Central Park arch

Eagelvale Arch, Central Park  18x24 pastel, copyright 2010

As promised, this is the first of what I hope to be several pieces inspired by my trip to New York City.  This particular stone arch caught my eye as I was walking through the Park in the late afternoon.  The simplicity of the double archway and the quality of the light and shadow were what drew me in.  Once home I did a little research to find the name of this arch and found that it is the only double arch in the entire park; the right is a bridle path, the left is a walking path.

Turns out there are many stone and metal archways and bridges throughout the Park.  I also have picture of an unnamed "rustic" bridge that I intend to paint eventually.  Had I known all of these were such prominent  features of the Park I would have taken the time to wander through it a bit more.   But now I have something to look forward to for a future visit.

As a side note, after I started this one it struck me as a bit funny that of all the things I'd seen in New York, the first one I decide to paint is the scene that seemed the most like home.