Wednesday, May 25, 2022

Inscope Arch

Inscope Arch, in the southern end of Central Park, near the zoo and the pond.


















Central Park has an intricate system of bridges and arches that were designed to accommodate both pedestrian and equine traffic. These spans allow one form of traffic to pass over or under the other. Originally, there were 27 arches and bridges constructed between 1859 and 1866, with others added later. Each bridge and arch has a unique design, all designed by Calvert Vaux, some with assistance from Jacob Wrey Mould.

The Inscope Arch, built in 1873, is one of the newer bridges. It was built in response to a bottleneck of pedestrians and horseback and carriage drivers on the East Drive near the Pond. Vaux and Mould designed it in the then-popular Ruskinian Gothic style, facing the Tuscan arch with pink and gray granite. Built on swamp land, it is 12 feet (3.7 m) tall, 13 feet 7 inches (4.14 m) wide, and 34 feet (10 m) long. It was restored in the 1970s and then again in the early 2000s.


Process:

As usual, it was drawn on site in pencil, then inked with Pigma Micron pens, and then painted in layers, mostly with water soluble pencils and watercolor washes.


































































Friday, May 6, 2022

Kolstein & Son - 58th St.

 On display in the window of Samuel Kolstein & Son, the Manhattan showroom of a Long Island-based business that repairs and restores violins, violas, cellos and basses.



















Samuel Kolstein was born to Russian-Jewish immigrant parents in the Lower East Side in 1915. He was accepted to Juilliard as a piano major, and chose bass as a second choice instrument. He came to become a renowned luthier and bowmaker, and established his first shop on 56th St and 6th Ave. in 1943.  His son, Barrie, joined the shop in 1971 and eventually succeeded his father, and in 2918 passed the business on to his mentee, Manny Alvarez, another immigrant son.

Wednesday, May 4, 2022

Happy Star Wars Day

My annual Star Wars drawing for Star Wars Day.