Portrait: Oil 20 x 16

Sketches made at JFK Airport

Hi, there:

I am back in Florida. The following are some sketches made at JFK before I boarded the plane.

Sketches, Finished and Unfinished: Passengers on Subway

Because of the heavy snowfall and also because of my cold, we stayed indoors for quite a few days without going out. Even though it was still single-digit cold, it was a sun-shiny day and my wife wanted to do some shopping. Of course, this body guard had to go, too. Therefore, we took subway to 63rd Street where Costco and Century 21 were located. As usual, I took my sketch book with me. Also as usual, I got finished and unfinished ones.

 Two passengers (The Jew having Ear-Mufflers on)

 One Passenger on the Train; the Other Waiting at the Station

An Ethnic Sink on the train and A Woman Leaning on a Column at the Station

Alla Prima: Park Avenue, New York City (Oil, 9 x 12)

This is the last painting I did in New York on this trip. It snowed 8 -12 inches yesterday and temperature has dropped to single digit. I simply didn't want to fall sick again before I board the plane back to Florida, so I decided to clear all the paint from the paint box before it hardened. When I opened the box, I realized there was quite a bit of paint there. I hated to waste paint. Then suddenly I remembered that in my morgue there was a  picture of Park Avenue, which I took when I was out of the MET quite a few days ago on my way to Lexington Avenue to take the subway. Right in the middle of crossing the street, I was so fascinated by the view with the effect of light: vehicle headlights, street lamps, lighted windows, lit smoke in the street, store signs, etc. that when I got to the other side of the street, I immediately took out my camera and went crossing back the street to take the picture. I planned to paint it and now it was good time to do. So I did it this afternoon. As I was painting, I had in my mind Jennifer McChristian's paintings of evening views and Jeffrey Watts teaching about brush strokes.

Sketches: On a Snowy Day

The Big Apple seems to be sending me off with a big snowfall. It began to snow heavily this morning. I felt better from the cold and had to do some shopping. On my way there, I did some sketches.

A Woman Holding Tight her Bag and Suitcase on Subway

 Passengers. One unfinished

 Two Passengers

By the Door

Sketches made at Queens Library

I was down with cold after I did last two plein airs. Having stayed home for a few days, I felt better, so I went to local library to grab some sketches:

A Library Volunteer and Two Ladies Having a Small Talk

A Boy Working on His Origami 

A Curly-Hair Little Boy Working ON Computer and A Girl Doing Origami

George Bellows and Subway Passengers

This afternoon I went to MET. Basically I watched only the European Section and American Wing, where I focused on a few artists such as John Singer Sargent, Frederick Remminton, Winslow Homer, and George Bellows. I discover a plein-air of the Central Park done by George Bellows. and was so amazed by its light effect that I took a picture to share with you.

On my way to MET, I drew subway passengers as usual. I list them as follows.

En Plein Air: Old Barn-Shape House (Oil 12 x 9)

It was a sun-shiny day, at least in the morning. I went to the same location as yesterday and painted this old house. Of course, there is room for improvement, but I feel I started the painting in a more relaxed way. I tried to remember what Carolyn Anderson says about beginning: Fast, bold, and loose.

En Plein Air: Old House Against the Setting Sun

The temperature was pretty mild today in daytime, so I pulled my painting kit to Forest Gardens. The old house I found a few days ago was pretty big actually. The purpose of the painting was to express the contrast in light when the house was against the sun. At first I felt good, but by and by I became hesitant to paint the scene really dark. I knew I didn't knock out enough myself or be bold enough. Anyway, it was a good experience.

Alla Prima: The Big Apple (Oil 16 x 20)

Even though the rain had washed away the snow, the temperature didn't go much higher. Most of the time, it was overcast and misty. The view is the place where Jackie Robinson Parkway merges into Union Turnpike. The traffic is scary.

Today's Sketches and Introducing Kim English's Painting Process

 A passenger was reading the newspaper on F Train today. It was rare these days reading paper products on train. Since I often sketch on subway, I am clearly aware that at least half of the passengers are either reading or play games on their phone. Often times I see people read Ebooks. For that reason, the lady would soon be a dinosaur on subway. I guess even though I myself is another one. In spite of that, I prefer everybody doing something like reading, even on their phone, over talking on it. Subways like 7 train run above ground for part of its route. I don't understand why people have so much nonsense to talk on the phone. As soon as the train comes above ground, it is a nuisance to realize that the person sitting next to you spontaneously takes the phone out of his/her pocket and begins to yell loudly into the phone, sometimes, in a language you don't understand, but it is so close to your ear that you feel like grabbing his phone and throwing it to the ground.

 This is an unfinished sketch of two love birds on subway sitting face-to-face with me. They were in their own world and didn't even realize the guy sitting on the other side was drawing them. However, I got only the guy's face. Before I could start on the girl, they stood up and got off the train. I couldn't finish the lady sitting next to them, either.

Two passengers on E Train. I couldn't finish the sun-glassed lady in fur-laced coat.

Kim English's Demo of Painting Process

Kim English is one of my favorite contemporary American artists. People call him (yes, he is male) the poet in fine art. If you do a little research and get familiar with his paintings, you'll know why he got the nickname. I like his landscape as well as figure paintings. The following is the stages of a sequential painting process he demonstrated in a workshop. I am sure it will interest some of my friends.

 

Alla Prima: Digging out the City (Oil 20 x 16)

This is what I did today. The street is Park Lane at foot of the terrace which is the Overlook Point, Forest Park, Queens, NY. It was a crisp morning after the heavy snowfall. From midnight on, I had heard snow plows running down the street with loud noises. In spite of the fact that cars parked on street were almost totally covered under snow, the sidewalk had been cleaned well as you could see in my painting. I was impressed by the lonesome tree which was big and strong, growing right from under the stone wall. Maybe it sprouted without being noticed and later it grew so fast and big that people thought it better to leave it alone since it didn't really bother people coming and going on the sidewalk, to say nothing about the shade people could get from its foliage.


I've been trying to follow a number of prestigious  contemporary artists in processing oil landscape painting, such as Carolyn Anderson, Kim English, Jeffrey Watts, etc. Their approaches are different. In order to compare and remind myself, I often record my own process by taking pictures of the progressing stages. The following are the subsequent stages of the process in painting the picture.

 

 

 

 

 

 





Sketches: Images from Performing Arts Library and Subway

This afternoon I went to the New York Public Library for Performing Arts next to Lincoln Center to see cartoonist Al Hirschfelt's Exhibition. I am sure many of you are familiar with his artworks or even grew up with them.  To refresh your memory, you may open the following link:

https://www.google.com/search?q=al+hirschfeld&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=m6PIUs6qN8zfsAS_kYGoDA&ved=0CAkQ_AUoAQ&biw=1138&bih=543

I also stopped by at their reading room and made a sketch of a young female reader. On my way to and back from there, I, as usual, made sketches on subway. If there are two images on the sheet, they may be in the same scene or sit next to each other. I simply made use of paper by drawing them on the same sheet as I always did.

 

 



Ink Wash: Neighbor's House Under Snow

I did this ink wash from my window. Hope I can go out this afternoon.

 



Study of Light: Reading Corner (Oil, 12 x 9)

 

 

It snowed all night. Mother nature dumped several inches of snow in this area overnight. This morning the temperature dropped to single digit. And it became so dangerously windy that the TV reporter's mouth was too frozen to form words. I could not go out to paint, so simply stayed home and did a study of light. My friends in Florida should feel happy.