NYC Paintings
I started this series of paintings and sketches after I started to notice that my former neighborhood in TriBeCa, NYC was transforming at an alarming rate, then I started to notice it in my current neighborhood in Brooklyn Heights. New York City is changing rapidly.
Initially I started this project as a photography documentary series but soon realized that painting and sketching my observations was a more personal way for me to relate to the change and accept and appreciate the details that I would have overlooked had I just taken a photograph.
When I attended the fine arts college, San Francisco Art Institute I was fortunate to have trained in different mediums, and encouraged to utilize whichever medium fits the context of the project. This expansion was a liberating departure from most of the dogma's that followed other schools of thought.
In my paintings series I try to capture a much detail as I think is appropriate for what I'm trying to present. My method usually starts by walking around my neighborhoods and finding spots that convey the transition of old to new, from beauty to ugly or visa-verse, depending on your perspective. I usually make a pencil sketch on location on an Arches Cold Press 300 g/m watercolor block, and if I have the luxury of time, I do some inking and watercolor washes. I record the location and temperature I sketched. It give me a sense of place to remember how hot or cold it was during the drawing. Most of the time I take this process back to my studio to finish and have the time to add the details and drying times necessary. Good music helps too.
Each painting is for sale though that's not why I'm painting them. The sales do however encourage me to continue the process, and I've been fortunate for it's popularity to this point which I'm thankful for.
You can visit my website which I have dedicated to these paintings at www.kovalcreative.com
