SATURDAY: It's Huge! It's Iconic.

It's New York City's Grand Central Station.

Saturday, January 30, 2016

Featuring monumental spaces and meticulously crafted detail - a fascinating challenge to sketch. Grand Central Terminal is one of the nation's most historical landmarks and remains the busiest train station in the country.

The Main Concourse is the center of Grand Central. At 275 ft long by 120 ft wide by 125 ft high.  Originally opened in 1871, it was rebuilt in 1913 and restored in 1994–2000

Grand Central Station:

• Covers 48 acres 
• Has 44 platforms (more than any other railroad station in the world).
• One of the world's most visited tourist attractions, with 21.9 million annual visitors.

DETAILS:

Where:  The Main Concourse at Grand Central Station - Meet by the Stairs to the Concourse

When:   First sketch starts at 10 AM.  Join us when you like.

How:  Assuming everyone can find it.

Lunch:  Meet at noon by the stairs leading up to the Apple Store overlooking the Concourse.  We're have lunch together in the basement.  Bring your own food or purchase from the numerous diverse vendors.

Afternoon:   1:15 - Back to the Concourse to continue sketching.

Show and Tell:   3:00 Meet at the stairs and we're off to The Shakespeare - 24 E 39th St  to share drawings, good stories and a beer or wine if you're so inclined.

Notes:

   -  Bring a stool or small chair if you have one.

If you can’t find us

call or text Mark at 973-809-9128

There are no fees. All drawing skill levels are welcome

World Wide SketchCrawl #50 with Snowstorm Jonas

Today was the World Wide SketchCrawl #50 and I was determined to sketch even if I couldn't leave the house.

I started the day with a sketch while my coffee was brewing. All that snow made me crave it even more. That fortified me for a while.

Breakfast was next...healthy of course...egg white omelette with spinach and mozzarella and a cementine...and of course another cup of coffee.

It was snowing so hard that it was difficult to see out my windows. There was snow stuck to the screens. All the windows of my apartment have pretty much the same view of trees..no real variety. The snow on the patio railing was about 16 inches high when I was sketching...even higher now.

To get a different view I went into my garage and opened the door. I leaned against my car while I sketched some of the other cars parked in the lot. Luckily we don't have to do any shoveling since the car is inside. We just have to wait for the crew in the complex to plow up to our garage door. I didn't see any brave souls out shoveling their cars...maybe that will be tomorrow's sketches.

Virtual Sketch Event

Out my window. 

Started before the sunrise at about 7:10 and did an additional sketch every hour. 

Colors changed and things became a little clearer and sharper. 

It's still snowing but I've stopped listening to the hysterical weather forecasters.

Weekend Sketch Cancelled

One thing for sure, we'll know a lot more about this storm 

by Sunday afternoon.

Best guess by Thursday morning is that we''re scheduled for some bruising weather this weekend.  Just how severe seems to change every few hours

SUGGESTION:  Let's get together virtually to sketch the weather.  Your weekend challenge is  to capture a local view of whatever nature deals us and share them online - using Facebook or our Website.

Happy Posting.

St Pat's today

Great sketching at St Pat's today....and I got to listen to a Mass at the same time!

Here are some other sketches from the past few sessions:

 Tom and Allan sketching at MOMI

AMNH, Southeast corner,8x10, watercolor

AMNH, Diorama, 8x10, watercolor

AMNH, Tusk, 8x10, watercolor

Weekday Urban Sketchers at St. Pats

In December we visited a number of houses of worship that have mosaic murals by the Art Deco artist Hildreth Miterer.  The is one more gem in NYC that we have been saving...St. Patrick's Cathedral.  Now that some of the crowds have diminished we will be able to make our way to a very special setting.  Thanks to Maureen O. Gorta, who seems to have some pull with "higher powers" that control St. Pat's, we will have access to the Ladies Chapel, located behind the altar, it is usually off limits to the general public.   There is no fee nor limit on participants.

