THURSDAY: Sketch Blackrock Park Plaza

Weekday Urban Sketchers

at 

BLACKROCK PARK PLAZA

DATE: THURSDAY JULY 28, 2016

     TIME:  10:30 am

     LOCATION:  MIDTOWN 55 EAST 52nd STREET

     MEETING PLACE: INSIDE 55 EAST 52nd STREET.

     TRANSPORTATION: V, E,6 get off at 53rd Street.



Next week will be very hot. We will start inside where there is A/C, seating with tables and chairs, snacks to buy and restrooms in the lobby.  There are interesting views out of the windows. Greenery and waterfall to draw also. Excellent people sketching.

After lunch there is a setback in the shade outside of the Seagram Plaza on Park Ave between 52 and 53 and can get to sketch the Park Avenue sculptures outside.


Please RSVP. Maureen Gorta at mogorta@gmail.com.

If you are looking for us call Maureen

 (917) 855-1803

Bon Voyage, Adieu, Bye-bye, ... Cheerio -

We're Off to the Urban Sketchers Symposium! 

Weekend Sketching Events are cancelled until Mid August.

1) If you love sketching the International Symposium is really something you should consider for next year.  It is an incredible event. 

2)  If you're annoyed that we're going to be missing three weeks of sketching together, we can work on that for next time. Speak to me about what you can do.  

The annual symposium is probably the most sketched event in the world  If you Google Urban Sketchers Symposium Manchester you'll be able to see thousands of drawings and videos posted as they are done (with the ink and watercolor still wet).  Really!  No exaggeration - thousands!  

(Sounds good? - refer to point #1 above).

WEEKDAY URBAN SKETCHERS IN PALEY PARK

One of the city's best pocket parks.  Located at 3 East 53rd Street between Fifth and Madison Avenues. There are scattered tables and chairs, potted plants and a 20-foot waterfall.

DATE: THURSDAY, JULY 21, 2016

TIME: 10:30 am

MEETING PLACE: 3 East 53rd Street

TRANSPORTATION: train B,D,6,E,M and walk. Bus M1, M2, M3, M4. And walk.

Bring lunch or buy. There is a reasonably priced food concession inside the park. 

There are other works of public art to sketch near Park Ave.

Please RSVP Maureen Gorta at mogorta@gmail.com.
Looking for us call Maureen (917) 855-1803.

Giant Trees of New York:

It’s hard to grasp what you’re seeing when you’re there (163 Street and Saint Nicholas Avenue).  You can’t see the whole thing at once.

The amount of shade it casts is huge.   It is outside the scale of anything nearby dwarfing everything - and yet it’s curiously invisible.

No one notices it or stops to consider how odd this ancient giant tree is, in the middle of a residential Manhattan neighborhood.

SUNDAY: Dancing in the Street

It’s a Block Party 

hosted by the Rubin Museum, 

one of NYC most interesting are collections.

The Event is free and includes admission to the Rubin, whose current show is The Power of Masks.  Because there is a wonderful indoor option this is a rain or shine event

There will be lots to sketch:
-  Art activities including making masks, prayer beads, bird rattles, origami, and more
-  An Ajna Dance Performance
-  A Brooklyn Raga Massive
-  Costume contest (visitors should dress to impress!)
-  Outdoor family yoga instruction

REFRESHMENTS
-  Café Serai - Himalayan flavors and dishes
-  Van Leeuwen - Ice cream

DETAILS

What:  The Rubin Block Party

Where:  150 West 17th Street Between 6th and 7th Avenues

When:   From 11 AM - to 3:30 PM

How:
Subway -
-  A, C, E to 14th Street (at 8th Avenue)
-  1 to 18th Street (at 7th Avenue)
-  2, 3 to 14th Street (at 7th Avenue)
-  F, L, M to 14th Street (at 6th Avenue)
-  N, Q, R, 4, 5, 6 to 14th Street-Union Square

Car -
Parking is wide open on Sundays, the easiest day of the week to find a spot.  There is a 24-hour parking lot on the corner of 17th Street and 6th Avenue. There are also a number of parking garages and lots on 17th Street between Union Square and 7th Avenue.

Lunch:  12:30.  Meet in front of the Museum entrance.  Bring your own, or purchase from Vendors and stores.  There is also Café Serai in the museum -  the perfect place to enjoy the aromas and flavors of the Himalayas.

Afternoon:  1:30 Back to sketching the Street Fair and the Museum.

Show and Tell:  3:30  Meet at the entrance to the museum and we’re off to The Cafeteria 119 7th Ave, b/t 18th St & 17th St,  to share drawings, good stories and a beer or wine if you're so inclined.

(Backup to the Cafeteria:  Petite Abeille, 

44 W 17th St, b/t Avenue Of The Americas & 5th Ave )

If you can’t find us

call or text Mark at 973-809-9128

There are no fees.   All drawing skill levels are welcome.

Weekday Urban Sketcher at Central Park Loch and Huddlestone Arch

Did you know that the north end of Central Park, known as the North Woods,  was purposefully made to look like a natural wooded  environment.  In this area is a series of waterways and lakes with a very special spot called The Loch.   a beautiful waterfall and stream leading to a stone arch built of massive holders and held together by gravity and pressure, not mortar.  Here is the best part, there are few visitors to this area.  

