A quick 24 hour trip to Boca Raton, Florida to make a presentation to a country club for the office. This sketch was completed quickly on site. With Southwest Airlines, you have to sketch quickly in that they turn around the planes so quick that they are never in the gate too long. Pilot Namiki Falcon fountain pen with Noodlers black ink in a Stillman and Birn sketchbook.
Another day trip to New Jersey to visit 2 of our country clubs that we are working on. This is another detail of Ridgewood Country Club in Ridgewood, New Jersey. The Clubhouse was originally designed by Clifford C. Wendehack, who like Tillinghast was one of the leading practitioners in his field during the 1920s. Wendehack chose a “Norman” building style because of his perception that the property was similar in appearance to that of northern France. Construction started in late August of 1928 and progressed smoothly until the clubhouse and course were opened in 1929. Faber-Castell Pitt Sanquine colored pens with Holbein and Daniel Smith watercolors in a Stillman and Birn Alpha sketchbook.
Great Point Light, officially, Nantucket Light is a lighthouse located on the northernmost point of Nantucket Island. First built in 1784, the original wooden tower was destroyed by fire in 1816. The following year a stone tower was erected which stood until toppled in a storm in March 1984. Rebuilt again in 1986, the stone tower was built to replicate the old one, and still remains in operation today. Modern additions include solar panels to recharge the light’s batteries, and a sheet pile foundation and 5-foot thick concrete mat to help withstand erosion. Faber-Castell Pitt pen with Holbein and Daniel Smith watercolors in a Stillman and Birn sketchbook.
Another couple of quick value studies from Nantucket. As a challenge to try to be quicker and looser. I made a limit of 12-15 minutes for each of these sketches. They are still pretty tight, but there is a looseness to them. The top one is a view from the ferry terminal looking back at a couple of cottages on the piers over the water. The second is of a marina building that had a garage shop with large doors on the front and rear that opened to the view and harbor just outside the doors. Pilot Namiki Falcon fountain pen with Noodler’s black ink in a Stillman and Birn sketchbook.
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.
The real Plymouth Rock was a boulder about fifteen feet long and three feet wide which lay with its point to the east, thus forming a convenient pier for boats to land during certain hours of tide. In 1920, the rock was found and the waterfront rebuilt to a design by noted landscape architect Arthur Ahcrcliff, with a waterfront promenade behind a low seawall, in such a way that when the rock was returned to its original site, it would be at water level. The care of the rock was turned over to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, and a new very sober Roman Doric Portico designed by McKim, Mead and White for viewing the tide-washed rock protected by gratings. Faber-Castell Pitt black pens in a 9″ x 12″ 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.
A quick sketch relaxing in Starbucks as I wait for my oil change in my car. Faber-Castell Pitt pens in an Alpha Series 9 x 12 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.
A SKETCHBOOK ODYSSEY 