Drawing outside the new Moynihan Train Hall in NYC
The train along the Northeast corridor and I have a long history. I grew up in Washington, DC and moved to NYC right out of college, so I have taken that trip hundreds of times. I also did the sleeper car train to Atlanta, and Florida — nothing like it. And now, I repeatedly train to and from the Hudson Valley in midstate NY to NYC. I do love trains.
But I haven’t loved Penn Station, the train hub in NYC that is decidedly NOT Grand Central Terminal. Grand Central is majestic, beautiful and full of history; Penn Station is…
Some New Yorkers just deserve to be drawn
The history of art has many examples of everyday people in portrait. So why not subway riders? I drew these three women, probably on their way home from work (it was around 5pm), because I thought they were beautiful. They appeared to be hard working women. Three individuals out of a million riders on the A train that day, and I captured them.
As I drew, I recorded the drawing on video screen grab on my iPhone. For my subway sketches, I always draw on my phone with my finger (have tried a stylus but prefer using my finger). It…
Some cartoons and remininces of summer
If you’re like me, you aren’t really sure the meaning of Labor Day. I looked it up. It’s raison d’etre is to celebrate American Workers and all their contributions in making American “strong and prosperous.” The holiday was lobbied for by the labor unions in the late 18th century and became a federal holiday in 1894. It’s now more of a marker of time for Americans, a step from one season to the next, perhaps one mind-set to a new one.
Noticing the people
Because its located on the east side of Manhattan and I live on the west side, I don’t always get to walk through the beautiful Grand Central Terminal. Yesterday, I happened to come into that station, and decided that I could not leave until I drew something.
To me, life is about the small things, the individuals. New York City is made up of so many wonderful individuals, in fact it’s what makes the city. Yes, I love the buildings, the architecture, the Hudson River, the pigeons and dogs. But what keeps me in the city is the diversity of…
When you think you’ve seen (and drawn) almost everything
Strolling along the Upper West Side’s Columbus Avenue yesterday, I thought I would wander into the park adjacent to The American Museum of Natural History and see what I might draw there. I was aware of a dog park, that was on my mind. I love drawing dogs.
As I headed into the greenery, I saw a free bench, and, as I am want to do, I assessed what might be in my line of vision if I sat on said free bench. You see, in order to execute my live drawing videos, I need to be able to sit…
Many Afghan girls and women urgently need their voices heard
With the take-over of the Afghanistan Government by the Taliban, the world is now worried about the women and girls in that country. If history serves us, the Taliban will follow a playbook they have in the past, and severly restrict women from living life as they may want.
It is not my place to tell any person how to live, or how to worship. But we have observed that many women in severely religious states live in effective prisons, not allowed to be educated, work, move in the community — or world — as they please. Many are forced…
But always staying the same, too
Last week, I was in the Meat Packing district of Manhattan and I paused to look around and draw it. I have been in the city since 1977 (with a break to raise our daughters in the NY countriside for a while), and I’ve seen a lot of changes. This area is now very swank; in the 1980’s, it was still an actual meatpacking district and smelled horribly. I dated somone who didn’t live too far from there, so I remember!
I took a seat in one of those newer areas in Manhattan that…
Case by case, we can put an end to sexism
When I lived in Rome at the age of sixteen, I had a crash course on sexism. Very young, I had no idea what it was like to be a woman in the world of men, but when I arrived on the streets of Rome with long blonde hair, the attention came flooding my way. The unwanted eyes and comments on the street, pinches and touching on buses, made me shrink and hide my femininity for many years. I became timid around men. I’ve gotten over that now, but it took a long time.
While I have not personally known…
Live drawing what I see, and there’s always something
One reason why New York City is so fascinating is that in every minute on the street, you see so much; there are so many different types of people, everybody doing their own thing. So many different things are getting done! That said, many people are also doing very little, particularly on a lovey Friday like yesterday in NYC.
The drawing above was done as I sat on a rock in Central Park. I live drew the man, his horse and his handsome cab, waiting for a customer. Thankfully, he waited until I was done to take a fare. …
A quick look inside my process
I love New York. I could write a book on why I do, but instead, I like to draw it. When I move around the city, I sometimes pause and do just that. Yesterday, I was on my way to hear a friend do a reading in Bryant Park and I stopped to get water and a snack at the Pret a Manger on the corner by the park. As I sat, I was taken by the image of a man sitting alone eating as he watched NYC (and looked on his phone). …
Liza Donnelly
Visual journalist/writer for New Yorker, New York Times, CBS News, CNN. TED, SXSW speaker. Looking to change world w humor. lizadonnelly.com
