Looking up at the sky from down on the ground

Another themed tour this past Saturday around some of Manhattan's famous apartment buildings. Which, of course, I'd never heard of but seen plenty of times. Go figure. 

The Dorilton

First up, the Dorilton. The poor thing can't figure itself out. At least, I couldn't figure it out from where I stood, which was a little far away from very far down below.

The Ansonia

Then the Ansonia, which was less of a crazy. Still not an easy subject to paint.

A stoplight surrounded by autumn trees.

So I gave up and decided to draw a stoplight and paint some trees winding down their autumnal transition. 

Some little church at a corner.

Our next stop was supposed to be the Apthorp, which turned out to be a boxy-looking thing manned by Sir Surly Guard, who roundly repelled us from even considering visiting the courtyard (the most interesting thing about the building, at least from the exterior. Also possible that I am a mildly bitter person.). 

Not posh enough, I suppose, for such a travertine tessaract, we heigh-ho'd to another spot a block or two beyond. And lo! we found a wee little corner church that presented itself best from the central street divide lining the upper west side length of Broadway (also conveniently furnished with benches).

Sharing sketches at lunch.

Mark found Peacefood Café, a vegetarian/vegan restaurant with a steady stream of patrons enjoying late lunches. We joined them and sketched between eating some really great food and being at turns both annoyed and charmed by our handsome waiter, whom no one sketched. Ha.

The Fourth Universalist Society.

And finally, after a good lunch and some leisurely time talking and sharing sketches, off we trod towards the San Remo, which didn't afford a good view directly from Central Park West -- we would have to go deep into Central Park for a more dynamic angle, and I personally wasn't feeling up to all that walking. So we perched ourselves on some bleacher seats set up for what we could only assume was the Veteran's Day parade or the upcoming Thanksgiving Day parade. I sketched the Fourth Universalist Society church. And then I sketched a motorcycle.

A parked motorcycle. It was black and shiny.

And finally, a shot of the group that day:

From left: Svetlana, Mark, and Patricia.

Thanks to Mark for organizing another interesting tour with challenging subject matter. And thanks to my fellow sketchers for another fun day.