After waking up at 4 a.m. to see the sunrise from Central Park, in New York City, I was inspired by the beauty of the morning sun shining through the dense foliage of the park. The inspiration came at the perfect time - the next day, I needed to begin work on my final project for a four week fine art project. Drawing from my pictures, and from my love of Washington Square park (which is where the bench is modeled from), I created an impressionistic and idealistic painting, using acrylic paint, on a 40x30 inch canvas. The final product took me over 50 hours, and required me to put in work outside of class - in fact, it wasn't finished until the wee hours of the morning the day of the studio's art show. Fitting, given the seed that allowed this project to be was planted at dawn.

The below photos were taken as the glowing sun rose over Central Park one summer morning, and inspired this project.

Because I didn't have the time in class to finish the project (we only met 3 hours a day, 3 days a week, with only 2 weeks dedicated to this project), I carted it back and forth from my room to the studio in order to work on it longer. Below is a picture taken as I worked on it from my room, on the floor, surrounded by acrylic paint and supplied, as always, with a large cup of coffee.

50+ hours later, the finished product! I was very proud of my work and although I know it's not perfect, I'm happy with it. I learned a lot along the way about light and shadows, which have helped me grow.