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.