Holiday Break - No Outings until 2011

We will be taking a holiday break until January 2011. Enjoy your holidays and we will meet again next year.

Wednesday Sketch Night December 15th at 7 PM

Sorry for the last minute post. It's the holidays. Everyone is busy with their holiday activities.

If you are looking to get out and take a break from the holiday rat race, meet us over at the Roast Coffee and Tea Company on Main Street in Patchogue, just a few store fronts west of the Patchogue Theater. Have some hot brews and exercise the right side of the brain.

New Book on Sketching

I have a great new book that I have been reading, just published by North Light Books called Sketchbook Confidential, edited by Pamela Wissman and Stefanie Laufersweiler.

This book has sketching secrets from private collections and sketchbooks of over 40 artists. What I like about this book is the common thread that all the artists have about why they sketch.

You can purchase it from Barnes and Noble or even North Light books. Or, request that your local library carry it, this is a book that has a lot of great sketches and writes about the value of sketching. All these artists say that sketching is as necessary to an artist as drills are to an athlete. Read more by checking out the book!

Wednesday Sketch Night December 8th at 7 PM

We'll meet at the Roast Coffee and Tea Trading Company at 7PM. Let's try to focus more on sketching people this week. Come on out for a hot beverage, they even have hot cider, take a break from the holiday rat race, and sketch.

Wednesday Sketch Night December 1st at 7 PM

We'll meet at the Roast Coffee and Tea Trading Company at 7. Bring whatever you did over the Thanksgiving Holiday as your Thanksgiving Challenge.

If you would like to learn some other journaling sketchbook techniques, make sure to bring along your watercolors, a sketchbook that you would like to work in, a permanent (waterproof) glue stick and some magazines or other things that you would like to glue into your book and a pair of scissors.

This Wednesday - November 24 7PM and Thanksgiving Challenge

Since this is Thanksgiving week, I expect that many folks will be busy Wednesday....however, if you are around and you are up to an evening latte or decaf cappuccino, come on over to the Roast Coffee and Tea Trading Company on Main Street....it will be a very informal gathering, just coffee and a sketch and maybe one of those nice fat cupcakes.

For those who, understandably, cannot make it but want an excuse to sketch, I am issuing a Thanksgiving Challenge. Between Wednesday and Sunday, get out and sketch anything related to the holiday, the time of year, autumn or anything else related to the holiday. Even your meal, that nice fat turkey on the table with all the trimmings, a pie slice, do anything and send it to JLento@optonline.net, put THANKSGIVING CHALLENGE in the subject line, and I will post them on our blog all next week.

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone and enjoy your Holiday!!!

Don't forget this Wednesday at SBAA, Bellport Community Center

This Wednesday, South Bay Art Assoc will have their monthly meeting and the guest artist will be George Wybenga, who, just in time for the holidays, will be demonstrating the art of gift box making and creative mat cutting. It's FREE and open to everyone, November 17th at the Bellport Community Center, 4 Bell Street, Bellport, at 7:15PM. Bring your sketch book, sketch the meeting and take notes!

This Week's Sketch outing, moving to Monday evening

This week, we are moving our sketch outing to Monday, at the Roast Coffee and Tea Trading Company, 41 E Main Street in Patchogue, 7PM. It's open Mic night for poetry reading and we've been invited to come sketch and enjoy open Mic night. Bring your own chair, just in case....

This Wednesday, South Bay Art Assoc will have their monthly meeting and the guest artist will be George Wybenga, who, just in time for the holidays, will be demonstrating the art of gift box making and creative mat cutting. It's free and open to everyone, November 17th at the Bellport Community Center, 4 Bell Street, Bellport, at 7:15PM.

Here's a watercolor from Halloween weekend...

This one is so juicy, it's perfect for Thanksgiving......

Wednesday Sketch Night November 10th at 6:30 PM

This Wednesday's Sketch Outing will be at the Roast Coffee and Tea Trading Company at 41 East Main Street in Patchogue. It's a few doors west of the Theater and shares space with the Bridgehampton Bank. We will be meeting at 6:30 PM. I may bring a still life set up to add to our choices of material to sketch.

Wednesday Sketch Night November 3rd at 7 to 9 PM

Due to the days getting shorter and the outdoors getting chilly, this Wednesday's sketch will be held at a members home using a still life, as a change of pace.

Anyone interested in attending, please contact Gina @ JLento@optonline.net for location and directions.

Inspiring Book for sketchers

I read a book recently, "An Illustrated Life" by Danny Gregory. It's a great book, there's artists of all kinds, sharing the pages of their sketch books and telling why they love to sketch, the value of sketching, how it relieves stress and is a great place for working out ideas and issues with the art they are working on....some are cartoonists, designers, writers. It's very inspirational.

I bought mine at the North Light Shop, www.northlightshop.com. Put this one on your "to read" list!

Article about us in The Patch

There was an article written about us in The Patch....I ran into Krystle, the author of the article, at a dedication ceremony for my husband's aunt, she told me about the events of that evening, which happened to be on Lake Drive, overlooking Swan Lake. One of these days, we are going to have to write a book about the Sketch Club's adventures.

So without further ado, here's the link to The Patch:

http://patchogue.patch.com/articles/photos-patchogue-sketch-club#photo-2034054

Wednesday sketch Evening October 27th at 4:30PM - BYoOC

Wednesday is calling for a thunderstorm threat, at least on the last weather forecast I checked out. The color on Swan Lake is gorgeous right now, I say we tackle Swan Lake again, and if we get a storm, we can either sit in the car and sketch (or hang out in the new coffee shop near the Patchogue Theater if you aren't into sitting in storms). For those who haven't been there, Swan Lake is at the Intersections of Main Street in Patchogue, Lake Drive and where South Country Road ends into Main Street in Patchogue. You can park over in CVS if you want that view, or you can park on Lake Drive and sketch as the sun goes down behind CVS. There's some spots to park on the left as you head up Lake Drive, park anywhere that looks legal, just be aware that the residents may question you, so just tell them you are part of the Patchogue Sketch Club. We'll sketch until the sun goes down....

