Ideas from New York

Painting had to be put on hold this month as I had a long-awaited visit to New York to be introduced to my latest grandaughter and spend some time exploring the environs of Brooklyn. Unfortunately not many gallery visits, but plenty of time to sketch and take in the life on the other side of the pond. Brooklyn has character that is quite different  from the environs of London, a strange type of Victorian classical architecture the has a touch of Europe without the Gothic nuances.

A little research time in the local library whilst in Brooklyn introduced me to an inspiring artist called Brian Ruttenberg. Not only does he express many of the ideas and concepts that I relate to in my landscape work but he has produced a number of short videos on YouTube that explain his method of working and an insight of how he derives the content of his paintings.

Check out this web link :

Sketching in and around the Brooklyn neighbourhood provided some good practice with architectural depiction and attention to all the little features  in street furniture and signs that make it so obviously New York. Large walkways, four-story brownstone apartments, external fire ladders, cast iron fire hydrants and hanging traffic lights directing fleets of yellow taxis. A wonderful and visually exciting feast of things to sketch.

See what you think of these sketches ( click on the thumbnails to see them larger)  and please comment on the blog to show that someone is reading all this!!!