42nd Street

This was done for a challenge for "Light into Darkness." I thought about this one for quite a few days, pondering what I wanted to paint. I thought of candles, of lights, lanterns. How do I depict light into darkness.

I work in NYC, commute to & from every day. It is a love/hate relationship I have with the city. It has an energy, a vibrance and a rhythm that can't really be described. But it can be felt. Anytime of day, walk out onto the streets, and you can sense it. The people, walking/talking. Some with ipods following their own music, some just caught up in the rhythm of the activity around them. On days when I need a boost, the city will give it to me. But also, on days when I'm feeling tired or not up-to-par, the city can drain you also. Hence the love/hate relationship I mentioned.

At any rate, while I pondered this challenge one evening during my commute home, I realized that what I needed to paint was the city at night. With it's lights, it's colors, it's activity. I had a few areas in mind (Rockfeller center, Times Square, Theater Row) but found this image in the Wet Canvas reference library, of 42nd street. One look, and I knew it was the painting I needed to do. (Much credit & a big thank you to DraigAthar for this image. For those not aware of Wet Canvas, once you join - it's free - you have access to a very large reference library of images. All of them uploaded by other members, and all are free to use/paint without copyright problems).

Titled simply "42nd Street" this is Acrylic on 9x12 canvas.

AN UPDATE - I recently found out that this image is not allowed in the challenge. The rules are that all images must be your own, not some one else's - even if you have permission. Since this image was from the Wet Canvas library it can not be used. But the painting is done & it is posted here anyway.