You can Google Swan Lake in Patchogue NY and it will come up on the Google Map.

Above is a nice sketch/drawing that Bill Mueller did last Wednesday evening.

This Sunday's Outing, starts at 12

The Patchogue Arts Council, which is our parent org....is having an arts festival this Sunday....

We encourage everyone to go, bring your sketch books and sketch at the festival! It's a great day! Take the Walking Arts Tour, visit our Sketch Club display on South Ocean Ave!

3rd Patchogue Arts Festival Local Events During the Arts Festival Patchogue Sketch Club

Greetings! Celebrate National Arts and Humanities Month with PAC and PTPA! Sunday October 24th 2010 NOON!! The 3rd Patchogue Arts Festival The Patchogue Theatre for the Performing Arts 71 E. Main St. Patchogue, NY 11772 The Patchogue Arts Council in Collaboration with the Patchogue Theatre for the Performing Arts is excited to be coming together again for the the 3rd Patchogue Arts Festival, a day of FREE Art, Poetry featuring Long Island Poets, Performance featuring ImprovTheater- Playback Long Island and Live in the Lobby, featuring Duets- Local Singer Songwriters Performing with Each Other! If you would like to volunteer please email us atwalkingartstour@yahoo.com!!

Wednesday sketch Evening October 20th at 4:30PM - BYoOC

This week we will be sketching in Patchogue. We can meet by theater if it is a nice evening. Otherwise, there is a new coffee shop a few shops West of the the theater, in the same store front as the Bridgehampton Bank, we can sketch there if it is too cool.

Before or after sketching, we can walk around the corner to S Ocean Ave to see the Sketch Club's display in one of the store fronts....exact address posting to come, but it's on the East side of S Ocean, just south of Main St.

Sketch from Last Wednesday

Here's one of the sketches done last Wednesday...

World Wide Sketch Crawl Saturday October 16th

Saturday is the 29th WW Sketch Crawl. This is a day when artists are encouraged to get out and sketch and be in the public eye to call attention to artistic creativity.

Some folks are heading out to Kings Park State Hospital around 9:30 AM on Saturday. After lunch, if you would like to continue to sketch, folks can head up to Nissequogue Park. Since it is October, please prepare for the weather and bring or wear appropriate attire. Those interested in the Kings Park outing can contact SusanT2004@verizon.net. Directions are: Sagtikos Parkway N to Sunken Meadow Exit SM4. Merge onto Country Road/E Northport Rd/Pulaski Road. This will become all Dock Road. Make a right onto St Johnland Road. Folks wills be meeting at the corner of St Johnland and Park Blvd.

For those not able to make the Kings Park outing, please report in where you will be sketching or where you ended up sketching so that we can post up here on our blog where everyone was out sketching. Please send in your sketches and outing information to JLento@optonline.net as we would like to post your sketches up here on the blog.

Wednesday sketch Evening October 13th at 4:30PM - BYoOC

We are going to return to the Maritime Museum, if it isn't raining. The Long Island Maritime Museum is on 86 West Ave. From Sayville heading west down Main street, drive 2 blocks past the West Sayville Fire House, turn south on West Ave and follow the signs for the museum. The location has water views, boats, marsh, etc.

If it is raining, we'll sketch from the Sayville Starbucks on Main Street in Sayville.

I put the time down for 4:30 PM. You are welcome to come as early or as late as you want. Hopefully the sun will be out and it will be warm, but dress warmly because it is chilly by the water. This is a great sketching spot. If we aren't all together, email pix of what you did so they can be posted on the blog.

Look for a post later about the World Wide Sketch Crawl this Saturday.

Outing on Saturday Oct 9th starting at 9:30 AM

This sounds interesting...Artist Lake in Middle Island. The lake has an interesting history, it was formed from a glacier melt.

From Patchogue, take Sills/Yaphank Road (101 North). Bear right at light in Yaphank on Coram Road and go along side Upper Yaphank Lake onto Yaphank/Middle Island Road. Go Straight to Rt 25 (Middle Country Road). Make right onto Route 25. ...continue on until you see parking on the right.

World Wide SketchCrawl #29 is October 16th

The next World Wide Sketch Crawl is coming up. We will discuss this week if we'd like to get together as a group and sketch together that day.

I would like to post any sketches done that day, more info to come.

Adding/preserving whites in a watercolor sketch

Someone commented about using gel pens to add some white to a watercolor. White gel pens can be an artists best friend and have many uses. There are many types and brands. There are Gelly Roll pens, Marvy gel pens...Sakura makes a permanent opaque quick dry pen that you have to shake and then push in the tip to recharge it. I carry these and other colors with me in my sketch bag all the time. They are a fun way to add other details to your sketch. You can pick these up at Michael's or AC Moore.

I have other items in my "arsenal." You can reserve your whites if you plan ahead by using plain old white crayon. This acts as a resist and that will repel the watercolor and save the white of the paper.

I also carry a tube of white gouache in my sketch bag to add whites or other effects. I used to carry Chinese White watercolor, but it didn't give me the same effects as gouache.

