Oil on Canvas, 4 x 8 feet (1.2 x 2.4 m) Status: For Sale 
(Benefiting the FDNY Foundation)
“Twenty-Seven Cranes” – Bringing the WTC back to Life
(New York, New York)
I visited New York in October 2010 for a few reasons. To see the city in the Fall (the leaves hadn’t yet changed though), visit with some friends, and see how the construction was coming along at the WTC site. Looking for a good vantage point to capture this enormous undertaking and incredible logistical endeavor I came upon the Club Quarters, World Trade Center whose small restaurant had the perfect view to capture the gravity of it all. This is such a massive site and important subject matter that I plan on this being my magnum opus.
* Oh and if you think the perspectives are off, think again: WTC Site Master Plan. The streets are at angles and many of the buildings are polygons!
Take a scroll through the 290 hours process to completion:
Circled in orange is the Club Quarters WTC Hotel the viewpoint I captured is from.
This is a collage of day time pics I took before sketching the site.
October, 2010 planning sketch I made sitting on the hotel’s patio.
A collage of evening pictures taken for reference.
Working on a small 12 x 24 inch study
Referencing works by great Claude Monet and George Bellows
The finished Study
Revisions from the study to make on the piece.
Sketching the main elements on the canvas using a projector. Its a very useful tool when you cant paint en plein air. Even Monet used a crude projector!
The entire 4 x 8 foot canvas sketched
Using Google Earth to double check angles
Sketch edits to tweak sizing and dimensions
Underpainting started under the thorough review of my boy Woody
Indoors
The setup: Laptop, Mahlstick, Palette, Study, and Woody
Finished underpainting the base colors
Close-up of progress
Using photoshop to consider varying sky concepts (#1)
Sky concept #2
Sky Concept #3
The piece about a third finished
Progression of World Financial Center by the Hudson River
Evaluating the size and placement of a tourism helicopter
The painting about 4/5ths done
Almost there …about 90% done.
Finished! Over 290 hours to complete.
On display in Dallas
One WTC previously named the Freedom Tower at about 45 of 104 stories built
Two cranes atop One WTC hauling up steel beams
Details, details, details …pouring concrete
Close-up detail of the North Tower Memorial and Plaza White Oak Trees
Close-up detail of the South Tower Memorial
Down to even showing workers on the site
Pedestrians in the West Street Walkway
The Empire State and Chrysler Buildings
Preparing the Bathtub for WTC Transportation Hub
Traffic on West Street
Construction on Four WTC
U.S. Flag hanging from the lobby of BNY Mellon lobby (left actual image, at right the painting) * There are 7 flags in the piece
9/11 Memorial Museum entrance a frame of steel
Signature in the lower right corner