A few weeks ago, I was in New York for the Urban Sketchers Executive Board in-person meeting. We spent long hours in a small room at Pearl Studios near Penn Station, but we took a break from our strategy sessions to sketch with the Urban Sketchers New York City chapter.
We sketched at Brookfield Place (formerly the World Financial Center). The installation of luminaries among the indoor palms was striking; they changed color frequently.
A highlight of the weekend was our visit to the Picasso sculpture exhibit at the Museum of Modern Art. I spent my time mostly looking, not sketching!
Finally got around to going to this event last weekend, after talking about it for years. Teams of people race one another across the water in massive boats with dragon heads, way out in Flushing Meadows Park.
It takes a while to get there by public transportation, and by the time we did it was nearly time to turn back as we had other plans for the afternoon and evening.
Figured I'd take a few minutes and sketch since we'd spent so long trekking out there. So I scribbled a few lines and splashed a few colors around in the blazing sun as I listened to the incredibly peppy emcee exhort everyone to consider Hong Kong! If we ever wanted to open a business! Gotta say, he was pretty convincing.
It takes a while to get there by public transportation, and by the time we did it was nearly time to turn back as we had other plans for the afternoon and evening.
Figured I'd take a few minutes and sketch since we'd spent so long trekking out there. So I scribbled a few lines and splashed a few colors around in the blazing sun as I listened to the incredibly peppy emcee exhort everyone to consider Hong Kong! If we ever wanted to open a business! Gotta say, he was pretty convincing.
A few photos of yesterday's live sketch event at the Moleskine store at Time Warner Center in New York. Jason Das and I sketched, talked to people about Urban Sketchers and helped people get more comfortable with drawing.
A quick warm-up sketch on the train going to NY:
Here's Jason talking about techniques:
A young sketcher is completely focused on her drawing:
People on the escalator going to Whole Foods:
Shoppers, as motionless as mannequins, on the upper floor looking down over the lobby:
It was lots of fun, and we met a lot of great people! Will post more when I get scans of the sketches.
A quick warm-up sketch on the train going to NY:
Here's Jason talking about techniques:
A young sketcher is completely focused on her drawing:
People on the escalator going to Whole Foods:
Shoppers, as motionless as mannequins, on the upper floor looking down over the lobby:
It was lots of fun, and we met a lot of great people! Will post more when I get scans of the sketches.
Need weekend plans? Meet Jason Das, Richard Alomar, Josiah Hanchett and me at Moleskine's New York City Stories event this Saturday, May 17. Jason and I will be sketching at Moleskine's Time Warner Center (Columbus Circle) kiosk store and Richard and Josiah will be sketching at the Soho store.
To prepare, last weekend I tried out the Moleskine Art Plus Sketch Album to get comfortable with its smooth 81 lb paper.
In general I found that dry media worked beautifully, as advertised. Colored pencils, Noodler's Lexington Gray ink in a fountain pen, Pitt pens, Pigma Micron pens, Neocolor II crayons, etc. love this paper. Get any amount of water on it, however, and it's a different story -- the paper buckles and little dashes appear that don't go away even when dry.
I did find, however, that gesso or a layer of acrylic paint on the page created a decent ground for applying water-based media. Shellac-based ink splashes were fine, too.
Here's my "media sampler":
A few quick sketches from this morning's NYC Urban Sketchers excursion. Here, I'm looking out from in front of the Time Warner building.
And this one's from W 56th & Eighth Ave.
And this one's from W 56th & Eighth Ave.
Joined the NYC Urban Sketchers yesterday for a jaunt through New York literary haunts in Greenwich Village. We started at Washington Square North -- the world of Edith Wharton, Henry James and others. Was wishing I'd brought fingerless gloves by the time I finished this sketch, it was so cold. (What I did bring along was my new messenger-style bag from R.E.Load Bags in Philadelphia, as it allowed me to haul a lot of sketching stuff very comfortably with my hands free.)
Then we went in search of Louisa May Alcott's ghost, on MacDougal Street. When we spied a cozy-looking cafe across the street, we decided to pause our wandering and warm up over steaming mugs of tea. The minute we stepped in, we knew we'd want to spend a few hours -- it was exactly the sort of old-timey place you dream of stumbling upon as you stroll in the Village.
