A Little Bit of Bridge Mania
A number of times this fall, I've put away my portable easel thinking, "Well, this is it. Time to stop thinking about outdoor painting." Especially after that unusually early snowstorm several weeks ago! But, the weather keeps on teasing. Anyway, before that storm, I had a commission to paint a view of the Brooklyn Bridge from the Brooklyn side, which put me in the mind to check out the view from the Manhattan side. It took a little planning, but it was surprisingly easy to drive from my studio across the Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel and park in a relatively cheap garage across the street from the Manhattan Bridge. In spite of Chinese families standing about 8" from me or my easel to watch (and then asking me questions in Chinese, which by the way I don't speak since I'm Korean-American), and the occasional tourist group posing for photos directly in my view, it was a fantastic place to paint. Note to self: fantastic only when the temps are in the 70s or less because I was standing out in the sunlight. Here are some photos:
The light was very diffuse making the shadows very warm.I had great fun painting these; I had been in the mood for painting blocks of buildings and their varied tones depending on the light. I'll be finishing them up in my studio.
You should see the weird tan I got on the left side of my face and neck! It wasn't very hot, so I forgot to put on sunscreen and the glare of reflected sunlight off of the East River was much stronger than I expected. Another note to self: make appointment with dermatologist for bi-annual skin assessment!