby.

My Knight In Shining Armor

at the Met... even if he is a little old for me, going back to the 1500's. I didn't want to pull out the watercolors and then get busted half way through, so I used graphite, graphite watercolor pencils, and regular watercolor pencils hit with the waterbrush. The paper had a little tooth which added to the texture. I wish the day was longer. This is such an outstanding location to sketch at and we are so lucky to have it in our backyard!

 

Art Deco and Rockefeller Center

On Saturday Susan and I headed into Manhattan on the subway. There are always some models if the train isn't too crowded. The woman on the left got off at the first stop (the nerve of her) so I moved on to sketch the second woman who was a bit more cooperative.

This woman was directly across from me. She alternated between being half asleep with her head all the way back, looking straight ahead, or putting on makeup.

When we got to Rockefeller Center the Christmas tree was standing up and the workmen were putting scaffolding around the tree so that it could be decorated. We just HAD to do a sketch of that! I still don't understand how they keep the tree from now until the beginning of January without it losing it's needles. When we had fresh Christmas trees as a kid the needles started falling off the tree as we were bringing it home. lol

I found a spot in the middle of the promenade that leads from 5th Avenue all the way to the skating rink. There were art deco designs over the doorway, but I was also interested in sketching the workers who were planting the tall trees that would be decorated and will stand in the middle of all the lit angels that are put up every Christmas season. By this time I was starting to get cold. My body was warm enough in my down jacket, but my feet and hands were cold. I did have fingerless (and regular) gloves that helped my hands but I couldn't do anything about my feet.

Then I walked down 49th Street a half a block and sketched the NBC Studio marquis. It had some art deco elements too...and I was in the sunshine for a short while. Then it was time for lunch...and we were able to warm up indoors. Yay!!!

After lunch I sat on 5th Avenue right in front of St. Patrick's Cathedral facing across 5th Ave where  the bronze Atlas is supporting on his shoulders, not the earth, but a representation of the heavens (or so says the brochure about Rockefeller Center). This is the largest sculpture in the Center...he stands 15 feet tall on a 9 foot high pedestal. I happen to have worked in this building when I was in college and passed this statue just about every day. Who knew he wasn't holding up the earth?

Since it now gets dark so early and it was so cold, we headed indoors to share our sketches before most of the group headed home. A few of us hung out a bit longer at a local restaurant bar, but only Mark sketched there...on matchbooks no less. It was a good day...but a bit too cold to be sitting around. lol I'm sure it was much warmer if you were moving around like most of the tourists.