Times Square, Sunday, October 5, 2014

Susan, who lives way, way out on the island, and I met at my train station, Sunday morning, and rode into the city together.  I sketched her while she sketched the guy diagonally across the aisle.

We had coffee and breakfast in my hangout in Penn Station and then walked uptown to join up with the NYC Urban Sketchers in the middle of chaos.  Not kidding.  One hundred million people in the same place at the same time, everyone moving constantly, the signs on the buildings flashing new images every few seconds, hawkers hawking, honkers honking, cops walking by saying, "I sketch also".

We were a couple of blocks away from the area with chairs and tables so we had to sit in the bleachers or on a stone wall thingy which made a Very Cold Day even colder.

It took me quite awhile to figure out how to draw something/anything with all this confusion of images no matter where I looked.  I trashed a couple of attempts and then found my groove.  

I tried something new for me.  I painted shapes and added the lines last.  Phooey on perspective - who needs it anyway?  Really.

All these people were waiting on the TKTS line.  By this time my rear end was frozen, my teeth were chattering and my shivering was shaking the world.

Julie, one of the sketchers, invited all of us (NYC Urban Sketchers, not the other millions) to her apartment to eat lunch which we bought in various delis, etc. as we walked the few blocks.  There were a lot of us but she had a big table and plenty of seating.  Everyone held up and explained their Times Square sketches.  

After lunch we walked back into the throngs, this time in the area with tables and chairs and Big Creepy brightly Colored Fuzzy characters.
Not to mention some Naked Cowboy drama.

There was a scruffy guy to my right, behind Jeff, who was sketching me, shouting out Bible verses at the same time that a woman, only wearing a coat of paint (!), tiny panties and a large feather headdress worked the tourist hoards.  Phew.  I focused on the calming shape of the umbrella and gradually sorted out bits of the background signs and buildings.

At 4:00 we all met up in the 8th floor lobby/restaurant area of the Marriott.  How long were we there?  Two hours?  No one bothered us at all except to suggest we consolidate our belongings that were scattered on other tables.  People started drifting off, Susan and I walked back to Penn Station and the 7:22 train.

An excellent day spent sketching Times Square.

Process and Apps Used:

#1,4&7:  Gridded notebook and Pilot V-ball pen, sketches photographed using iPad and then imported into ArtRage for painting.  I drew these on location and painted while in the Marriott.

#2:  Pen & Ink,  ArtRage

#3:  ArtRage only

#5&6:  Zen Brush, ArtRage