I don't carry liquid mask with me as I keep this in the studio, but you could also use liquid mask. The drawbacks are that you have to wait for it to dry, and if you are in a hurry, this isn't a good tool for sketching. I find that gouache, gel pens and white crayon are the quickest tools for when you are on the run.

Have fun and experiment!

Wednesday sketch Evening October 6th at 5:30PM - BYoOC

This Wednesday will be in Sayville, weather will determine the location.

If it isn't raining, we'll head over to the Long Island Maritime Museum, 86 West Ave. From Sayville heading west down Main street, drive 2 blocks past the West Sayville Fire House, turn south on West Ave and follow the signs for the museum. The location has water views, boats, marsh, etc.

If it IS raining, we'll sketch from the Sayville Starbucks on Main Street in Sayville.

The images above are from previous outings.

Some sketches from previous outings

Saturday Sag Harbor

If you are interested, there will be an additional outing in Sag Harbor area to sketch at the beach for some nice views. Afterwards, we can go into town and have lunch. After lunch, folks can head on to another location or end the day early.

We will be canceling for inclement weather. Please contact Susan for more information at SusanT2004@verizon.net if you would like to attend.

Wednesday sketch Evening September 29th at 5:30PM - BYOC

Wednesday sketch evening will be on Swan Lake, on the Lake Drive side down near the clubhouse building. Swan Lake is across the Street from Swan Cleaners...It's just off of Main Street, the Robo Car Wash and the CVS are on either side of it. Just go down Lake Drive and park near the clubhouse.

In the evening, the sun setting over the water makes for some nice sketching and if we are lucky, we'll have some early fall foliage.

Saturday Sketching

Anyone interested in sketching Saturday, please contact Susan @ SusanT2004@verizon.net by 10 AM tomorrow morning. She is looking to meet around 9 - 9:30 on Saturday, at a place to be determined.

Some more pix from our outings

We really get some nice sketches and you can see week from week how much people improve their skills.

Sketches from last Wednesday

Here's some sketches from our cemetery outing last week:

Wednesday sketch Evening September 22nd at 6:00PM - BYOC

Found a great sketching spot...The Post-Morrow Foundation, 16 Bay Road, Brookhaven. It's not a private residence, it's owned by the Foundation and the town. It's on Beaver Dam Creek and it has trails. Great sketching spot. It's supposed to be mild, but since it's September and on the water, bring a jacket or sweater and bug repellent.

You take South Country Road to Beaver Dam Road (heading south toward the water). Drive approximately one quarter of a mile to Bay Road and make a right onto Bay Road. 16 Bay Road is on the right. If the chain is up, we can move it to park, just put it back when we are done.

It's also a great spot for a Saturday or Sunday gathering.

Feel free to go early if you want to get a jump on the light.

Another Outing on Sunday Sept 19th

There will be another outing on Sunday, same place on West Ave in Patchogue around 9 - 9:30. Please contact Susan at susanT2004@verizon.net if you would like to attend.

Have flimsy sketchbook paper? Here's some tips to beef them up

I have the Art House CoOp sketchbook and they use the Moleskine Cahier, which is a thin 80 something page, softcover sketchbook. One of the problems I have run into using ink or watercolors on this thin paper is bleeding through the page. You can't do back to back watercolor/ink because it can have disastrous results.

There are several options you can do to give the pages some beef. You can gesso the other side and do some creative things with liquid acrylics, gel pens, markers and collage. Don't use TUBE acrylics, I found out the hard way that it never dries to a hard shell and you wind up with sticky pages. You can pastel over gesso, but you cannot use watercolor over gesso. You can try it to see what happens with watercolor, it lifts off the page.

If you want to beef up the back of the page for more watercolor and ink, Golden's has a product called Absorbent Ground which is perfect. I sponge it on the page, let it dry and treat it like any other sketchbook page.

You can also collage over the entire page then use a mixture of paints over top, wiping off a bit with a paper towel to add texture. You can also paint over top and spritz with water and dab with a paper towel for some interesting affects and sketch over top of these creations. If you use acrylic, some media won't work over top, it helps to experiment.

You could also glue watercolor paper or any other type of paper over the back of the flimsy page to cover up the back side of wet work. You can glue receipts, magazine clippings and anything else to add as a base, be creative and use it to enhance your sketch.

Remember, sketchbooks are tools for creativity, working out ideas, journaling trips/vacations/daily recordings of life, projects and for just having fun and letting loose.

What to look for when purchasing quality art materials

A question came to me today about the quality of a store brand of artist materials. Though I have never used that brand and I believe they are new on the market, I offer this advice when buying artist materials:

ASTM standards: Make sure the paint you are buying has a ASTM rating on the label. Most quality brands like Sennelier, Schmincke, Weber, Daniel Smith and Golden's to name a few, have that label on their paint. Some, like Daniel Smith, have colors made from minerals, like their Primatek paints, that are not ASTM rated or tested, but do their own lightfast testing and give you their results. The info on the label needs to contain that ASTM rating and a lightfast rating so you know how well that color will stand up to fading over time. Pastels are one medium that do NOT have an ASTM rating because there are NO ASTM standards as of yet for pastels, though they are trying to establish one.

If there is no ASTM rating on a tube of paint or a pastel you are using, you can run your own tests just by painting swatches on a surface you would normally use. Cover one side of the swatch so light cannot penetrate and leave the other side uncovered. Leave it in an area that gets direct sun and leave it sit for several months. Go back to it at a later time and uncover the covered side to see if there was any fading of the uncovered side. There are websites that go into this test in detail and much more scientific, such as http://handprint.com/HP/WCL/, but this is a pretty basic way to test the lightfastness yourself.

