Sudoku Impressions

Take a careful look around the train and you'll find them, intense in thought, marking up their pages, and counting to make the perfect combo of numbers.  It's Sudoku! And it was the perfect opportunity to use all those ticket stubs the conductors place in the seat pockets!

JP has been one of my consistent commuting buddies when commuting into work in the morning.

As a sketch artist and illustrator, I create and compose views from what I observe and see on the train.  However, as I'm working in my sketchbook, I'm only looking at my subject an average of 50% to 60% of the time.  The other time is spent looking down at my book making sure I'm putting my pen or pencil where its supposed to go to create a good drawing.  The act of "seeing" as I make my work happens really quickly, my eyes are always switching back and forth between my subject and the page.  So this is what I see as I'm drawing everyone coming home while sitting on the long benches in the bar car.

August: A Slower Pace

Walking through the Main Concourse of Grand Central it's easy to notice it's August.  The heavy dark suits have been left at home in favor of short sleeves and skirts.  Instead of the usual haze of oxford blue, black, and grey, there are pops of color and the occasional sun hat to go along with it.  Yes the pace is still comparably fast, but people do take it a little slower.  Honestly, they're probably dreading going back outside, or worse into the subway tunnels, but let's just pretend this isn't the case - welcome August.

August is also vacation month.  Here's a peak into one of my days off where the "commute" was by boat to a local beach.  The Greer family, longstanding family friends were visiting from England, and we spent the afternoon under tall shady locust trees looking out onto the water.

Harlem 125th Street

As the train makes its way into Midtown, it really isn't until 125th street that one really grasps they're in New York.  After spending miles rushing past aging soot covered granite walls below grade in the Bronx, the tracks break away and turn over the Harlem River and down to 125th Street.  It's as if someone flips a switch and all the sights and sounds of the city suddenly appear outside as the train pulls into the station: honking yellow cabbies, the aging bus rattling along the road, crowds of people along the sidewalk, and the brick tenements and offices line the street. In that instant everything comes together and the people on the train know, without a doubt, they've arrived in New York City.

On A Magic Carpet Ride

I don't think Steppenwolf would have ever thought their song would inspire something just like this, but I'm sure I'm not the only one who listens to them on my ipod while on the train.  So whether you're meditating on your piece of persian rug or holding on tight, it would be pretty cool to take one of these to your destination.

Everybody Is Working for the Weekend

Make sure you click on this image to read the tags!

Weekend getaways are great during the summer, but they have one side effect on Friday evenings and Monday mornings - lots of extra bags that get pushed and packed into the train competing for space.  Did you ever wonder what's in all those bags?  I think I've provided a few clues and good guesses in the illustration above.

Wouldn't this be nice?  A few drinks, the sunglasses, flip flops, .  Now, the only thing you have to figure out is to get that bathing suit to somehow work with the casual Fridays outfit without your boss knowing.  The guy on right obviously hasn't figured this out yet.

Care For A Seat?

The commuting crowd traded train chairs for beach chairs and blankets for the 4th of July.  And, being super efficient, (even on a holiday weekend)  everyone put their chairs to good use - and used them to save a seat for the fireworks display.  So if you happened to be driving through Binney Park in Old Greenwich on the day of the fireworks, this is what you saw.  A sea of technocolor plastic fold out chairs and blankets reserving the best places for viewing the fireworks.  Hope you found your spot when you came back at dusk!

Summer Weekend

I had a break from being on the train this past weekend and was in Newport, RI.  Instead of having a hot sticky breeze of a passing train try to cool me off, there was a cool salty breeze off the North Atlantic as I sat on a bench and did this watercolor sketch of The Breakers.  Although considered a "cottage" in its heyday by the Vanderbilt family, it's really a just a huge stone house built with an eye toward European palaces and Italian Renaissance palazzo style.

Father's Day and More

Happy belated Father's Day to all the Dads out there.  I enjoyed sitting next to Olivia and her Dad a few weeks ago on their way home.

Run out of gift ideas for that birthday coming up?  I've designed the perfect solution: the Commuter's Cuckoo Clock!  Complete with all these accessories and a conductor that pops out and announces the time!

The title track of singer-songwriter Nick Drake's album, Pink Moon is a perfect mellow song to listen to on the train ride home after a stressful day.  But on Wednesday night I was lucky enough to see the song come to life looking southeast down the Harlem River at the rising full moon.  As it happened the ingredients of just enough haze, a little smog, and humidity from earlier rain showers gave the rising moon a pinkish cast as it ascended into the night.  Walking home from the train station, the pink cast had been replaced by a blue reflective glow that bounced off all the trees and houses giving the neighborhood a very surreal vibe.

The Commuting Landscape

It's not just humans who commute on the train, it's all the "stuff" that comes along for a ride too. 

The tunnels and passages are heating up down in the labyrinth of Grand Central - just wait till August!

That's right, one evening last week I was sure I had entered a televised gameshow as I listened to the public address system on the train.  The conductor announced each stop with such gusto and enthusiasm I was sure if I closed my eyes I would awake to find that the train had arrived on the set of the Price Is Right.  But to my great disappointment my train car did not transform into a great assemblage of lights and cameras; I found myself walking off the platform straining to hear the echoes of  the great announcer as the train slipped away into the night.