Tiny New York City sketches

Last week we spent a few days in New York City. It was a whirlwind trip, with most of the time spent with family, but I found a few moments to sketch in between our activities.

I brought a tiny sketch kit with me knowing that I wouldn’t have much drawing time — a 3″ x 5″ Moleskine sketchbook, a few pens, my travel palette and a waterbrush. I knew that I would be more apt to sketch if the book was really tiny, and as it turns out I was right. I really enjoyed having the pocket-sized kit with me. I was able to pull it out to draw a few figures while waiting for the subway, and again later in the day to draw a few lines of the Brooklyn bridge while waiting for the ferry in DUMBO.

Before leaving home, I noticed that NYC Urban Sketchers had a meet-up at Essex Market on Saturday morning. I joined them for a few hours, but only had time to do a few quick sketches before heading off to another family event. Even after all these years of being part of the worldwide USk family, it still makes me so happy to travel to another city and hang out with other sketchers.

Since we were staying in Brooklyn, I had the chance to discover some new areas and great sketching spots. There’s a wonderful promenade that runs along the water in Brooklyn Heights, and it has the absolute best view of lower Manhattan. It was misty on the morning that I sketched which made the panorama a little more interesting and atmospheric.

I walked by this dead rat multiple times before I decided to sketch it. I’m not that keen on live rodents in the city but this dead one was perfectly intact and seemed like it would make a good addition to my tiny sketchbook.