Stay away from student grade paints that aren't as heavily loaded with pigment (to keep the costs down) or even the correct pigment, some, to cut costs, will say something like "Cobalt Blue Hue." If you see the word "hue," read the label and read up on your pigments. The Cobalt Blue pigment is PB 28. It's usually an expensive tube of paint so if it's cheap, says HUE and is not PB 28, then you aren't getting the real McCoy. This also goes for mixes, colors like Sap Green are made with different mixes of pigments, depending on the brand. So if you like one specific brand of Sap Green, check the label first on another brand because you might not get the color you are looking for in the other brand. Learn your basic pigments!

When you purchase artist materials, you want to create art that's going to last your lifetime and beyond, right? Read labels, use quality materials and read up on materials. One good source for materials is Michael Skalka's articles in The Artist Magazine and he also writes the "Grammar of Color," which is a goldmine of information about color and materials. Michael is the Conservation Administrator at the National Gallery and is the Chairman of the ASTM division of Artist Materials. You can search for his articles on the web.

This Wednesday - September 15 6PM

We're getting started a little early on the spooky theme. This week we are going to hang out at the Patchogue Cemetery at the corner of Main Street and Waverly Avenue. You can park at the new Patchogue YMCA or at Briarcliffe College. The front gate faces out onto Main Street for those that want to sketch the gate.

If you need directions, just pull up Briarcliffe College Campus in Patchogue and follow their directions. You can't miss the cemetery, it surrounds the YMCA.

Bring a chair, and some warm clothes, warm beverage, it's supposed to be chilly.

From one of the extra curricular outings

I loved this one when Lynn showed it to me, a mature corn field is SO harvest time and since we are in September, I wanted to post this one that Lynn did last Sunday.

EXTRA EXTRA Outing! This Saturday 9/11

It is a private residence on West Ave in Patchogue. BYOC. (for you newbies out there, BYOC is Bring Your Own Chair) There is a shade garden, some trellises, a sun garden with shrubs and stone work, views into the neighbors garden ,lots of buildings, and waterfront with boats and a boathouse. . There is no street parking in this neighborhood and you will be ticketed if you try to park on the street. There is parking in the FINS parking lot several blocks away.

If you would like to attend, email Susan at SusanT2004@verizon.net and she will give you the additional information and the address.

Pix from last Wednesday

Wow, last Wednesday? Yep, here's some from last Wednesday....Now that the usual summer activities are over and spending more time in the studio on the evenings because its too chilly and windy by the water, there's more time to post...so enjoy these from last week!

Pix from tonight's outing

We sketched on Main Street in Patchogue. It was windy and chilly and got colder as the evening wore on. I know my ears were freezing. I was shivering in shorts and a T shirt but that only adds to the adventures in sketching....here's some from tonight. Taking pictures while you are shivering makes things interesting.....

Some sketches from our outings

Here are some sketches from the extra outings that some members attended last month:

This Wednesday - September 8 6PM

Wow, September is here and that chill is in the air. This week, we are going to sketch on Main Street in Patchogue....we'll meet around the theater, but feel free to sketch anywhere on Main Street. If you want to get a coffee, there's a few places you can get it, also there is a new yogurt hangout on South Ocean, right near Terry St. Also on Terry Street is Ralph's if you are in the mood for an Italian Ice.

Extra sketch outing this Sunday

There will be sketch outing at the Suffolk County Farm on Sunday. It is open from 9:00 Am-4:00 Pm.

Bring your coffee, lunch, whatever. There are restrooms and places to wash hands after petting animals. Bring your own chair and insect repellent as there are ticks in this area. There are lots of barns and outbuildings, farm animals of every sort, a garden, and a childrens garden with tons of birdhouses. Park in the lot and walk all the way to the end... it is a bit of a walk. Suggested gathering time is 9-9:30. The weather looks great. Here is the website if you need directions....

http://ccesuffolk.org/Suffolk-County-Farm/

Wednesday sketch Evening September 1st at 6:00PM - BYOC

We are bumping up the time to 6 because of the days getting shorter, but there really is no set time, just show up when it is most convenient for you.

Looks like Wednesday is going to be a nice evening, and warm, so we'll try another outing by the water.

We'll try Bellport this time, the end of Bellport Lane, down by the waterfront. Parking may be an adventure but if they don't let you in the main lot, try off to the side lot or side streets or park down by the community center and walk down.

Kick off Party for the Walking Arts Tour

As you know, the Patchogue Sketch Club falls under the umbrella of the Patchogue Arts Council. The PAC will be hosting a kick off party and mixer for the Walking Arts Tour this Saturday, 8/28, at 6 PM at the Center for the Visual Arts, 199 Blue Point Ave in Blue Point.

Here's some sketches from this month

Here are a couple more sketches from this month

Some sketches from our August Outings

Here are some of the sketches from folks done during our August Outings...

wednesday sketch Evening August 25th at 6:30PM - BYOC

Well, it looks like the weather won't be too nice Wednesday. Let's meet at the Sayville Starbucks...if it's cool and isn't raining, we could sketch outside and if it is raining, we can sit inside with a coffee and sketch the folks coming in a out.

Wednesday sketch Evening August 18th at 6:30PM - BYOC

Folks,

Since the weather is still supposed to be nice and the summer is getting shorter, we are going to head back down to where we were last week at the end of S Dunton Road in East Patchogue. If you want a different view of the same beach, Mirimar, two blocks West of S Dunton has a bigger seating area.

As it gets more into September and it gets to be too cool to be by the water, we'll be heading inland more so let's enjoy the end of the summer by the water while we still can.

