Rainy Day at the Coffee Shop 9 x 12 pen & ink

Another wonderful morning spent hanging in the coffee shop on Beacon & Charles Streets in Boston.  Parking is free in the city on Sunday so if you get in around 8:30, the streets are pretty open. I love watching the pedestrians, today pedestrians with umbrellas, walking in and out of the Common. It's so interesting to sit, draw, and listen to the buzz of conversations in the shop.  
I took a few reference photos of pedestrians to use in my drawing, but mostly, I like to try to grab their gesture as they wait for the traffic light.  

I think I'll add a little rainy day hint of color to the distance in this drawing.  I like to think of generations of people walking through the stone pillars at the corner of the Common.   

Rainy Day at the Coffee Shop - start

"Concert on the Common" and The Lovin' Spoonful watercolor & ink 4 x 6

These summer nights are beautiful; the air kisses your skin as the light lingers and lingers.  
I added some color to my drawing from earlier this week, trying to capture that late light clinging to the west-facing planes in the city skyline.  

It's been a lovely summer so far... here's a link to the Lovin' Spoonful's 1966 hit "Summer in the City".

... but at night it's a different world...

Thanks for looking.

"Open Air Concert - Boston" pen & ink 4 x 6

From a photo I took at an evening concert on Boston Common, beautiful night.  Don't you love the evening air in the summer?  It kisses your skin.  I'll add some color to the drawing to show time of day.

Thanks for looking.

"Under the Stars" oil 8 x 6

Our challenge for this month in my painting group was the theme "open".  I mulled it over for awhile, and decided on "Open Air Concert".  Especially during this long, long, long gray winter, I pine for the evenings of summer outside, listening to music, or in this case, watching Boston's Commonwealth Shakespeare Company on the Common.  
Thanks for looking!