The Whitney Museum Visit

I signed up for the free entrance to the Whitney Museum on 2nd Sunday of the month.  We were there last weekend and it was interesting to see the exhibit, Harold Cohen: AARON, on the 8th Floor.  This was about his drawing machine, AARON, the earliest Artificial Intelligence program for art making. 

We took the balcony stairs exit going down to the 7th floor where the views of the meat packing district structures are just amazing.  Soon, I settled on sketching this sculpture and capturing the process on video with my new toy, Insta360 GO3.  At the last minute, a photographer walked by and started taking pictures of the sculpture.  I had to include him on my sketch!  BTW, I took the Kaweco Sport Brass FP for a sketch practice but found it less versatile than my favorite Zebra F701 ballpoint pen. 

The Blue Whale at the AMNH

Last weekend's sketch-meet was at the American Museum of Natural History.  It's one of the interesting museums to visit in the city.  At first, I parked myself in the North American Mammals Exhibit but it was too dark to work there on my blue tint pre-marked page.  Soon, I found my way to the Ocean Life Exhibit where I tried sketching the Blue Whale hanging from the ceiling until it was lunch break with the group at the food hall.  Later, I came back to the same spot in the hall and continued working on the sketch with a Posca white brush pen that was running out of ink.  I kept pumping the pen for more ink flow to the brush but it was slow and semi-dry.  However, I managed to lay down some ink on where it matters most on the paper.  One pump too many and it dripped a blob on the paper.  Luckily, it landed at where I wanted it to happen.  That became the alcove on the far right side.  A happy accident!  

SRO on the Train

Back in November when the train was standing room only, I sketched the closest ones near me.  There was something about the POV.  I hope nobody paid attention to my sketching.  Finally added some watercolor wash to it this evening.

Another Car Repair

I was away on a short trip two weeks ago and I know that one tire up front has a leak and would be needing air after I came back.  Well, it was flat so put the emergency spare tire on and drove the car to Midas Tire Center in Port Chester last Saturday. I told them I need a replacement valve.  Upon inspection, they found another tire with a faulty valve and also suggested replacing the rotors and brakes, too.  Such was the problem with keeping older cars.  It had to be done anyway so for the two hours they worked on my car, I found time to sketch-wait the repair job.

This was Jeff who helped me with the repair job.

 

The Finished Sketch

Last week, on two occasions, I sketched from the same spot in the Grand Central Terminal, Lower Concourse.  On Monday evening, I tried to finish the sketch.  Here's what came out of it.

 

The Dining Section at Lower Concourse

 When you descend the ramp toward the Lower Concourse of the Grand Central Terminal, a small dining area is to your left.  I saw a chance to sketch the dining scene a few days ago starting with the man with the headphones on.  The sketch was done quickly and later improved upon.  Two evenings later, I saw another opportunity to add to the first sketch.  A couple had secured the next table and I was ready to sketch them.  I had to approximate their positioning relative to the first sketch I made.  I think it turned out ok.  My plan is to keep coming back to the same spot and adding more people to this scene.

A Sketching Class at SNFL

I have a very exciting news to share.  On April 12, 2024, I will lead a class, Sketching People in the City, at the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Library (SNFL), 455 Fifth Avenue, NYC as part of their Free Programs offering called "Friday Night Sketch Club".  In this class, I will share the things I've learned in sketching people.  When I was a beginner sketcher, I always try to avoid introducing any human figure in my sketch.  Why is that? you ask.  Well, drawing the human figure was just difficult for me...until I made it my goal of drawing a respectable human figure someday.  It took many hours of sketch practice and commitment to observing people on a daily basis.  Now, it is less intimidating to actually introduce a human figure in my sketch practice.  Here's the posted program announcement on the SNFL Bulletin Board I saw earlier this evening.