Location course
New York
Lexington Avenue meets East 57th Street: signage, traffic and stacked stone buildings that somehow hold together as one composition. Painted in four stages, from first sketch to finished artwork.
About this course
Why New York looks impossible, and isn't
I ran painting workshops in Times Square a few years ago, and this corner has stayed with me ever since. New York doesn't give you a quiet view. It gives you noise, signage and energy, and asks you to find the picture inside it anyway.
A street corner like this looks like chaos, but you are never required to draw all of it. The skill isn't accuracy, it's editing: deciding what stays (the signage, the big stacked windows, the energy of the crossing) and what goes (the scaffolding, the exact count of every car).
Wobbly lines, loose colour, a slightly skewed perspective: on a corner this busy, none of that reads as a mistake. It reads as New York.
This course is for you if:
- You have always wanted to paint but haven't known where to start.
- You want a finished painting, made by your hand and in your own way.
- You'd like a four-stage method you can carry to any scene, anywhere.
Curriculum
Four lessons, one for each stage.
The order is fixed on purpose. Each stage depends on the one before it, exactly as it does when I paint this for myself.
Deciding where everything sits
- 1On a junction this busy, the signage does most of the structural work. The Lexington Avenue sign anchors the whole composition. With pencil and Tombow brush pen, you map the big shapes with confidence, and learn what to leave out.
Warm stone, cool avenue
- 2A tight four-colour palette (transparent orange, cobalt turquoise light, magnesium brown and ultramarine blue) builds the warmth of the stonework against the cool depth of the avenue. Not copying what's there, but capturing what it feels like.
Where the depth comes from
- 3Tombow brush pens across four grey values make the corner feel three-dimensional: pulling out the stacked windows, deepening the crossings, and adding the darkest accents where the picture needs them most.
The marks that say New York
- 4With a Uniball and fine liners, you add the signage lettering, the window patterning and the energy of a busy Manhattan street. Line weight does the work of distance: bold up close, quiet further back.
Enrolment
One payment. No subscription.
£49 gets you all four lessons, a materials list so you know exactly what you need before you start, and permanent access to come back to any stage whenever you need a refresher.
You don't need prior experience or an expensive set of materials. You need curiosity, a willingness to give it a go, and a subject worth spending time with.
Not sure this is the right course? See all courses →New York
£49one-time
- 4 video lessons across all four stages
- Materials list included
- Lifetime access, learn at your own pace
- Works on any device
Secure checkout · Stripe
Questions about this course
Who is the New York course for?
Beginners: people who have always wanted to paint but have not known where to start. You do not need prior experience or an expensive set of materials.
What will I paint?
The corner of Lexington Avenue and East 57th Street in Manhattan: signage, stacked stone buildings and traffic, simplified into one finished painting.
How do the lessons work?
There are four video lessons following my four-stage process: big shapes, watercolour, tone and shade, detail. You work at your own pace.
What do I need to paint along?
The course uses pencil, Tombow brush pens, a Uniball and fine liners, plus a four-colour palette: transparent orange, cobalt turquoise light, magnesium brown and ultramarine blue. You do not need an expensive set.
Is it a subscription, and how long do I have access?
No. It is one payment of £49 and you keep lifetime access, so you can come back to any stage whenever you need a refresher.
Can I get a refund?
Yes, within 14 days of purchase, as long as you have not gone beyond the introduction or first lesson, because by then you have received the digital content. Email mike@artyfactor.com with the course name and the email you enrolled with. The full wording is in the Refund and returns policy.
How do I pay, and is it safe?
Checkout is handled by Stripe. Your card details go straight into Stripe's secure form, so I never see or store your card number.