• 
  2010

  Aug 12
  7
  Nikira

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  Brooklyn Bridge. Shorty pencil and bits of watercolor in Moleskine sketch. Going back to pencil, back to the roots.
  tags: brooklyn bridge | shorty | sketch
   

Comments

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  Uncle Bob 8:12 am on August 12, 2010 | #

  Brilliant! One of my favourite structures

  BROOKLYN BRIDGE: NIGHTFALL

  By D. B. Steinman

  Against the city’s gleaming spires,
  Above the ships that ply the stream,
  A bridge of haunting beauty stands –
  Fulfillment of an artist’s dream.

  From deep beneath the tidal flow
  Two granite towers proudly rise
  To hold the pendent span aloft –
  A harp against the sunset skies.

  Each pylon frames, between its shafts,
  Twin Gothic portals pierced with blue
  And crowned with magic laced design
  Of lines and curves that Euclid knew.

  The silver strands that form the net
  Are beaded with the stars of night
  Lie jewelled dewdrops that adorn
  A spiderweb in morning light.

  Between the towers reaching high
  A cradle for the stars is swung;
  And from this soaring cable curve
  A latticework of steel is hung.

  Around the bridge in afterglow
  The city’s lights like fireflies gleam,
  And eyes look up to see the span –
  A poem stretched across the stream

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  Nikira 8:30 am on August 12, 2010 | #

  Beautifully said. It is also my favorite bridge. First time I heard about it from my father, who read aloud poetry of Маяковский (Mayakovsky – http://www.kirjasto.sci.fi/majakovs.htm ), famous russian poet, who visited NY in 1925 and wrote about Brooklyn bridge. Interesting, that I lived near Mayakovsky plaza in the heart of Moscow.

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  Uncle Bob 8:46 am on August 12, 2010 | #

  I don’t know if this will come through but my youngest son, who now lives in New Zealand, visited NYC some years ago. I helped to finance this trip providing he brought me some “bridge photos” back

  http://www.flickr.com/photos/ahmcdowall/sets/72057594080596545/

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  rodney 8:50 am on August 12, 2010 | #

  As I already wrote on your blog before seeing it here, very nice and characteristic!

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  roseindigo 12:29 pm on August 12, 2010 | #

  Your sketches are lovely, with only enough detail to suggest the rest. Very nice pencil work here.

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  Leo 1:28 pm on August 12, 2010 | #

  Nikira, funny you should mention Mayakovsky… Here’s a quote (translated) from his poem:

  By the cables of electric strands,
  I recognize the era succeeding the steam age -
  here men had ranted on radio
  Here men had ascended in planes.
  For some, life here had no worries;
  for others, it was a prolonged and hungry howl.
  From this spot, jobless men
  leapt headling into the Hudson

  No kidding… Provided that Brooklyn Bridge spans across East River, the jobless men would have needed exceptionally strong leg muscles to leap across Manhattan into the Hudson.

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  Nikira 5:10 am on August 13, 2010 | #

  @ Bob, photos so beautiful, your son did a good job to capture the bridge in it best.
  @Thank you very much, Rodney and Rose, I am so flattered that you like it.
  @Leo, I literally laughed out loud when read your comment. I’ve read this poem so many times but it never occurred to me.

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