Last week Sketch Outing - Special Guest

I am still catching up with posts, but wanted to mention last week we were honored by being joined by a young lady of about 11. We were all sitting on Patchogue River, across from the Harbor Crab....a bunch of us old salts, singing along to the music from the Harbor Crab live band along with this young talented young lady, who was brought to the outing by her grandmother.

It was a nice sketch evening and it was made a little brighter by our young visitor.

Where to buy supplies

At the end of the sketch evening tonight, we were discussing where to buy art materials. Surprisingly, Long Island is a bit short on stores that carry quality artist materials and we pretty much have to trek into the city (NYC) to get art supplies. I purchase a lot of my supplies on-line, so as promised, here are the links of some good suppliers and my thoughts on them, these are my opinions, no they aren't paying me to say nice things about them:

http://www.judsonsart.com OK, personal preference, but I LOVE their Guerrilla Paintboxes.

http://www.jerrysartarama.com I get a lot of materials from Jerry's, they usually have pretty decent prices, but their special sales, like buy $99 worth of stuff and get free shipping, isn't much of a deal if you aren't looking to spend that much money at a time. They're customer service is responsive and they are a good place to buy artist materials.

http://www.aswexpress.com This is sort of like the twin site to Jerry's, decent prices.

http://www.danielsmith.com OK, not going to lie, I LOVE their watercolors. They also have a great promo once in a while where shipping is FREE, yes, that's FREE, no limited purchase.

http://www.cheapjoes.com I've used them a few times, not bad.

http://www.fineartstore.com Ok, if you are a pastelist, this place will make you DROOL. Rochester Art Supply, good customer service, drawers and drawers of pastels of all kinds, Diane Townsends, Terry Ludwig, Great Americans....If you are in the Rochester area, go visit, it's a candy store for artists.

http://www.dickblick.com They are good, just a little pricier than Jerry's or Cheap Joe's.

Overall, all of the above are pretty decent, it pays to shop around, especially if you know what you are looking for and even EBay has some good buys.

Happy Shopping!

wednesday sketch Evening August 11th at 6:30PM - BYOC

It's supposed to be warm this Wednesday, so a visit back by the water would probably be a cool idea, I found a marshy spot in East Patchogue. You take S Dunton Road (it's off of S Country Road between Bellport and East Patchogue). If you are coming from Patchogue on S Country Road, you are making a right onto S Dunton (it's one of the few lights on S Country Road). If you are coming from the Bellport direction, you will make a left at the S Dunton light. Drive all the way to the end and park, we'll be in that general area.

Paint out in Bellport with a Battling Brushes contest!

Folks, here's a great opportunity to put all those sketching skills to the test by using them to paint plein air!

Check out www.brookhavenarts.com for more detailed information.

Bellport Centennial Paint Out
Hosted by the Brookhaven Arts and Humanities Council

When: Friday, August 6 to Sunday, August 8, 2010
Where: en plein air in the Historic Village of Bellport, NY
Exhibit drop off: Sunday, August 8 2 to 4 pm
Location: Phoenix Art Gallery, 139 So.Country Rd, Bellport
Exhibit pick up: Sunday, August 22 2-4pm
The BAHC and the Bellport Centennial Committee are inviting artists of all ages to paint en plein air in the Historic Village of Bellport,
NY. There will be an exhibit to close out the paint out and artists are invited to bring their finished work to the Phoenix Gallery on
Sunday, August 8th. All artists must register for the weekend event. Registrations will be accepted in person, by email or by phone at
the Phoenix Gallery any time before Friday, August 6th, 2010.
Rules for the Paint out:
Maps will be available for the areas to paint.
All painting mediums will be accepted, for show and sales.
Paintings should be properly framed and wire mounted, no hooks or brackets, and brought to the Gallery on Sunday from 2 to 4 pm for
exhibit.
No photo references will be permitted,
All art must be completed during the plein air outing between Aug 6th and Aug 8th, and done on location in Bellport.
Works completed outside of Bellport will not be permitted as this is for the Centennial Celebration.
Work may be offered for sale subject to a 30% Commission and must remain on exhibit until August 22nd.
Artists are encouraged to submit 2 works for free and additional works are encouraged for a $5 fee per work.
Artists will be responsible for making arrangements to pick up their work on Sunday, 8/22 between 2 and 4 pm.

Wednesday sketch Evening August 4th at 6:30PM - BYOC

Wow, August already!!! This summer seems to be flying by! Our next sketch outing will be on the Patchogue River front, next to the Patchogue Bowling alley, 138 West Street, the intersection of West and Division Streets. We can park here and walk over to the waterfront next to the Watch Hill Ferry Terminal.

A word to the wise, flip flops and sandals would not be the desired attire since the geese have dibs on the area first, so wear something more appropriate; shoes that you don't mind walking in goose poo and getting dirty. There's the waterfront and usually a lot of waterfowl, great for practicing sketching those moving targets. There's also Harbor Crab with outside dining, perfect for sketching people in that environment.

Adventures in Sketching

Getting out to sketch, whether you are local or out and about our fair land, can be an adventure and it helps to have a sense of humor.

One of our recent outings in Blue Point ended a little quicker than normal due to the extremely dark clouds that had moved into the area. We quickly finished up our sketches of this adorable home (note the threatening sky behind it, kitty came out to see what we were up to...) and packed it in. Rain is one element that we can work around by sketching from the car, but thunderstorms accompanied by a tornado warning are a different matter and we cut our outing short, all the while, taking home another tale to tell of our Adventures in Sketching.

It was a pretty cool looking sky, too.

I am being asked to post one of my sketches....

I am adding this sketch on to the last post. Usually I don't post my own sketches because I want members sketches to be posted, but at a request of Susan, who says I am also a member of the sketch group, I am posting this from our first outing in Blue Point. This is one of my sketches in my Art House CoOP sketchbook.

