Painting the New Jersey skyline

This week sadly is the last week in Joe Peller's plein aire class. Today we wound down to Christopher Street to the piers that jut out into the Hudson. It's a part of the great expanse known as Hudson River Park. One of the piers has been totally planted over and sports a soccer field complete with grass and two clumps of trees.

I don't know the clock tower that we saw in the distance but it made for an intriguing subject. In the morning, after sketching, I tried out my new palette of ultra. blue, quin. red, and trans. yellow. 

                 morning

In the afternoon, I tried the same scene in different lighting and substituted cad. red for the quin. red.

                afternoon

What a difference a few hours make. Tomorrow we'll be going to Battery Park with the Statue of Liberty views. 

The other Brooklyn Bridge

The 34th Street pier got a new makeover and they built a nice little riverside park next to it. It was high time I paid a visit. The little park is quite nice; benches are scattered about, shade trees and bushes were amply planted...and it has the most spectacular views of the river. It was quite fun seeing the ferries come in and go out. I saw one going to Martha's Vineyard.

Way south of the pier lay the Williamsburg Bridge. From a distance, the Williamsburg Bridge looks like its more famous sister, the Brooklyn Bridge. There are actually three bridges between Manhattan and Brooklyn: the Brooklyn Bridge, the Manhattan Bridge, and this one - the Williamsburg Bridge. Of course by the time I was finished strolling and gawking about, I didn't have much time to paint so I did a quick color/compositional study in about 30 minutes..

Now I can't wait to go back and paint it in different lights when I have more time. Sunrise should be quite nice.

5x7" oils on canvas board

Some more architecture in Union Square Park

This morning, I wanted to capture the arches of the beautiful outhouses on the north side of the park. This small painting was a warmup to the previous one.

5x7 oil on canvas board

The outhouse at Union Square Park

Back in Joe Peller's outdoor painting class - this week in Union Square Park in New York City. It's got one of the most beautiful outhouses I've ever seen in a public park. Here's the balustrade with some trees that hide it from the street view. I particularly liked the deep brick tile roof peeking out the corner here.

5x7" oil on canvas board

A hidden gem near Madison Square Park

Belonging to the Central Park Sketching Group has given me exposure to small parks and hidden gems of Manhattan.

One of these is the New York Met Life building that I sketched this morning. I like drawing and painting architecture - the straight lines and regular design patterns can be a challenge though. 

Here is the sketch with a photo of the building. I don't know what size it is but it's small.