Tag Archives: drawing

Freedom Tower, work in progress 2

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I’ve gotten the foreground of “Freedom Tower” pretty much done.  I may go back and look at it with a fresh, but I think that’s it.

While I was doing this, it occurred to me that visual arts are a lot like music.  You’ve got compositions, rhythms, and harmonies.  I tried, here, to get a lively harmony and rhythm going.

As for healing art, maybe this piece is for me.  I was not directly affected by 9/11, except for being a New Yorker.  Some people lost loved ones and friends, some people’s health was horribly affected by the smoke at Ground Zero, but all of us in New York felt something.  In the morning, I’d wake up thinking I had a nightmare, only to realize  that the nightmare was true.

So, it’s very hopeful and healing to see the Freedom Tower rising on the horizon.

 

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Freedom Tower, 1st work in progress

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Here’s the stage where I am in doing the large version of “Freedom Tower”.  As I usually find, when you translate something small into something much larger, you run into difficulties in detail and composition.  Here I’m finding I need more trees to fill up the foreground.

In reality, the foreground is actually a cemetery. I may include some headstones, as a tribute to those who died in 9/11.   Still thinking about it.Image

No Place Like Home…..

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I’ve started work on the large “Freedom Tower”, but so far, don’t really have enough to show a work in progress.

So here’s something I did a little earlier.  It’s one of the Paradise series.  It’s an interior, for I know some for some people, paradise is their own home.  That is, especially if it is beautiful.  I would have copied one of the photos of the Plaza Condos, but that would be a copyright issue.

I never really had a beautiful home.  My childhood home was a fixer-upper my parents bought while their income was generous.  Then my father lost his biggest client, and my parents’ financial situation tumbled.  The fixer-upper never got fixed up, and with no money to repair the house as other things fell apart.  It fell into terrible disrepair.

I probably should have been grateful just to have a roof over my head, but I was ashamed of the house.  As I grew older, I saw other houses in equal disrepair, but in those days, I felt very alone.  I was not allowed to invite friends over.   I felt embarrassed whenever anyone came to the door.

As I became older, and had my own places, I care less.  I still don’t live in a Plaza Suite.  My house is cluttered with art supplies and electronics belonging to my partner, but it’s home.  And I’m not embarrassed anymore.livingroom72002

I don’t have a title for this yet.  It has kind of a children’s book feel to it, I think because I made it up almost entirely.

That was fast….

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As usual, I did a 5×7 sketch before working on the full size version of “Freedom Tower”, the working title. Once I’ve gotten finished using this to work from, I may put it up on Ebay, someone might want it. Anyway, I still have to work on getting the verticals and horizontals right. But I do think I captured this special, but fleeting time of year, before it was too late.

An Urban Paradise

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I have concentrated on natural beauty as paradise. The truth is, though, some of us have found our paradise in a big city. What can be paradise among t he noise, bad smells, crowds and dirt? It’s a matter of being part of a community. For some of us, that’s paradise..

Here I am featuring the lower Manhattan skyline as it is, now. The tall building is the Freedom Tower, the new World Trade Center. I also played a lot with types of pencil strokes…scribbles, parallel lines, and more in order to create a more atmospheric effect.

Okay, doing non-profit landscapes is all well and good…..but how do I get them out to people? I don’t have money to promote them, and most art shows cost plenty to participate. The internet of course, but I’m among how many billions of websites? It’s a miracle anyone finds me.

In NYC,it’s legal for artists to set up their work in certain places, as long as they have a business license. Despite that, artists do get harassed by the police. I’m not sure I’d want to deal with that. It would also take away from my precious weekend time off. So, I’m still thinking, and open to suggestions.nycatdusk72

My Big Break

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The art reception is over, and now I’m a famous artist!  Or, not, depends on how delusional I am on any given day.

The reception went well.  Turned out to be just a few friends, and we all had a nice visit.

Just what I was expecting, I don’t know.  I was incredibly anxious on the way to Birch Coffee, and on the verge of hyperventilating.  Frankly, I was going back and forth between visions of having all my work down,lined up against the wall, and being instructed to get it the hell out!  Or the other swing, a crowd of people, just waiting to meet the newly discovered great artist.  So, everything turned out okay, no complaints here.

Thanks to all my friends who came.

The one thing left, is which picture will be left behind.  As part of the agreement, Birch Coffee will take one of my drawings in exchange for displaying my work.  I kept the work out of the shop that I really wanted to keep.

Bets from my friends as to which will go: House at Sunrise

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I should start a pool.

Another thing I’ve decided, is to make “Embracing my Inner Cat”, as not for sale.  I’ve started using it as a trademark, and also, it is a picture of my dear cat, Hannako.  For those of you who have never seen it:

“Construction” had been finished, but I’m waiting for better light to photograph it.

Help Wanted: An Inventor

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For sometime, I’ve been looking for the perfect art supply.  It can take images in my mind, project them directly from my eyes, and develop the picture on the paper, with absolutely no handiwork from me.  If you can come up with it, I guarantee you’ll make a fortune.

But since that doesn’t exist at the moment, I drag my way doing hand drawing.

On this piece, I’m going to be taking it slow.  Remember, I’m throwing out the rules on this one.  Remember what happened last time I took a risk?  Right, disaster.

So, easy does it.  Or maybe I’m just a glutton for punishment.

Anyway, here’s the beginning of “Construction”.  I’m starting with a detail and working outwards:

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