DATE: WEDNESDAY JANUARY 20, 2016

TIME: 10:30 AM

LOCATION:  ST. PATRICK'S CATHEDRAL

                       5th Avenue and 50th Street.

MEET UP POINT:  We will meet at the Fireplace which is about half way back into the church along the left hand wall.  From there we will go to the Lady's Chapel

AFTERNOON SESSION:  After lunch we will sketch in Rockefeller Center: outdoors if the weather is good, if not, indoors.

Please RSVP directly to Raylie Dunkel at [email protected].  Looking for us call/text Raylie at 201-978-6387

SATURDAY: Sketch the Motion

January 16, 2016

 At the 

Museum of the Moving Image

In a city filled with museums there is nothing like this one.  It is a one of a kind.! 

The Museum of the Moving Image is the country's only museum dedicated to the art, history, technique, and technology of the moving image in all its forms.

If you're a movie buff or a gamer, if you love TV, there is certainly going to be something for you that will inspire a brilliant sketch.  Check out Linda Blair's exorcist mask,  Chewbacca's hairy face.  The museum includes one of the most significant collections of video games and gaming hardware in the world.

DETAILS
What:  Museum of the Moving Image

Where:  36-01 35 Avenue,  Astoria, NY (see map below)

When:  They open at 11:30.  Isn't that a reasonable time?

Lunch:  No lunch - We're sketching through. Since we're starting late there's no break for lunch.  Maybe bring a power bar to get you through until Show and Tell.

Show and Tell:  3:15 off to Sunswick located at 3502 35th St to share drawings, good stories and a beer or wine if you're so inclined.

How:  Subway -
  The E, M or R train to Steinway Street or
  take the N or Q train to 36th Avenue

Who (pays?):  Museum Admission
  $12 adults (18+)
  $9 senior citizens (65+)
  $9 students with valid ID
  $6 children (3-12)
  Free for Museum members and sketchers under 3

Click to Enlarge

If you can’t find us

call or text Mark at 973-809-9128

There are no fees or attendance taken. All drawing skill levels are welcome.

A Strange Sky and the Water

On Sunday, I went to the Yonkers Brewery for an early afternoon drink and lunch.  The place was great, and probably would have been great to sketch. However, I just did not grab my sketchbook out of my bag. 

 

On the walk back to the car the sky was just AMAZING.  The hubby looked at me and said "Go Paint".  He knew this was just to much.  The view is looking towards the city from the Yonkers water front, the bridge is the GWB.  The sky was a pinkish yellow and the  water and upper sky were deep purple.  Just perfect. About 10 to 15 minutes in the Heavens opened up.  The big white splats are the rain drops. 

 

So we ran!  Along with what looked like a wedding party.  I had red paint all over my hands and me! And while the rain poured down, that pink area was moving above us and it was a clearing.  Crazy weather! When we looked up after the rain stopped, we saw this incredible rainbow!  It was too incredible to not share.

Good News ~ Spring Becomes Broome

As you probably know, the famous Spring Studio lost their lease at the end of 2015.  Soho has become much too chic.  They've moved to the Lower East Side.  I visited their new location at 293 Broome Street last Thursday.  The new space is cleaner and brighter.  The Broome Studio, like it's predecessor comes, about as close to possible to 24 hour a day sketching from live models.  Minerva still presides over what has become an international institution and a must visit site for artists visiting the city.  If you've never gone be sure to check this out.  If you're an old fan be sure to check out the new location.

100 A Forsyth Street

Walk out the Broome Studio make a left, then at the corner make another left and you're on Forsyth Street.  Walk half the block to 100 A and you'll find a Pencil Store.  What?!?  A pencil store - CW Pencil Enterprise.  An entire store devoted to the glory and diversity of pencils.

The two women I met, who seemed to run the store, were incredibly knowledgeable and enthused about pencils.  I have to admit it's a subject that kind of excites me too.

I walked out with five new pencils.  I'm having a love affair with two of them.  This is well worth checking out.  Only in New York?