Some sketches from our latest outings

Here's some sketches by some folks from our outing in Blue Point.

Wednesday sketch Evening July 28th at 6:30PM - BYOC

We're going to try Blue Point again. Although the dock is a little small, there were a few cute houses around the water that are dying to be sketched.

From Main Street, take Blue Point Ave down to the end, we will be in the vicinity. Rain or shine, unless there is a really nasty thunderstorm like there was last week.

Walking Arts Tour

The Deadline for the Walking Arts Tour has been extended to July 30. As you know, this is one of the Patchogue Arts Council's big events and it plans to be bigger this year....

2010 PAC WAT Call for Artists and Volunteers

Its not too late to submit! Deadline is Friday July 30th 2010!

To Upload and application
Visit http://www.patchoguearts.org/events.htm

We are expanding to sites in Bluepoint, Bayport and Beyond! We also have plans of a Pod Cast-a discussion of each artist/work prior to taking the stroll! This Walking Arts Tour will be the best one yet!

We are very excited to announce guest Curator Maria Macedonio-Ritter for the Fall 2010 WAT. Ms. Ritter is a fine artist and the Founding Director of the Center for Visual Arts in Bluepoint, NY.

The Fall 2010 WAT will have 2 great events surrounding it, a PAC Mixer and WAT kickoff party on Saturday August 28th, 2010 at the Center for Visual Arts in Bluepoint and on Sunday October 24th, 2010 PAC and the Patchogue Theatre for the Performing Arts Live in the Lobby will come together once again for the 3rd annual Patchogue Arts Festival, a free day of art, poetry and live music throughout Patchogue! We look forward to seeing your work as we walk the Fall 2010 PAC WAT!

PAC is powered by 100% VOLUNTEER efforts! We need your help!

• STREET TEAM to hang posters and hand out post cards
• Docents to walk through the event providing information about artists, their work or the events of the day
• Hang team to help hang and take down the work
• Drop off and pick up team to oversee just that
• People to set up and maintain the food table at the kick off party and festival
• General people power!

Walkingartstour@yahoo.com

Wednesday sketch Evening July 21st at 6:30PM - BYOC

BYOC is Bring Your Own Chair. We will be meeting in Blue Point, the very end of Blue Point Avenue to be exact. From Main Street, turn onto Blue Point Ave toward the water....go to the very end...we will be by the water, park where you can.

Some really neat sketching/journaling books

Some really neat books on sketching and journaling that I picked up recently:

The Decorated Journal by Gwen Diehn...she even has some instructions in the back on making your own sketchbooks.

How to Be an Explorer of the World by Keri Smith...this book is so AWESOME!!! I love it. Each page has an idea of where or what to sketch, things many of us haven't thought of...this would be great for our sketch group.

An Illustrated Life by Danny Gregory. Again, another amazing book that has journal pages out of other artists' sketchbooks, many with how-tos that are very helpful.

If you are a member of your local library, you can go on-line and reserve books and pick them up, or you can orders the books above at Barnes and Noble or Borders. An inexpensive place here on Long Island where you can buy books is www.bestbargainbook.com and they have Moleskines priced affordably as well. I think non-locals can even order on-line from them.

For those who are on the fence about sketching and hearing others say that sketching isn't real art, go to your museums and see what some of the masters have done. There's an artist I just read about recently, her name escapes me at the moment, her entire collection of journals and sketchbooks are being donated to the Smithsonian because the Smithsonian wants to keep records of artists lives via their journals and sketchbooks. From what I read, she said she was going to miss them but they were better off where others could see them.

The Art House CoOp Sketchbook Projects has over 3000 sketchbooks on tour from their 2009 sketchbook project. More info for last year's project and the tours can be found at http://www.arthousecoop.com/projects/sketchbookproject4

Sketchbooks journal an artist's progress and development. They record ideas, they are prep work for paintings. Many painting problems are solved in a sketchbook. Many great ideas came out of a sketchbook. The June 2010 issue of Watercolor Artist Magazine has a great article about J.M.W Turner's sketchbooks.

Sketchbooks contain all sorts of great information about an artist's life....keep sketching!

Plein Air Limner Group, July 13th 9:30 AM

Posting for the Limner Group, plein air outing:

Tuesday July 13th 2010

9:30 AM

South Dunton Avenue Beach

East Patchogue,NY

Beautiful, simple, peaceful beach...

View of Bellport Bay

Lapping water, bay breeze, boulder rocks,

small sandy beach, stones and shells,

beach grasses,rickety wooden dock,

hopefully...red boat in the distance

Wednesday sketch Evening July 14th at 6:30PM - BYOC

How about we meet this week at the Sandspit Park and Marina, located at 80 Brightwood Street in Patchogue, better known for the location of the Davis Park Ferry. If you are a Brookhaven Town Resident, access is free but you might have to show proof of residence.

Pick a spot anywhere that you can find a bench, or set up your chair and enjoy sketching.

Independence Day Challenge - Tom's sketches

Little behind because of being away on vacation, here's Tom's Independence Day Sketches...

Wednesday Sketch Evening July 7th at 6:30PM - BYOC

Bring your own chair...the forecast looks ok, we'll give Corey Beach another shot.

You don't have to do just the beach, there are boats in the back, there's Flo's restaurant on the corner...pick a spot and enjoy.

Independence Day Challenge

It's Independence Weekend...A good time for sketching the festivities and any parades.

How about sketching this weekend, posting them on-line and linking them to this post so we can see what everyone is doing this weekend!!

Happy Independence Day!!

