June 2022. Brush pen on watercolor paper.
On the last day of our trip to New York this summer, my father and I made a trip back to Union Square — where my interest in observational drawing had first peaked. For most of the trip, I had been using either a fountain pen or a felt tip pen to sketch. It was comfortable, there was no experimentation. But while digging through my pencil case for a pen to use for this drawing, I saw the barely used brush pen I had bought a few days ago, and chose that for this piece. The different line weight you get with the tip of the pen versus the flatter, wider side of the pen makes for clear contrast between the trunks of the trees and the delicate leaves and branches above, and though it is a little difficult to differentiate between the person sitting in front of me, the leaves, bushes, pigeons, and other passersby, I think that is what makes this drawing fun and unique. You have to look at it really closely and intensely to pinpoint all the different things going on in this setting.