Beauty can be experienced with the proper frame of mind. Having lived in New York City for so many years, that statement about beauty supports my experience. Whether my perspective is from street level looking up, from a plane flying above looking down, or from an apartment window on a high floor looking out. The window I had looking out over Manhattan was on 28th floor. It faced southwest from 34th Street on the East side. It had a spectacular view over the roof-tops and is the subject of this original “Madison Square Park” drawing. I attempted to capture this view, using lead pencil and paper, in both a realistic and whimsical way. I drew the buildings and structures true to form, then added impressionistic clouds.
Featured Buildings:
This “Madison Square Park” drawing looks out towards the buildings near Union Square. In the distance are the iconic buildings surrounding Madison Square Park. The tall pointed structure in the center of the view is the New York Life Insurance Company Building with its gold gilded roof and constructed in 1927-1928. When the sun is shining bright, and if you’re in the right spot, the gold roof positively gleams. To the left of the New York Life Insurance Company Building is the Met Life Tower, punctuated by its pointed top. The Met Life Tower, built in 1909, features a bell tower and gold cupola. Constructed in 1974, The New York Merchandise Mart is the dark monolithic building between the two pointed buildings. Lastly, of note in this NYC cityscape drawing is One Madison. It is tall building at the southeast corner of Madison Park and one of the slenderest buildings in NYC. Final construction of Madison Square Park Tower, completed in 2017, after the completion of this drawing, is conspicuously absent. It would have stood 60 stories high just to the left of One Madison.
This original “Madison Square Park” drawing was made freehand using lead pencil and paper. I think that it looks great as a wrap-around print on a white, glossy ceramic mug, and is available for purchase.
