Manhattan’s Art Deco masterpiece, the Chrysler Building, has been my favorite hi-rise for well over seven years and three months. After scouring Midtown for a view capturing the new and old, I set up shop in front of the W Hotel on East 39th Street, between Park and Lexington. A full painting process after the jump.

There is something beautiful about the ugly exhaust chutes, no doubt, a major inspiration for the choice of this locale.

All set-up and ready to go.

A quick, light sketch to identify the primary composition.

Further nailing down the picture (note: Chrysler Building is living large at this stage.)

Bringing in the secondary under drawing color, orange.

Carving into the wider West Side of the building with black.

Bringing in some darker under tones.

Beginning to define the different planes in large swatches.

Here comes the light sienna, a fall under painting it is.

Blues, eliminating the whites, preparing for the more accurate coloration.

Establishing the highlights with light blue throughout.

Moving in with the brick-like color of the building, with slight variation at the front plane of the town house.

Here comes the shadows! There is nothing more satisfying than a round of darks.

Creating the reflective dark greenish color and spreading it throughout.

Modifying the various shades of each building in the foreground.

Capturing the lighter sky, which is brighter than the buildings in the foreground.

Detailing the Chrysler Building, with a warm yellow and silver.

Adding more darks and some subtle reflections in the windows.

An electric building color to add some flavor to the foreground.

Fin – the Chrysler Building.