Rad Drawings of New York City

NYC Hand Drawing

NYC Hand Drawing

Do you remember that “song” that talks about sunscreen. It’s not really a song. It’s more of a (fake) commencement speech set to music.

A dude with a rad name put it out in 1999, Baz Luhrmann…Baz…how cool?!

That song is 10+ years old, but it still sticks with me. Maybe because I was graduating in 1999 so I feel like he’s talking to me, but I dig the advice.

I’m not sure I agree with the whole”wear sunscreen” thing. I think there are some questions about the benefits of sunscreens. Clearly straight vitamin D is good for us, and we’re all vitamin D deficient. Perhaps we should be soaking up as much vitamin D as we can, without being burned of course. But I’m getting off subject…

The sunscreen song; I dig.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sTJ7AzBIJoI[/youtube]

One of the pieces of advice in the song is “Live in New York City once, but leave before it makes you hard.”

I’ve never had the pleasure of living IN NYC, but I was awful close for a while. Unfortunately, I was in a dumpy part of Long Island enjoying a year of Law School. Right, not much “enjoyment.”

However, I did make time to visit “The City” a few times, and it’s amazing. I don’t ever want to live there, and even question a reason to visit anymore. Not really for the Dude, but I can see why people fall in love with NYC.

The skyline is HUGE. I grew up outside of Boston, and I’ve watched the Boston skyline driving into the city countless times. I use to think Boston was big…until I saw NYC. Wow. Giant.

And the energy is amazing. You can literally feel the energy of the city when you walk around. It’s impressive.

Thanks for the advice Baz. I’m glad I got to experience NYC, and I’m very glad I escaped its grip before it made me hard.

Even that little dose of experience has left me with an appreciation for the Big Apple…not much considering I’m a Boston fan, but I’m ok admitting there’s a wee bit of appreciation.

But to really appreciate the city, you need to see it drawn by hand…by two different people…completely unrelated experiences.

I came across the two below videos from unrelated sources, but they seem like a perfect match for a quick Dude post. So, here are a couple rad drawings of NYC…

The first one is an amazing drawing of the entire NYC skyline…from memory!

Here’s the description from The Kid Should See This:

Stephen has the amazing talent of drawing city skylines from memory. Having spent only a few hours in a helicopter flying from Brooklyn to the tip of Manhattan, he memorized the city skyline and headed back to a studio to begin his drawing. Stephen then spent the next 3 days sketching the skyline. The panoramic drawing will be featured on a billboard that will be displayed at JFK airport terminal.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3fF-ZksUZ0Y[/youtube]

This second drawing/video is the NYC skyline from the view of the Empire State Building. Here’s the description of the video from Open Culture:

Give UK artist Patrick Vale 80 seconds, and he’ll show you his freehand drawing of New York City unfold in rapid-fire motion. Vale planted himself on the 102nd floor of the Empire State Building, looked outside his window, and began drawing, with his iPhone duct taped to a rostrum and recording the action. From start to finish, the drawing took, he says in a HuffPo interview, four to five days. He calls the drawing of the Manhattan skyline “Empire State of Pen.” The great Charles Mingus provides the soundtrack.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tYl9e1jVXQ0[/youtube]

Amazing.

Rooftop Gardens are Super Rad.

I often wonder what the world would be like if small changes in direction had taken place at key moments in history. What if we zigged instead of zagging?

The Dude fancies himself a gardener. Truth be told – or just listen to Mrs. Dude – my growing success rate is probably 50/50…according to Mrs. Dude, worse.

Gardening is tough. So many variables to work with. I’m a believer that it’s more of an art than a science, with A LOT of trial and error. At least that’s what I tell myself.

As I fumble through my weekend gardening craft, I am amazed by the awesomeness growing in New York City. Check out the below rooftop garden….more like rooftop farm!

Which leads me to my wondering. What if rooftop gardens were the norm?! Why don’t we all have an awesome garden on our roof?

Houses with flat-top roofs and gardens…genius. Outdoor space, great views, connection to nature, no wasted roof space, insulation, collect rain, collect sun. We totally should have zigged instead of zagging with rooftop gardens!

Here’s an article with some more info about this awesomely rad rooftop garden/farm in Queens.

NYC Rooftop Garden

NYC Rooftop Garden