One Minute Sketches

There has been some discussion about sketches through the weeks and folks looking to improve their time to complete a sketch. There are some tips out there, one I picked up along the way was the "One Minute" sketch. For the life of me I can't remember where I picked up this tip, but it did improve a few things along the way...

One thing it improves is your quickness, you have a short amount of time to make decisions so you have to pick what's important. Another is it helps you weed out the unnecessary stuff, you get down what you want to say and move on. Helps you focus.

What I do is divide my sketchbook page up in to small squares/rectangles, then I take a cooking timer and set if for a minute. Then I sketch what I can until the timer goes off 60 seconds later. I move on the the next rectangle and repeat the process. You get something that looks like the photos above.

These are a great idea as thumb nail sketches too and they really improve your time, especially if you think you don't have enough time to sketch, you'll realize you have more time than you think you do.

You can increase your time to 2 minutes, then 5. It's a great eye/hand training exercise.

Tonight's Sketch...

Well for once the weather and the site matched up....a few of us made it to sketch this quiet spot.

Here is one of Joan's sketches, she does wonderful watercolors...

Sketch Crawl #28 on July 31

The 28th World Wide Sketch Crawl will be held on July 31...

You can visit the forum at if you want to sign up and let folks know where you will be sketching and post photos later!


http://www.sketchcrawl.com/forum/viewforum.php?f=51

Wednesday Sketch Evening June 30 at 6:30PM - BYOC

We are going to try the Brookhaven Hamlet Gazebo on Wednesday night. Some folks doing some plein air painting there say its a nice place.

Directions coming from Patchogue, go through Bellport (via South Country Road) past the Gateway Theater and at the next traffic light, make a right onto Beaverdam Road. Make your next left onto Fireplace Neck Road. Drive pass the Brookhaven Elementary School. The Gazebo will be on your left, just park on the road. There's ducks, flowers, a wooden bridge, and the gazebo to sketch.

Last week's sketches...

These are some sketches done by Tom Degruyl during last week's sketch outing in Bellport.

The Artist Magazine July/August 2010

I am not finished reading this issue yet but I did just read an article tonight about sketching under the "Brushing up" feature...It's called "Draw once, Crop Often." It talks about the value of doing sketches before you paint. It improves your compositions for your paintings. Then, deviating from the thumbnail sketches that many artists do, this article talks about doing what you see, then cropping them as you go to try to get to the best composition. It's an interesting concept. I always sketch a few thumbnails in my sketchbook first before doing any painting and the best composition in the thumbnail sketches is the winner and gets to be a painting.

I also find that sketching first, then starting a painting, improves the painting and also clears my mind as a prep for painting...I can tune in the right brained side and it clears my head to focus better on painting.

So check out that issue, it also has some pretty good articles on plein air painting.

Sketches from last week

I am just catching up...here are some of the sketches done last week at Corey Beach.

Wednesday Sketch Evening June 23 at 6:30PM - BYOC

This week, since we haven't been having luck with the weather over at Corey Beach, we are going to sketch on Main Street in Bellport. As a basic meeting place, we can meet near the Phoenix Gallery, then folks can move on to sketch what interests them. There's a few storefronts, restaurants and and ice cream parlor in that intersection near the gallery. Just set up your chair and sketch whatever floats your boat...

Wednesday Sketch Evening June 16 at 6:30PM - BYOC

This week we will be making another appearance at Corey Beach in Bayport. There's a beach, boats, restaurant, bay, docks, all sorts of fun stuff to sketch, rain or shine, we'll be there.

Here are the directions again:

If you are coming down Main street from the West heading East, you will pass Nichols Road, down the road a bit will be Mexican Restaurant, Meson Ole', just past the restaurant, turn right at Atlantic Ave. Go all the way down Atlantic Ave almost to the end and make a right on Middle Road. Make a left at FLO'S snack stand and go down to the end, make a right and we'll be along that road.

If you are coming down Main Street FROM Patchogue, look for the Yellow sign of the Meson Ole' Restaurant and turn LEFT on Atlantic Ave BEFORE you get to the restaurant, if you pass the restaurant, you went too far. Once on Atlantic Ave, go all the way down Atlantic Ave almost to the end and make a right on Middle Road. Make a left at FLO'S snack stand and go down to the end, make a right and we'll be along that road.

If you go to this link, there is a little map that has points of interest in Bayport and you can click on that for more detailed directions.

http://www.goby.com/corey-beach-brookhaven--near--blue-point-ny/e-1928890

Dust in the City aka the Canyons of Man

You heard of Sex in the City, well this is Dust in the City. Pastel Artist Richard McKinley ventured into a new venue, painting Manhattan. If you are interested in reading about pastels, you can go to his blog at:

http://pastelpointersblog.artistsnetwork.com/default,date,2010-06-01.aspx

Guest Artist, Roz Stendahl

I have a treat for everyone...I picked up the book "Creative Time and Space: Making Room for Making Art" by Rice Freeman-Zachary a while back while I was still stuck on the couch nursing the busted ankle. In it, there were a bunch of contributing artists that were interviewed on how they made time for their art.

I checked out their sites, and one that I gravitated toward, because her site and posts were fun, was Roz Stendahl. Roz is a member of the Twin Cities Urban Sketchers, her blog posts are amazing and very informative. She is also the creator of the button on our sidebar for the International Fake Journal Month. Her links are under our links section to the right...

I asked her if she wouldn't mind telling us about herself and why she sketches:

Here's Roz:

Why I sketch:
Well I sketch because I love to observe things and always have, so I'm always looking and writing and drawing. It's just like breathing to me. Getting something down on the page is more important to me than getting something perfect on the page.

