Why NYC is So Great for Illustrators

Well, I had a (gasp) productive day today. I first hit the Metropolitan Museum of Art (or Met to us locals) with markers and Bristol Board in hand. I usually don't do color sketching, but having seen Alina Chau's sketches, I felt I should try. I would've tried watercolor, but it's banned at the Met (but oil paint isn't-go figure). So below are some of the fruits of my labor.
Obviously, this came out of the Armory Room.


This is the Met plaza. My light markers managed to die on my right on time, leaving me stuck with only the 60%, 70% and 90% darkness. So I was pretty much forced to use very dark cast shadows, making the scene look very sunny, when it was actually overcast. Another artist saw it and actually liked it better than my other sketches. Kind of interesting what happens when you're working under less than ideal circumstances.

After the museum closed and I got booted out (the hard way), I picked myself off the street and headed to the Society of Illustrators Gallery. I heard there was some sort of drawing workshop. First off, here's some drawings from it.

The 2 on 2 Jazz Sketch is one of those things that can only happen in New York. For $20, we had two models for 3 hours of life drawing.

In addition to the fact that the sketch area was covered with orginal paintings from the likes of Rockwell, Cornwell and Leyendecker they even had a live jazz band to entertain us (hence the name). Pretty good value for the money if you ask me. I know I'll be making the Jazz sketch as often as I can from now on. I know I haven't done enough life drawing, but in addition to that, the Jazz sketch is just one of those experiences that very few with ever really have the privilege of knowing. And to all my friends and fellow artists living on the West Coast and thinking of moving to the Big Apple (you know who you are!) consider this post as another reason to move!