All summer long I've been trekking over to Central Park in the mornings with a spring in my step and a granny cart full of art supplies. Since I'm a typical car-less New Yorker I haul just enough stuff for a single day of painting. Even with a trimmed down kit my cart is a lifesaver. The photo shows only a portion of all the paraphernalia that I schlep each day.
Tools are very personal and every artist has their own preferences. This season a Meeden tripod field easel has been my constant companion. Sure, it's all plastic and it's not the steadiest. On the plus side it weighs practically nothing and it sets up and dismantles in a flash. To counter its annoying tendency to tip over in a gust of wind I hang my water bottle on the tripod and it stays upright (usually). A couple of strong magnets hold my palette securely to the shelf. And I had an extra well cut out because I want/need two water cups. One is for cleaning my brushes. The second holds clean water to keep my colors nice and bright.
Tools are very personal and every artist has their own preferences. This season a Meeden tripod field easel has been my constant companion. Sure, it's all plastic and it's not the steadiest. On the plus side it weighs practically nothing and it sets up and dismantles in a flash. To counter its annoying tendency to tip over in a gust of wind I hang my water bottle on the tripod and it stays upright (usually). A couple of strong magnets hold my palette securely to the shelf. And I had an extra well cut out because I want/need two water cups. One is for cleaning my brushes. The second holds clean water to keep my colors nice and bright.
Central Park Skyline
This week I set up my easel just north of the Central Park Reservoir. When I looked through the trees facing south I was astonished at how changed the skyline was from the way I remembered it. In recent years these unbelievably tall, skinny "pencil" towers have proliferated across midtown, defying gravity and poking holes in the clouds. I chose a view that depicts just one of them. I wanted to show that the immense vastness of nature dwarfs any man-made tower. No matter how high the architect has the audacity to build.
Central Park Bridge No. 28 (Gothic)
I started my second painting just a few steps away on the bridle path looking west at Bridge No. 28, nicknamed the "Gothic". Because I was working so close to the road quite a few passersby stopped to chat. One woman told me that the wonderful old tree that bends over in the foreground is a white mulberry -- and has been designated one of the "Great Trees" of Central Park. I included that tree in my watercolor because I love the way it echoes the arc of the bridge. Her story only deepened my appreciation of its grandeur. Another visitor said he loves Bridge No. 28 so much that he wants to "adopt" it and restore it back to its original glory. After looking at it closely for awhile I thought that he had a brilliant idea.
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