Urban Sketching Double Feature

Last weekend was an especially good weekend to be an NYC Urban Sketcher.  On Saturday, we sketched at The Hispanic Society in Washington Heights, enjoying Old Masters, sculpture and decorative arts in a gorgeous setting.

I even got to paint a couple of pages, such as these 16th century Seville tiles, in watercolor until a guard told me to stop.

He looked at the dancing Madonna from Quito that I was painting, told me it was good and that I could therefore paint for five more minutes.  I laid in a few more washes and then broke out my colored pencils and markers to finish the sketch.

Sunday saw us visit Jersey City, or the Sixth Borough as Raylie called it, for an excellent workshop with Hugo Costa at the CASE Museum of Russian Art.  He not only showed us his sketches of NYC and the world, but also taught us about perspective and his process.

We were then let loose to capture the marvelous view of lower Manhattan from the Jersey City riverfront.

Who could not be inspired by this vista?

SUNDAY: Double Down Day

Sunday January 10, 2016

 Coney Island: Visions of an American Dreamland

Morning and Early Afternoon
Enjoy the January indoor warmth of the Brooklyn Museum and remember Coney Island: Visions of an American Dreamland, 1861–2008, a special exhibit.  And of course the museum's fabulous highly sketchable permanent collection:

Late Afternoon
DR. SKETCHY (NUS - Not Urban Sketching)
Late Afternoon Sketching:
Willkommen, bienvenu, welcome to Dr. Sketchy's cabaret! Sharpen your pencils and gather up your worthless Deutschmarks to sketch our wild Anita Berber Dandy Dillinger and Freiherr Cadbury.

Rub elbows and sip cocktails with Otto Dix and Georg Grosz at Flute Midtown in your 1920s and 30s finest!

DETAILS
Where:  Morning meet in the lobby of the Brooklyn Museum. 200 Eastern Parkway, Brooklyn

When:  Meet at 11 AM

Lunch:  12:30 in the Museum Cafeteria - Meet in the lobby

Afternoon:  1:30 Continue Sketching.

Part Two:  3:15 Meet in the lobby.  Those wishing to continue the heartpounding sketching excitement will leave tot ravel to Dr. Sketchy.  205 West 54th St.

Session runs from 4:30-7:30 pm, doors open at 4pm. Please bring your own art supplies. Seating is first come first serve!  $12 in advance, $15 at the door

How:
Subway:   2/3 to Eastern Parkway/Brooklyn Museum. Transfer to 2/3 from 4/5 (at Nevins Street) and B, D, Q, N, R, and LIRR (at Atlantic Terminal-Barclays Center).

DRIVING
On-site parking is available in the lot behind the Museum, off Washington Avenue.

Admission: These general admission prices are suggested contribution amounts
Adults - $16
Students with valid ID - $10
Adults 62 and over - $10
Ages 19 and under - Free

Click to Enlarge

If you can’t find us

call or text Mark at 973-809-9128

There are no fees or attendance taken. All drawing skill levels are welcome.

Sketching at the Hispanic Society

On Saturday we visited the Hispanic Society.  It still amazes me what a great museum this is - and how completely deserted it is.  Urban Sketchers almost had the entire Historic Society to ourselves.

The last sketch is, of course a drawing of two of the other sketchers.

A Quicky Google Movie

Google is sometimes amazing.

I got a note saying that Google had stitched a couple of the Urban Sketching shots into a short video.  The shots all came from Google Photo.  I've been uploading my photos to their cloud service.  The offer unlimited storage and unexpected features like creating slide shows and movies for you that you can save or discard.   If you went to any of these events (our trip to Cold Spring and our sketch day in Washington Square) you'll recognize the locations.   How does Google know these shots are all from our group and that it would make sense to combine them?

What is potentially the most interesting aspect is that I think there's even a way we could all add additional photos and videos.  So, the finished product becomes a a much longer group collage - something we all created.  It could include the photos we take and scans of the artwork etc.   Powerful stuff

Happy New Year Everyone!