Monument to Columbus by Joan Tavolott

This isn't a new sketch but it fits this theme. It is a monument honoring Christopher Columbus in Columbus Circle near Central Park in NYC. I sketched it last December when I was in the city on one of my many trips with the NYC Urban Sketchers. 

Daily Life, Sketching with the NYC Urban Sketchers

Today I went to meet the NYC Urban Sketchers in Manhattan. We sketched on the walkway of the 59th Street Bridge (aka the Queensboro Bridge) which connects the boroughs of Queens and Manhattan. I did 5 sketches but am only posting one here of the bridge, the bikers, and the walker.

Daily Life, Eating Out by Joan Tavolott

One of the great pleasures in life is dining out with family or friends. Yesterday when I was out with the NYC Urban Sketchers we went out for lunch in the middle of our day. As always we talked and sketched through most of lunch. I sketched a woman at the next table. I used my ink pen and colored it with the Crayola crayons that were on the table.

Daily Life, Commuting on the Train by Joan Tavolott

Today I went into Manhattan to join the NYC Urban Sketchers for the day.

I made use of the commute by sketching some of the other commuters.

This sketch was done on the Long Island Railroad from Ronkonkoma to NYC.

These were quick pencil sketches I did on the A train (subway) going from Penn Station up to 181st Street in Washington Heights.

I think if I had to commute every day I would be napping like the lady on the right. lol

Human Beings And How They Spend Their Time, Out With the Dogs, by Joan Tavolott

I was off visiting my sister today and traveling into the city with her and although I have something from today that will fit this theme, I haven't taken photos of it yet. In addition to sketching in the city we went to see the American Watercolor Society Show...amazing!!!

I did this sketch when I was in NYC recently with the NYC Urban Sketchers. These ladies were at the dog run in the park. And true to form there were dogs running everywhere. I had to wait for these cuties to return to their owners every once in a while to get them into the sketch.

Time Away From Home, NYC by Joan Tavolott

I had a different sketch I was going to post today, but I didn't take a photo of it yet. I will post it later. I wanted to share one of the sketches I did yesterday in NYC with the NYC Urban Sketchers. This was definitely "time away from home." Our group meets every Saturday to sketch somewhere within the city limits. It takes me at least 1 1/2 hrs to get into the city from where I live and usually longer. I don't get to join them every week and it has probably been about a month and a half since I ventured in to meet them. My usual travel buddy couldn't go in yesterday so I decided to make the trip myself. First I drove 1 hour to a place where I could park my car by one of the NYC subway stops, and then I took the subway. What should have been a 45 minute or less subway ride took me another 1 1/2 hrs due to construction work on the subway tracks. I left home at 8am and finally met up with the group at 10:30. It was worth it because we sketched until almost 4pm. It is always fun to get together with a group of like-minded people. It is a fun group of people of assorted ages.

Our location was Carl Schurz Park on 86th St and East End Avenue. Gracie Mansion is in the park and it is the official home of the mayor of NYC. Unfortunately for us the entire mansion grounds has a big high security fence and you couldn't see more than the tippity top of the building. So we didn't get to sketch the mansion. This is the first sketch I did of the day and includes a view of part of the East River as well as the path along the river which was filled with joggers, people with their dogs, people enjoying the sunshine like the lady on the bench on the right who was  stretched out with her bare foot showing, (It wasn't that warm!) and an assortment of characters you would find in any park on a sunny spring day. If you are curious about the other sketches I did yesterday, come visit my blog where you can see how I spent the rest of the day. (www.watercolorsbyjoan2.blogspot.com)