The host graciously let us take over a table in the front and guided us through the extensive selection of teas. For subjects, we had the shop's ever-changing clientele, some of whom ordered drinks to go and some of whom lingered to read or gossip or tap away at a keyboard.
We tried out one another's pens (we're always in search of the next one to add to our collection), and I was dismayed to learn that Art Brown (my go-to pen shop in NYC) closed a few months ago.
I kept a few of the tea-stained placemats to paste into my sketchbook (they were a bit too buckled to draw on).
After a light lunch, we continued on our book tour, crossing Seventh Avenue to walk down Grove Street, where O. Henry apparently wrote. I left the group at that point but tarried in a few shops along the way to Grand Central. Browsed the jewelry and John Derian-ware and Laura Zindel ceramics at Lori McLean and picked up a little brochure called "Charming and Unusual Shops, Galleries & Boutiques in Historic Greenwich Village" -- it's illustrated with fabulous ink drawings of the storefronts.
One of them is The Ink Pad, a tiny stamping and paper arts emporium crammed with all kinds of creative objets. Since it was on my way to the 14th Street subway station, I stopped in and picked up a Strathmore hardbound watercolor journal. After all, I'm just pages away from filling my Moleskine sketchbooks from the Lisbon and Santo Domingo Urban Sketching symposia....
I almost didn't go to the class on Wednesday, as I was so frustrated by the hour-long bus ride from Secaucus to New York for the second day in a row (Bin Laden death anniversary = massive security at the tunnel). Not to mention the lingering jet lag, wooziness, etc. from the trip. And the chilly gloom that was the weather. But I went for a little while, and managed one semi-decent sketch. The exercise Anne gave us was to do a value study in 10 minutes, one brush for paint plus one damp brush. Go.
Snagged reservations at Red Rooster a few days ago -- could not have been better weather to have an early dinner there. Sat at a bar table by choice to see all the action, inside and out. Marcus Samuelsson himself was there, looking sharp in his hat. Savored the cornbread, peanut soup, yard bird, rice and peas. Divine comfort food all -- we'll be back for more. Didn't have a sketchbook with me, but the restaurant obliged with a stack of postcards.
The first day we met in person, M. and I had a business lunch at the sadly now defunct Tabla Bread Bar -- and then a romantic dinner at Giorgione. Thankfully, Giorgione is still around, and the driving rain didn't stop us from having a lovely time last night.
Drawn on the back of yesterday's dinner specials menu with a Pilot Petit1 fountain pen. The ink in it is not waterproof, so I colored it digitally with my pen tablet.
Was sitting in my borrowed office at 5 Times Square yesterday evening, wondering where to go to dinner before seeing "Stephen Merchant Live: Hello, Ladies..." at Town Hall.
It had to be nearby. And had to be a bit touristy, a bit dramatic, to get us properly in the mood for slightly off-kilter stand-up. I scrolled the New York mag online restaurant listings and hit upon Inakaya.
It's a robata-yaki restaurant, featuring vegetables and seafood/meat grilled while you watch. Yes, it's a bit over-the-top, but the minute we walked in and heard the host and chefs singing out greetings, I wished I'd brought my sketchbook along.
Fortunately I happened to have a sheet of plain Levenger heavyweight paper in my day planner and a Platinum Preppy fountain pen, so I dashed this off while waiting for our various courses to arrive (on long wooden paddles, accompanied by more theatrics). Sadly the ink in the pen isn't waterproof, so I had to be careful when I added color.
Enjoyed the food and fun, and laughed our heads off at Stephen Merchant later on. Totally worth it!
Sometimes you just need to fall in love with the city again.
So, yesterday: Roamed Barnes & Noble in Union Square; sipped drinks in the cozy, technically guests-only lobby bar of the Bowery Hotel (sketched above); savored delectable tacos at Hecho en Dumbo; and then met amazing children's book illustrators at Scholastic's charity auction reception for their "Read Every Day. Lead a Better Life" literacy campaign. (Go bid on their work!) Humbled by what these artists do with brush, ink and paints.
Still glad I don't live in Manhattan anymore. Still glad I'm just an express train away.
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