The Loch

Huddleston Arch

The Pool

DATE:  THURSDAY JULY 14, 2016

LOCATION:  THE LOCH IN CENTRAL PARK, located at 103 Street on the west side of the park.

TIME: 10:30 AM

DIRECTIONS:  A, C OR B train to 103 St Station.  Walk three blocks south to the park entrance at 100th St.  Follow the path to the left. You will pass a small lake called the pool and then come down the path to The Loch.

Please RSVP directly to Raylie Dunkel at raylie@verizon.net.  Looking for us? Call Raylie at 201-9789-6387.   Bring a stool and lunch.  

                       

SUNDAY: Sketch the Great Trees of New York

Sunday July 10, 2016

There are 5.2 Million Trees in New York City.  

They provide 44,509 acres of tree canopy 

and remove 2,204 tons of pollution each year.  

We are going to sketch two of the city's extraordinary trees - each with its own unique story 

as old as the city itself. 

The Great Trees of NYC 

plus Special Bonus Event.

Unbelievable!  That's a tree..
Its dwarfing everything!
It's bigger than the cars, ...it's bigger than all the other trees,
... it's bigger than the apartment building 

THE DINOSAUR
Our sketch tour will start at 163rd Street and St. Nicholas Avenue where we will sketch The Dinosaur, an English Elm standing 110’.

The tree stood on what was the Morris-Jumel estate.  It is said that on November 16, 1776, nearly 240 years ago, George Washington stood under this tree and watched the tides of battle turn against his forces.  At the battle of Fort Washington New York City fell to the British and remained in English control until the end of the civil war.

Today this tree stands inconspicuously in the middle of a typical NYC street, a giant witness to history.

Taken This Winter along the northeast part
of the bridle path around the reservoir

THE OLDEST TREE IN CENTRAL PARK
In the afternoon we'll sketch the oldest tree in Central Park, a  stately multi-trunked London plane growing along the bridle path near the East 96th Street entrance at the northeast corner of the Reservoir..

Once you know how to spot a London Plane you see them everywhere.  They’re NYC’s second most popular tree* (18.4% according the the 1996 Tree census).   In many ways the London Plane is the perfect tree for the Big Apple, growing fast, resisting pollution and pests, and giving ample shade to the sidewalks. The logo for the New York City Parks Department appears to be based on a London plane leaf.


*  In case you were curious, Honeylocust trees are the most common tree in Manhattan - 23.3% of the total tree population.


DETAILS:
 1.)  Morning:  10:00 AM - We meet at the Dinosaur - St Nicholas Ave & W 163rd at 10:00 AM.  The A, C train to 163rd St and Amsterdam Avenue stops one block away.

2.)  12:00 - Leave for Lunch - a picnic in Central Park.  Bring or buy on the way. We’ll meet at the huge London Plane that is on the north side of the reservoir in central park closer to the east side.  There are lots of large trees in this area but one is outstandingly large.  We’ll picnic near this spot and start sketching at 1:30.

3.)  Afternoon:  1:30 Sketch the Oldest Tree and the surrounding park area

4.)  Show and Tell:  At 3:00 we'll come together under the shade of the London Plane to to share drawings, good stories

4.)  Late Afternoon:  3:45 - NUS (Not Urban Sketching!) - Dr. Sketchy
- The Voluptuous Panic:   A unique sketching experience, (not for everyone’s taste,) but well worth checking out.  This Dr. Sketchy session will be scintillating, smart and a touch surrealist drawing session inspired by one of their favorite models -  Johnny Panic!

Session runs from 4:30-7:30 pm. Seating is first come first serve!  It pays to get there early.
Flûte Bar, 205 West 54th St.  There is a fee:  $12 in advance, $15 at the door, and a 2 drink minimum (that is encouraged but not enforced) from Flûte Bar's delicious happy hour menu.

If you can’t find us

call or text Mark at 973-809-9128

There are no fees.   All drawing skill levels are welcome.

Weekday Urban Sketchers at FDR Memorial

Located at the southern tip of Roosevelt Island, the FDR Memorial, designed by Louis Kahn, is a beautiful place to sketch the geometry of the memorial and the natural flow of the river with the skyline in the background.  

After lunch we can move to the adjacent property and sketch the ruins of the old hospital.

DATE: THURSDAY JULY 7, 2016

TIME: 10:30 AM

LOCATION: Roosevelt Memorial at the south tip of Roosevelt Island.

MEETING PLACE: Tram Station Plaza at  59th STREET AND 2ND AVE.  If you are a late and miss the group, take the tram across the river and walk south to the memorial.  If you take the F train to Roosevelt Island, walk south or take the Red Bus to the Memorial site.

TRANSPORTAION: Tram to Roosevelt Island or the F train to Roosevelt Island. 

Please RSVP to Raylie Dunkel at raylie@verizon.net.  Looking for us? Call Raylie at 201-978-6387.  Bring lunch or purchase something at the deli near the subway station. Bring a stool.  There is plenty of shade but sunscreen is a good idea.