Tale of Two Sketches

Once upon a time in the "before" days, Labor-Day 2019 to be exact, my buddy Julie and I met up in the East Village with the intention of finding a scene to sketch side by side for a few unfettered hours.

After walking around for too long in the hot sun, we settled on the corner of 7th Street and Avenue A. The spot checked off all our boxes: Picturesque. Out of the direct sun. Bustling but not overrun with passersby. A mom & pop storefront for me. A bit of greenery for Julie.

Our lookout, on the corner of 7th & A

We had barely set up our stools by the curb, when character after East Village character approached. First up, a man with glassy eyes that rolled around in his head, who queried our every move. We answered succinctly, but he wasn't one for social cues, so as we mixed up the colors of our palettes, he stood inches between Julie and me, swaying back and forth like a pendulum, precariously close to the paint set-ups perched on our laps. Eventually, he gave up on our lack of attention and moved on.

Jullie deep in concentration on her composition

Next, an aging rocker with no side teeth regaled us with tidbits of his days as one of the first Sludge Punk Rockers, a music genre that apparently combines the darkness of heavy metal with the screaming vocals synonymous with punk.

Then along came a man named Cissy, pretty in pink from hot pink bob to rose-colored bra to magenta patent leather sandals. He shared his financial woes with us and his memories of the good ol' days in this never-a-dull-moment community.

Cissy, resplendent in pink

As each gentleman caller came and went, Julie remained steadfast on her sketch, but, with the exception of the stoned one who came precariously close to body slamming us, I rather enjoyed taking time out for the repartee with these East Village fixtures.

When we were finally moving and grooving on our paintings, a clean-cut, just out-of-college guy shyly came close. He explained that he had recently moved in to an apartment in the building beside us and looked out at the same view as our painting. Would we be interested in selling our work to him and his roommates, who would chip in together? Soon after he had gone, a well-put-together blonde woman sauntered by, noticing that her Pilates Studio was featured in both of our paintings. I half-joked that there was a bidding war on our work.

Shawne's sketch

The upshot? Julie sold her painting to the young man and his roommates and I sold mine to the Pilates lady, who offered to pay me half in cash and half in pilates sessions.

The studio had Shawne's sketch printed onto canvas, at the entrance

About a month later, after the cool down of one of these Pilates classes, I glanced out the studio's front window, struck by the way the late afternoon light diagonally sliced the facade of the building across the street. As my eyes settled on the view, I then noticed that I could see inside the apartment directly across from the 2nd floor studio. First the cheery red painted walls, then a whole gallery wall filled with artfully arranged paintings. I'm pretty sure if I stared at this view long enough, I would've spotted a beautifully rendered watercolor of a street scene from 7th and Avenue A, bearing the signature in the bottom left corner of one Julie Kessler.

Julie's sketch

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.

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!

 

Essex Market and...

Always fun to visit the LES with its' eclectic melting pot. The Essex Market has an old world feel which made for some fun sketching. My first sketch was a bread shop.

 

Warning! These next sketches are not considered "Urban Sketching" so if you are offended, turn off your computer now! After lunch and another quick market sketch, many of us went to Dr Sketchys. This was my first time, and I am ready to go back! I worked large (19" x 17" paper), and mostly in oil pastel, which I have only used once before.

This first page is the 1 minute warmups.

 

 

This next group is a conbination of two minute and 15 minute sketches. The theme was Russian Fairytales.

 

This last sketch is a total suprise. We were asked to try our non dominant hand. I may become a lefty!

 

 

 

High Line at the Rail Yards

My first sketch was overlooking the rail yards with a glimpse of the Empire State building in the background. It was a little daunting at first, but the trains won't be here for long, as this will soon go the way of most NY real estate, so I really wanted to capture it.
 



 

This scene shows a view of the Hudson River , a bit of Jersey, and the changing foliage along the West Side Hwy. My interest was really the use of the rail tracks, with the garden planted by nature... in otherwords, weeds. Incorporated into this was a cement sculpture cube mixed with items like old sneakers and socks. The cube looked like it was part of the original railyard and many walked by thinking it was urban decay.

 

This is one of the new professionally landscaped areas that incorporates a switching track into the design, and lets the people walk on it, as opposed to some of the others behind fencing. The tourists were shoulder to shoulder at this location, standing directly in front of me while taking their pictures.  The weather held out, it was a good location, with good company! What more could I ask for!

Cold Spring

Thank you to our host and hostess for sharing your lovely town with us. The weather, company, and location were perfect. I finished four sketches. Color was added to the gazebo when I got home (at 10 PM). It was a long day.

A view of the mountains and the Hudson River

Slate roof and mansard windows

Gowanus Canal Sketchcrawl

The first stop of the day was on one of the drawbridges overlooking the canal. A decaying motorboat and shipping containers , another bridge, the elevated highway and the Kentile sign, as well as a construction crane were alll cramned into my first sketch.

This next view was from a parking lot looking at the roadway underneath the elevated train, and the view behind is the elevated highway. The very top row of windows was where our fellow sketches were waving to us!

The last sketch was done from a park, next to the parking lot at Whole Foods on 3rd Ave in Brooklyn. The sign said it is the greenest market in NY. The landscaping was lovely, with benches overlooking the canal. I saw an egret flying between two resting spots. There is a view of the Williamsburg savings bank, the Freedom Tower, The Bat building, and even wind turbines in the parking lot. There is also a second floor outdoor eating deck overlooking the water.

 

Joan sketching

A shot of an antique market we passed.

A stone/ cement yard along the canal

One of the views from the park at Whole Foods

A view of the Bat Building behind some of the wind turbines. They have a very sculptural look when they are twirling around.