Artists Magazine - USA (2020-01 & 2020-02)

ArtistsNetwork.com 53

Tim Saternow

THE GOTHAM IDEAL

LEFT

West 23rd Street & 5th Ave, Rain

by Tim Saternow

watercolor on paper, 40x26

BELOW

Broadway to the Flatiron Building

by Tim Saternow

watercolor on paper, 60x40

As an artist whose paintings are all

about value—light and dark, sun-

light and shadow—Tim Saternow

(timsaternow.com) found the Flatiron

Building’s façade almost irresistible.

As he puts it, “The way the surface of

the building grabs the sunlight and

creates deep pockets of shadow ... and

all of that sculpture and texture being

revealed—magic! The Flatiron is my

definition of the idea of ‘Gotham’ ...

that magical ideal and icon of New

York City.”

In practice, though, Saternow

doesn’t allow reality, however mag-

ical, to influence his artistic goals.

“I freely move and change stuff

around for dramatic effect: building

heights, light poles, cars, signs—and

then I remove all the people.” The lat-

ter exclusion allows the artist to make

the city itself the focus of his work.

As a studio artist, Saternow

works from a multitude of photo

references, but for artists looking

to find their own way of rendering

this iconic landmark, the artist

recommends observing the subject

for a spell: “Go and sit in Madison

Square Park. Watch how that build-

ing dominates this square and how

the light plays off the limestone sur-

face. Then move around the building

and observe from every direction

how it changes. Find out what makes

the building amazing for you.”