Flashback Friday: Summer in Central Park

Happy New Year! Now that we've had a little cold weather I'm already finding myself dreaming of warmer days. Today's Flashback Friday is a sketch I did in September, on a nice summery day. There was a production crew filming by the stairs, and between that and school being in session, there actually weren't too many people around the fountain when I was painting this. What few WERE there I conveniently left out of this painting. Sometimes it's nice to reimagine bustling areas a little calmer.

A tour group wandered through while I was working and I became "part of the show." The water I put in with white pen (some I mixed with blue paint for the shadow side of the fountain). The fountain was actually turned off (I assume for the filming), but luckily I had painted the fountain a month or two earlier and remembered how it looked. That first sketch got a little water on (oops!) it so I won't be sharing, but I had a lovely time that afternoon, too. It was still summer and so somewhat busier, and I had caught the eye of several children. The kids are always the best because they really say whatever they want, and often aren't shy about coming up and taking a look at what you're doing. One little girl wrinkled her brow, very serious, and asked me "So...would you say you're a GOOD artist?" I responded that I'm still learning with watercolors but that people actually pay me to paint scenery for theatre and I'm better at that. She felt that was an acceptable answer. Looking forward to a third attept on the fountain when the weather warms up again! Perhaps next time I'll include the people sitting on and around it!