John Thompson's Central Park Series, part 3

The Harlem Meer (named after the Dutch word for lake or small sea) is in the Northeast corner of Central Park, just above the Conservatory Garden. This eleven-acre lake wraps around a bluff from 106th  street along Fifth Avenue and 110th  street to Malcolm X Boulevard. This is a beautiful non-touristy part of the Park. It also is right across the street from my apartment.

Most of the people I encounter along the shores of the Meer live nearby. Locals greet each other while walking along the path at the edge the lake. Families and friends enjoy the view from the benches that surround the lake, or picnic in the grass along its banks. Catch and release fishing for bass, bluegill, pickerel and sunfish is very popular at the Meer. Some of the neighboring schools even bring their students here to learn to fish. While dog walking is very common, I did meet a man one day who was walking his pet turtle.

Painting along the Harlem Meer is always an enjoyable experience for me.  I’ve tried to explore each of the possible landscape opportunities that the Meer has to offer. The bluff has tree covered rocky cliffs, and the shores adjacent to 5th Avenue and 110th street offer glimpses of the East Harlem through American Elm, Oak, Bald Cypress, Gingko, Beech, and Chestnut trees. The edge of the Meer, which is lined with stands of pickerelweed and cattails, is home for turtles and a variety of waterfowl. Depending on the time of year and weather conditions, the Meer may be partially covered in algae. This creates some interesting patterns if you paint fast enough.  By now I have pretty much painted the whole lake, section by section. I also return to some areas of the Meer, over and over, exploring different times of day as well as different seasons of the year.

All of the Harlem Meer series are small watercolors (5 ½”x 8 ½”) painted in bound sketchbooks. Harlem Meer-10 is the corner of 110th street and 5th avenue. I have painted this subject multiple times. It will be the subject of Part 4, in the Central Park Series.

—John Thompson

Harlem Meer 1, watercolor.

Harlem Meer 2, watercolor.

Harlem Meer 3, watercolor.

Harlem Meer 4, watercolor.

Harlem Meer 5, watercolor.

Harlem Meer 6, watercolor.

Harlem Meer 7, watercolor.

Harlem Meer 8, watercolor.

Harlem Meer 9, watercolor.

Harlem Meer 10, watercolor.

John Thompson's Central Park Series, part 2

John Thompson painting

The Conservatory Garden is Central Park’s formal six-acre garden between 103rd and 106th street on Fifth Avenue. It is divided into three smaller gardens, each with a distinct style: Italian, French, and English.

At the south end of the Conservatory is the English style garden. This intimate space has a mixture of trees, shrubs, and perennial plants, with five seasonal flowerbeds. In the center, under a large crab apple tree, is a lily pond with a memorial fountain dedicated to Frances Hodgson Burnett, the author of “The Secret Garden”. The main characters from the book, Mary and Dickon, stand at one end of the pond.

I began painting the Lily Pond series on September 1st, 2013, Painting the lilies presented a unique set of problems that I hadn’t encountered before. Besides the usual difficulties of plein air painting, such as the sun moving, and overhead clouds, I discovered that the lilies are constantly opening and turning toward the sun. The reflections of the overhead crab apple tree also kept changing depending on the light, and the leaves of the tree above started to fall into the pond as the month progressed. The Lily pond is also a very popular place, so I was rarely ever alone. Events take place around the pond that I had no control of, such as tour groups and family outings, especially on the weekends. Once I was kicked out of my spot by the pond, because a wedding was about to begin.

But the results more than made up for any problems I was having. The first painting I did of the lilies far exceeded my expectations. I quickly learned that I had to capture a particular time of day in my initial drawing and to paint faster. This would include a specific moment of the opening of the flowers (within an approximate 15-20 minute time frame).  The paintings in this series usually took about 1½ hours to complete, out of necessity.

These small (5 ½” x 8 ½”) watercolors were eventually turned into giclee prints and framed. I leave the originals in a bound sketchbook. The watercolors also were useful as studies for two larger oil paintings (36” x 48”) of the lily pond.

—John Thompson

The English Garden, watercolor

Lily Pond 1, watercolor

Lily Pond 2, watercolor

Lily Pond 3, watercolor

Lily Pond 4, watercolor

Lily Pond 5, watercolor

Lily Pond 6, watercolor

Lily Pond I, oil

Lily Pond II, oil

Elf Watercolor Demo

In this video, Syracuse Illustration Program's Bob Dacey demonstrates how to paint a portrait  of an elf using watercolor. To accelerate and clarify the process, the hour or more of original video has been compressed to around 12 minutes.

John Thompson's Central Park Series

John Thompson painting, with granddaughter Noah.

Travel has always been a major inspiration for my personal work. My painting website www.johnthompsonpaintings.com features paintings and drawings of Italy, Ireland, India, Morocco, Pakistan, and most recently, New York's Central Park.

I have been working on the Central Park series for three years. In the fall of 2011, my wife and I rented an apartment across the street from the Conservatory Garden and the Harlem Meer on the corner of 107th Street and Fifth Avenue. Twenty years ago, we moved from New York City to Syracuse, where I took a teaching position at Syracuse University. While our main residence is now Syracuse, we go to New York on weekends (sort of a reverse commute). New York City, once our home, has now become a travel destination and inspiration for a new series of paintings.

The Central Park series consists of oil paintings ranging in size from 12” x 10” to 36” x 48”, plus over eighty small 8 ½” x 5 ½” plein air watercolors that I paint in bound sketchbooks.

I will give an over-view of the project at this time. It will include a small sampling of the project (three oil paintings and six watercolors). I will post updates of the progress of the series in the future.

—John Thompson

Cherry Trees, oil.

Crab Apple Tree, oil.

Lily Pond II, oil.

Bethesda Fountain, watercolor.

Bridge #28, watercolor.

Conservatory Garden, watercolor.

Harlem Meer 2, watercolor.

Harlem Meer, watercolor.

Lily Pond, watercolor.