I'd never been to Wall Street. Its amazing how the city has so such distinct flavors in the different neighborhoods. Midtown east is skyscrapers of lots of glass and metal, mixed with old brick buildings. Same on the west side too but then there is Times Square with its own flavor. Wall Street and area seemed more like Europe (with skyscrapers) - many of the buildings there were white stone and brick and the streets were more maze-like. Some of the old buildings down by the South Street Seaport sagged and were definitely out of square!
We painted in the street (which is now blocked from traffic), a view facing south (?) towards the river. We were almost all done when a police officer came by and said we couldn't have tripods there. Can anyone explain that? Does it impede traffic? Is it a safety hazard? I know photographers have to deal with that a lot.
Anyway, the plan was to pack up and go to the Bridge Cafe for lunch. Its the oldest restaurant in the city and right under the Brooklyn Bridge. You can guess what we painted after lunch then! While there, we were entertained by more native New Yorkers - Ellen and her husband Joe. Ellen is another artist who wanted to see how we crazy people could paint on location in the city! They were very fun people with lots of interesting history to tell about their neighborhood. She and Phil are members of Pleiades Gallery, a coop art gallery run by the artists. Its a great space, we went last year for Phil's show. Phil has a link on his site to a scrapbook of our painting trip and there are a lot of images from Wall Street. You can see our paintings progress.
14x11 oil on panel
- I don't think I got the value on the buildings right... they should have been darker. And a more verical canvas would have been better.
6x8 oil on panel
- this is my favorite painting from the trip I think.
Petra and Sherrie drawing a crowd at the bridge
7 comments:
very nice journal Robin, the bridge is also my favorite!
New York en plein air -- what a concept! These are captivating paintings, beautifully done. Wall Street closed to traffic (and tripods, apparently) is especially interesting.
I love the painting of the Brooklyn Bridge. Your style is so loose and your colors are so vivid and decisive. I love it!
I just returned from a trip to Manhattan too. It is such fun to see your version. I enjoyed the trip but did not try to paint, it rained quite often. Love your Brooklyn Bridge, did you walk it? The views from mid-bridge are fab!
WOW!! I LOVE these. Your brushwork is so lush & loose and the colors wonderfully saturated and beautiful! ...oh, I just realized I said (almost) exactly what Erin said. Well anyway, keep up the good work!!
nice, I like it ! Kathrin
I love these! You really captured the buildings, the bridge, the atmosphere, so loose and painterly. What fun to have discovered your blog while you are on this trip. I always enjoy trips to NYC.
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