New Thing #358: Drawing The Brooklyn Bridge In Pencil

Over the summer I bought a 'graphite sketch set'. I bought it at the same time I bought the colored pencils which I used to draw my Fenway Park picture, and the sketchbook in which I drew it.

I was looking for something to take my mind off work, and I thought art might be that something.

Well, I didn't draw Fenway until the fall, and I didn't get around to using the pencils until now. So that didn't quite work out.

But I knew for a long time what I was going to try to draw with the pencil set - the Brooklyn Bridge…and that's part of why I took the pictures of the bridge I did back in October.

I used this picture - the one I felt was most centered and best captured the essence of the Brooklyn Bridge:

(I hope I set this so that if you click these images you'll be able to see the larger images.)

I'm no artist, so I didn't quite know what to do with the pencils, so I followed the instructions on the back of the box. It said to darken with the '6B' pencil, and then use the corner of the eraser to erase certain parts. So I essentially colored a big rectangle, then erased out the archways, and I tried to capture the somewhat overcast skies with the eraser too. Here's what I ended up with:

I think I did OK. I think, if you didn't know what I was drawing, you'd probably be able to identify the Brooklyn Bridge. And I think I did OK with perspective, like the swooping ropes and stuff. (It's been a while since I read the book. I forget what you call those things. Tressles?)

Drawing the bridge turned into a family activity - I had barely started before my 7-year-old and then my 5-year-old were doing their own Brooklyn Bridge drawings, based on mine. I like looking at the developmental spread of the 3 final products:

I'm also pretty proud of how theirs turned out.

New Thing #316: All The Buildings In New York

Remember when I told you about 99% Invisible way back in February? Well, I still can't recommend that podcast enough - or its accompanying website, which gives some visuals to go along with the audio.

But what I'm here to tell you about today is a website one of the most recent editions of the podcast opened my eyes up to.

It's called "All The Buildings In New York", and it's one man's attempt to draw the more than one million buildings in New York City.

There are a couple of reasons, I think, that this project speaks to me.

One is that it has that element of counting things off, which is such a part of my personality and I don't quite know how to explain what that means to me other than you can see by this year's project of mine that anything that allows me to number as I go is satisfying to me. (Although the lack of numbering on this New York project makes it a little hard for me to follow…unless they're numbered somewhere that I'm just not seeing.)

The second is that it features New York City, which I love. I heard on the podcast that the drawings span all five boroughs, and I wondered exactly what "all the buildings in New York City" meant - would the artist be drawing the private houses in places like Astoria?

Well, as that picture at the top of the page indicates, it looks like he is. I was thrilled when I clicked on the "Queens" tag to see that among the very few Queens buildings he drew was this one, which, though it doesn't show up on the map he has on the site (I'm not sure he has them all recorded there, because I'm sure of what I'm about to say), is roughly five blocks from where I grew up.

There were some sentiments that the artist, James Gulliver Hancock, expressed in the podcast that hit home with me too. He referred to his project as a diary, and there have been times that's how I've felt about what I'm doing - this 365 New Things In 2013 has been kind of like a daily journal. And as he says, while mine is in words, his is in pictures.

He also said that sometimes he looks at the skyline and different buildings as he goes through the city and feels anxious, because the task is so overwhelming. He wants to spend time, he says, drawing all of the different buildings. He doesn't realistically think he'll finish, but he knows what's before him - and joked that he would pass the project down to his son so it could be completed. (I've thought that about my World Series and Super Bowl matchups chart.)

I totally know how that feels.

But I also know how it feels to get positive feedback on what you've already done - and it helps make that hopeless chase of doing everything feel that much better.

Which is why I so appreciate all of the positive feedback I've received these past 315 days on this march to 365...

..and why I'll keep checking back on 'All The Buildings In New York' to check in on the progress and to see what other buildings I recognize.

And to simply appreciate a good, fun project.

New Thing #281: Drawing Fenway

I don't love the Red Sox, but I love Fenway Park. I love how picturesque the park is.

The Citgo sign, the red lights on the scoreboard...the Green Monster.

It's all so beautiful.

On Friday, a friend of mine went to Fenway for Game 1 of the ALDS, and she sent me the picture you see here.

I loved it so much I had to draw it.

Over the summer, in anticipation of some kind of New Thing involving drawing, I bought some colored pencils and a sketch pad.

At the time I thought I might draw PNC Park in Pittsburgh, but when I saw this picture I knew it was the one I was going to draw.

I know I'm not the best artist in the world, and I know there are some flaws with what I ended up making, but I'm pretty proud of the final result. (If you want me to break down and analyze the drawing, contact me and I'll bore you with the details.)

Click on through to check it out.

New Thing #75: Designing A T-Shirt

The Mets have a Social Media Night at Citi Field on April 24th. I think last year was the first one.

This year (and maybe last year - I'm not sure I know if they did this or not - I seem to remember a fan-designed t-shirt involving Mr. Met and the Liberty Bell but that could have been for something else) they invited fans to design a t-shirt for the team to give away that night.

The winner gets, besides the pride of having designed a t-shirt, a chance to meet a player and attend the game that night.

The contest ended at midnight last night, and for a week or so I kept forgetting about it.

At about 9 o'clock last night I remembered and decided to give it a go.

I doubt it's very original. I went with the old "Tweet rhymes with greet!" approach, substituting 'tweet @Mets' (@Mets or #Mets or Mets.com had to appear on the shirt somewhere) for 'greet the Mets', from the "Meet The Mets" song.

Judging for the winners is weighed as follows: 40% on creativity and originality (I don't know that mine was all that original), 30% team spirit (come on. I know I have 100% of that 30%), and 30% overall artistic quality (um, well, I'm not all that artsy).

Some observations: I hadn't written that many block letters since probably junior high school. Which is probably the last time I also drew that many 'Mets' in script. I'm not even sure it's OK for me to be publishing my submission here. (Our secret.)

I hope they don't take points off for handwriting - I have to think if my design wins they'd put some kind of type-written font on that shirt. No one wants my handwriting on a t-shirt.

You have to admit - it's not a bad slogan, right?

I'm not expecting to win. Or maybe I am. But I couldn't pass up the opportunity to submit something.

I'm not getting my hopes up, at least. April 24th is a Wednesday night - it's a long shot for me to even attend the game.

But I sure would try if I won the contest.