City Pretty

When people say “I’m going to the city”, there is the chance that they aren’t referring to New York City (gasp, I know). I grew up in north central Connecticut, so when people said “the city” it was New York. Not Boston, typically, in my part of the state (sorry Boston).

I went on a bit of a New York binge with my artwork this weekend and wanted to share it here. Two double images. I would call them diptychs, but they aren’t hinged, nor are they altarpieces painted on wood.

dip·tych /ˈdiptik/ noun

a painting, especially an altarpiece, on two hinged wooden panels which may be closed like a book.

But I digress. They are two images together on one page, whatever you want to call the pairing. First: Grand Central Station terminal, along with a street view of Brooklyn. I know they don’t really have anything to do with each other, but I like them together so now they exist that way.

When I was working on these sets, they each had a strip of painter’s tap across the middle, so even though I wasn’t looking, I could feel where I was on the page.

Fun fact though, I intended to make both sides of the image of Grand Central, but took up too much space on the left and didn’t realize it until I could feel the right edge of the paper. Oops.

The other pairing from yesterday is the Guggenheim and the reading room of the New York public library. Again, nothing to do with each other but they are happy to share a space.

I really thought my pen was going to run out during the library image. There is this blank piece of paper I use, to check ink levels before I start drawing anything. It’s got a million little squiggly lines all over it. Some new pens are somewhere in my future, I can spidey sense it coming.

Also, when creating a work with a million miles of line (like the library image), my hand definitely wants to fall off mid-drawing. Thankfully that hasn’t happened yet, although it was a close call yesterday. I could always become a lefty, I suppose.

Where was I. Right, the Guggenheim / library. It is 11” x 17” total (as is the other pairing that I shared with you, above). Here they are:

There are things I could pick apart, about either image (or about any of my artwork, for that matter), but overall I’m pleased. Here are some close-up details.

And now I want to go to the city. New York. It’s been YEARS. Pretty sure the last time I went was around Christmas, that year when it was like 65 degrees and I could sip on a fruity beverage at a bar outdoors without a jacket. In December. Yes please.

Ta da! Back to animals next weekend, maybe? Or should I pay some artful attention to Boston and create some of its buildings? Decisions, decisions. I’m going to do what I always do and wing it. Stay tuned to see what the heck happens next.

*suspenseful music*