My Day 11 painting for Leslie Saeta's "30 Paintings in 30 Days" Challenge was done during the NYC Urban Sketchers visit to Hearst Tower yesterday. The building is all angles, beams and glass and is a perspective challenge. This was done in gouache. The tree sculpture that you see in this view was done by the Chinese artist Ai Weiwei and is titled "Tree #11." It was sculpted from dry, dead branches, roots, and trunks of several species of trees. The sculpture mimics the form of a real tree, but the cuts and joint show. It is really impressive.
You can see more paintings by the other artists (there are over 200) who are participating in the 30 Day Challenge here.
This is our second visit to Hearst Tower and are very lucky that one of our members works in the building for the Hearst Corporation and they allow us to visit. Only employees and invited clients are usually allowed in the building. The base of the tower is an older building that had been built when this area near Columbus Circle was first developed. The tower of glass and steel was built on top of it. The atrium has a soaring, high ceiling and is filled with huge beams. On several raised areas there are sculptures as well as photographs and framed artwork.
My second sketch inside Hearst Tower includes a view to the outside as well as some of the Hearst banners that were recently hung. My friend was in charge on getting these hung last week, so I heard stories of the challenges of the scaffolding and the hanging itself.
I returned to Ai Weiwei's sculpture for my final sketch of the day. You can see several of the artists seated on the floor also sketching the sculpture. The tree itself I did with assorted inks and watercolors.
