Another early morning sketch. It poured rain last night so there is nowhere outside to sit and sketch where it is dry. This is the view from The Bean coffee shop. I sat at the window counter and sketched the view across India Street. Classic New England Architecture is everywhere in this town and on the island. We leave later today and it has been a fantastic trip. Faber-Castell Pitt pens with Holbein watercolors in an Alpha Series Stillman and Birn sketchbook.
Another beautiful morning on Nantucket. Up early just after sunrise for this sketch as the fog was lifting. The Boat House and Grennan Bearit are 2 rental cottages on North Wharf on the Nantucket Boat Basin. Nantucket is so a quintessential New England with all of the cottages and buildings in grey weathered shingle buildings with white trim right on the water. I sketched this Plein Air and added the color later due to the 100% humidity and I knew the watercolor would never dry. Holbein watercolors with black fine pens in a Alpha Series Stillman and Birn sketchbook.
Another variety of Hardy Hibiscus or Swamp Rose. This color combination seems to be blooming now, a little later in the season than the red variety that I painted a little while back. This flower is all white with a purple center and yellow Stamen. Holbein and Daniel Smith watercolors in a Stillman and Birn Alpha Sketchbook.
The Mayflower was the ship that transported English Separatists, known today as the Pilgrims from Plymouth in England to the New World. There were 102 passengers, and the crew is estimated to have been about thirty, but the exact number is unknown. This voyage has become an iconic story in some of the earliest annals of American History, with its story of death and of survival in the harsh New England winter environment. The culmination of the voyage in the signing of the Mayflower Compact was an event which established a rudimentary form of democracy, with each member contributing to the welfare of the community. The Mayflower stopped in what is now Provincetown and First Encounter Beach in Eastham prior to landing in what is now Plymouth, MA. This is actually a fully working replica of the original vessel in Plymouth Harbor. Ink with Holbein watercolors in a Stillman and Birn Sketchbook.
While it is not yet fall here in the Northeast, there are starting to be subtle signs that autumn is around the corner. This is a typical New England stone wall that the farmers constructed from all of the stones that they would plow up while working the fields. These walls would separate the fields and properties. This image shows the green ivies in the sunshine on the left transitioning to the yellow and oranges of fall foliage on the right in the shadows. Holbein and Daniel Smith watercolors in a 5″ x 8″ Moleskine watercolor book.
Summer on Cape Cod is wonderful with the sight and smell of the Sea Roses (Rosa Rugosa). Rosa Rugosa is a suckering shrub which develops new plants from the roots and forms dense thickets with stems densely covered in numerous short, straight prickles. The flowers are pleasantly scented, dark pink to white with somewhat wrinkled petals; flowering occurs throughout the summer on the cape. Holbein and Daniel Smith watercolors in a Stillman and Birn Sketchbook.
A beautiful evening for a sail along the Cape Cod Canal. The Cape Cod Canal is an artificial waterway in the state of Massachusetts connecting Cape Cod Bay to the north with Buzzards Bay to the south. The canal is part of the Atlantic Intercostal Waterway, the approximately 7 mile long canal traverses the narrow neck of land joining Cape Cod to the state’s mainland. Most of its length follows tidal rivers widened to 480 feet and deepened to 32 feet at mean low water, shaving 135 miles off the journey around the Cape for its approximately 14,000 annual users. Pilot Namiki Falcon fountain pen with Noodlers ink and Holbein watercolors in a Stillman and Birn Sketchbook.
The Highland Light (previously known as Cape Cod Light is an active lighthouse on the Cape Cod National Seashore in North Truro, Massachusetts. It is the oldest and tallest lighthouse on Cape Cod. The park and lighthouse area owned by the National Park Service. The present location of the lighthouse is not the original site. It was in danger of falling down the cliff due to beach erosion, so the structure was moved 450 feet (140 m) to the west. The move was accomplished over a period of 18 days in July, 1996. Pilot Namiki Falcon fountain pen with Noodlers Black ink and Holbein watercolors in a Stillman and Birn Sketchbook.
A fantastic concert at the open air performing arts center in Mansfield, Massachusetts. The concert was Chicago and Earth Wind & Fire. They played for 3 hours as individual groups and about 8 songs together. An amazing show full of energy and old school music. A wonderful night. This drawing was completed from a photograph that I took at the concert. A difficult subject in that all of the tones were either black or very bight lights with the reddish stage lights casting a pinkish glow on everything. Pilot Namiki fountain pen with Noodlers ink, Holbein watercolors in a Stillman and Birn Sketchbook.
A beautiful summer day at the beach on Cape Cod. The crowds are already starting to dwindle as school starts up. This area of Cape Cod was originally settled by the Nauset tribe, Eastham was the site where in 1620 a hunting expedition landed, comprised from the crew of the sailing vessel Mayflower, which had stopped in Provincetown harbor on Cape Cod Bay after a rough crossing of the Atlantic Ocean, which led to the first encounter of the Pilgrims and the local Nauset people at First Encounter Beach. Faber-Castell Pitt pens with Holbein and Daniel Smith Watercolors in a Stillman and Birn Alpha Sketchbook.
A SKETCHBOOK ODYSSEY 