The act of drawing is a bit like falling in love-noticing every nuance-whether it makes it into your drawing or not. (In drawing some bits you edit out and some you don't include because you don't yet have the skills to do so.) I find that if I keep looking and try to work out the visual puzzle then more and more unfolds. I love the aha moments of that discovery. "Oh, that's how this bird's beak attaches."

Another reason I draw and keep a visual journal is because it brings me into the present moment. It's something I can jump right into to observe-and I can still talk and share with people around me. Drawing doesn't take me out of the moment-or outside of the moment the way photography does for me. (I have friends for whom photography brings them into a moment, so I'm not against photography-it's just not immediate for me; it doesn't draw me in as closely as drawing does; I don't notice as much about something when I only photograph it.)

Also sketching and journaling brings an intimacy with the moment that I see lost to people who twitter-something I'm seeing more and more of thanks to the new phones everyone has-they are so engaged with their technology (and random people who may or may not be reading at a given moment) that they are taken away from their surroundings . They miss a lot. They don't seem to settle into the surroundings in the same way. When I sketch I get to still be in my surroundings, alert to those surroundings, responsive to friends in those surroundings, and of course, intimately involved with what has attracted my attention. The added benefit is that I now have a hard-copy version of my experience. I can return to it for resource material when painting (and again, have more details than my poor photos). I can also look back on it, which I don't do much. I really only look at a volume while I'm working on it. If I do go back to it after a volume is completed then it's because I'm looking for information and resources material.

But while the volume is active those earlier pages help give a structure to my sense of days, and that leads me to one of my most important reasons for sketching and keeping a visual journal-gratitude.

Drawing allows me to instantly touch my gratitude about life-my wonder at living in such a miraculous world. The more I touch that the more wonder and gratitude I want. And the less important my disruptions, distractions, disappointments, frustrations in life become to me. Drawing helps me put everything in life in perspective. It grounds me in my life and gives me the tools to change my life-to change my attitude, my state of mind in a way that productivity is possible to a higher degree. It focuses me.

I write about such things on my blog a lot, but I did write one specific post, "Why Journal." (http://rozwoundup.typepad.com/roz_wound_up/2010/05/why-journal.html) In that post I quoted from a much longer post on my International Fake Journal Month blog (http://officialinternationalfakejournalblog.blogspot.com/2010/04/international-fake-journal-month-ends.html), something I feel very strongly about the journal:

"You hold in your hands a document which says "I allowed myself to create; I allowed myself to take risks." I think creative risks are like loose rocks on a hillside. We scramble over them, slipping at times, at other times finding sure footing, so that we can get to the top of the hill and have a better view.

I think having a better view (of ourselves, our creative process, our place in the world, the larger world, the people in our world) is what regular journaling is all about."

So it is important to me to understand my creative process. All additional reasons I sketch and keep a visual journal.

I think it is important to understand the process of sketching and visual journaling will be different to each individual because it will reflect that person's individuality.

I sketch quickly because I want to use all my moments productively and my life can be a juggle of many jobs at once-I take time wherever I find it. For other sketchers working on a single page spread for an hour might be the way to move into this state of "observation-gratitude-wonder-being present" that I'm describing. I'm all for that, as long as they don't fall into the trap of "I can't start this drawing because I don't have time." Or the equally dangerous trap,"I don't have time to get this drawing right [or perfect]."

I'm always encouraging people to realize that there is all sorts of time in their lives, just waiting to be filled with connection. And often, the act of drawing will begin that connection-lead to more understanding of a subject, start a conversation, engender wonder, or alter an attitude so you can turn with new understanding to the people in your life. People often don't realize that there are times when I spend hours and hours on a drawing, or a finished painting, typically something very detailed. It's a different mindset for me-satisfying in a different way. I encourage everyone to have two modes of working because both are valuable. My first goal of course, is to get people drawing, at whatever level or mode they are currently at. And because of that I tend, when teaching journaling, to stress what can be accomplished in a short period of time. If that seed can get planted I know the rest will weed itself out and the individual will find his own working level that will sustain him.

Which I guess leads to the penultimate reason I sketch-the teacher in me. I believe we can all be models of behavior for others, showing them the usefulness of certain behaviors by example. Sketching in public becomes a social and political act-What do we want our society to be like? How can we keep questioning things?

When I sketch at the zoo, for instance, I know that I am modeling a behavior kids might not otherwise see-it gives them options for how to explore their creativity and the way they connect with their own curiosity and wonder. It also allows them to frame "adult" in a broader way. There are many things society will push us to give up as we grow older. Our sense of wonder is constantly under attack by the stresses of adult life. The loss of wonder weakens the connection to empathy with the world around us (animals, people, the environment). I know sketching is one way to carry these elements forward in life, to show that it isn't about "perfect" but about doing and being focused and engaged. I believe you can change someone's life in a positive way, by giving him a glimpse of what else is possible.

OK, and the final reason I sketch, it's where I started-it's habit, it's like breathing, it's fun. Why deny myself so much joy? Even a sketch that doesn't work out quite the way I had hoped is one sketch closer to that sketch that does work, and that is so tremendously exciting that frankly I want to go sketch right this minute.

THANK YOU ROZ for sharing with us!!!!

More Watercolor Techniques

Here's a link you can go to for more tips and techniques....if you want them emailed to you, you can sign up on this site.

http://links.mkt230.com/servlet/MailView?ms=NDQ2NTE3NAS2&r=NDgxMzE3NTk5MAS2&j=MTU4NTU2MTA5S0&mt=1&rt=0

Leave a comment if you have a problem with the link and you would like me to forward you the email.